I. The Changing Political Climate
A. The Great Liberation
1. In 1972, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzia spoke of the hardships facing a new nation. �There is a world movement now against being pushed around� This movement will succeed.�
2. In the 1930s Nationalistic movements had taken place in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After WWII, leaders like Gandhi in India insisted on Independence. At first many imperialistic countries tried to hold on to their power however they eventually had to give in.
3. In total over 100 countries emerged in this �great liberation.� Some countries were big like India and others were small like Nepal. These new nations became known as the developing world.
B. The Cold War Goes Global
1. The new nations emerged into the Cold War divided between the United States and capitalism or the Soviet Union and socialism. Many nations trusted the US and accepted Capitalism as an economy, because they were ruled by Westerners.
2. To avoid super power rivalries many nations became nonaligned. Nonaligned means to be on neither side of the war. The purpose of this movement was to reduce world tensions and promote economic policies that would benefit developing nations.
3. Within may nations including Russia and Rwanda ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or independence. They wanted their own states to protect their identity. Often economic or political struggles were at the root of ethnic clashes.
C. New Nations Seek Stability
1. Many nations had high hopes for the future. For example, in Africa many countries were mixed together with different languages, religions, and ethnic identities. Colonial powers often used a �divide and conquer� that almost always divided ethical rivalries.
2. The new nations wrote constitutions modeling those of the western democracies. However after a while only a few like India were able to sustain. This is because post war leaders did nothing to prepare their former colonies for independence.
3. So with this unprepared nation, with no political policies or ideas, people went into chaos. Eventually modern westernized educated elite took over, leaving the majority poor.
D. The Shrinking Globe
1. Since 1945, transportation and communications systems in the world have been more so interdependent. Interdependence is the dependence of countries on goods, recourses, and knowledge from other parts of the world.
2. The UN stands for the United Nations. The UN provides services for millions of people worldwide. The UN also played a big role in decolonization
3. The World Heath Organization or the WHO helps out countries throughout the world. It works with other groups to wipe out small pox and to find cures for diseases.
E. Enduring Issues
1. Many countries pose a challenge to World Peace. This has been a problem ever since the US dropped the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was dropped in 1945.
2. Since the 1960s the world has seen a dangerous growth of terrorists. Terrorism is the deliberate act of random violence against civilians, to exact revenge and to get political goals.
3. In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was wrote and improved by the UN. This document goes into saying that �All humans are born free and equal�.�
II. Global Economic Trends
A. The Global North and South: Two Worlds of Development
1. The cold war split the world into two different parts, the communist East and the capitalist West. Today an economic gulf divides the two nations. Relatively rich nations and extremely poor ones.
2. The global North has the rich nations. It includes industrial nations like Western Europe, North America, and Japan and Australia. Most are located in the temperature zone north of the equator.
3. The global south refers to the developing nations. Most of these nations lie in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. However some nations have natural resources such as oil and diamonds.
B. Economic Interdependence
1. A multinational corporation is one with branches in many countries. It is one that invests in the developing world. These companies bring aid and technology to other countries.
2. As many nations are interdependent if one nation suffers a lost than all nations can be affected by it. An example of this is in the 1970s when all nations suffered a loss of gasoline
3. The debt crisis can be solved by debt nations and the use of privatization. Privatization is the selling off of state owned industries to private investors.
C. Obstacles of Development
1. In parts of Africa it is nearly impossible to industrialize. There are little or no natural resources and therefore no money is made for the nation. Also uncertain climate often makes it dangerous to civilize there.
2. Population and poverty also lead to an obstacle. Too many people can make labor cheap and death rates can increase. With all of these people urbanization is usually really crowded and environments are bad.
3. Civil Wars and other struggles prevented economic development. Nations are torn by war and often tribes don�t want to cooperate with each other. As military dictators would rather spend money on the military then on much need food, education, and clothing.
D. Economic Development and the Environment
1. The forests and the environment are being attacked and thus causing pollution and deforestation. This has only recently been a problem because before the population was low and technology was simple.
2. In the 1970s conservationists grew worried that this stripping away of land and trees would cause damage. For example, gases from power plants and factories produce acid rain.
3. Acid rain is a form of pollution in which toxic chemicals in the air come back to the Earth as rain, snow, or hail. Acid Rain and harm forests, lakes and farmland, especially in North America.
III. Changing Patterns of Life
A. The Village: Continuity and Change
1. The village is a close-set of houses made of stones, clay bricks, or stacks with plastered mud and other natural things. These villages don�t really exist anymore. People now live in crowded cities.
2. Many villages have stayed the same even after urbanization, with some changes. For example, electricity was added and now more movies halls are seen. Iron ore is now shipped on a paved road, etc.
3. However, village people still make up a majority of the people on earth. About 3.3 billion out of the 5.7 billion. Most of them live in the poor south. Life varies by climate region and by resources.
B. Old Ways and New
1. In today�s western world modernization began more than 200 years ago. Since 1945 the rest of the world has experienced similar upturns. Urbanization is one way people have tried to get out of poverty.
2. In the cities, people adopted western fashions and ideas. During the Age of Imperialism, westernization was thought of as the superiors. Even after independence they used Westerners as a model.
3. In Latin America, some Roman Catholic clergy adopted a movement called liberation theology. This was when people urged the church to take a more active role in opposing the social conditions attributed to poverty.
C. New Rights and Roles for Women
1. In early 1945, women were beginning to enter the men�s world. In the UN a charter was set up saying that it would strive for �equal rights for men and women�.
2. In the Western world, like Europe and the United States, women were making great advances in the work place. No longer would women get sexually harassed on the phone, or get paid less for the same job. Women starting in the 1970s could move into such high paying positions as astronauts, scientists, and executives.
3. Interesting enough women in the developing world were doing much of the same thing. Women supported nationalism and helped to improve the conditions for women and their social status.
D. Science and Technology
1. Technology has actually shrunken the globe. People can reach destinations that would usually take months to get to, in a matter of hours. One can reach someone by cell phone, instead of by letter or by telegraph.
2. Among the most frequently used and useful inventions is the computer. The computer is the basis for almost anything we do nowadays. Governments run the country on them and individuals use them to conduct business.
3. Besides this great advancement in technology medicine has also had many great breakthroughs. Antibiotics were developed as well as vaccines that could wipe out many diseases like smallpox. However new diseases like AIDS is and Ebola will face new challenges for scientists in the future.
E. A New International Change
1. With these new technologies, like the radio and computers, small villages that usually didn�t hear or care about anything, started to develop their own feelings and opinions. With these new technologies people were able to communicate more freely and easily.
2. Since WWII, America�s culture full of food, clothes, and music has had an influence on the world. American shows are being broadcast in such places as Moscow, Beijing, and Cairo.
3. In the Arts, too, influence is everywhere. In Europe for example, people were copying Turkish carpets and Chinese pottery. A century later Europe copied Japanese copying ideas, spreading more influence.
F. Looking Ahead
1. �Many current trends and issues emerged long before 1945 and will continue beyond the year 2000.� In the next few years after the year 2000 new conflicts will appear and new problems will arise.
2. In the next few years coming up, there will be major controversies arising. Including two contrasting trends that are shaping the world.
3. �Nationalism is on the rise. Yet global interdependence has become an inescapable fact of life. In many nations and regions, people must reconcile with local and global interests.�
Europe and North America
I. The Western World: An Overview
A. The Cold War in Europe
1. For more than 40 years, the Cold War divided Europe into two hostile military alliances. The Communists of Eastern Europe ruled by the soviets and the western democracies, led by the US and NATO.
2. The Berlin Wall was the center of focus during the Cold War. It was a bitter divider during the Cold War. West Berlin became a show case for Germany and East Berlin became communistic.
3. In the 1970s, Americans and Soviet leaders promoted an era of D�tente or relaxation of tensions. This brought new arguments that wished to reduce the nuclear arm race.
B. Recovery and Growth in Western Europe
1. The Marshal aid plan, let countries easily recover from WWI. It allowed people to rebuild industries, farms, and transportation networks destroyed by the war. As a result the economy in the 1950s boomed.
2. Welfare state is defined as a system whose �government keeps most features of a capitalistic economy but takes greater responsibility for the social and economic needs of its people.� For example, Germany and Britain banned child labor, regulated mine safety, and set up public schools.
3. In 1973, the West suffered an economic jolt when OPEC cut oil production and raised prices. Since most Western countries used oil to fuel industries the higher prices hurt their economy.
C. Toward European Unity
1. In 1957, the same six nations signed a treaty to form the EC or European Community. The six nations were France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
2. The EC gradually ended tariffs and taxes, and allowed labor and capital to move freely across neighboring countries. Although a few fights did occur between nations, most of the time the EC flourished.
3. By 1990 the EC wanted one currency for the same area. However some countries thought that this was a bad idea, because it would make the countries not as strong and they would lose their identity. However eventually the Euro war released.
E. Social Trends
1. Social changes were at a high in 1945. Class lines were not as defined and prosperity spread. For most of western history, only a few held power and wealth, but now their came a middle class.
2. With the money more spread out, more kids were encouraged to go to college. Families bought cars and houses. Although the poor were still the majority, most people had more opportunities than that of earlier times.
3. Women in Europe and North America have made progress towards legal and economical equality. A larger and growing number of women now worked outside the home. However there was still the �glass ceiling�, an invisible and imaginative barrier which separates women from the top jobs.
II. The Western European Democracies
A. Britain: Government and the Economy
1. After WWII and the bombings that tore it apart, Britain was in bad shape. So in 1945 voters put the Labour party in power. The war had helped to build a new attitude towards the working class.
2. In 1979, Britain like the rest of Europe was suffering hard economic times. Therefore welfare had to be cut back saying that it was costly and ineffective. During 11 years as Britain Prime Minister Thatcher, helped to promote individual initiative
3. Ireland won independence in 1922. However Britain still had control of other 6 northern countries. Anyway, a bitter rivalry between Catholics and Protestants existed debating whether or not they should be independent.
B. France: Revival and Prosperity
1. Like Britain France was also hard hit by WWII. The French Republic set up in 1946 hoping to renew confidence. However it didn�t succeed, because of heavy critics from both conservationists and communists.
2. General Charles de Gaulle set up the Fifth French Republic. As the president he was given great power, and with this power he decided that the Algeria had to be let go.
3. De Gaulle also worked to unite the French and to restore their prestige and power. He made to new with West Germany, and developed a nuclear force to challenge that of the Americans
C. Germany: Reunited at Last
1. If you thought Britain and France were bad, Germany was worst. There were �no homes, no shops, no transportation, no government buildings, only a few walls�. People were starving and dieing in a landscape of nothingness
2. In 1949 Germany was split into two West and East. The West Germans decided to join the Western World while Eastern Germany joined the Soviets. After a while the countries wanted to combine, however the Soviets forbade it.
3. As the Cold War started, the United States rushed into West Germany to stop it from being invaded by the communists. With this Germany�s economic miracle happened.
D. Other Democratic Nations of the West
1. Many nations like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark created extreme socialistic welfare programs. In Italy, the North greatly prospered with its industries whiles the south, and it�s largely peasant population starved.
2. Italy however was not stable because of its multi party system. The Italian communist party was strong, but it never got enough votes to become a majority. Corruption and financial scandals also took hold of Italy politically.
3. In 1945, countries were lagging behind like Spain, Portugal, and Greece. These countries had large peasant populations and lacked in any real industrial advancements.
III. North American Prosperity
A. The United States and the Cold War
1. In 1945 the United States had the strongest military power. It was also the world�s only country with an atomic bomb. However the US still felt threatened by communist expansion, because they were developing their own atomic bomb too.
2. �The United States built bases overseas and organized military alliances from Europe to Southeast Asia.� During the Cold War the US used this to its advantage as well as used its economic forces.
3. In the years 1950 to 1954, the United States was paranoid that communists had put spies into the US. Especially a man named Joseph McCarthy, who ruined the reputations and careers of thousands.
B. Economy and the Role of Government
1. Unlink all of Europe after WWII; the United States had no major damage to any of its cities. This gave the US a huge upper hand in because there had to be no rebuilding.
2. With this in mind the US provided more than 50% of the world�s manufactured goods. At the same time, the Cold War was looming and opening up jobs. By the 1950s, the American Economy was booming.
3. A deficit is �the gap between what a government spends and what it takes in through taxes and other sources.� With this deficit many people became concerned saying that money had to be cut from some areas and transferred to others.
C. The Civil Rights Movement
1. The 1950s seemed like a peaceful time at home for the United States, but a few major changes were underway that would eventually reshape the American society. Among these movements was the Civil Rights Movement.
2. This Civil Rights Movement was about blacks or African Americans and their rights to liberty. Segregation was the separating of white from blacks and in many places like the south, it was very common. Blacks faced job discrimination and not being able to vote.
3. However, with time Congress eventually passed laws outlawing segregation and publicly saying that it was in fact inhumane. Despite this new law set up in Congress, many blacks still faced prejudice in jobs and at restaurants.
D. The United States and the Global Economy
1. �In postwar decades the United States greatly profited from the growing global economy.� However, interdependence also brought problems. For example, in 1970 and the OPEC price hikes on gas�
2. With these increases in gas, it proved how dependent on the import of gas from imported oil. This inflation of the prices helped Third World countries into further debt, which killed American banks.
3. But this did not stop the United States of America, people still continued to flock to live there. Unlike the immigrants from the 1800s and early 1900s these new immigrants came from Latin America and Asia.
E. Post War Canada
1. Canada, like the United States, is a nation shaped by immigrants. Canada, after gaining its independence, no longer depended as much on Britain but still did have economic ties.
2. Canada also like the US had a period of economic boom after the war. This was due to the oil and gas deposits found in the western providence. In 1959 Canada and the US opened the St. Lawrence Seaway.
3. Canada and the US are close, but some think that they are too close. Some are mad that the US cultural domination has tore apart their own. Economic rivalries have also been a big problem.
IV. The Soviet Union: Rise and Fall of a Superpower
A. Stalin�s Successors
1. The Soviet Union like the US emerged from the War stronger than ever. Stalin forges a Soviet Sphere of influence from Baltic to the Balkans. �Victory, however, brought few rewards to the Soviet people.�
2. Nikita Khrushchev was next in line for Soviet power, and he did so aggressively public saying that Stalin had abused his powers. He then pursued a policy of de-Stalinization. He freed many prisoners and eased censorship.
3. Later in 1964, economic and foreign policy booted Khrushchev�s from office. A dissident is one who talks out against the government like Khrushchev did.
B. The Soviet Economy
1. �After the war, Stalin rebuilt shattered Soviet industries, using factories and other equipment stripped from Germany.� As in the 1930s Stalin had his successors focus on heavy industries, such as steel and coal.
2. In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. This was great propaganda against the West. Also for Soviets, bread was cheap, rent was low, parents had jobs, and children were watched and cared for.
3. Out of the two successors of Stalin neither of them could solve the Soviet�s economic problems. The state-run industry had no problem making steel and coal, yet it could still not produce enough meal and grain to feed its population.
C. Foreign Policy Issues
1. �In 1955, Khrushchev set up the Warsaw Pact, in theory to defend the communist�s bloc against NATO.� Like the United States the Soviets helped the countries that emerged from colonial rule.
2. The Soviet-American relationship swung back and fourth between confrontation and d�tente. In 1961, the building of the Berlin wall helped to fuel the tensions of the Cold War.
3. A year later in 1962 Khrushchev tried to build a nuclear missile base in Cuba. This triggered the CMS of Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the Nuclear war that everyone feared would come.
D. Collapse of the Soviet Empire
1. A glasnost is openness. Gorbachev launched a two step plan that asked that one of these two steps be glasnost. This stated that the public need to know the countries problems and that censorship needed to end.
2. The other one would be perestroika. This is the restructuring of the government and the economy. Making the government more open and less secretive, he hoped would increase output.
3. But these changes only brought economical turmoil. Shortages grew worst and prices shot up. Factories that didn�t have the government�s support closed leaving thousands jobless.
E. The Russian Republic
1. �Russia the largest republic in size and population, had dominated the Soviet Union.� Because it was a republic Russia approved a new constitution that had no democratic traditions.
2. But in the 1990s economic hardships and political turmoil increased. Many Russians feared the growing chaos and longed for the old way of order. But others disagreed, saying that it was better than the old way and that things would eventually get better.
3. �Russia reduced its nuclear stockpile after the breakup of the Soviet Union.� But it still had a huge arsenal of weapons that could be used to determine the fate of the rest of the world.
F. The Other Republics
1. Like Russia, the other former Soviets wanted independence and to build a stable government. They wanted to experience what the US had and to pursue a better standard of living.
2. These countries faced up rest and divisions between the pro-communists and pro-democracy groups. Ethnic violence erupted in republics that included a mix of national groups.
3. Mini civil wars broke out between nations over territory control. �For example, Armenia tried to seize a small area in neighboring Azerbaijan, where many Armenians lived.
V. A New Era in Eastern Europe
A. In the Soviet Orbit
1. �In 1945, Soviet armies occupied much of Eastern Europe. Backed by Soviet power, local Communist parties from Hungary to Bulgaria destroyed rival parties, silenced critics, censored press, and campaigned against rebellion�.
2. As the Cold War went on, the Soviet Union tightened its grip on its Satellites. More than 30 divisions of Soviets were stationed throughout Eastern Europe.
3. �But in East Germany, Poland, Hungary and else where unrest simmered.� Some people still resented the communist monopoly, and nationalists resented Moscow�s domination.
B. Poland�s Struggle toward Democracy
1. Poland was the Soviet Union�s most troublesome Satellite. Poland wanted greater freedom with the Soviet bloc. But this only made matters worst, Stalin crushed Poland and any uprising it might have been tempting.
2. In 1980, economic hardships ignited strikes of shipyard worker. These workers in the port of Gdansk, led by Lech Walesa, organized an independent trade union called Solidarity.
3. In the late 1980s, Gorbachev declared he would not interfere in Eastern Europe. By then Poland was introduced radical Economical changes. Solidarity sponsored the first free election in 50 years.
C. Revolution and Freedom
1. �By the late 1989, a �democracy movement� was sweeping Eastern Europe. Everywhere, people took to the streets demanding reform. One by one, communist governments fell.�
2. Thankfully most of these communistic to democratic changes came peacefully. Only Romania�s brutal dictator, Ceausescu, refused to step down. He was then overthrown and executed.
3. For the first time in 1945, Easter Europe was able to settle their own affairs. All of these countries withdrew from the Warsaw pact and asked that the Soviet troops leave. By then Soviet power was coming to an end anyway.
D. War Comes to Sarajevo
1. Sarajevo was part of Yugoslavia. Its three main ethnic groups consisted of Croats, who were Roman Catholics, Serbs, who were Orthodox Christians, and the Muslims.
2. These groups lived peacefully by each other with no problem, because they each had their own cultural cities, and they all spoke the same language. But after Tito�s dead and the fall of communism, a wave of nationalism tore these nations apart.
3. Bosnia became independent and was divided. Muslims made up the majority, but there were also many Serbs and Croats. Bosnian Serbs got money and arms from nearby Serbia.
E. Looking Ahead
1. �In 1995 the United States finally brought the warring parties to Dayton, Ohio. Here they hammered out a series of arguments, called the Daytona Accords.�
2. NATO forces were sent to Bosnia to implement the agreements. Progress in making the agreement work was slow and often unsatisfactory to one of the three groups.
3. In the 1990s Bosnia became a test case for the US in post-war years. The UN forces tried but failed to restore peace, but as Serbs followed things looked bad and eventually a temporary peace was reached.