The History Book

THE MODERN WORLD 299

See also: The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79 ■ The Siege
of Lucknow 242 ■ Nkrumah wins Ghanaian independence 306–07

Indian nationalists demand independence from Britain.

Britain makes some concessions,
but they don’t go far enough.

Gandhi The Muslim Economically Mohandas Gandhi
attracts population weakened by
millions with clamors for an World War II, The Indian national leader
his call for independent Britain is unable known as Mahatma, meaning
non-violent state of their “great soul,” Mohandas
disobedience. to defend Gandhi (1869–1948) led his
own. its empire. country to independence
from Great Britain. He came
Indian independence is achieved, from a Hindu family and
and the country is split in two. studied law in England before
spending 20 years in South
itself was split between northwest and India’s Muslims had their Africa trying to secure rights
and northeast, because both wings own independent state, but for the Indians living there.
had a Muslim majority. Immediately, freedom came at a great cost.
millions of Muslims trekked to West Gandhi’s involvement
and East Pakistan (the latter now The road to independence in Indian politics began in
known as Bangladesh), while The spirit of nationalism in India 1919, and he soon became the
millions of Hindus and Sikhs headed gained ground in the mid-19th unquestioned leader of the
towards the newly independent century and was strengthened in independence movement.
India. Thousands never reached it, 1885 by the formation of the Indian He preached the doctrine
and many died from malnutrition National Congress (INC). During of Satyagraha (soul force,
and disease. Across India there World War I, expectations for greater or passive resistance) which
were outbreaks of sectarian self-governance were raised when he applied against the British
violence, with Hindus and Sikhs on Britain promised to deliver self-rule with great effect. He adopted
one side and Muslims on the other. in return for India’s contribution a simple life believing in the
to the war effort. But Britain virtue of small communities
By 1948, as the great migration envisaged a gradual progress and campaigned against
drew to a close, more than 15 toward self-government, beginning Indian industrialization.
million people had been uprooted, with the Government of India Act
and between 1 million and 2 million (1919), which created an Indian ❯❯ Gandhi’s life work was
were dead. India was independent crowned in 1947, when India
finally won independence,
but the concessions he had
made to the Muslims led
to his assassination the
following year by a Hindu
fanatic, who blamed him for
the partition of India, although
Gandhi himself bitterly
opposed the dismemberment
of the subcontinent.

300 INDIAN INDEPENDENCE AND PARTITION

parliament where power was rights of Muslims, demanded a Ours is not a drive for
shared between Indians and British completely separate Muslim state. power, but purely a
officials. This did not satisfy Indian Its leader, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, non-violent fight for
nationalists, and the British feared that Muslims could not India’s independence.
responded to their protests with protect their minority rights if left Mohandas Gandhi
sometimes brutal repression. to live under Hindu rule. Congress
rejected the proposal and violence Colonies gain freedom
The push for independence on the streets between Hindus After World War II, the European
from the 1920s to the 1940s and Muslims began to escalate. colonial powers—mainly Britain,
was galvanized by the work of France, the Netherlands, and
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Pakistan is born Portugal—recognized that change
Gandhi not only launched the In 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten was inevitable. Some colonies won
Satyagraha campaign, promoting flew into Delhi as Britain’s final independence by peaceful means,
non-violent protest, but also became Viceroy of India. Faced with such as in Burma and Ceylon (1948),
an influential figure for millions of irreconcilable differences over the but often, European powers tried to
followers. In 1942 Gandhi led the demand for a separate state for hold on to their colonies.
“Quit India” campaign, calling India’s Muslims, he persuaded all
for civil disobedience to disrupt parties to agree to partitioning During World War II, Japan, itself
Britain’s efforts in World War II. The the country into Hindu India and a significant imperial power, drove
British immediately jailed Gandhi Muslim Pakistan. the European powers out of Asia.
and other nationalist leaders. After the Japanese surrender in
From its birth, Pakistan faced 1945, nationalist movements in the
By the end of World War II, it many challenges. It had limited former Asian colonies campaigned
was clear that Britain lacked the resources and a huge refugee for independence rather than a
means to defeat the nationalist problem. There were different return to European colonial rule.
campaign. Britain’s officials in India traditions, cultures, and languages, Dr. Ahmed Sukarno, leader of
were utterly exhausted, and Britain and Jinnah, its first governor Indonesia’s nationalist movement,
itself was almost bankrupt. Britain general, died the following year. declared the Independent Republic
agreed to a fully independent India. In 1948, India and Pakistan fought of Indonesia in 1945. The Dutch
While Gandhi and Nehru advocated over Kashmir, the only Muslim- sent troops to restore their authority,
Indian unity, the Muslim League, majority area to remain within India. and in two military campaigns that
founded in 1906 to safeguard the followed, an estimated 150,000
Indonesians and 5,000 Dutch
soldiers died. International pressure
eventually forced the Dutch to
concede independence in 1949.

India’s independence was finally
declared by Jawaharlal Nehru and
Lord Louis Mountbatten at Delhi’s
Constituent Assembly, just seconds
into August 15, 1947.

THE MODERN WORLD 301

The Japanese occupation of Malaya The process of decolonization Mau Mau suspects captured in
during the war had unified the coincided with the new Cold War Nairobi’s Great Rift Valley, Kenya, in
Malayan people and greatly between the Soviet Union and the 1952 are led away, with their hands on
increased nationalistic feelings. United States. The US became their heads, to be questioned by police
Britain clamped down on protests, concerned that, as the European and possibly held in detention camps.
which led the militant wing of the powers lost their colonies, Soviet-
Malaysian Communist Party to supported communist parties independent states and joined
declare war on the British Empire might achieve power in the new the Commonwealth. The British
in 1948. Britain responded by states. The US used substantial aid Commonwealth, formed in 1931,
declaring a state of emergency and packages to encourage newly became the successor to Britain’s
pursuing a bitter campaign against independent nations to adopt old empire, preserving Britain’s
Chinese “communist terrorists.” governments that aligned with the global economic and political
Independence was not granted West. The Soviet Union deployed influence. In 1931 Britain extended
to Malaya until 1957. similar tactics in an effort to dominion status to the already self-
encourage new nations to join the governing colonies of Canada
Unrest in Africa communist bloc. Many resisted the (1867), Australia (1901), New
In Kenya, the imposition of a state pressure to be drawn into the Cold Zealand (1907), and Newfoundland
of emergency in 1952, in response War and joined the “non-aligned (1907). Britain and her dominions
to the Mau Mau (rebel) uprising, movement.” This movement began shared equal status, and they
led to greater insurgency and the out of a 1955 meeting in Bandung, accepted the British monarch as
British rounding up of tens of Indonesia, involving 29 African and head of the Commonwealth. In 1949
thousands of Mau Mau suspects Asian countries. Member countries the British Commonwealth became
into detention camps. By 1956 the decided they would not be involved “The Commonwealth,” a free and
rebellion had been crushed, but the in alliances or defense pacts with equal association of independent
methods used by the British to the main world powers, but focus states, but the end of the empire
regain control brought international on internal development instead. was drawing near. Britain fought a
condemnation. In central Africa, war to retain the Falkland Islands in
too, decolonization was born in Terrorism in France 1982, and Hong Kong continued as a
violence. In Rhodesia, savage France was determined to British dependency until 1997.
conflict erupted between the black maintain its political status in
majority and the fiercely racist white Algeria. When independence was Gandhi had a profound
leadership, which had unilaterally not realized after World War II, influence on world politics. Other
declared independence in 1965. war broke out between Algerian peaceful resisters—such as Martin
nationalists and French settlers. In Luther King Jr. and Tibet’s Dalai
We are proud of this 1958 the National Liberation Front Lama—emulated his methods.
struggle, of tears, of fire, (FLN), the main nationalist group, Around the world, the struggle for
led several terrorist attacks, first in countries to secede from nations
and of blood, to the Algeria, then in Paris. The crisis led they belong to continues, as the
depths of our being. to the return to power of Charles likes of Scotland (United Kingdom),
Patrice Lumumba de Gaulle, the wartime leader of the Quebec (Canada), and Palestine
Free French. In 1960, de Gaulle, to fight to be seen as nations in
First prime minister of the horror of the French settlers, their own right. ■
the Congo (Zaire) (1960) agreed to emancipate Algeria. After
a long and bloody conflict in which
an estimated 150,000 died, Algeria
gained its independence in 1962.

Independence gained
During the 1960s and 70s, many
of the countries that were once
held as British colonies became

302

OSTHHUERALNSLATBMATEEEIOSFRAEL

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL (1948)

IN CONTEXT Zionist theorists Jews begin settling in
envisage the possibility of and developing
FOCUS Palestine.
Creation of Israel a Jewish homeland.

BEFORE Jews escaping Nazi control flee to Palestine.
1897 Zionism becomes an
organized movement and calls The United Nations grants the land of Israel
for a Jewish state in Palestine. to the Jewish people.

1917 In the Balfour Declaration, Many Palestinians are Wars break out
Britain promises to help the forcibly displaced and periodically between
Jews establish a homeland Arab states and Israel.
in Palestine. become refugees.

1946 As part of its campaign A s the sun rose on May 14, Europe, proclaimed the news of
of terrorism against Palestine 1948, the British flag was the establishment of the Jewish
and Britain, the Jewish lowered at Government state in Palestine.
underground army bombs the House, on Jerusalem’s Hill of Evil
King David Hotel, killing 91. Counsel, ending the 26-year British Israel’s Muslim neighbors,
mandate over Palestine. David united as the Arab League,
AFTER Ben-Gurion, the longtime leader rejected the state’s creation and
1967 During the Six Day War, of the Jewish settlers, or Zionists, reacted with an attack. Troops
Arabs unite against Israel, but who had fled to Palestine from moved in from Transjordan, Egypt,
Israel is victorious and captures Lebanon, and Syria. Hardened to
swathes of Arab territory.

1993 Oslo Peace Accords try
to initiate peace between
Palestinians and Israel.

2014 Sweden becomes the
135th country to recognize
the state of Palestine.

THE MODERN WORLD 303

See also: The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■ The Suez Crisis 318–21 ■
The 9/11 attacks 327 ■ The founding of the United Nations 340

Facing increasing attacks, the Jews
formed local defense groups under
the umbrella term the Haganah.

We shall live at Escalation of violence The flag of Israel was adopted in
last as free men on In 1939, the rise of anti-Semitism 1948, a few months after the birth of
in Europe, particularly in Nazi the state. It was originally designed in
our own soil. Germany, forced Jews to flee to 1891 for use by the Zionist movement
Theodor Herzl Jerusalem. Facing a much larger and has the Star of David at its center.
influx of settlers than they had
Zionist writer anticipated, the British proposed (1967), Israel controlled the Sinai,
a restriction on the free settlement Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan
fighting after years of protecting of Jewish refugees in Palestine. Heights, and Jerusalem. It faced
their settlements in Palestine, the many attacks from Arab neighbors,
Jews thwarted the Arabs. After World War II, violence in in addition to threats from the
Palestine escalated, and in 1947 the paramilitary Palestine Liberation
A troubled land British government said it would Army (PLO), formed in 1964.
Jews had immigrated to Palestine terminate its rule and hand the
to avoid persecution in Europe since “Palestine problem” to the United Arab Palestinians repeatedly
the 1880s, believing it to be the Nations. The Holocaust convinced called for an independent state in
land promised to them by God. With the UN that the Jewish people the West Bank and Gaza. In the
the Balfour Declaration in 1917, the needed a homeland, so they resolved occupied zones, they suffered from
British government supported a to partition Palestine into an area poor living conditions, military
Jewish homeland. The majority- for Arabs (about 44 percent) and the raids, and restricted movement. ■
Arab population objected to the rest for a Jewish state. The Jews
settlers’ claim on their country. agreed with the plan, but the Arabs
refused it. Despite this, on May 14,
1948 the state of Israel was born.

Israel’s immediate priority was to
build a credible defense force from
the Haganah. After the Six Day War

David Ben-Gurion The founder and first prime His “Law of Return,” announced
minister (1948–63) of the state in 1950, granted permission for
of Israel, David Ben-Gurion was Jews from around the world to
born in 1886 to Zionist parents immigrate to Israel.
in Poland. In 1906, he immigrated
to Palestine, where he became an He briefly retired in 1953,
active supporter of the struggle and in his later years in power
for an independent Jewish state. he initiated secret talks with
He led the Jewish campaign Arab leaders in an attempt to
against the British in Palestine, gain peace for the Middle East.
authorizing acts of sabotage.
In 1970, Ben-Gurion retired
When he became the nation’s fully from the Knesset (Israeli
leader, he established the Israeli parliament) and devoted himself
Defense Force and guided the to writing his memoirs in Sde-
modern development of Israel. Boqer, a kibbutz (communal
He promoted the use of Hebrew settlement) in the Negev Desert
as the language of the country. in southern Israel. He died in
1973 and is still a revered figure.

304

IPTASRHSOAEEPMELADOAGINNNAGINGFD-MEMASAATRFCOOCHRHIACNEE

THE LONG MARCH (1934–1935)

IN CONTEXT China is ruled by Communist and
regional warlords, and Nationalist parties unite
FOCUS
Founding Communist there is no central against the warlords.
China government.

BEFORE The Nationalists have the Incompatible ideologies
1911–12 The Republic of upper hand, and the mean these two groups
China is born under Nationalist mostly fight each other.
Sun Yat-sen; the last Qing Communists retreat.
emperor abdicates.
The exertion and The Communists regroup
1919 The May Fourth triumph of the Long and survive to fight until
Movement, a student-led the People’s Republic
protest, spreads ideas of March cements of China is born.
nationalism and communism. Mao’s leadership and

1921 The Communist Party becomes mythic.
founded in Shanghai promotes
revolution based on Marxism. I n the autumn of 1933, the stronghold and break through the
Chinese Communist Party Nationalist blockade. Some 80,000
AFTER (CCP) was on the brink of set out on an extraordinary journey
1958 Mao Zedong introduces annihilation. Nationalists had taken of 3,700 miles (6,000km) that lasted
the Great Leap Forward, a control of the country and launched 368 days. It became known as the
five-year economic plan. a major attack against their base in Long March.
Jiangxi, a southeastern province.
1978 Premier Deng Xiaoping In October 1934, the Communists Guided by their future leader
announces a new economic were forced to abandon their Mao Zedong, the Communists
program to make China a faced bombs and machine-gun fire
major financial power.

1989 Troops kill hundreds of
pro-democracy supporters in
Tiananmen Square.

THE MODERN WORLD 305

See also: The Second Opium War 254–55 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■ The Cultural Revolution 316–17 ■
The global financial crisis 330–33

from the air and were constantly Mao Zedong rides his white horse Nationalists against the CCP in
under attack by Nationalist troops alongside Communist Party members Shanghai, in April 1927. Hundreds
on the ground. They traveled during the Long March of 1934–35. His of Communists were arrested and
mostly at night, the unit splitting role in the march ultimately saw him tortured. The massacre triggered
into different columns to make rise to leader of the nation. years of anti-Communist violence,
them harder to spot. and the Communists retreated to
1921 the CCP was founded. The the Jiangxi countryside.
The Tibetan mountains, Gobi Kuomintang, a Nationalist party,
Desert, and miles of wilderness also grew and by the mid-1920s The struggle for survival
stood between them and their had begun unifying the country. After the Long March, the CCP
goal: to reach the safety of regrouped in the north. Nationalists
northern China and establish a Massacre in Shanghai and Communists were forced into an
new Communist base. Hundreds Nationalists joined forces with uneasy alliance in 1937, when Japan
died of starvation: of the original Communists in 1926 under Chiang invaded China. By 1939, large areas
80,000 marchers, only about 8,000 Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) in the in the north and east had been
survived. Far from being viewed as Northern Expedition to regain conquered. After Japan’s defeat in
a failure, however, their feat was territories controlled by regional World War II, tension between
hailed as a triumph of endurance warlords. During the expedition, Nationalists and Communists flared
and ensured the survival of the CCP. as the CCP increased in strength, up again, leading to civil war in 1946.
a bitter rivalry led to an attack by The Communists won after massive
Unifying the nation battles with more than half a million
In 1895, China had suffered a heavy troops on either side. On October 1,
military defeat against Japan. Anti- 1949, Mao Zedong created the
Japanese feeling swelled following People’s Republic of China.
Japan’s aggression against China
during World War I. Huge protests The Long March was a feat
erupted after the 1919 Treaty of of remarkable endurance. To the
Versailles handed former German survivors, it provided a deep sense
colonies in China to Japan. In the of mission and contributed to the
wake of these protests, communist perception of Mao as a leader of
ideals gained support, and in destiny and revolutionary struggle. ■

Chiang Kai-shek The foremost non-communist attacked by Japan his followers
Chinese leader of the 20th forced him to make an alliance
century, Chiang Kai-shek (1887– with the Communists against
1975) was a soldier who, in 1925, the invading Japanese. The
became leader of the Kuomintang alliance did not survive the end
(Nationalist Party), which had of the World War II, and in 1949
been founded by Sun Yat-sen. Chiang and his party were
driven from the mainland to the
During his various stints as island of Formosa, which by
China’s premier, he ruled over a that time had become known
troubled country. He attempted to Westerners as Taiwan. While
modest reforms but was beset he was there, Chiang set up a
by intractable domestic strife, government in exile, which he
as well as by armed conflict with controlled until his death in
Japanese invaders. 1975. His government was
recognized by many states as
Despite making attempts to China’s legitimate government.
crush his chief rivals, the Chinese
Communists, when China was

306

IBGSEHLFAORNVEAEEDYFOOCUROREUVNETRRY

NKRUMAH WINS GHANAIAN INDEPENDENCE (1957)

IN CONTEXT African The ideology of African
nationalism Pan-Africanism experiences in
FOCUS gathers pace gains adherents World War II
Postcolonial Africa spur demands for
during the worldwide. racial equality.
BEFORE early 1900s.
1946 The formation of the
international Pan-African Nkrumah wins independence for Ghana.
Federation promotes
African independence. Nkrumah fails in his campaign for the political unity of Africa.

1952–60 The Mau Mau By the mid-1970s, most of Africa has
uprising in Kenya against gained independence, if not peace.
the British marks a turning
point in the struggle for I n February 1948, at a time In response to this, in 1949,
independence. when the Gold Coast, a British nationalist Kwame Nkrumah
colony in West Africa, had formed the Convention People’s
1956 A humiliating defeat for been demanding independence for Party (CPP), an organization
France and Britain in Suez several years, a group of unarmed fighting for self-governance.
signals a further decline of African ex-servicemen marched to Nkrumah initiated a campaign
the old European powers. the British governor with a petition of positive action inspired by
of grievances. Ordered to stop, they Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent
AFTER refused, and the police opened fire. non-cooperation in India against
1957–75 Most African nations
achieve independence from
French, British, Portuguese,
and Belgian rule.

1963 The Organization of
African Unity is founded.

1994 South Africans are the
last people on the continent
to achieve majority rule.

THE MODERN WORLD 307

See also: The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 ■ The Berlin
Conference 258–59 ■ Indian independence and partition 298–301 ■ The release of Nelson Mandela 325

the British. The strikes and protests Kwame Nkrumah, Kojo Botsio, Many African countries gained
they encouraged remained peaceful Krobo Edusei, and other Ghanaian independence during the Cold
but paralyzed the country, and politicians celebrate the independence War. Used as pawns between
Britain agreed to elections in early of their country, which was achieved the capitalist and communist
1951. The CPP won 35 out of 38 peacefully and democratically. superpowers, they accepted loans
seats, and the Gold Coast moved and military aid: in the 1970s,
rapidly toward independence, The French fought an eight-year Ethiopia was rewarded with billions
which was proclaimed on March 6, war to hold on to Algeria, finally of dollars’ worth of Soviet military
1957 with Nkrumah becoming conceding independence in 1962. equipment. Civil wars were also
prime minister of the nation of numerous, such as the ethnic civil
Ghana. It was a moment of huge The Portuguese, the first wars in Rwanda and Zaire, as well
hope for a new kind of Africa. European colonial power in Africa, as the clashes between warlords
fought a long war to hold on to their over food supplies in Somalia.
The European powers that ruled colonies of Angola, Mozambique,
Africa had been impoverished by and Guinea from 1961 to 1974. The Dictatorial rulers
World War II, and attitudes to collapse of Belgian authority in Once independence was achieved,
colonialism were changing. Nations the Congo in 1960 led to a wave African nationalist leaders sought
that had fought against fascism of violence across the nation and to consolidate power by banning
found it hard to justify imperialism. the assassination of the first prime political rivals. Coups and military
minister, Patrick Lumumba, in 1961. governments predominated—such
A domino effect as that of Idi Amin in Uganda. By
Events in Ghana had a significant the early 1970s, only Zimbabwe
impact in West Africa. In 1958, and South Africa were still ruled by
Guinea voted to secede from France. the white political elite. Corruption,
Determined not to be left behind, however, existed in most African
Nigeria celebrated independence countries. Nkrumah wanted Ghana
from Britain on October 1, 1960. to be a beacon of success, but his
By 1964, independence had also Pan-Africanism failed, and Ghana’s
been granted to Kenya, Northern fortunes began to slide as he
Rhodesia (Zambia), Nyasaland became increasingly dictatorial. ■
(Malawi), and Uganda.

Kwame Nkrumah sentenced to three years in
jail. While in prison, he won
Ambitious and well-educated, the general election, and five
Kwame Nkrumah had big plans years later, in 1957, he became
for both Ghana and Africa as a prime minister of the newly
whole. He went to college in the independent Ghana.
US and later traveled to England,
where he became involved in the Nkrumah’s popularity rose
West African Students’ Union. In with the construction of new
1948, he began traveling around schools, roads, and health
the Gold Coast as leader of a facilities, but by 1964 Ghana was
youth movement calling for a one-party state and Nkrumah
“self-government now.” its “life president.” After two
assassination attempts and
Nkrumah’s calls for positive increasing human-rights abuses,
action civil disobedience as head Nkrumah faced a coup in 1966
of the Convention People’s Party and went into exile in Guinea.
led to his arrest, and he was He died of cancer in 1972.

308

EWJTYUHEESE’BRTOAEBTLEHLLYIENERAKBNFEADEDLLILLTTOHOWINK

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS (1962)

IN CONTEXT The USSR and US begin stockpiling nuclear weapons.

FOCUS The theory of MAD A struggle develops for
Nuclear arms race acts as a deterrent the control of satellite
to nuclear war. states, including Cuba.
BEFORE
1942–45 The US sets up the Tension comes to a head in the Cuban Missile
Manhattan Project to develop Crisis—nuclear war is only narrowly avoided.
the first nuclear weapon.
The scale of the threat World leaders engage in
1945 The US drops atomic posed by nuclear war diplomacy and reduce
bombs on the Japanese cities stockpiles; tensions cool.
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, becomes more apparent.
ending World War II.
F or 13 days, from October 15 This was no empty threat: from the
1952–53 Both the US and to October 28, 1962, the 1950s, both superpowers had begun
USSR develop the H-bomb, world teetered on the edge stockpiling vast nuclear arsenals.
1,000 times stronger than of nuclear destruction. Soviet leader Strategists articulated the mutually
the atomic bomb. Nikita Khrushchev had deployed assured destruction (MAD)
nuclear weapons in Cuba, and doctrine, which held that if Russia
AFTER US president John F. Kennedy attacked the West, the West would
1963 The USA and Russia demanded he remove them. make sure that they retaliate. In
agree to a nuclear test-ban Each threatened nuclear war. short, there would be no winners.
treaty, and tensions lessen.

1969–72 Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks (SALT I)
yields a superpower agreement
on missile deployment.

1991 Strategic Arms
Reductions Treaty I (START I)
reduces the numbers of US
and Soviet long-range missiles.

THE MODERN WORLD 309

See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■
The launch of Sputnik 310 ■ The Bay of Pigs invasion 314–15 ■ The fall of the Berlin Wall 322–23 ■ The 1968 protests 324

When Kennedy became president arise. Turkey shared a border with photographs taken by a U-2 spy
in 1961, he inherited a deteriorating the Soviet Union, so this was viewed plane showed nuclear weapon
relationship with Cuba. The US as a direct threat to Soviet territory. sites being built by the Soviets.
and Cuba had a history of mutual An ultimatum Kennedy’s military advisers sought
cooperation, but this had changed Khrushchev came under pressure an immediate attack on the missile
with the Cuban Revolution, when, from Soviet hard-liners to take a sites, but Kennedy favored a naval
on January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro tough stance. This, and the desire blockade of Cuba to prevent the
overthrew the government of to defend his Cuban ally from installation of more missiles. He
President General Fulgencio Batista. American aggression, led him to issued an ultimatum to Khrushchev
install missiles in Cuba that were to withdraw and informed the world
Trade embargo capable of carrying nuclear that nuclear war was an imminent
The US accepted Castro as ruler of warheads. On October 14, 1962, possibility. Meanwhile, Khrushchev
Cuba, in spite of his communist ordered the captains of Soviet ships
leanings, and had a large economic Cuban president Fidel Castro and to hold their course for Cuban ports.
presence in Cuba. However, Castro Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hold
began to break the American hold up their joined hands in a show of unity Breaking the deadlock
on the economy, nationalizing all on an official state visit Castro made Frantic diplomacy behind the
industry without compensation. to Moscow in May 1963. scenes led to a deal that broke the
In response, the US imposed a deadlock: Kennedy agreed to remove
sweeping trade embargo, so missiles from Turkey in secret if
Castro turned to the Soviet Union Khrushchev dismantled all nuclear
for support. Fearing communist weapons in Cuba. The Soviet leader
expansion, the US tried to topple agreed—only if America would also
Cuba’s government with the failed abort its plan to invade Cuba.
Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961,
involving CIA-backed Cuban exiles. On October 28, Khrushchev
ordered his ships to turn around—
Also in 1961, the US deployed a defining moment of the Cold
15 nuclear-tipped Jupiter missiles War. The superpowers became
in Turkey, in readiness to strike more cautious, and the threat of
against the USSR should the need nuclear war began to diminish. ■

John Fitzgerald The 35th president of the US, where his firm stance against
Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–63) Russia brought him even greater
was the first Roman Catholic popularity. His ambitious
and, at 43, the youngest man domestic reforms, however,
ever to be elected to that office. on issues such as welfare and
As president, Kennedy brought civil rights, were increasingly
a fresh and youthful style to blocked by Congress.
politics, calling his program
the “New Frontier.” This included While he was campaigning
a challenge to venture into outer for the next presidential
space and to eliminate poverty. election, JFK was assassinated
His administration quickly won by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas,
popular support. Texas, on November 22, 1963.
Kennedy’s death was a shock
Kennedy’s years in power were and a tragedy for Americans, at
marked in foreign affairs by Cold a time when tensions were just
War tension. His greatest test was starting to ease between the
the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, United States and Russia.

310

PWTAEHRHOEEOPSPLLOAEETINWOETFLOILNTRIHGTLEEDTO

THE LAUNCH OF SPUTNIK (1957)

IN CONTEXT O n October 4, 1957, the USSR That’s one small step
launched the world’s first for [a] man, one giant
FOCUS artificial satellite, Sputnik 1.
Space race Carrying a simple radio transmitter leap for mankind.
to relay information about conditions Neil Armstrong
BEFORE in space, the satellite remained in
1926 Robert Goddard orbit until January 4, 1958, when the US had created NASA, the
launches the world’s first it re-entered and burned up in National Aeronautics and Space
liquid-fueled rocket. Earth’s atmosphere. Administration, but they could only
watch in envy as the Soviets sent
1942 Germany successfully Sputnik symbolized far more Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961, the
launches the first ballistic than a scientific breakthrough. first human to go to outer space.
missile, the A4, or V-2. It was a sensational coup for the
Soviets during the Cold War with The US caught up by sending
AFTER the West. No shots were fired, John Glenn into orbit in 1962, and
1961 Alan Shepard commands but the military and political by 1967 they had built a rocket,
Freedom 7 on the first Mercury ramifications were immense. Saturn V, that was powerful enough
mission, becoming the first Americans felt more vulnerable to reach the moon. In 1969, 12 years
American in space. to a nuclear attack. The USSR was after the launch of Sputnik 1, the
now a Superpower, stunning the American astronaut Neil Armstrong
July 20, 1969 American Neil US and initiating the “space race,” left Apollo 11 and became the first
Armstrong becomes the first a frantic competition between man to walk on the moon. ■
man to set foot on the moon. nations for technological superiority.

1971 Russia’s Salyut 1, the The US catches up
world’s first space station, Sputnik was a mass-media event
is launched. that ushered in the “Space Age,”
capturing the world’s collective
1997 A US rover named imagination. There was a boom
Sojourner wheels on to the in science-fiction books, films, and
surface of Mars to explore TV dramas set in space. By 1958,
the surface.
See also: The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■ The Cuban Missile Crisis 308–09 ■
2015 Mars Reconnaissance The fall of the Berlin Wall 322–23 ■ The launch of the first website 328–29
Orbiter finds water on Mars.

THE MODERN WORLD 311

IAHDARVEEAM

THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON (1963)

IN CONTEXT T he March on Washington There are those who say
on August 28, 1963 brought to you, we are rushing this
FOCUS roughly 250,000 people— issue of civil rights. I say
Civil rights movement mostly African-Americans—to we are 172 years too late!
the nation’s capital. They were
BEFORE calling for equality, an end to racial Hubert Humphrey
1909 National Association for segregation, and for all Americans
the Advancement of Colored to have access to a good education, Mayor of Minneapolis (1948)
People (NAACP) is founded. decent housing, and jobs that paid
a living wage.
1955 Rosa Parks refuses to
give up her bus seat to a white One of the speakers was the
man and, in doing so, ignites Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,
the civil rights movement. who had been arrested that April
during anti-segregation protests in
1960 Four students at a Alabama. “I have a dream,” King
whites-only restaurant counter cried, starting his famous speech.
are refused food, leading to
sit-ins across the US. Calls for equality civil rights marches in Birmingham,
The abolishment of slavery after Alabama, led by King were central
AFTER the American Civil War of 1861–65 to the campaign. Some extremists,
1965 Malcolm X, founder led to emancipated slaves seeking especially in the South, reacted
of the Organization of Afro- American citizenship. However, with gruesome acts of violence.
American Unity, is shot dead. while they were no longer slaves,
they were not equal with whites, After the March on Washington,
1966 Stokely Carmichael and they endured discrimination, US Congress passed the Civil
introduces the idea of “Black segregation, and violent racist Rights Acts of 1964, outlawing
Power,” turning away from attacks. In the 1950s, a number of discrimination, and the Voting
non-violent protests. African-American groups fought Rights Act of 1965. More than half
back against discrimination with a a century later, however, many of
1968 Martin Luther King policy of non-violence. In the 1960s, the goals set on that day are still
is assassinated, leading to out of reach to black Americans. ■
rioting across US cities.
See also: The formation of Royal African Company 176–79 ■ The Slave Trade
Abolition Act 226–27 ■ The Gettysburg Address 244–47 ■ The release of
Nelson Mandela 325

312

ILGOAOMSINEGNVOTITEOTNAM

THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT (1964)

IN CONTEXT Southeast Asian nations The US fears communism
want independence is spreading across
FOCUS from colonial rule. Southeast Asia.
Intervention in
Southeast Asia After a war with France, The US increases its
Vietnam splits between military presence as a
BEFORE a communist North and a response to communist
1947 The Truman Doctrine, successes in the region.
pledging American support for US-backed South.
free peoples, guides US foreign
policy in Southeast Asia. Covert American activity culminates in a US
warship being attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1953 Cambodia wins its
independence from France. US president Johnson uses the incident to justify military
intervention in Vietnam, widening the frontiers of the Cold War.
1963 President Ngo Dinh Diem
of South Vietnam is killed in a I n the aftermath of World War II, rule came to an end in 1954,
US-backed military coup. the states of Southeast Asia Vietnam was divided at the
struggled to create stable Geneva Conference into North
AFTER political systems, and the region Vietnam, with a communist
1967 The Association of became embroiled in the Cold War government under Vietnamese
Southeast Asian Nations, between the United States and the communist revolutionary leader Ho
ASEAN, is established to Soviet Union. In few places were Chi Minh, and the US-backed South
promote stability in the region. the battle lines as sharply drawn as Vietnam. In 1960, Ho Chi Minh,
in Vietnam. After French colonial with support from communist
1973 The Paris Peace Accords
ends US combat in Vietnam,
but does not end the conflict
between North and South.

1976 The Socialist Republic
of Vietnam is proclaimed, and
Saigon is renamed Ho Chi
Minh City. Many flee abroad.

THE MODERN WORLD 313

See also: The construction of Angkor Wat 108–09 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■
The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■ The Long March 304–05

The US Navy destroyer Maddox
was sailing off the coast of North
Vietnam when it came under attack.
This incident was the spark that led
to the Vietnam War.

superpowers Russia and China, controlled much of the country, used civilians were killed, but despite
set up the National Liberation the skirmish to pass the Gulf of their technological superiority, the
Front (NLF) in South Vietnam, and Tonkin Resolution in Congress. This Americans failed to crush the Viet
started a guerrilla war to unite the allowed him to take any measures Cong guerrillas. American troops
country under communist rule. necessary to deal with threats to suffered high casualties and
US forces in Southeast Asia. gradually became demoralized.
Tensions steadily rose until 1964.
In August of that year, the US Navy US intervention The specter of communism
destroyer Maddox was operating The US feared that if Vietnam The Vietnam War was the first
off the coast of North Vietnam in became a communist regime, other televised war in US history. As
the Gulf of Tonkin, monitoring radar countries in the region would soon the public watched horrific events
and radio from northern coastal follow. Using the Gulf of Tonkin unfolding, an increasing number
installations, to support attacks Resolution, Johnson poured troops opposed the conflict. Around the
made by the South Vietnamese into the South and bombed North world, peace movements organized
navy. North Vietnam, believing the Vietnam by air. Huge numbers of large anti-war demonstrations.
Maddox was linked to raids on its
coastal targets, launched a torpedo Pol Pot’s brutal regime intended The communists’ Tet Offensive
attack. Two days later, the Maddox to style the country into a of 1968, a series of fierce attacks on
reported once again coming under classless agrarian society more than 100 cities and towns in
fire. This second attack has since inspired by Mao Zedong’s South Vietnam, crushed US hopes
been disputed, but US president Cultural Revolution in China. of an imminent end to the conflict,
Lyndon B. Johnson, recognizing that The entire population was and peace talks were initiated in
South Vietnam could not prevail on marched to the countryside and 1969. In March 1973, the last
its own against a communist-led forced to work as rice farmers. American troops withdrew from
guerrilla movement that already Over the next 44 months, around Vietnam, and in April 1975
2 million people—a quarter of South Vietnam fell to the North.
Pol Pot’s brutal regime Cambodia’s population—died,
either killed or starved. The US policy-makers consistently
During the Vietnam War, North fields where people died became misinterpreted Asian nationalist
Vietnam used Cambodia to known as the “Killing Fields”. movements for Soviet-inspired
channel soldiers and supplies After three years of terror, Pol communism. Ultimately, however,
to the South along the Ho Chi Pot was driven from power by what the US feared never came to
Minh Trail. In 1970, a joint US– a Vietnamese invasion. pass, and with the exception of Laos
South Vietnamese force invaded and Cambodia, the region remained
Cambodia to flush out the out of communist control. ■
Viet Cong. The US also heavily
bombed Cambodia. The military
destabilization in Cambodia led
to a surge of support for Pol Pot,
the leader of the Kampuchean
Communist Party, or Khmer
Rouge, a guerrilla movement
that seized power in 1975.

314

IOASFRNREOVOTOSLAEUSBTEIDON

THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION (1961)

IN CONTEXT The United States President Kennedy
is determined to inherits a CIA
FOCUS
Revolution and reaction keep communism plan to get rid of
in Latin America from the Americas. Fidel Castro.

BEFORE The Bay of Pigs
1910 The Mexican Revolution invasion is a disaster,
is the first major social and Castro emerges
revolution of the 20th century.
triumphant.
1952 The National
Revolutionary Movement The US steps up its The Cold War
(MNR) takes power in Bolivia. support of anti-communist continues to
regimes in Latin America,
1954 A military junta is dominate global
installed in Guatemala in a while the USSR backs geopolitics.
coup organized by the CIA. pro-communist
revolutionaries.
AFTER
September 11, 1973 Salvador O n April 15, 1961, a force of The next day, Castro’s air force sank
Allende, president of Chile, Cuban exiles began an two ships loaded with vital supplies.
dies during a coup led by army invasion of Cuba to try In the early hours of April 17, a
chief Augusto Pinochet. to topple Fidel Castro’s left-wing group of around 1,400 Cuban exiles,
regime and replace it with one codenamed Brigade 2506, launched
1981 The US suspends aid more open to American interests. an amphibious assault on the coast
to Nicaragua and supports Eight American B-26 bombers flew of southern Cuba, the Bay of Pigs.
fighters known as Contras, in from Nicaragua to destroy Castro’s They were driven back by Castro’s
an attempt to overthrow the air force on the ground. The air raid forces and ran out of ammunition.
left-wing Sandinistas. seemed successful, but at least six It only took three days to thwart
of Castro’s fighter planes survived. the exiles’ invasion.

See also: Bolívar establishes Gran Colombia 216–19 ■ The October Revolution THE MODERN WORLD 315
276–79 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ The Cuban Missile Crisis 308–09 ■
The military coup in Brazil 341 ■ Pinochet seizes power in Chile 341 Fidel Castro

The failure at the Bay of Pigs was To his supporters, Fidel Castro
largely down to poor planning and (b.1926) was a revolutionary
President Kennedy’s reluctance to hero who stood up to the US.
become too involved. To his detractors, he was a
dictator whose close ties with
The Bay of Pigs invasion was Pro-Cuba demonstrations the Soviet Union brought the
a disaster for the United States, Castro forged a closer alliance with world close to nuclear war.
and many anti-Castro forces were the Soviet Union, its ally against
captured during the conflict. American aggression, enabling him Jailed as a student in 1953
to export his ideals across Latin for his revolutionary activities,
Castro must go America. The invasion incited Castro was released two years
After World War II, Latin America pro-Cuba anti-US demonstrations later and went into exile in the
became a proxy battleground for from Chile to Mexico. Castro US and Mexico. He returned
two competing ideological systems: actively supported guerrilla to Cuba in 1956 with a small
capitalism and communism. The warfare, and thousands of Latin guerrilla band, among them
US was determined to eradicate American guerrillas went to Cuba the Argentine Marxist
communism and supported right- for training. The revolution in Cuba revolutionary Ernesto “Che”
wing dictators with anti-reformist inspired similar uprisings through Guevara, and set to work
regimes in countries such as Cuba, the 1960s and 70s in Nicaragua, undermining the regime of the
Honduras, and Guatemala. Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela, dictator Batista. On January 1,
where there was disaffection with 1959, he assumed absolute
During the 1950s, corruption illiteracy, inequality, and poverty. power. Castro was determined
and brutality within the Cuban to improve literacy, offered
Batista government forced a slow Latin America continued to free healthcare, and instituted
withdrawal of US support. When preoccupy US foreign policy. The land reforms.
Castro defeated Batista in 1959, US intervened several times in an
the US government had misgivings effort to contain communism. They Castro saw himself as a
over Castro’s communist leanings. supported military coups in Chile leader of the world’s oppressed
By 1960, Castro had nationalized in 1973 and Argentina in 1976 and, people and helped train
all US interests in Cuba without fearing a communist takeover, anti-Apartheid forces in South
compensation and had broken funded the El Salvadoran military Africa. In the 1970s, he sent
diplomatic ties. To protect their in the late 1970s to prop up their troops to support communist
economic assets and defeat regime. In 1983, the US invaded forces in Angola, Ethiopia,
communism, US policy-makers Grenada; and in 1989, Panama. ■ and Yemen.
decided that Castro must go.
Cuba must not In 2008, wracked by ill
Within a year of Castro be abandoned to health, Castro stood down
taking power, several counter- the communists. as president of Cuba, leaving
revolutionary groups were formed John F. Kennedy power in the hands of his
by Cuban exiles in Miami. The brother Raúl.
American Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) took an interest
in these groups, providing them
with training and equipment to
topple the Cuban government.

316

BOSULCDIALTDWTETORHRELTDHNEEW

THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION (1966)

IN CONTEXT Mao Zedong fixes on In the Great Leap
ambitious plans to Forward, all Chinese
FOCUS industrialize China. society is directed to
Maoism to capitalism
this cause.
BEFORE
1943 Mao becomes Chairman Mao launches Famine strikes, and mass
of the Communist Party of the Cultural starvation ensues. Tens of
China, which bolsters his Revolution.
image as a “strong leader.” millions die.

1945–49 A civil war between Mao’s death marks Deng Xiaoping’s adoption
Communists and Nationalists a key turning point in of capitalist ideas allows
ends with Mao’s victory. China’s post-war history.
China to move toward
1958–61 Millions die during superpower status.
Mao’s Great Leap Forward, his
attempt to modernize China. T he Cultural Revolution was opposition and transform capitalists
one of the darkest periods and intellectuals into proletarians –
AFTER in Chinese history. Since ordinary workers. He ordered the
1972 US President Richard taking power in 1949, Communist Cultural Revolution, which would
Nixon’s trip to China paves Party leader Mao Zedong had attack the “Four Olds”: old ideas, old
the way for diplomatic relations neither created his ideal China nor habits, old customs, and old culture.
between the two countries. secured his power. To bolster his Squads of young communists,
primacy and ignite revolutionary incited by Mao and known as the
1978 Deng Xiaoping becomes fervor, Mao decided to purge any Red Guards, terrorized intellectuals,
new leader and starts
economic reforms.

2015 The IMF ranks China as
the world’s largest economy,
overtaking the United States.

THE MODERN WORLD 317

See also: The Second Opium War 254–55 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ The Long March 304–05 ■ The global financial
crisis 330–33 ■ Global population exceeds 7 billion 334–39

In this propaganda poster dating Industrial output climbed with steel growth. But while he initiated new
from around the time of the Cultural and coal production, the rail network and far-reaching measures, such as
Revolution, the Red Guards are shown doubled, and more than half of all inviting foreign firms to invest in
with a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book. Chinese land was irrigated by 1961. Chinese industry and supporting
developing technologies, he
bureaucrats, and teachers. Some However, this development came also resisted pressure to make
36 million people were persecuted, at a terrible cost. Mao transformed democratic reforms.
and up to a million died in the rural China into a series of farming
turmoil, which lasted until 1976. communes in which villagers pooled By the beginning of the new
land, animals, tools, and crops. The millennium, China’s economic
The Great Leap Forward authorities took vast amounts of growth was spectacular. In 2001,
After creating the Chinese People’s grain from the communes to feed the country was admitted to the
Republic in 1949, Mao launched city workers, and this, along with World Trade Organization, and in
reforms to transform China’s semi- a series of natural disasters, led 2008 it played host to the Olympic
feudal, mostly agricultural society to famine and starvation. The Games in Beijing. Some economists
into an industrialized socialist state. consequences were staggering: an predict that by 2026 China will
In the late 1950s, in a bid to achieve estimated 45 million people died. boast a gross domestic product
rapid economic growth, Mao (GDP) greater than Japan and
ordered the Great Leap Forward. A new foreign policy Western Europe.
After the Cultural Revolution, Mao
needed American expertise to After Mao’s death, the Chinese
restore China, and the US wanted Communist Party condemned
an ally against the Soviet Union. In the Cultural Revolution as a disaster.
1972, US President Richard Nixon However, as the country experienced
traveled to Peking to meet with a period of unparalleled economic
Mao. By the time Mao died in 1976, growth, a sense of nostalgia for
China had become a major oil Mao’s ideals, focused on the people
producer with nuclear capabilities. and self-sufficiency, grew among
farmers and members of the urban
Deng Xiaoping, who led China working class. Today, Mao’s legacy
from 1978 to 1997, was willing to use continues to cast a long shadow
capitalist ideas to focus on economic over a modernizing China. ■

Mao Zedong Born in 1893 into a wealthy during the Long March, and
farming family from Hunan defeated Chiang during the
Province, Mao Zedong was the civil war of 1945–49.
leader of Communist China from
1949 until his death in 1976. A devoted Leninist, Mao
While working as a librarian at became disenchanted with
Peking University, he became a the Soviet policy of “peaceful
communist and helped found the coexistence” toward the
Communist Party in 1921. Six years West and developed Maoism,
later, after leading an unsuccessful a stronger form of communism.
rebellion against nationalist leader However, his radical ideas and
Chiang Kai-shek, Mao was forced experiments with collectivization
to retreat to the countryside, led to the death and suffering
where he proclaimed the Chinese of millions. One of his last acts,
Soviet Republic in 1931. He took in 1972, was to hold a meeting
control of the Communist Party in with Richard Nixon, the first
1935, after proving his leadership American president ever to
visit China.

318 IN CONTEXT

ESSWWWVHTIIEIRATTLSEHHLWNLHOAGAIMGUTLTGREHLHREBEDTEALVESNAOIFSLGDOEIGNODWRDNAEEINASTNDSDION FOCUS
Modern Middle East
THE SUEZ CRISIS (1956)
BEFORE
1945 Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon,
Syria, Saudi Arabia, northern
Yemen, and Transjordan form
the Arab League.

1948 Israel is established in
former Palestine, dividing
Arabs and Jews.

1952 A military coup removes
Egypt’s King Farouk from
power. Colonel Gamal Nasser
seizes control two years later.

AFTER
1964 The Palestine Liberation
Organization calls for an end to
the Jewish state.

1993 The Oslo Accords
provide for mutual recognition
between the PLO and Israel.

2011 Protestors across Arab
states demand reforms in
a series of popular uprisings.

O n July 26, 1956, Egyptian
leader, Colonel Gamal
Abdel Nasser, addressed
a crowd in the city of Alexandria,
declaring the nationalization of the
Suez Canal, the waterway through
which most oil bound for Western
Europe had to pass. For Egyptians,
the nationalization symbolized the
liberation of their country from the
British imperialist dominance it
had been under since the 1880s. In
response to Nasser’s bold move, a
secret plan was hatched by Britain,
France, and Israel. France was eager
for Nasser’s downfall because of
his support for Algerian insurgents
against French colonial rule in
Algeria. Israel had many reasons for

THE MODERN WORLD 319

See also: The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35 ■ The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■
The establishment of Israel 302–03 ■ The 9/11 attacks 327 ■ The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 341 ■ The Iranian
Revolution 341 ■ The USA and Britain invade Iraq 341

President Nasser of Egypt the region. Colonialism in the 1800s Ambitious plans
announces the nationalization of the and the division of the Ottoman Egypt continued its stance of
Suez Canal to a quarter-million-strong Empire after World War I were bitter belligerence toward Israel by
gathering in Alexandria celebrating humiliations for peoples who felt closing the Suez Canal to Israeli
four years since the revolution. their religion, Islam, was the highest shipping. When Nasser ousted
form of divine revelation. In 1948, the regime of King Farouk in
toppling Nasser, including Egypt’s the partition of Palestine to form 1954 and sent him into exile, he
denial of passage through the canal Israel spilt the land into two states, imported arms from the Soviet
to any Israeli-flagged ships. The one Arab and one Jewish, and was Union to build his arsenal for
three conspired that Israel would rejected vehemently by Israeli Arabs future confrontations with Israel.
attack Egypt, and Britain and and enraged the other Arab nations. Britain had agreed to withdraw its
France would intervene a few days The regular armies of the Arab troops from the Suez area by June
later posing as peacemakers, taking states—including Iraq, Lebanon, 1856, but as the last troops left
control of the canal. On October 29, Syria, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nasser relied on funds from
1956, the Israelis began their Yemen, and Egypt—attacked Israel Britain and the US to fund
assault. British and French troops in the first Arab–Israeli War in May ambitious plans to develop Egypt.
invaded on October 31, but faced and June 1948. The war ended in This included the Aswan Dam
immediate diplomatic pressure to defeat for the Arabs and disaster for project on the Nile. Nasser was
call a ceasefire. The United States, the Palestinians: more than half of angered when Britain and the
which was trying to cultivate the country’s Arabs were uprooted United States withdrew its offer of
good relations with Arab states, as refugees, and they lost any loans to help him pay for the dam.
was appalled by the Anglo-French possibility of a state of their own. The US and Britain backed out ❯❯
invasion, believing it threatened
the stability of the whole region. Israel is founded There is a rise in
President Dwight Eisenhower in Palestine. Arab nationalism.
forced through a United Nations
resolution imposing a ceasefire, and The Suez Crisis deals a blow to British and
British and French troops had to French imperialism and stirs anti-Western
conduct a humiliating withdrawal.
sentiments in the Muslim world.

The Israeli–Arab The United States There is an
dispute widens to becomes the increase in
main backer Palestinian
become an of Israel. liberation
Israeli–Arab movements.

conflict.

Splitting the land Chaos and violence grip the Middle East.
The strong anti-Western sentiment
in the Middle East dates back
hundreds of years, fueled by the
West’s increased involvement in

320 THE SUEZ CRISIS

because of Nasser’s association Palestine Liberation Army (PLO) During the First Gulf War, Iraqi
with the Soviets and his unceasing and of other Palestinian groups forces set fire to more than 600 Kuwaiti
diatribes against the West. Nasser attacking Israel, however, as well oil wells. Saddam Hussein’s desire to
felt insulted and immediately as Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in control Kuwaiti oilfields had initially
nationalized the Suez Canal. The 1982, where many of the PLO were led to Iraq invading Kuwait in 1990.
move was popular in Egypt, as the grouped, destabilized of the fragile
canal was a source of Arab pride. peace continuously. provided billions of dollars in loans.
Ultimately, Iran was defeated; and
Nasser was a secular modernizer The Iran–Iraq War Iraq, now awash with armaments
who advocated the separation of Like many countries in the Middle supplied by several Western nations,
religion from political life, believing East, modern Iraq was carved out of including Britain, France, and the
it the hallmark of Arab modernity, the ruins of the Ottoman Empire in United States, invaded the oil-rich
but this was not universally the aftermath of World War I. Iraq state of Kuwait in 1990. The UN
welcomed. The Muslim Brotherhood, was a land divided along ethnic demanded their withdrawal, but
founded in Egypt in 1928, argued lines between Arabs and Kurds, Saddam announced that Kuwait had
for Islam to have a central role in as well as sectarian lines between been annexed by Iraq. The United
government. After repeated calls Sunni and Shia Muslims, the latter States, with support from coalition
for the application of Sharia law—a being the majority group. Saddam forces, sent in troops during the
legal system based on Islam—and Hussein, a Sunni, became leader in First Gulf War (1990–91) and toppled
an assassination attempt against 1979, and suppressed ethnic Kurds Saddam from power.
Nasser, the organization was finally and Shias alike using immense
banned in 1954. brutality. He, like Nasser in Egypt, The 9/11 attacks
espoused Arab nationalism and The continued US support of Israel
In 1967, Arab countries suffered ruled Iraq as a secular state. led to profound grievances among
a crushing defeat at the hands Islamists. To them, the capitalist,
of Israel in the Six Day War, in which In 1979, events in Iran inspired secular US, with its greed for oil,
Israel took the Sinai from Egypt, the Islamists throughout the Middle symbolized all that was wrong with
Golan Heights from Syria, and the East. The secular, Western way of the West, and terrorist strikes on US
West Bank and East Jerusalem from life was swept away in an Islamic targets grew. Al-Qaeda carried out
Jordan, meaning Israel was now an revolution in which the US-backed the most shocking on September 11,
occupier. In the 1970s and 80s, the Shah was ousted. The new regime, 2001, against four targets in the
Arab–Israeli conflict largely moved under Ayatollah Khomeini, a Shia United States, including the World
in the direction of peace: in 1979 Muslim, based its laws and ideology Trade Center in New York City.
the Israeli–Egypt peace deal ended on the strict teachings of the Koran.
30 years of war. The rise of the Saddam felt threatened by the In response to the 9/11 attacks,
Islamic revolution and a possible a successful US-led international
US President Jimmy Carter (center) Shia uprising in his own country, so intervention brought down the
looks on as President Anwar Sadat he invaded Iran on September  22, Taliban regime in Afghanistan,
of Egypt shakes hands with Menachem 1980 under the pretext of a territorial which the US believed had given
Begin, Israel’s premier, after signing a dispute over the Shatt al-Arab, a sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and
peace treaty at the White House in 1979. waterway that lies between the
two countries.

The invasion triggered a bruising
eight-year war that devastated both
countries and increased tensions
in the Middle East. Iran’s principal
ally was Syria, but Libya, China, and
North Korea all also sent it weapons.
Iraq’s support came mostly from
the Arab Gulf states, which viewed
Iran as the greater danger to their
security; Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

THE MODERN WORLD 321

We shall not be satisfied 2010 when a street vendor set country descended into civil war.
except by the final obliteration himself on fire in a protest against By August 2015, the United Nations
police brutality. Protestors reported that more than 210,000
of Israel from the map of throughout Tunisia demanded people had been killed in the
the Middle East. democracy, and President Zine el conflict. Capitalizing on the chaos
Abidine fled the country on 14 in the region, so-called Islamic
Muhammad Salah al-Din January. Disorder spread from State (also referred to as IS, ISIS, or
Tunisia to Algeria, where there ISIL), the extremist Muslim group
Egyptian foreign minister (1954) was unrest over lack of jobs. that replaced al-Qaeda, took control
of huge swathes of territory across
al-Qaeda. After September 11, On January 25, thousands of northern and eastern Syria, as well
President Bush declared a “War protestors took to the streets in as neighboring Iraq.
on Terror” and, in 2002, with help Egypt, and after 18 days of protests
from the British government, there, President Hosni Mubarak Middle East instability
attacked Iraq on the premise of resigned. By mid-February, civil The Suez Crisis was the end of
destroying “weapons of mass unrest had swept through Bahrain, one era in the politics of the
destruction” (WMDs) deemed a where it was brutally suppressed, Middle East and the start of
threat to national security. Western and into Libya. Muammar Gaddafi’s another. It marked the humiliating
intervention in the Muslim world violent response to the dissidents end of imperial influence for two
heightened the belief among led to civil war. An international European countries, Britain and
Islamists that the West was the coalition led by NATO launched a France, whose role was soon
enemy of Islam. campaign of air strikes targeting taken over by the US. It stimulated
Gaddafi’s forces, and he was killed Arab nationalism and opened an
The Arab Spring in October 2011. era of Arab-Israeli wars and
The 9/11 attacks were inspired by Palestinian terrorism.
a radical ideology and belief that Further uprisings occurred in
the fundamental problems plaguing Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, In modern times, the Middle
Arab and Muslim people could but the worst violence against East has never seemed so unstable.
be resolved by attacking foreign civilians was seen in Syria, where Wars are being fought over religion,
powers that were seen to oppress President Bashar Assad promised ethnicity, territory, politics, and
Islam. In 2011, young Arabs— reforms but used force to crush commerce, and these conflicts have
looking inward to promote change the dissent—a move that merely led to the worst refugee crisis since
and blaming their own leaders for hardened the protestors’ resolve. In World War II, with millions fleeing
decades of political, economic, and July 2011, hundreds of thousands of anarchy and fanaticism. ■
cultural decline—were at the heart people took to the streets, and the
of uprisings across the Arab world.
At its core, what became known Terrorism in the Middle East
as the Arab Spring was a new
generation’s attempt to change the Since the mid-20th century, group linked to the PLO hit the
state order. An extraordinary series terrorism has been synonymous Israeli Olympic team during the
of pro-democracy uprisings, the with the Middle East. The games in Munich, Germany.
Arab Spring caused huge upheavals Israel–Palestine conflict is one
in the Middle East and North Africa. of the world’s most challenging. In 1983, Hezbollah, an Iran-
It started in Tunisia on December 17, backed fundamentalist Shiite
In 1964, Arab leaders Muslim group in Lebanon, blew
formed the Palestine Liberation up the Beirut barracks of both
Organization (PLO), declaring US Marine and French forces,
Israel’s establishment illegal. killing 298 people. Hezbollah
The PLO used terrorism to attack pioneered the use of suicide
Israel and Western targets for bombers in the Middle East.
their support of Israel. In 1970,
Palestinian militants blew up Both Jews and Muslims have
three hijacked planes in the employed terrorism to derail the
Jordanian desert, and in 1972 a many attempts that have been
made at peace in the region.

322

SCTHWUERETIPRATIONANSISIDE

THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL (1989)

IN CONTEXT Gorbachev is elected president of the USSR. He introduces
radical political and economic reforms.
FOCUS
Collapse of communism This process of Gorbachev has no
democratization reduces intention of using military
BEFORE
August 1989 After 45 years, Cold War tensions. force to prop up satellite
Poland sees the end of communist regimes.
communist rule. Solidarity,
a trade union, forms a new Uprisings take place across Eastern Europe,
non-communist government. and communist regimes are ousted.

August 23, 1989 Two million The Berlin Wall is dismantled, followed soon
people form a human chain after by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
across Estonia, Lithuania, and
Latvia in protest at Soviet rule. F or decades, the Berlin of people began converging at
Wall, which separated the wall. East German border
September 11, 1989 East and West Berlin, guards yielded in the face of
Hungary opens its border with stood as a reminder of the Cold ecstatic crowds. On November 10,
Austria to allow the departure War, the bitter division between in extraordinary scenes, soldiers
of East German refugees. Soviet communism and Western from both sides helped Berliners
capitalism. On November 9, 1989, break through the wall. Over the
AFTER the East German government lifted next two days, more than 3 million
December 3, 1989 The US travel restrictions, and thousands people crossed the border.
and USSR jointly declare that
the Cold War has ended.

October 3, 1990 Germany
is reunified.

December 1991 The Soviet
Union disintegrates into
15 separate states.

THE MODERN WORLD 323

See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■ The Berlin
Airlift 296–97 ■ The Long March 304–05 ■ The Cuban Missile Crisis 308–09 ■ The launch of Sputnik 310 ■
The Red Army Faction’s terrorist activity 341

The fall of the Berlin Wall meant
liberation for many people. German
reunification, the collapse of the Soviet
Union, and the end of communism in
Eastern Europe followed soon after.

Ruling the Eastern Bloc Aiming for warmer relations with banned trade union, was elected to
At the end of World War II, the USSR the West, he set out new reforms: lead a coalition government. As the
had banned anti-communist parties glasnost (political “openness”) push for reform gathered pace, the
in every Eastern European country, and perestroika (liberal economic East German government declared
and created a bloc of satellite states “restructuring”). Critically, he lifted that its citizens would be able to
under Soviet leadership, ruthlessly the ban on Eastern Bloc countries visit West Berlin through any border
suppressing any opposition. In reforming their political systems. crossing, including the Berlin Wall.
the fall of 1956, Hungary rose
against its communist government, Collapse of communism The fall of the Berlin Wall was
only to be crushed by Soviet tanks, With the threat of Soviet military a momentous event. It marked an
and in 1968, the USSR invaded intervention removed, citizens in all era that saw the end of the Cold
Czechoslovakia to remove a Eastern Bloc countries protested to War and the dissolution of the
government it found too liberal. end communist rule. In June 1989, Soviet Union. It allowed millions to
Poland’s Solidarity, originally a travel more freely, and previously
In the 1960s, Germany was still stifled economies across Eastern
divided between East and West, Europe and the Former Soviet
and its former capital Berlin split Union opened up to the world.
into the Allied-operated West and Many former communist countries
the Soviet-controlled East. Each had were welcomed into NATO and
its own German administration: joined the European Union.
democratic in the West, communist
in the East. Thousands of East The world changed course in
Germans escaped to the West, 1989. Communism was dead in
and the country hemorrhaged the East, and a reunified Germany
its skilled workers. On August 13, was about to take its place at the
1961, the government sealed off heart of Europe. ■
East from West Berlin with a fence,
which, over time, became a heavily The break-up of the Soviet Union
fortified barrier dividing the city,
the nation, and family and friends. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev month later, with Gorbachev
became leader of a stagnating weakened by an attempted coup
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Union. He laid out by hardline communists, Yeltsin
was appointed as General Secretary radical reforms—glasnost and took advantage. He banned the
of the Soviet Communist Party. perestroika—and in July 1989 Communist Party in Russia and
he announced that countries met secretly with the leaders
within the Warsaw Pact could of Ukraine and Belarus, who
hold openly contested elections. agreed to secede from the
Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, and Soviet Union. On Christmas
others opted for democratic Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned,
governments, destabilizing the leaving Yeltsin as president
Soviet Union itself. of the new Russian state. The
former empire split into 15 new
In July 1991, the anti- independent states, and the
communist Boris Yeltsin was USSR was no more.
elected president of Russia. A

324

TAHLLE PPOEOWPELRETO

THE 1968 PROTESTS

IN CONTEXT I n 1968, a small demonstration equality; and the German Student
over poor campus facilities at Movement, led by Rudi Dutschke,
FOCUS Nanterre University in a suburb opposed the older generation, who
Radical post-war politics of Paris, France, spread across the had been part of World War II.
country. In March, riot police were
BEFORE called to deal with the unrest, and The French protests lost steam
1963 The Feminine Mystique hundreds of students descended on as elections showed overwhelming
by Betty Friedan reignites the Nanterre. By May, the uprising had support for the government. The
women’s rights movement. moved to the center of Paris, and revolutionary movements of 1968
the number of protestors swelled to ultimately failed, but they inspired a
1967 The killing in Berlin of thousands. Tension erupted on the generation to question authority. In
student demonstrator Benno streets, as demonstrators called for their wake came a rise in left-wing
Ohnesorg sparks a revolt. revolutionary social change and the terrorist groups that used bombing
collapse of the government. Within and kidnapping while purporting
March 1968 Demonstrators a few days, 8 million workers went to fight for social justice. ■
in Italy protest against police on a wildcat strike that brought
brutality. France to a standstill.

AFTER A momentous year What’s important is that
1969 The Days of Rage France’s journey to near revolution the action took place,
demonstrations in Chicago use is the defining event of 1968, a year
violence to protest against the of global protest. Much was against when everybody judged
Vietnam War and US racism. the Vietnam War, but many people it to be unthinkable.
also marched against oppressive Jean-Paul Sartre
1970s The radical group regimes. Politics became more
Japanese Red Army protests radical: the “coming out” of sexual
the presence of US military minorities, women’s liberation, and
bases in Japan. sexual equality came to the fore. In
the United States, groups such as
1978 The Italian Red Brigades the Black Panthers fought for racial
take former prime minister
Aldo Moro hostage as part See also: Nkrumah wins Ghanaian independence 306–07 ■ The March on
of their left-wing terrorist Washington 311 ■ The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 312–13 ■ De Gaulle founds
campaign. the French Fifth Republic 340 ■ The Red Army Faction’s terrorist activity 341

THE MODERN WORLD 325

NAAGNEVDAEINNREVNEERVER

THE RELEASE OF NELSON MANDELA (1990)

IN CONTEXT N elson Mandela received a When the Nationalist Party was
life prison sentence in 1964 elected to power in 1948, white
FOCUS for his role in anti-apartheid Afrikaners implemented a brutal
End of apartheid protests held in Sharpeville, South apartheid policy—black people
Africa. Mandela was a militant were segregated and could not
BEFORE member of the African National vote. Many in the anti-apartheid
1948 The National Party (NP) Congress (ANC), set up to campaign movement advocated non-violent
takes power, adopting a policy against apartheid, a system of racial protest, which helped rally white
of apartheid (separateness). segregation enforced by the white South Africans to their cause.
ruling government. While in prison, Apartheid was globally condemned,
1960 Seventy black protesters Mandela had become a symbol of and tough international sanctions
are killed at Sharpeville; the the struggle for racial equality. On were imposed.
African National Congress his release in 1990, he was greeted
(ANC) is banned. with euphoria. A new dawn
In 1990, President F. W. De Klerk
1961 South Africa is declared Friends, comrades, and astounded the world by lifting bans
a republic and leaves the fellow South Africans, I greet on the ANC. Seeing the need for
Commonwealth. Mandela you all in the name of peace, fundamental change, he had been
heads the ANC’s military wing. democracy, and freedom for all. in secret negotiations for two years
to end the apartheid system.
AFTER Nelson Mandela
1991 F. W. De Klerk repeals Multiracial elections were
apartheid laws; international held in 1994, and Mandela won
sanctions are lifted. by a huge margin. His release
was one of the defining moments
1994 With the first democratic of the late 20th century, ending
elections, South Africa joins 300 years of white rule in South
the UN General Assembly. Africa. It transformed the country
into a multiracial democracy
1996 The Truth and without the bloody civil war that
Reconciliation Commission so many had feared. ■
begins hearings on human
rights crimes committed in See also: The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 ■ The Berlin Conference 258–59 ■
the apartheid era. Nkrumah wins Ghanaian independence 306–07 ■ The March on Washington 311

326

IHCSSNOIURSTPREUEEAVCATIOTUVEIFAROALIFNTNUOYOURRWFNTLHBTIITOFEEHREATARNLAOBLE

THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO (1992–1996)

IN CONTEXT T he Siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia also declared independence
Bosnia, was one of the in 1992, the violence intensified.
FOCUS most appalling tragedies Bosnian Serbs aimed to create
Conflicts since the collapse in Yugoslavia’s civil war (1991– a separate ethnically pure Serbian
of the USSR 2002). During the 44-month siege, state, the Republika Srpska,
the city’s food and electricity carving it from the new Republic
BEFORE supplies were cut off, and the of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nationalist
November 9, 1989 The Berlin civilian population was bombarded Bosnian Serbs, supported by
Wall collapses, leading to the by nationalist Bosnian Serbs. neighboring Serbia, launched a
reunification of Germany. Thousands of Bosnian Muslims campaign to expel non-Serbs, and
were targeted and murdered. during the Siege of Sarajevo, they
1989 Romania overthrows the targeted the majority Bosnian
ruthless regime of Nicolae A new wave of nationalism Muslim population.
Ceaus¸ escu. Yugoslavia was comprised of
six socialist republics: Croatia, The Bosnian War ended in 1995,
1990 In Poland, Hungary, and Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and but fighting continued in Kosovo,
Czechoslovakia, newly formed Herzegovina, Macedonia, and where ethnic Albanians began a
center-right parties take power. Serbia, each with its own prime separatist movement against the
minister and constitution. Overall Serbs. Ethnically based nationalism
1992–95 The war in Bosnia- power in Yugoslavia was held by a also led to bloody anti-Armenian
Herzegovina results in the president, notably communist leader pogroms in the Nagorno-Karabakh
death of some 100,000 people. Josip Broz Tito from 1953 to 1980. region and in Baku, the capital of
Azerbaijan. In Georgia, violence
AFTER After the 1991 break-up of the erupted between the Georgian and
1998–99 War breaks out Soviet Union, a nationalist revival Abkhazian population.
in Kosovo between ethnic swept Eastern Europe. Croatia and
Albanians and ethnic Serbs. Slovenia’s call for independence was The wars in Yugoslavia forced
NATO troops intervene. opposed by Serbia, and Vukovar, in the issue of the global community’s
eastern Croatia, was destroyed by responsibility to resolve disputes
2014 Fighting erupts between the Yugoslav army under Serbian that threaten wider instability
Russians and Ukrainians in leader Slobodan Milosevic. When or cause unacceptable human
eastern Ukraine. suffering or rights violations. ■

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

THE MODERN WORLD 327

LCCTIOIAFTMDEIZAEEYOUNUONSRUDRVOEERUFRREAYLTWLFTOARAYWCEEKODFOM

THE 9/11 ATTACKS (2001)

IN CONTEXT O n September 11, 2001, a We love death more
group of Islamic extremists than you love life.
FOCUS launched a devastating al-Qaeda motto
Rise of Islamic radicalism attack against the US. Two hijacked
airliners crashed into the World
BEFORE Trade Center in New York; another
1979 The Islamic Revolution of hit the Pentagon, in Washington,
Iran replaces the pro-Western DC; and a fourth plane crashed
shah with Shia Muslim cleric in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000
Ayatollah Khomeini. people were killed.

1989 As Soviet troops leave The seeds of extremism The civil war in Syria since 2011
Afghanistan, Saudi millionaire September 11 was not the first terror and the power vacuum left by the
Osama bin Laden forms attack on American soil by Islamic departure of US forces in Iraq has
al-Qaeda to fight a new extremists. On February 26, 1993, a led to the emergence of ISIS, the
jihad (struggle). bomb was detonated at the World so-called Islamic State of Iraq and
Trade Center by men thought to Syria, which has taken control of
February 26, 1993 Al-Qaeda have links to al-Qaeda, a militant several towns in the region.
makes its ambitions clear with Islamist organization. Some
an audacious attack on the Muslims had been radicalized and The events of September 11
World Trade Center, New York. adopted international terrorism mark the largest terrorist attack
during the struggles over Israel. ever on US soil. Subsequent
AFTER In 1979, the Soviet invasion of attacks in London, Madrid, and
2004 Al-Qaeda urges Sunni Afghanistan led to the worldwide Paris, carried out by a diffuse
Muslims to rise up against US mobilization of Muslim militants to network of regional terrorist
forces in Iraq. Bombings by fight the invaders. Around that time, groups, have added a chilling
Islamic extremists in Madrid, Osama Bin Laden formed al-Qaeda. dimension to the threat of
Spain, kill 190 people. Intelligence reports suggested that Islamic terrorism. ■
he was the mastermind behind
February 2014 Terrorist September 11. He was killed in 2011.
group ISIS aims to create an
Islamic caliphate that covers See also: The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■ The establishment of
Iraq and Syria and spreads Israel 302–03 ■ The Suez Crisis 318–21
its influence worldwide.

328

WYYOOOUURBALFRDFOBEWYCSTWETHHAET

THE LAUNCH OF THE FIRST WEBSITE (1991)

IN CONTEXT The US military sets up The ARPANET grows
the Advanced Research and develops to become
FOCUS
Communication Projects Agency the Internet.
and computing Network (ARPANET).

BEFORE The first website is launched to help
1943–44 John Mauchly and users navigate the Internet.
J. Presper Eckert build the
Electronic Numerical Integrator The Web becomes a global telecommunications tool
and Calculator (ENIAC), the used by millions.
forebear of digital computers.
The Internet radically changes how the world
1947 The transistor allows for shares information and conducts business.
small, powerful electronics,
enabling later developments T he first website was titled Berners-Lee was interested in
such as the home computer. “World Wide Web” and gave facilitating the exchange of ideas
basic information about the between scientists in universities
1962 The Telstar 1 satellite is World Wide Web project and how and research institutes, and he first
launched, sending TV signals, to create Web pages. It was built proposed his idea for a worldwide
telephone calls, and fax by Tim Berners-Lee, a British network of computers sharing
images through space. computer scientist at the European information in 1989. His site went
Organization for Nuclear Research live in 1991 and was accessed by
1980s The first mobile phones (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. a small group of fellow CERN
come onto the market.

AFTER
2000s The boom in wireless
communication connects
nearly all of humankind.

2003 The invention of Skype
allows for free communication
over the Internet.

THE MODERN WORLD 329

See also: The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 ■ Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species 236–37 ■
The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■ The launch of Sputnik 310

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, creator of more general use. Mosaic could The future is now
the World Wide Web, was fascinated show pictures as well as text, Nowhere has the introduction of
by computers from a young age. and users could follow Web links microchip technology had more
Today, he is an advocate for an open simply by clicking on them with impact than the introduction of the
and free Internet. a mouse. The Web became Apple iPhone in 2007. So-called
synonymous with the Internet, but smartphones have made the
researchers. Crucially, Berners-Lee they are distinct from one another. Internet a mobile resource, with
persuaded CERN that the World The World Wide Web facilitated wireless connectivity offering
Wide Web should be given to the navigation of the Internet and on-the-go access to news and
world as a free resource. helped make the Internet such an satellite navigation, for example.
effective mode of communication. Information and ideas can be
Although it revolutionized the shared from anywhere at the touch
computer and communications The computing revolution of a button via social-networking
world like nothing before, the World The introduction in 1981 of IBM’s sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Wide Web was only possible by 5150 personal computer drove a Smartphones have also had an
bringing together several existing revolution in home and office impact on education, healthcare,
technologies: the telephone, computing. Smaller and cheaper and culture, and have changed the
television, radio, and Internet. than the large office computers, it political landscape through use
and its successors had access to the by protestors organizing rallies via
The Internet Internet and email. With personal social media to undermine regimes.
The Soviet Union’s launch of the computers, the Internet saw huge Uprisings such as the Arab Spring,
Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 spurred growth. The first search engines which began in 2010, were partly
the US Defense Department to began to appear in the early 1990s; powered by activists who
consider means of communication Google, which is now almost communicated across the Internet.
after a nuclear attack. This led to synonymous with Web searches, Internet activism, or “clicktivism,”
the formation of the ARPANET arrived a little later, in 1997. The has since become a powerful way
(Advanced Research Projects launch of online marketplace to share ideas, raise awareness, or
Agency Network) in 1969, a system Amazon in 1994 revolutionized the support a cause. With more than
initially of four computers. In the way people shopped, allowing the 3 billion users, the World Wide Web
mid-1980s, this growing network of purchase of everything from books has transformed every aspect of
interconnected computers became and CDs to hotel rooms and airline modern daily life. ■
known as the Internet. Both the tickets from the comfort of home.
Internet and the World Wide Web The information highway
were limited to academic and The Internet brought about will transform our
research organizations. significant changes to the way
businesses operated; globalization culture as dramatically
It wasn’t until the 1993 launch of escalated, and the world seemed as Gutenberg’s press
a user-friendly Web browser called to become a much smaller place, did the Middle Ages.
Mosaic that the Web took off for with communication improved
by the speed and efficiency of the Bill Gates
Internet. Jobs were outsourced,
and companies effectively became
“nationless,” since it was easier to
operate from anywhere in the world.

The next wave of technological
advances saw devices become
smaller and more mobile due to
electronic components on tiny
integrated circuits, or “chips.”

330 IN CONTEXT

FBBMOCAIREFLONCGOORAARASUMTNINSEGGCEIHATIISRNATGOILWCETTCASHHHMOYEHEILACSALWRHTSAKEOPEMRSTLESD’S FOCUS
Globalization and
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS (2008) inequality

BEFORE
1929 The Wall Street Crash
leads to the Great Depression,
the worst economic crisis of
the 20th century.

1944 Delegates of 44 countries
meet at Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire, to reshape the
global financial system.

1975 France, Italy, Germany,
Japan, Britain, and the US
form the Group of Six (G6) to
foster international trade.

1997–98 The Asian financial
crisis, starting in Indonesia and
spreading around the world, is
a precursor to events in 2008.

AFTER
2015 World leaders pledge
to eradicate world poverty
by 2030.

T he turn of the 21st century
brought troubling signs
of a worldwide recession.
Low interest rates and unregulated
credit had induced more and more
people to get into unsustainable
debts. Bankers, particularly in the
US, offered mortgages to customers
with a poor credit history. These
mortgages were called “subprime
mortgages”. It was hoped that if
people could not keep up with their
mortgage payments, their houses
could be repossessed and sold at a
profit, but this depended on house
prices rising. In 2007, interest rates
crept up, and house prices fell.
People began defaulting on their
monthly repayments. Across the US,

THE MODERN WORLD 331

See also: The Wall Street Crash 282–83 ■ The 1968 protests 324 ■ The launch of the first website 328–29 ■
Global population exceeds 7 billion 334–339

Many countries enjoy Subprime mortgages Complex financial
historically low in the US are considered instruments mask debt
interest rates. levels incurred by banks.
a safe investment.

The world is plunged The interlinking Mortgage defaults
into the worst recession of financial soar. Banks and financial
institutions risk collapse.
since the Great markets leads to
Depression. a global crisis.

houses were repossessed at a great in the subprime mortgages market, spent less. Ireland became
loss, with bankers fearing they was forced to file for bankruptcy. the first European country to
would not get their money back. The US government considered fall into recession, a period of
Lehman Brothers too insolvent economic decline. Iceland’s
The crisis spreads to Europe and did not bail it out. government resigned in October
In August 2007, the French bank 2008 after the country became
Paribas revealed that it was at The turmoil in financial markets almost bankrupt. Some
risk from the subprime mortgage led to a severe economic downturn governments—such as those
market. Bankers had gambled with in most Western economies. Share in the US, China, Brazil, and
trillions of dollars of investment on prices plummeted, and world trade Argentina—planned stimulus ❯❯
risky mortgages that might now be decreased because governments
worthless. Panic set in, and banks
stopped lending to one another.
British bank Northern Rock faced
a shortage of readily available cash,
and was forced to ask the British
government for an emergency loan.

Around the world, shares began
to plummet. In September 2008,
US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac were rescued
by the American government,
while Lehman Brothers, a powerful
investment bank heavily involved

Lehman Brothers, an investment
bank with a long history of trading,
filed for bankruptcy on September
15, 2008, after getting involved in the
failing subprime mortgage market.

332 THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

The oil crisis that struck Western
countries in 1973–74 was the result
of the Yom Kippur War. Fuel rationing
in the US led to scenes such as this,
with motorists getting stranded.

packages to boost their economies. and a stable dollar. In 1944, the The role of oil
They increased government International Monetary Fund (IMF) By the 1970s, the world was divided
spending and decreased taxes. was formed to foster the revival of between rich industrial countries
Others, especially in Europe, global trade. The US’s strong post- and poor developing nations, and oil
opted for austerity, freezing public war economy and the Marshall had become increasingly important.
spending, and increasing taxes. Plan of 1947, a US-led initiative to In 1960, the Organization of Arab
Protests and strikes swept through aid Western countries, invigorated Petroleum Exporting Countries
Europe in response to these world trade through encouraging (OAPEC), including Saudi Arabia,
measures. Portugal, Spain, and capitalism and the free exchange Egypt, Iraq, and Iran, was founded.
Greece came under pressure from of goods between nations. Signed As oil reserves in other countries
the European Union (EU) to lower in 1947, the General Agreement on dwindled, the states around the
their debts. The EU spent billions Tariffs and Trade (GATT) dictated Persian Gulf, where this resource
propping up weak economies in an that tariffs be removed to open up had remained plentiful, became
attempt to keep the Eurozone, and markets around the world. dominant. In October 1973, when
the euro, viable. But the effect of the Egypt and Syria invaded Israel
economic crisis was devastating, The Asian tiger during the Yom Kippur War, OAPEC
and many people lost their homes Japan, meanwhile, saw massive embargoed oil to any country
and jobs. It was the worst economic economic growth. The Japanese helping Israel, and prices tripled.
downturn since World War II. government implemented reforms Without oil, industrial output
based on efficiency and restricted dropped. The United States
Post-war economy foreign imports. They did not introduced strict fuel rationing,
After World War II, most of Europe, sign up to the GATT agreement which ended in March 1974, when
Japan, China, and the Soviet Union, until 1955. Japan invested in its the oil embargo was lifted.
all devastated by war, needed coal and steel industries, as well as
time to recover. The US, which shipbuilding and car manufacturing. A new economic model
had experienced a huge rise in In the 1960s, Japan specialized in The oil crisis in the mid-1970s led
manufacturing for the war effort high-tech products such as cameras to a deep global recession, soaring
and was spared destruction, and computer chips. Countries such inflation, and high unemployment.
continued manufacturing at as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, In response, a new “neo-liberal”
higher levels than ever before and and Malaysia experienced similar economic policy was adopted,
dominated the world economy. growth with an emphasis on transferring control of economic
The post-war economic planners electronics and technology. These factors from the public to the
sought a new economic order successes became collectively private sector. Welfare programs
based on industrial strength known as “Asian tiger economics.” were perceived to be one cause of
economic failures, and there were
drastic cutbacks. Deregulation
became the driving force behind
world economics, sweeping away
many governmental controls and
freeing up organizations to trade
across a wider range of territories.
The need for this was particularly
felt in the United States, which
faced stiff competition from a
world now fully rebuilt from the

THE MODERN WORLD 333

September and October their barriers to trade and embarked individuals and, thus, increased
of 2008 was the worst on economic reform, leading to a inequality. Some countries have also
financial crisis in global dramatic improvement in living remained extremely poor—areas of
history, including the standards. As East and West sub-Saharan Africa, for example
Germany reunited in 1989, after the have fared badly and been left
Great Depression. fall of the Berlin Wall, the European behind, in debt to wealthier nations.
Ben Bernanke Union (EU), an economic union of
28 European countries, emerged as Economic recessions have
Former head of the Federal Reserve a major force in the world economy. occurred throughout history, but the
Also in the 1980s, China opened financial crisis of 2008–11 was the
destruction of World War II. Some of up to foreign trade, and huge sums worst—at least since the Great
the rigid laws and regulations that of foreign investment poured in, Depression of 1929—and maybe
had been put in place to protect leading to extraordinary growth. the worst ever. Many felt it was
consumers were now considered to an avoidable disaster caused by
be interfering with free enterprise. Global economy widespread failures in government
The world economy is now far more regulation and heedless risk-taking
The global push for deregulation open. Internet use allows people to by investment bankers. Only
resulted in the adoption of new order goods in one part of the world massive monetary and fiscal stimuli
markets, greater competition, and and have them delivered elsewhere prevented catastrophe. Household
openness, especially as the world within a matter of days. World trade and business debts remained high,
adapted to the end of the Cold War is made up of global partnerships, and there was widespread fury
and the collapse of the Soviet Union. with multinational companies that directed at bankers, whom many felt
The example set in east Asia boast huge turnovers. Across the had survived relatively unscathed.
influenced policy makers in other globe, people tend to migrate to Austerity measures provoked civil
Asian countries, such as India and cities to find work, resulting in unrest. Demonstrations were held
China. Mexico and Brazil lowered an increase in urbanization. against capitalism; the Occupy
Movement spread, with tens of
One complaint that is often thousands marching in New York,
aimed at globalization is that some London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome,
companies exploit cheap labor and Sydney, and Hong Kong. While
behave unethically in their bid for financiers argued over the causes of
profit. Another is that globalization the Global Recession, the impact
has contributed to the extraordinary on the lives of ordinary people had
accumulation of wealth by a few profound, lasting consequences. ■

People took to the streets to An era of protest in 2009, they were faced with
protest against the actions of banks thousands of angry protestors.
and multinationals, which were seen The global economic crisis that Social media became critical
as the trigger of the financial crisis. began in 2008 generated much in the organization of large
anger at institutional symbols of gatherings and the occupation
power and greed, and there was of physical spaces. As protests
an upsurge of popular protest. spread throughout Europe, they
Demonstrations united those used the banner of “Occupy,”
venting at bankers and capitalists, a movement set up in New York
anti-globalization protestors, and to protest against social and
environmentalists. There was economic inequality. There were
growing anger at the level of riots in Rome, strikes in Greece,
inequality, corporate greed, demonstrations in Portugal,
and the lack of jobs. and occupations in the public
squares of Barcelona, Moscow,
When the G20, an international Madrid, New York, Chicago,
forum for finance ministers, met and Istanbul.
in the financial heart of London

ENTIRETHIS IS A DAY ABOUT OUR

HUMAN FAMILY

GLOBAL POPULATION EXCEEDS
7 BILLION (2011)



336 GLOBAL POPULATION EXCEEDS 7 BILLION

IN CONTEXT O n October 31, 2011, a baby countries experience falling birth
girl born in Manila, the rates, while population growth
FOCUS capital of the Philippines, increased sharply in the relatively
Population explosion was chosen by the United Nations underdeveloped areas of Asia,
(UN) to symbolically represent Africa, and South America due to a
BEFORE the 7 billionth person on earth. much higher birth rate. In 1987, the
1804 The world’s population To mark this global-population 5 billionth person was born; and by
reaches 1 billion. Population milestone, October 31st was named 1999, the 6 billionth. It took 123
growth is the fastest in Europe. Seven Billion Day, but with a billion years for the world’s population to
people reported to be going hungry go from 1 billion to 2 billion but had
1927 World population reaches at that time, debates were rekindled taken only 12 years to make the
2 billion as death rates fall and about whether the Earth could leap from 6 billion to 7 billion.
birth rates stay high. support so many people.
The Green Revolution
1959 The approximately Before the 17th century, the During the early 20th century,
3 billionth baby is born. world’s population increased very many countries imported large
slowly, but it began to expand quantities of food that they were
1989 Annual World Population rapidly after 1850. This was in part unable to grow themselves, to
Day is established by the UN due to a reduction in the number enable them to meet the demands
on July 11, inspired by the of children dying in infancy, but of a growing population. Britain,
interest in the symbolic death rates fell overall, too, as new for example, imported 55 million
5 billionth baby. farming technology expanded the tons of food each year.
food supply and lowered the risk
AFTER of famine. The marked increase In the early 1940s, Mexico
2050 Global population is set of industrialization and advances imported half of its wheat, and its
to hit 9.7 billion, a slowdown in in medicine improved public health population was rapidly expanding.
growth, with fewer babies and living standards. The country requested technical
born per household. expertise from the United States on
By 1927, the world-population ways to increase wheat production.
2100 Estimates suggest that figure had reached 2 billion. In the By 1944, with the financial support
the world population will be early 20th century, population of the American Rockefeller
over 11 billion, posing grave growth was highest in the rich Foundation, a group of US scientists,
challenges for food supplies. industrialized West, but this including American biochemist
pattern began to change. Mid- Norman Borlaug, had begun
century saw many European

Living longer eradication of some killer Dr. Norman Borlaug shows off his
diseases. The antibiotic drug wheat, which he bred specifically for its
During the 20th century, life penicillin, which helps fight hardiness against disease and ability
expectancy rose dramatically. In bacterial infection, became to produce high yields. It revolutionized
2013, the average life expectancy widely used to treat diseases wheat production in Mexico.
worldwide, from birth, was 71.0 such as tuberculosis and
years. Health education, which syphilis. Later, mass vaccination
focused on diet and basic programs by governments and
hygiene, led to a reduction in the United Nations’ World
infant mortality, and better Health Organization (WHO)
sanitation and clean drinking helped eradicate smallpox and
water have reduced the risks of work toward the elimination of
spreading infectious diseases, polio. Advances in medicine and
including cholera and typhoid. diagnostics have revolutionized
healthcare. Some scientists
One of the biggest predict that by 2050, the average
contributory factors to longer life expectancy will be 100.
life expectancy has been the

THE MODERN WORLD 337

See also: The outbreak of the Black Death in Europe 118–19 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ Stevenson’s Rocket
enters service 220–25 ■ The opening of Ellis Island 250–51 ■ The opening of the Eiffel Tower 256–57

researching methods of developing Death rates decline Better living conditions and
a high-yielding strain of wheat that and birth rates rise. medical advances help
could resist disease and was short increase life expectancy.
in height, so as to reduce wind
damage. The work in Mexico was Concern about how to feed the growing population
incredibly successful: by 1956, the kick-starts the Green Revolution.
country was totally self-sufficient
and no longer imported wheat and The global population continues to increase,
maize. This success launched particularly in developing countries.
what became known as the Green
Revolution—the spread of new The world’s population exceeds 7 billion.
modern agricultural technologies in
the 1960s and 70s that dramatically Increasing strains on the environment such as food shortages,
increased food production around water scarcity, and climate change threaten millions of lives.
the world. The Green Revolution
benefited countries that included this in agricultural science allowed cause cancer and also be bad for
the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri chronically poor countries, in Asia the environment. Silent Spring led
Lanka, China, Indonesia, Kenya, in particular, to feed themselves to a nationwide ban on DDT in the
Iran, Thailand, and Turkey. and meet the demands of their US and raised enough concern
growing populations. to trigger the establishment of the
Indian scientists in particular Environmental Protection Agency
had followed the work of Borlaug The Green Revolution did not (EPA), an independent body to
and his colleagues. In the mid- come without controversy, not safeguard the environment. The
1960s, India had been struck by two least because it involved a move Green Revolution also faced huge
back-to-back droughts, which led to toward chemical pesticides. During challenges in many countries in
the need for large food imports from the 1940s, the insecticide DDT Africa, where there was a lack of
the United States. In 1964, both (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) irrigation facilities, unreliable
India and Pakistan began importing was introduced as a way of rainfall, high fertilizer prices, and
and testing semi-dwarf varieties of controlling a variety of diseases, no credit to buy new seed varieties.
wheat from Mexico, and the results including mosquito-borne malaria,
were promising: in the spring of with a single treatment. However in GM crops
1966, the harvest was larger than 1962, American biologist Rachel Genetically modified (GM) crops
any ever produced in South Asia, Carson highlighted the dangers of were greeted with excitement in the
despite it being a dry year. DDT in her groundbreaking book 1990s and regarded as part of the ❯❯
Silent Spring, claiming that it may
Miracle rice
In 1960, a new so-called miracle
rice known as IR-8 was developed
at the International Rice Research
Institute in the Philippines. With
its much reduced growing cycle,
this new product brought about a
dramatic transformation in farmers’
lives. In countries such as Vietnam,
two complete crops of the new
rice could now be produced each
year, whereas the traditional rice
it replaced would only produce one
crop. Stunning innovations such as

338 GLOBAL POPULATION EXCEEDS 7 BILLION

Second Green Revolution, but this, hunger. The feeling in Europe, This is not a political issue. Or
too, proved controversial. GM crops Africa, and Asia is more cautious, a cultural issue. It’s not about
are foods produced from organisms with concern about pesticides and saving whales or rainforests …
that have had changes added into possible harm to health.
their DNA via genetic engineering. This is an emergency.
They were introduced in America Despite such opposition, GM Stephen Emmott
in 1994 when the US Food and Drug technology is still being developed.
Administration (FDA) approved It is thought that 670,000 children Computer scientist and author
the Flavr Savr tomato for sale. The die from lack of vitamin A each year,
delayed-ripening tomato had a a deficiency that causes diseases the beginning of the 21st century,
longer shelf-life than conventional such as malaria and measles and China experienced an onslaught
tomatoes, but trials using potatoes leads to blindness. Advances in of urban development that meant
suggested that GM produce was the tackling of such deficiencies the loss of a large number of the
toxic to rats. Most European Union include, for example, the creation of country’s tiny farms.
(EU) governments banned the use of “golden rice,” in which vitamin A
GM crops, while supporters of GM is added to ordinary rice. People have historically been
suggested that without genetic drawn to cities for employment and
intervention, the world was destined Disappearing farmland social opportunities. In 1800, one
to starve. Advocates of GM—notably While more—and stronger—crops in four British people lived in cities,
the US, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, were needed to feed an ever- but by 1900 this had grown to three
and Australia—believe it has the growing global population, cities in four. Many moved from rural
potential to combat disease and have swallowed up large tracts areas to the city, but people also
of farmland and rural areas. At moved from one country to another
seeking refuge and a better life.
This graph plots the projected high, 16 BILLIONS OF PEOPLE The urban population in 2014
medium, and low global population 15 accounted for 54 percent of the
projections for 2100, based on a 2010 United 14 total global population, up from
Nations report, alongside historical estimates 13 34 percent in 1960. In 2014, the
(the black dotted line) from the US Census 11 UN predicted that two-thirds of
Bureau and actual recorded figures (in blue). 12 the world will live in cities by
10 2050. However, lack of affordable
High projection 9 accommodation is a key factor in
Almost 16 billion 8 homelessness: in sub-Saharan
people worldwide. 7 Africa, 70 percent of city-dwellers
Medium projection 6 live in slums. Poor health and
More than 10 billion 5 violent crime is an issue in the
people worldwide. 4 world’s major cities, as is the huge
Low projection 3 disparity between rich and poor.
Just over 6 billion 2
people worldwide. 1 Climate change
0 Urbanization and development
1820 have placed increasing stresses on
2100 the environment. As the world’s
population grew, it became a

THE MODERN WORLD 339

The severe air pollution caused
by power plants in developing nations
is having an enormously detrimental
effect on the health of those people
who live nearby.

global challenge to improve living Scientists warned that humans the mid-1980s. This dire prediction
standards without destroying the would pass the threshold beyond did not come to pass, but with an
environment. Scientists believe which climate change becomes astonishing 7 billion humans on the
that human activity is to blame catastrophic and irreversible if planet, there is an inevitable drain
for climate change (or “global greenhouse-gas emissions kept on natural resources. Overfishing,
warming”). Since the Industrial increasing. Sea levels are also particularly in Indonesia and China,
Revolution in the 19th century, rising, eroding coastal areas and has led to fish stocks around the
global temperatures have continued obliterating small islands in the world falling rapidly, and the
to rise, with 2011–15 the warmest South Pacific. Rainfall patterns are demand for water could soon
five-year period on record. changing, leading to severe drought outstrip supply. In 2015, the UN
in Africa, and many species of predicted that 1.8 billion people will
Some of the reasons behind animals are in danger of extinction. be living in countries or regions
climate change are due to natural with absolute water scarcity by
occurrences, but in the early 1970s The threat of climate change is 2025. Coal, which drives industry
the rise of environmentalism raised now considered so serious that and production, is in increasing
public doubts about the benefits leaders from around the world met demand but will eventually run out.
to the planet of human activity. in 2015 in Paris, France, at a
Developing nations were being conference to agree to reduce the The UN estimates that by 2050
urged to reduce carbon emissions, build-up of greenhouse gases. In the global population will be at 9.7
which are thought to effect climate fraught negotiations, developing billion, and that by 2100, 11.2 billion
change. In 2015, India was opening countries demanded that wealthier people will inhabit the Earth.
a mine a month to lift its 1.3 billion nations help pay for them to adapt Population dynamics are changing
citizens out of poverty rapidly. to the effects of climate change, from high mortality and high
Developed countries, which had such as increased floods and fertility to low mortality and low
themselves contributed to climate droughts. In all, 196 nations fertility, with an increasingly elderly
change, caused a new tension by adopted the first ever universal, population worldwide, which will
suggesting that developing nations legally binding, global climate deal, be difficult to support. Challenges
should cease exploiting their own limiting global warming to the such as climate change, migration
natural resources to improve the relatively safe level of 3.6°F (2°C). and refugee crises, food and water
economic well-being of their people. insecurity, poverty, debt, and
A hungry world disease are greatly exacerbated by
We are not going In the 1970s, ecology movements rapid population growth. Stabilizing
to be able to predicted that hundreds of millions the growth of the world’s population
burn it all. would die from mass starvation by may be the key to global survival. ■

Barack Obama

On fossil fuels

340

FURTHER EVENTS

IRISH INDEPENDENCE WORLD WAR II IN DE GAULLE FOUNDS THE
THE PACIFIC FRENCH FIFTH REPUBLIC
(1922)
(1941–45) (1958)
In the 1918 general election,
republicans seeking independence In December 1941, the Japanese In 1958, France faced a crisis
from the United Kingdom won a bombed the US fleet in Pearl over the future of its colony
majority of Irish seats. After the Harbor, Hawaii, and launched a Algeria—members of the French
republicans set up their own campaign of invasion in Thailand, army opposed that country’s
parliament (the Dáil) and declared Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, independence and were in open
Ireland independent, Britain sent and other targets. This action revolt against the Fourth Republic’s
troops to quell the rebellion. By brought the US into World War II. policies. The Republic collapsed,
1922, however, the two sides US and Japanese forces were and retired military and political
reached an agreement that most of involved in years of bitter fighting, leader General Charles de Gaulle
Ireland should become independent including a long air campaign; the proposed a new government system
as the Irish Free State, while the six largest ever naval battle at Leyte with a strong executive president.
northeastern counties, which had a Gulf, Philippines (1944); a three- This proposal won approval in a
Protestant majority, should remain month land campaign to retake referendum, and de Gaulle himself
part of the United Kingdom. This the Philippines; the bloody 82- was elected president. This Fifth
division is still in place to this day. day battle of Okinawa; and the Republic is still in place in France.
dropping of atomic bombs on
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945). SUHARTO REPLACES
SUKARNO IN INDONESIA
(1936–39) THE FOUNDING OF THE
UNITED NATIONS (1965–67)
In 1930–31, republicans overthrew
Spain’s military dictatorship and (1944) In 1965 there was an attempted
forced King Alfonso XIII into exile. coup against Indonesia’s President
The republican government The United Nations was conceived Sukarno, but troops under Major-
introduced socialist reforms and during World War II as a way to bring General Suharto, who had led
reduced the power of the church the countries of the world together in Indonesia to independence in 1940,
and the military. However, a revolt order to prevent further devastating defeated the rebels. Communists
by disgruntled army officers and conflicts. Its aims were outlined at were blamed for the coup, and
members of the Fascist Falange a 1944 conference at Dumbarton Suharto, having seized power from
party led to civil war in 1936. Oaks, Washington, DC, and it Sukarno, had some 500,000 alleged
The conflict escalated into an was formally established in 1945. communists killed. As Indonesia’s
international ideological clash, Although the UN did not prevent second president, Suharto ruled
with Fascist Italy and Germany subsequent wars, it has worked until 1998, leading the country into
supporting the right-wing worldwide to promote peace and, a period of economic development,
Nationalists, while socialists from through a range of special agencies with better health and living
all over Europe volunteered to join and organizations, to champion conditions for many. However,
their Republican comrades in Spain. education, health, human rights, his government was corrupt—
Nationalist leader General Francisco independence for colonized peoples, he embezzled millions of dollars—
Franco led his side to victory and and economic development. Most and his invasion of East Timor
ruled as dictator of Spain until 1975. countries are now members. resulted in a massive death toll.

THE MODERN WORLD 341

THE MILITARY COUP PINOCHET SEIZES POWER THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION
IN BRAZIL IN CHILE
(1979)
(1964) (1973)
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah
The 1964 coup ousted Brazilian In 1973, a military coup led by of Iran, headed a secular regime
president João Goulart, whose social General Augusto Pinochet deposed that westernized the country and
reforms were labeled “communist” Chile’s elected socialist leader brought prosperity for some. In the
by opponents. The coup, which was Salvador Allende, bringing Pinochet late 1970s, an increasingly strong
carried out by part of the army with to power at the head of a military opposition movement gained
US backing, ushered in a military junta. The US opposed Allende’s prominence, led by Islamic leaders
government whose policies were left-wing government and backed such as Ayatollah Khomeini, who
in line with US views. There was a the coup, because it considered its preached against the country’s
huge increase in foreign economic support for right-wing dictatorships encroaching secular capitalism (as
involvement in Brazil, and half of the in South America as part of its Cold well as against communism). In
country’s largest companies passed War struggle against communism: 1979, the Shah was forced to leave
into foreign ownership. Brazil socialist regimes were suppressed the country, and Ayatollah Khomeini
enjoyed high economic growth even if they were completely installed a new government that
under the dictatorship, but at the democratic. Pinochet, who was was focused on very strict Muslim
expense of freedom, as opponents of notorious for imprisoning, killing, values. The revolution had a huge
the regime were treated harshly. and torturing his opponents, impact, particularly in highlighting
continued to receive American the increasing prominence of Islam
THE RED ARMY FACTION’S backing and ruled until 1990. on the world stage and in relations
TERRORIST ACTIVITY between the countries of the west
THE SOVIET INVASION and the Middle East.
(1970s) OF AFGHANISTAN
THE US AND BRITAIN
In 1968, many western countries (1979) INVADE IRAQ
saw anti-capitalist and anti-
imperialist demonstrations, strikes, In the late 1970s, Afghanistan’s (2003)
and riots. These failed to produce left-wing government (a close ally
any change, however, and in the of the Soviet Union) was threatened The 2003 invasion of Iraq started a
aftermath, a number of groups by US-backed Muslim fighters, the war that saw forces, mainly from
evolved to pursue an armed anti- mujahideen, who objected to the the US and Britain, deposing
capitalist struggle. One of the most regime’s modernizing policies in the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein,
long-lasting of these groups was areas such as women’s education. who oppressed his own people,
the Germany Red Army Faction, In 1979, the USSR invaded supported international terrorism,
founded in 1970 and also known Afghanistan, beginning a 10-year and, according to the US and its
as the Baader-Meinhof group, after war in which an estimated 1.5 allies, possessed weapons of mass
two of its founders, Andreas Baader million Afghans were killed and destruction. Although the latter
and Ulrike Meinhof. The group many others left the country. claim proved to be unfounded,
carried out a series of terrorist Groups of mujahideen guerrillas the removal of Saddam Hussein
attacks (including kidnappings, fought the invaders, who withdrew was nonetheless welcomed by
bombings, robberies, and murders), in 1989. The war left the USSR many Iraqis. However, the lack
mostly in the 1970s but also in militarily and politically weakened, of a post-war strategy brought
later decades. Their activities— contributing to its collapse. A civil further instability and violence to
and those of similar groups such war then broke out between the Iraq, and the war gave extremist
as the Revolutionary Cells (also mujahideen and the Afghan army, opponents of the US and their allies
operating in Germany in the same and power eventually passed to a pretext for launching terrorist
period)—alienated most people. the hardline Islamic Taliban. attacks against them.

342

GLOSSARY

Annexation The act of annexing: of seizing Coup d’état A sudden, illegal, and violent act Fascism An ideology typified by strong
new territory to append to a country or state, of overthrowing a government or leader. It is leadership, stress on a collective identity, and
usually using force. often committed by members of the current the use of violence or warfare to further the
Autocracy A community or state in political establishment. interests of the state. The term derives from
which unlimited authority is exercised Crusade A holy war undertaken on behalf the Italian fascio—a tied bundle of sticks—
by a single individual. of a religious cause. Often used to refer to referring to collective identity, and was first
Barbarian In ancient times, a group of expeditions launched by European Christians applied to Mussolini’s regime.
people, land, or culture not belonging to in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to reclaim Feudalism A medieval political system that
one of the great civilizations (Greek or the Holy Land from Muslims. consisted of small geographical units—such
Roman), and so considered less socially Democracy A form of government in which as principalities or dukedoms—ruled by the
advanced and uncivilized. supreme power is vested in the people and nobility, where the peasant population lived
Bourgeoisie The middle class, particularly exercised by their elected representatives. in a state of bondage to their ruler.
with reference to its perceived materialistic Dictator An absolute ruler, especially one Genocide The deliberate killing of a
values or conventional attitudes. who assumes complete control without the large group of people, especially a whole
Bureaucracy A government characterized by free consent of the people. This ruler can religious group, race, or nation.
specialization of functions, adherence to fixed exercise their power oppressively. Guerrilla A member of an unofficial, often
rules, and a hierarchy of authority. Direct democracy Government by the people politically-motivated, military group that
Caliphate The rule or rank of a caliph—an in fact, rather than merely in principle—citizens uses surprise attacks and sabotage against
Islamic spiritual and political leader regarded vote on every issue affecting them—as larger regular forces, such as the official army
as the direct successor of Muhammad. practiced in ancient Athens. or police.
Capitalism An economic system in which the Divine right of kings A doctrine that holds Hegemony The winning and holding of
means of production are privately owned, firms that a monarch derives legitimacy from God, power and the formation of social groups
compete to sell goods for profit, and workers and is not subject to any earthly authority. during that process.
exchange their labor for a wage. Dynasty A line of rulers from the same family Ideology A framework of ideas that provide
Civil war A war fought by opposing or group, or a period in time when a country is a viewpoint or set of beliefs for a social group.
inhabitants of the same country. ruled by them. Immigration The act of entering a foreign
Class A status hierarchy within the social Egalitarianism A philosophy that advocates country to live there permanently.
system, reflecting power, wealth, education, social, political, and economic equality. Imperialism The policy of extending the
and prestige. Emancipation The act of being freed from dominion of a nation through direct intervention
Colony The area occupied by a body of legal, social, or political restrictions. in the affairs of other countries, and seizure of
settlers living in a new territory, often already Embargo A government order to cease territory and subjugation of peoples in building
occupied by an indigenous people that is trade or other commercial activity with an empire.
subject to control by the settlers’ parent state. a particular country, often used as a Industrial Revolution A stage of
Communism An ideology that advocates the diplomatic measure. development, originating in the UK in the
elimination of private property in favor of Emigration The act of leaving one’s own 18th century, during which economies were
communal ownership, based on the political country and moving permanently to another. transformed by new forms of mechanization
manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Empire An extensive group of countries or from a mainly agricultural economy to an
Conscription Compulsory enrolment into people under the rule of a single leader, urban, industrialized one.
the military service. oligarchy, or sovereign state. Insurgency A condition of revolt against
Constitution A written collection of the Enlightenment Also known as the Age of a government that is less than an organized
fundamental principles and laws of a nation. Reason, a period of intellectual advances in revolution and is not recognized as warfare.
Consumerism The state of an advanced the 18th century that involved a questioning of Jihad In Islam, a religious duty to struggle
capitalist society in which the buying and religious understandings of the world and the against evil in the name of God, whether
selling of various goods and services define application of reason. spiritually or physically.
the era. The term also refers to a perception Eugenics The belief, or the study of the belief, Just war theory A doctrine of military ethics
that individuals desire goods to construct that the human population can be improved comprising Jus ad bellum (“right to war”), which
self-identity. upon by controlling breeding. is the need for a moral and legal basis for war,
and Jus in bello (“justice in war”), which is
the need for the moral conduct of warfare.

GLOSSARY 343

Labor camp A prison camp where people Prehistory The period of human past before work on his lord’s land. A serf could be
are forced to do difficult manual labor, often written records began, and so largely transferred with the land should it be sold
in bad conditions. understood through archaeological history. to a new landowner.

Leftism, left wing Ideology of the political Proletariat The lowest social or economic Socialism An ideology and method of
“left.” It is characterized by an interventionist class of a community. government that advocates state ownership
approach to social welfare and an Propaganda The organized spread of and regulation of industry, and central control
internationalist worldview. The concept information, ideas, and opinion, often via over the allocation of resources, as opposed
originated in 18th-century France, when the media, to either promote or damage to allowing these to be determined by
nobility who sought to improve the peasants’ a government, movement, institution etc. market forces.
conditions sat to the left of the king. Puppet state A country that is nominally Sovereignty Supreme power as exercised by
Liberalism A philosophy originating in independent, but in fact relies on an external an autonomous state or ruler, free from any
the 18th century that advocates the rights foreign power, which often controls the state external influence or control. Usually used to
of the individual over those of the state or using military force. refer to a nation’s right to self-determination in
Church, opposing absolutism and the divine Racism The belief that all members of a internal affairs and international relations with
right of kings. certain race share similar characteristics and other countries.
Martial law The law temporarily imposed by attributes, and that this means that certain Space Age A period in the 20th century
the military when civil law is suspended in a races are inherently superior or inferior. characterized by space exploration. It is
country or state. Rationalism The belief that reason, not considered to have started in October 1957
Marxism The philosophy underpinning the emotion or intuition, should govern the actions when the Soviet Union first launched the
writings of Karl Marx, proposing that the that people take. satellite Sputnik I into orbit.
economic order of society determines the Reformation A 16th-century European State An organized authority that has
political and social relationships within it. political and religious movement that sought legitimate control over a territory, and a
Meritocracy The belief that rulers should be reform from the Roman Catholic Church and monopoly of the use of force within its territory.
selected on the basis of ability, rather than papal authority, and resulted in the Suffrage The right to vote in elections or
wealth or birth. establishment of the Protestant Churches. referenda. Universal suffrage refers to the right
Militia A body of citizens, who may have Renaissance A period of time in Europe to vote of citizens regardless of their gender,
some level of military training, who are called from the 14th–17th century marked by great race, social status, or wealth. Women’s
on to supplement a country’s professional army achievements in the arts, literature, and suffrage describes the right of women to vote
in times of emergency. learning, often regarded as the transition on the same basis as men, as campaigned for
Nation-state A sovereign state inhabited by a from the medieval to the modern world. in the early 20th century by activists such as
largely homogenous group of people, who Reparations Compensation—usually money, the “suffragettes.”
share common features such as language, material, or labor—paid by a defeated nation Superpower A sovereign nation with great
descent, and traditions. to make up for damage, injuries, and economic political and military power, capable of
Nationalism Loyalty and devotion to the losses suffered by another country as the influencing international politics.
home nation, and the political belief that its result of war. Totalitarianism A regime that subordinates
interests should be pursued as the primary Republic A state with no monarch, in which the rights of the individual in favor of the
goal of a political policy. power resides with the people and is exercised interests of the state, through control
Nomadic Relating to, or characteristic of, by their elected representatives. of political and economic affairs and
nomads—a group of people who move from Revolution An overthrow of the current prescription of the attitudes, values, and
place to place, often in relation to the seasons, political regime or social order, sometimes beliefs of the population.
and within a specific territory. using violent measures, by the governed people. Treaty A formal contract that sets out
Oligarchy A form of government in which Rightism, right wing The ideology of agreements—such as an alliance, the end of
power is held by a small group and exercised the political “right,” loosely defined as hostilities, or a trade agreement—between
in their own interest, usually to the detriment favoring conservative, pro-market attitudes, two or more states.
of the general population. a preference for individual rights over Vassal In a feudal system, a man granted
Paramilitary A group of civilians that have interventionist government, a strict approach the use of land by a king, lord, or other
military training and are organized according to law and order, and nationalism. The concept superior landowner, in return for homage
to military structure, which often acts as originated in 18th-century France, when those and allegiance.
support for a country’s official military force. who were broadly in support of the monarchy Viceroy A ruler who controls a colony on
Partisan An absolute supporter of a particular sat to the right of the king. behalf of his or her sovereign.
political leader, party, or cause who typically Separatists A group of people who advocate Zionism A worldwide political movement that
exhibits unquestioning allegiance. separation from an organization or group. proclaims that the Jewish people constitute a
Pilgrimage A journey to a shrine or sacred Serf Especially in medieval Europe, a lower nation, and are therefore entitled to a homeland.
site as an act of religious devotion. class person bound to undertake agricultural It originally focused on creating a country for
Jewish people, and now looks to develop and
protect the modern state of Israel.

344

INDEX

Numbers in bold refer to main entries. al-Andalus 91–2 Barbarian invasions 68–9
al-Andalusi, Said 89 Barentsz, Willem 182
9/11 attacks 320, 327 Angkor Wat 108–9 Bastille, storming of the 208–13
1848 revolutions 228–9, 239, 240, 251 Angola 307 Batista, General Fulgencio 309, 315
1968 protests 324 Anhalt, Christian of 168 Bay of Pigs invasion 309, 314–15
anti-Semitism 251, 285, 289, 292 Bayt al Hikma (House of Wisdom) 89–90, 91, 93
A apartheid 235, 325 Belisarius 76–7
Arab invasions 74, 78, 80–1, 132 Ben-Gurion, David 302, 303
Abd ar-Rahman I, Emir of Córdoba 91–2 Arab League 302, 318 Berlin Airlift 296–7
Abdul Hamid II, Sultan 260 Arab Spring 318, 321 Berlin Conference 258–9
Abraham ibn Ezra 92 Arab–Israeli War 319 Berlin Wall 296, 322–3, 326, 333
absolutism 190, 210 Archimedes 91 Bernanke, Ben 333
Abu ’Abd Allah, Emir 128 architecture 152–3, 170, 171, 256–7 Berners-Lee, Tim 328–9
Abu Bakr 80 Arianism 66, 67 Bessemer, Henry 222, 225
Abu Simbel, Temples of 38–9 Aristotle 51, 53, 92, 93, 194 Bill of Rights 101, 175
Acampichtli 114 Armstrong, Neil 310 bin Laden, Osama 320, 327
Achaemenid Empire 44–5 art 22–7, 152, 153–5, 183 al-Biruni 91
Actium, Battle of 60, 64 artillery 156–7 Bismarck, Otto von 240, 241, 258
Afghanistan, Soviet invasion of 341 Ashoka the Great, Emperor 40, 41 Black Death 15, 75, 104, 118–19
African National Congress (ANC) 325 Asian financial crisis (1997-98) 330 Black Panthers 324
African Americans 311 Assad, Bashar 321 Boer Wars 235, 258, 265
agriculture 19, 30–1, 158–9, 181, 202, 222–3, 336–8 Assyrians 70 Bolívar, Simón 216, 217, 218–19
Ahuitzotl 115 astronomy 90, 91, 127 Bolsheviks 276–9, 296
Akbar the Great, Emperor 170–1 Atahuallpa 117 Borlaug, Norman 336, 337
al-Qaeda 320, 321, 327 Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal 141, 260, 261 Bosnian War 326
Alberti, Leon Battista 153 Athens 44, 45, 46–51, 70 Boudica, Queen of the Iceni 71
Alcaçovas, Treaty of 149 atomic bomb 293.340 Boulton, Matthew 224
Aleandro, Cardinal Girolamo 163 Attila the Hun 69 Boxer Rebellion 254, 255
Alesia, Battle of 71 Augustus, Emperor 52, 60, 64–5 Breitenfeld, Battle of 166, 168
Alexander II, Tsar 243 Aurangzeb, Emperor 170 Bretton Woods system 330
Alexander III, Tsar 243 Auschwitz 294, 295 Britain, Battle of 288, 290–1
Alexander VI, Pope 149 Australia, first humans arrive in 20–1 Bronze Age 34, 37, 42, 43
Alexander the Great 44, 45, 51, 52–3 Austro-Hungarian Empire 240–1, 272–3 Brunel, Isambard Kingdom 224, 234
Alexios I Komnenos, Emperor 106, 107 Axayactl 115 Brunelleschi, Filippo 152, 153, 155
Alexis, Tsarevich 196 Axum 71 Brutus, Marcus Junius 63, 64
Alfonso VI of Castile 92 Ayacucho, Battle of 219 Buchanan, James 233
Alfonso XIII of Spain 341 Ayutthaya 109 Buddhism 35, 40–1, 108, 109
Alfred the Great, King of the English 132 Azerbaijan 326 Bureau, Jean 156
Ali ibn Abi Talib 81 Aztec Empire 75, 114–17, 148, 150 Byzantine Empire 53, 67, 74, 76–7, 80, 81, 88,
Allende, Salvador 341
Almoravid Empire 110, 111 B 138–9, 141, 154
alphabets 34–5, 42, 43, 130, 131
Altamira, cave paintings 22–5 Baader, Andreas 341 C
Álvarez, Fernando 168 Babur, Emperor 170, 171
American Civil War 15, 244–7 Babylon 36, 37, 44, 45, 53, 70 Cabral, Pedro Álvarez 148, 149
American Indians 132, 159, 173, 249, 264 Bacon, Francis 188 Caesar, Julius 53, 58–65, 71
American Revolution 101, 204, 218 Baghdad, foundation of 86–93 California Gold Rush 248–9
Amin, Idi 307 Balfour Declaration 298, 303 Calvin, John 160, 161
Amorites 37 Balkan Wars 1912-13 241, 260, 261, 272 Cano, Sebastien del 151
Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–3 Banks, Joseph 189 Cape Town, Dutch colony at 199
An Lushan, revolt of 84–5 Bannockburn, Battle of 133 capitalism 137, 178, 182, 202, 229, 268, 269, 278,

279, 315, 316, 317, 322, 332, 333

INDEX 345

Carmichael, Stokely 311 Confederacy 246–7 Diocletian, Emperor 66
Carolingian Renaissance 83 Confucius/Confucianism 57, 125, 130, 131 disease, spread of 136, 149–50, 151, 158, 159, 269
Carson, Rachel 337–8 Congress of Vienna 228, 229, 240 divine right 101
Carter, Jimmy 320 conquistadors 75, 116, 136, 149–51, 158 DNA 21, 236, 338
Carthaginians 70–1 Constantin I, Emperor 66–7 Dollar Diplomacy 233
Cartier, Jacques 198 Constantine XI, Emperor 139 Dollfuss, Engelbert 285
cartography 93 Constantinople, fall of 138–41, 154, 156 Drogheda, Siege of 199
Casas, Bartolome de las 146 Continental System 215 Dunkirk, evacuation of 290
Cassius Longinus, Gaius 63, 64 Cook, Captain James 189 Dürer, Albrecht 155
Castiglione, Giuseppe 186 Cortés, Hernán 116, 148, 150 Dutch East India Company 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
Castillon, Battle of 156–7 cotton trade 234–5
Castro, Fidel 309, 314, 315 Council of Nicaea 66, 67 185, 199
Çatalhöyük 30–1 Council of Trent 160, 163 Dutch Republic 180–3
Catherine II (the Great) of Russia 196, 197 Counter-Reformation 160, 163 Dutch Revolt 166, 181, 198
Catherine of Aragon 198 Coverdale, Miles 161, 162 Dutch War, Second 177
cave paintings 22–7 Crassus, Marcus Licinius 62 Dutschke, Rudi 324
Cavour, Camillo 239, 240 Crimean War 243, 265
Ceauçescu, Nicolae 326 Cromwell, Oliver 174–5, 199 E
Celts 70 crops 158–9, 181, 337–8
Central America 114–17, 150, 151, 158–9, 216–19 Crusades 75, 96, 106–7, 139 Eastern Bloc 269, 281, 323
Chamberlain, Neville 289 Cuban Missile Crisis 308–9 Eastern Roman Empire 67, 68, 69, 83
Champa 108, 109 Culcuhuacán, Lord of 114 ecological change 158–9
Charlemagne, Emperor 74, 82–3, 88, 89 Culloden, Battle of 199 economics
Charles I of England 101, 174–5 Cult of the Supreme Being 213
Charles II of England 174, 175 Cultural Revolution 313, 316–17 global financial crisis (2008) 330–3
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 151, 158, 162, 198 Cumberland, Prince William, Duke of 199 Great Depression 282–3
Charles VII of France 156, 157 Custer, Lieutenant Colonel George 249 Edict of Milan 67
Charles X of France 228 Cuzco 114, 116 Edict of Nantes 166, 167, 190, 198
Chiang Kai-shek 305, 317 Cyrus II the Great 44, 45 Edo Period 184–5
Childeric 71 Czechoslovakia 289, 323, 326 Edward II of England 133, 156
Chile 150, 151, 341 Edward III of England 101, 133
Chimú culture 114, 116 D Edward the Confessor 132
Chiphyon-jon (Hall of Worthies) 130, 131 Eichmann, Adolf 295
Chosön dynasty 130–1 D-Day Landings 288 Eiffel, Gustave 256
Christianity, spread of 13, 66–7 da Gama, Vasco 144, 146, 149 Eiffel Tower 256–7
Churchill, Winston 13, 290, 296 Dachau 294 Eighty Years’ War 166
Cicero 51, 61 Dance of Death 118, 119 Einhard 83
city-states 44, 45, 48, 50, 52, 60, 70, 105, 154–5 Darius I of Persia 44, 45 Einstein, Albert 188
civil rights movement 269, 311 Darius III of Persia 44, 53.52 Eisenhower, Dwight D. 319
civil service, Chinese 84, 85, 124–5 Darwin, Charles, On the Origin of Species 236–7 Elizabeth I of England 166
civilizations 19, 34, 35, 36–7 Davison, Emily 262–3 Elizabeth of Bohemia 168
Claudius, Emperor 71 DDT 337–8 Ellis Island 250–1
Cleisthenes 49 de Gaulle, General Charles 291, 301, 340 emigration 250–1, 264
Clemenceau, Georges 280 De Klerk, F. W. 325 Engels, Friedrich 229
climate change 28–9, 30, 69, 75, 338–9 Declaration of Independence 204–7 English Civil War 174–5
Clive, General Robert 191 Declaration of the Rights of Man 211 Enlightenment 13, 137, 188, 192–5, 197, 205, 206,
Clovis, King of the Franks 71, 82 Defenestration of Prague 164–9 210, 227
Colbert, Jean-Baptiste 190 Delian League 45, 48, 50 environment 28, 29, 269, 337–9
Cold War 268, 296–7, 300, 307, 308–9, 310, 322, 341 democracy, Athenian 46–51 Ephialtes 48, 49
Columbian Exchange 158–9 Deng Xiaoping 304, 316, 317 equality 202, 212, 244, 311, 324, 325
Columbus, Christopher 15, 129, 136, 142–7, 148, Denisovan hominins 20, 21 Erasmus 155
Denmark 240, 290 Erik the Red 95
149 Descartes, René 13, 188 Eriksson, Leif 95
Communism 229, 268, 276–9, 281, 285, 296, 297, Dias, Bartolomeu 144, 146 Esen Khan 126
Diaz, Porfirio 265 Euclid 90, 91
304–5, 312–17, 322, 323 Diderot, Denis 192–3, 194, 195 European Union 323, 331, 333, 338
Company of Royal Adventurers 176, 177 Diet of Worms 161, 162 Evans, Arthur 42
computer science 328–9 evolution 236–7
concentration camps 294, 295 Expedition of the Thousand (1860) 238–9
Concordat of Worms 96, 97

346 INDEX

F global economy 232, 235, 268 Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor 96, 97
global financial crisis (2008) 269, 330–3 Henry VIII of England 160, 162, 198
farming, and health 31 globalization 333 Henry the Navigator, Prince 145–6
Farouk, King of Egypt 318, 319 Glorious Revolution 175 Herbert of Ketton 92
fascism 284–5, 289, 340 Godfrey of Bouillon 107 Hermann of Carinthia 92
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 198 Goebbels, Joseph 295 Herodotus 12, 45
Ferdinand II of Aragón 128, 129, 144, 146–7, 149 Gold Rush 248–9 Herzl, Theodor 303
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor 167, 168 Gold Standard 232 Heyrick, Elizabeth 227
Ferdinand VII of Spain 218 Gorbachev, Mikhail 296, 322, 323 Hezbollah 321
feudalism 55, 100, 157, 211, 252, 253 Gordon, Charles George 265 Hezekiah, King of Judah 70
Fibonacci, Leonardo 93 Göring, Hermann 285 Hidalgo, Miguel 218
Final Solution 294–5 Goryeo dynasty 130 Hidetada 185
First Gulf War 320, 321 Goths 69, 76–7 Hideyoshi, Toyotomi 184, 185, 199
First Triumvirate 62 Goulart, João 341 Himmler, Heinrich 295
Flinders, Matthew 189 Gran Colombia 216, 218–19 Hinduism 40, 41, 90–1, 108, 109
Florence, Renaissance 152–5 Granada, fall of 128–9 Hiroshima 293, 340
Forbidden City (Beijing) 125 Grand Canal (China) 125 historiography 12–15
Franco, General Francisco 285, 289, 340 Grant, General Ulysses S. 245, 247 Hitler, Adolf 280, 283, 284–5, 288, 289, 290, 291,
Franco-Prussian War 241, 256, 265, 272–3 Great Depression 268, 282–3, 330, 333
Franklin, Benjamin 192 Great Eastern 224, 225, 234 294, 295
Franks 69, 71, 82, 83, 88, 89, 132 Great Leap Forward 316, 317 Ho Chi Minh 312
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke 273 Great Northern War 197 Holbein, Hans (the Younger) 155
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (Barbarossa) 107 Great Schism 132 Holocaust 294–5, 303
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 93 Great Terror 281 Holy Roman Empire 74, 82, 132, 167–8, 198, 199, 215
Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia 191, 197 Great Wall of China 56, 126 Homestead Act (1862) 248
Frederick V, Elector Palatine 168 Greek War of Independence 228, 239, 241, 260, 261 Hong Kong 254, 301
Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony 162 Green Revolution 336–8 Hong Xiuquan 265
French Revolution 190, 195, 203, 206, 207, Gregory VII, Pope 96–7 Hongwu, Emperor 103, 120–7
Grunwald, Battle of 133 Houtman, Cornelis de 180
208–13, 229 Gulf of Tonkin Incident 312–13 Hu Hai, Emperor 57
gunpowder 127, 136, 156, 157 Huayna Capac 116
G Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 166, 168–9 Hugo, Victor 210
Gutenberg, Johannes 155 Huguenots 162, 167, 190
G6 330 human origins 16–31
G20 333 H human rights 202, 307, 325, 340
Gaddafi, Muammar 321 humanism 13, 155, 162
Gagarin, Yuri 310 Habsburg dynasty 166, 167–9, 198, 199 Humayun 170, 171
Galen 90, 93 Hadrian, Emperor 65 Hume, David 194
Galerius, Emperor 66 Haganah 303 Hundred Years’ War 13, 133, 156–7
Galilei, Galileo 188, 192 Haig, Sir Douglas 274 Huns 68, 69
Gandhi, Mohandas 13, 299, 300, 301, 306 Haiti slave revolt 226, 227 hunter-gatherers 19, 24, 26–7, 30, 31
Garibaldi, Giuseppe 238–9 Hallstatt culture 70 Hus, Jan 133, 160, 162
Gautama, Siddartha 40–1 Hamilton, Alexander 207 Husayn ibn Ali 81
Gempei War 98, 99 Hammurabi, King of Babylon 36–7 Husayn ibn Ishaq 90
Genetically modified (GM) crops 338 Han dynasty 12, 35, 54, 57, 71, 104, 131 Hussein, Saddam 320, 341
Genghis Khan 102, 103, 104 Han’gul alphabet 130, 131 Hussite Revolt 133
George II of Great Britain 199 Hannibal 70–1 Huxley, Thomas 236
George III of Great Britain 206 Harald Hardrada of Norway 95 Huygens, Christiaan 188
George V of Great Britain 262 Harrison, John 189 Hyksos 39
Gerhard of Cremona 92 Harun al-Rashid, Caliph 88–90
Germanic tribes 68–9 Hawkins, John 176 I
Gettysburg, Battle of 244–5 Al-Haythem 91
Gettysburg Address 244, 246, 247 Hegel, Georg 14, 240 Ibn Abdun, Muhammad ibn Ahmad 90
Ghana 110, 111, 306–7 Hellenistic culture 35, 51, 52–3, 90 Ibn Khaldun 13
Giotto 152 Henry I, King 100 Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 91, 93
Girondins 212 Henry IV of France 167, 198 Ice Age 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28–9, 30
Glenn, John 310 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor 96–7 Al-Idrisi 88, 93
Ieyasu, Tokugawa 184, 185

INDEX 347

immigration 249, 250–1 Junkau, Battle of 169 Li Zicheng 127
Inca Empire 75, 114, 116–17, 148, 150 Jurjis ibn Jibril ibn Bukhtishu 89 life expectancy 269, 336
independence movements 216–19, 268–9, Justinian, Emperor 76–7 Lincoln, Abraham 13, 207, 244, 245
Lindisfarne 94–5
298–301, 306–7 K Linear A script 42, 43
Indian independence and partition 298–301 Little Bighorn, Battle of 249
Indian Mutiny 242 Kangxi, Emperor 186–7 Liu Bang 57
Indian National Congress 298, 299, 300 Kansas-Nebraska Act 244, 245 living standards 257, 269, 333
Indus Valley civilizations 36, 70 Kant Immanuel 192 Locke, John 195
Industrial Revolution 220–5, 229, 339 Kapur Singh, Nawab 264 Lombards 76, 77
industrialization 202, 224–5, 243, 251, 253, 257, Kennedy, John F. 308, 309, 315 Long March 304–5, 317
Kepler, Johannes 188 Louis XIV of France 190, 196, 198–9, 210–11
281, 297 Kerensky, Alexander 278 Louis XVI of France 206, 210–12
inequality 34, 269, 330, 333 Khartoum, Siege of 265 Louis-Philippe of France 228
internal-combustion engines 222 Khmer Empire 108–9 Louis the Pious 83
International Monetary Fund (IMF) 332 Khmer Rouge 313 Louisiana Purchase 206
Internet 329 Khomeni, Ayatollah 320, 327, 341 Loyola, Ignatius 163, 187
Investiture Controversy 96–7 Khrushchev, Nikita 308, 309 Lucknow, Siege of 242
Iranian Revolution 320, 341 Khufu 38 Lucretius 64
Iran–Iraq War 320 Khusrau, Shah 58 Lumumba, Patrice 301, 307
Iraq, invasion of 320–1, 341 Al-Khwarizmi 88, 91 Luther, Martin 160–3
Iron Age 34 King, Martin Luther Jr. 13, 15, 301, 311 Lvov, Prince Georgi Y 278
Isaac II Angelos, Emperor 139 Kitchener, Lord Horatio 265
Isabella I of Castile 128, 129, 144, 146–7, 149 Knights Templar 106, 107 M
Isandiwana, Battle of 264 Knossos, Palace at 42–3
Islam, rise of 74, 78–81, 132 Korea, japanese invasion of 199 Maccartney, Lord 254
Islamic scholarship 74, 75, 88–93 Korean War 297 Machiavelli, Nicolò 157
Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) 321, 327 Kornilov, General Lavr 278 US Maddox 313
Ismail I, Shah 198 Kosovo 326 Madero, Francisco 265
Israel, establishment of 302–3 Kronstadt naval rebellion 279 Magellan, Ferdinand 144, 151
Italian Wars 156 Kublai Khan 102–3, 104, 105, 109, 122, 133 Magna Carta 15, 100–1
Itzcoatl 115, 116 Kuomintang 305 Magyars 69, 74, 132
Ivan the Terrible, Tsar 196 Mahdists 265
Iwo-Jima, Battle of 293 L al-Majusi, Ali ibn al-Abbas (Haly Abbas) 92
Malcolm X 311
J Langton, Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury 101 Mamelukes 93, 138, 139
Last Glacial Maximum 21, 26, 27, 28–9 mammoths 28, 29
Jacobins 212 Lausanne, Treaty of 260, 261 al-Mamun, Caliph 89
Jacobites 199 Law Code of Hammurabi 36–7 man, early 18–27
Jahangir, Emperor 171 League of Nations 275, 280 Manchu invasion 122, 126, 127, 186–7
James I of England 175, 176 Lee, Richard Henry 205 Manco Capac 116
James II of England 101, 175 Lee, General Robert E. 244, 245, 246, 247 Mandate of Heaven 70
Jamestown, Virginia 172, 173 Lefèvre d’Étaples, Jacques 161 Mandela, Nelson 325
Janissaries 140–1 Lehman Brothers 331 Manhattan Project 308
Jayavarman VII, King 108 Leipzig, Battle of 215 Mansa Musa 110–11
Jefferson, Thomas 206–7 Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich 276–9, 277, 281, 296, 297 Al-Mansur, Caliph 88, 89, 90
Jerusalem, fall of 106–7 Leo III, Pope 82, 83 Manzikert, Battle of 106, 139
Jews 118, 119, 128, 129, 241, 285, 288, 292, 294–5, 303 Leo IX, Pope 96, 132 Mao Zedong 57, 304, 313, 316–17
Jiang Ziya 70 Leo X, Pope 160, 162 Maragha 88, 91
Jibril ibn Bukhtishu 89 Leonardo da Vinci 152, 153 Marathon, Battle of 45
Jin dynasty 71 Leonidas of Sparta 44, 45 Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France 212
Jinnah, Mohammed Ali 300 Leopold II of Belgium 258, 259 Marius 60
Joan of Arc 133 Lepanto, Battle of 141 Mark Anthony 64
João VI of Portugal 217 Lepidus 64 Marx, Karl/Marxism 14, 229, 234, 268
John, King 100–1 Lesseps, Ferdinand de 233 Mary II, Queen of England 175
John II of Portugal 146, 149 Li Su 57 mathematics 90–1
Johnson, Lyndon B 313 Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor 167
José I of Spain 218
Judah 70

348 INDEX

Mau Mau uprising 301, 306 Muslim League 298, 300 Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor 82, 132
RMS Mauretania 234 Mussolini, Benito 275, 284, 285, 289 Ottoman Empire 93, 104, 105, 136, 138–41, 144,
Mauryan Empire 40, 41 al-Musta’sim, Caliph 93 156, 199, 228, 241, 260–1, 272, 275, 280, 302, 319
Maxentius, Emperor 66 Mycenaean civilization 42
Mayan civilization 34, 36, 71, 115 P
Mayflower 172–3 N
Mazzini, Giuseppe 238–9, 240 Pachacuti 116
Mecca 78, 79–80, 110–11 Nagasaki 293, 340 Pacific, War in the 292–3
Medici dynasty 152, 155 Napoleon I, Emperor 210, 213, 214, 215, 218, 227, Paleolithic Era 19, 22–7
medicine 89, 91, 92, 93, 202 paleoclimatology 29
Mehmed V, Sultan 260 240, 250 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) 318, 321
Mehmed VI, Sultan 261 Napoleon III, Emperor 228, 240, 256, 265 Pan-African Federation 306
Mehmet II, Sultan 138, 140, 141 Napoleonic Wars 214–15, 216, 217 Panama Canal 232–3
Meiji, Emperor 252–3 Narmer, King 38 Panipat, Second Battle of 170, 171
Meinhof, Ulrike 341 Nasser, Colonel Gamal 318–20 Pankhurst, Emmeline 263
Mellaart, James 30 nationalism 14, 203, 229, 238–41, 306, 319, 320, Papacy 82, 83, 96–7, 132, 154, 155
Mendel, Gregor 236 Paris Commune 228
Merovingian dynasty 71 321, 326 Paris Peace Accords 312
Mesopotamia 34, 36–7 NATO 297, 321, 323, 326 Parks, Rosa 311
Metaxas, General Ioannis 285 natural selection 237 Parthenon (Athens) 48, 49
Metternich, Prince Klemens von 240 Nazi Party 275, 280, 283, 284–5, 288–9, 294–5 Partitions of Poland 197, 264
Mexican Revolution 265, 314 Neanderthals 20, 21, 24 Passchendaele, Battle of 270–5
Mexican-American War 248 Nehru, Jawaharlal 298, 300 Paul, St. 66
Michael I, Patriarch 132 Neolithic Revolution 19, 30–1 Paul, Alice 263
Michelangelo 152, 153, 154, 156 Nero, Emperor 66 Paul III, Pope 163
migration 20–1, 269, 339 New Deal 283 Pax Romana 64–5
Militia United in Righteousness 255 New World 129, 136, 142–51, 158–9 Pearl Harbor 292, 340
Milvian Bridge, Battle of 66–7 Newcomen, Thomas 223 Peasant’s Revolt 161
Minamoto Yoritomo 98–9 Newton, Isaac, Principia 188, 192 Pedro I of Brazil 216, 217, 218
Ming dynasty 74, 103, 120–7, 130, 137, 186, 187 Ngo Dinh Diem 312 Peking Convention 254, 255
Minoan civilization 42–3 Nicholas II, Tsar 243, 276, 277, 278 Peloponnesian Wars 12, 44, 45, 50, 51, 70
Minoan Crete 42–3 Nicolas Canabus, Emperor 139 Penn, William 172
Mississippi culture 132 Nightingale, Florence 265 Pericles 48, 49, 50
Missouri Compromise 244, 245 Nile, River 38, 39 Pernier, Luigi 42
Moctezuma I 115 Nixon, Richard M 316, 317 Persian Wars 44–5, 50, 53
Moctezuma II 150 Nkrumah, Kwame 306–7 Pétain, Marshal Philippe 291
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah 320, 341 Nobunaga, Oda 185 Peter the Great, Tsar 196–7
monasticism 97 non-aligned movement 300 Phaistos disc 42, 43
Möngke, Great Khan 93, 103 Norman Conquest 132–3 Philip II of Macedon 51, 52
Mongol Empire 75, 93, 102–5, 108, 109, 122–3, nuclear arms race 268, 297, 308 Philip II of Spain 166, 198, 199
Nuremberg Trials 295 philosophy 35, 50–1, 192–5
125, 126, 133 Nystad, Treaty of 196 Pilgrims 158, 172–3, 246
Montesquieu 193, 195 Pinochet, General Augusto 341
Montgolfier brothers 195 O Pippin III, King 82, 83
Montgomery, Field Marshal Bernard 292 Pisistratus 49
Moon landings 310 Octavian see Augustus, Emperor Pizarro, Francisco 117, 148, 150
Morelos, José 218, 219 October Revolution (1917) 276–9 Plassey, Battle of 191
Moro, Aldo 324 Odoacer 69, 76 Plataea, Battle of 45
Morse, Samuel 234 Ohnesorg, Benno 324 Plato 48, 51
Mosley, Sir Oswald 285 Olmec culture 34, 36 Plutarch 64
Mountbatten, Lord Louis 300 Opium Wars 254–5 Plymouth, Massachusetts 172, 173
Muawiya 78, 81 Optimates 61, 62 Pol Pot 313
Mubarak, Hosni 321 Organization of African Unity 306 Poland, Nazi invasion of 286–93
Mughal dynasty 137, 170–1 Orñate, Juan de 148 pollution 339
Muhammad, the Prophet 78–81, 88 Oslo Peace Accords 302, 318 Polo, Marco 103, 104–5
Muhammad Ahmad, ruler of Sudan 265 Ostrogoths 68, 69 Poltava, Battle of 196
Munich Agreement 289 O’Sullivan, John 248 Pompeii 60
Murad II, Sultan 140 Oswald, Lee Harvey 309
Muslim Brotherhood 320