by Norman Lowe
8.1 The war in Korea
8.2 The wars in Vietnam
10.1 Economic unions in Europe, 1960
10.2 The growth of the European Community and Union
10.3 The Bosnian Peace Settlement
11.1 The Middle East and North Africa
11.2 Areas given to Britain and France as mandates at the end of the First World War
11.3 The situation after the 1967 war
11.4 The Israeli–Palestinian Agreement, 1995
11.5 The Lebanon
15.1 Regions and provinces of Spain
15.2 The Spanish Civil War, 1936–9
16.1 Russian losses by the Treaty of Brest–Litovsk
16.2 Civil war and interventions in Russia, 1918–22
17.1 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after 1945, showing the 15 republics
19.1 China after the First World War
22.1 The USA between the wars
22.2 The Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933
24.1 India and Pakistan
24.2 Central America and the West Indies
24.3 Malaysia and Indonesia
24.4 Cyprus divided
24.5 Africa becomes independent
24.6 Indonesia and East Timor
26.1 Latin America
27.1 The dividing line between North and South, rich and poor
List of tables
13.1 Italian iron and steel output (in million tons)
14.1 The collapse of the German mark, 1918–23
14.2 Nazi electoral success and the state of the economy, 1924–32
17.1 Industrial expansion in the USSR: production in millions of tons
17.2 Industrial production in the USSR compared with other great powers, 1940
17.3 Grain and livestock statistics in the USSR
22.1 US population and immigration, 1851–1950
22.2 The USA and its chief rivals, 1900
27.1 Gross National Product per head of the population in 1992
27.2 Gross National Product per head of the population in 1992 (in US dollars)
27.3 What commodities could buy in 1975 and 1980
28.1 Deaths within one year of birth, per thousand births
28.2 Use of contraceptives and the birth rate
28.3 Population growth rates and density
List of illustrations
2.1 The three leaders at Versailles: (left to right) Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George
6.1 Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941: US warships lie in ruins after the Japanese air attack
6.2 D-Day, 6 June 1944: US assault troops landing in Normandy
6.3 Bodies at the Belsen concentration camp
7.1 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, February 1945
7.2 The Berlin Wall: an 18-year-old East Berliner lies dying after being shot during an escape attempt (left); he is carried away by East Berlin guards (right)
8.1 A Vietcong suspect is executed in Saigon by Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 1968
12.1 New York, 11 September 2001: a fiery blast rocks the south tower of the World Trade Center as the hijacked United Airlines flight 175 from Boston crashes into the building
12.2 The sculpted head of Saddam Hussein sits in the middle of the road in Baghdad, Iraq, 10 April 2003
14.1 Hyperinflation in Germany: boys making kites out of worthless banknotes in the early 1920s
14.2 Jewish people being taken to a concentration camp
14.3 Hitler and the Sturmabteilung (SA) at a Nuremberg Rally
17.1 Joseph Stalin
19.1 A street execution in China in 1927, towards the end of the Warlord Era
20.1 Tanks advance in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, June 1989; the man was pulled away by bystanders
22.1 The winner and the loser: Roosevelt waves to the cheering crowds, while defeated President Hoover looks downcast during their ride through Washington, March 1933
23.1 The assassination of Kennedy, 1963. Here the president slumps forward, seconds after having been shot
23.2 Dr Martin Luther King
25.1 Bodies litter the ground after the Sharpeville massacre, South Africa, 1960
28.1 Posters from India and Africa encouraging people to use birth control and limit families to three children
Acknowledgements
The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Guardian News & Media Ltd. for Map 11.4 from The Guardian, 25 September 1995, Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd. 1995; Guardian News & Media Ltd. for Map 11.5 from The Guardian, 1 May 1996, Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd. 1996; Guardian News & Media Ltd. for Map 24.6 from The Guardian, 20 April 1996, Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd. 1996; Hodder Education for Figures 6.1 and 10.1 based on J. B. Watson, Success in Modern World History Since 1945, John Murray (1989), pp. 3 and 150. © Margaret Watson 1989. Reproduced by permission of Hodder Education; Oxford University Press for Maps 6.6, 7.2 and 22.1 from Our World this Century by D. Heater (OUP, 1992), copyright © Oxford University Press 1982, reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press.
The following photograph sources are acknowledged for Illustrations included throughout the book:
Camera Press, 23.1; Corbis Images, 6.3, 7.2, 14.3, 19.1, 22.1, 23.2; Getty Images, 2.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 12.1, 12.2, 14.1, 14.2, 17.1, 25.1; International Planned Parenthood Federation, 28.1; Press Association, 8.1, 20.1.
Preface to the fifth edition
This fifth edition of Mastering Modern World History is designed to meet the needs of students following AS and A-level History courses. The questions are mostly in the current styles of the three examination boards, AQA, Edexcel and OCR. I hope that the book will be useful for GCSE students and that it will provide an introduction to the study of twentieth-and early twenty-first-century world history for first-year undergraduates. The general reader who wants to keep abreast of world affairs should also find the book helpful.
So much has happened since I put the finishing touches to the fourth edition in 2005, and the pace of change seems to be quickening. This makes it more difficult to get a stable perspective on the state of the modern world. The historian has to trace a careful way through all the available sources of information, and try to be as objective as possible in getting as close as possible to the truth. The problem of course is that it is difficult to be completely objective: writers from different cultures, religions, states and political groups will produce widely differing accounts of the same events, and so we are faced with many conflicting theories and interpretations. After reviewing, for example, the different theories about what really caused the First World War, or about whether colonialism was a ‘good thing’ or not, history teachers are sometimes asked questions like: ‘Yes, that’s all very interesting, but what’s the right answer? What’s the truth?’ However, as AS- and A-level students go deeper into their study of history, they will, hopefully, develop skills of analysis and argument as well as a critical and sceptical approach to historical controversy. They will come to realize that it is sometimes impossible to decide what ‘the truth’ is – all we can say is what our view of the truth is, based on our study of the different interpretations.
Inevitably this edition is much longer than its predecessor. There is a new chapter on Latin America, and new sections dealing with important events and developments since 2005. The associated website (www.palgrave.com/masterseries/Lowe) contains a selection of source-based questions. New sections include:
The 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath
The Arab Spring
The European Union in crisis
Islamism
The Afghanistan situation
Iran and North Korea
Somalia and the Sudan
The new China and the other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia and India)
I am most grateful to my friends Glyn Jones, formerly of Bede College, Billingham, and Michael Hopkinson, formerly Head of History at Harrogate Grammar School, who read the new secti
ons and made many helpful suggestions, and the Reverend Melusi Sibanda, who once again gave me invaluable help in sorting out the problems of Africa. I must also thank Suzannah Burywood, Della Oliver, Tina Graham and Juanita Bullough for their help, encouragement and guidance. And finally I would like to thank my wife Jane, who, as usual, was able to suggest many improvements to the text.
NORMAN LOWE
September 2012
Part I
War and International Relations
Chapter 1
The world in 1914: outbreak of the First World War
1.1 PROLOGUE
Under cover of darkness late on the night of 5 August 1914, five columns of German assault troops, which had entered Belgium two days earlier, were converging on the town of Liège, expecting little resistance. To their surprise they were halted by determined fire from the town’s outlying forts. This was a setback for the Germans: control of Liège was essential before they could proceed with their main operation against France. They were forced to resort to siege tactics, using heavy howitzers. These fired shells up into the air and they plunged from a height of 12 000 feet to shatter the armour-plating of the forts. Strong though they were, these Belgian forts were not equipped to withstand such a battering for long; on 13 August the first one surrendered and three days later Liège was under German control. This was the first major engagement of the First World War, that horrifying conflict of monumental proportions which was to mark the beginning of a new era in European and world history.
1.2 THE WORLD IN 1914
(a) Europe still dominated the rest of the world in 1914
Most of the decisions which shaped the fate of the world were taken in the capitals of Europe. Germany was the leading power in Europe both militarily and economically. She had overtaken Britain in the production of pig-iron and steel, though not quite in coal, while France, Belgium, Italy and Austria–Hungary (known as the Habsburg Empire) were well behind. Russian industry was expanding rapidly but had been so backward to begin with that she could not seriously challenge Germany and Britain. But it was outside Europe that the most spectacular industrial progress had been made during the previous 40 years. In 1914 the USA produced more coal, pig-iron and steel than either Germany or Britain and now ranked as a world power. Japan too had modernized rapidly and was a power to be reckoned with after her defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5.
(b) The political systems of these world powers varied widely
The USA, Britain and France had democratic forms of government. This means that they each had a parliament consisting of representatives elected by the people; these parliaments had an important say in running the country. Some systems were not as democratic as they seemed: Germany had an elected lower house of parliament (Reichstag), but real power lay with the Chancellor (a sort of prime minister) and the Kaiser (emperor). Italy was a monarchy with an elected parliament, but the franchise (right to vote) was limited to wealthy people. Japan had an elected lower house, but here too the franchise was restricted, and the emperor and the privy council held most of the power. The governments in Russia and Austria–Hungary were very different from the democracy of the West. The Tsar (emperor) of Russia and the Emperor of Austria (who was also King of Hungary) were autocratic or absolute rulers. This means that although parliaments existed, they could only advise the rulers; if they felt like it, the rulers could ignore the parliaments and do exactly as they wished.
(c) Imperial expansion after 1880
The European powers had taken part in a great burst of imperialist expansion in the years after 1880. Imperialism is the building up of an empire by seizing territory overseas. Most of Africa was taken over by the European states in what became known as the ‘the Scramble for Africa’; the idea behind it was mainly to get control of new markets and new sources of raw materials. There was also intervention in the crumbling Chinese Empire; the European powers, the USA and Japan all, at different times, forced the helpless Chinese to grant trading concessions. Exasperation with the incompetence of their government caused the Chinese to overthrow the ancient Manchu dynasty and set up a republic (1911).
(d) Europe had divided itself into two alliance systems
The Triple Alliance:
Germany
Austria–Hungary
Italy
The Triple Entente:
Britain
France
Russia
In addition, Japan and Britain had signed an alliance in 1902. Friction between the two main groups (sometimes called ‘the armed camps’) had brought Europe to the verge of war several times since 1900 (Map 1.1).
(e) Causes of friction
There were many causes of friction which threatened to upset the peace of Europe:
There was naval rivalry between Britain and Germany.
The French resented the loss of Alsace–Lorraine to Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1871).
The Germans accused Britain, Russia and France of trying to ‘encircle’ them; the Germans were also disappointed with the results of their expansionist policies (known as Weltpolitik – literally ‘world policy’). Although they had taken possession of some islands in the Pacific and some territory in Africa, their empire was small in comparison with those of the other European powers, and not very rewarding economically.
Map 1.1 Europe in 1914
Map 1.2 Peoples of the Habsburg Empire
The Russians were suspicious of Austrian ambitions in the Balkans and worried about the growing military and economic strength of Germany.
Serbian nationalism (the desire to free your nation from control by people of another nationality) was probably the most dangerous cause of friction. Since 1882 the Serbian government of King Milan had been pro-Austrian, and his son Alexander, who came of age in 1893, followed the same policy. However, the Serbian nationalists bitterly resented the fact that by the Treaty of Berlin signed in 1878, the Austrians had been allowed to occupy Bosnia, an area which the Serbs thought should be part of a Greater Serbia. The nationalists saw Alexander as a traitor; in 1903 he was murdered by a group of army officers, who put Peter Karageorgević on the throne. The change of regime caused a dramatic switch in Serbian policy: the Serbs now became pro-Russian and made no secret of their ambition to unite all Serbs and Croats into a large South Slav kingdom (Yugoslavia). Many of these Serbs and Croats lived inside the borders of the Habsburg Empire; if they were to break away from Austria–Hungary to become part of a Greater Serbia, it would threaten to break up the entire ramshackle Habsburg Empire, which contained people of many different nationalities (Map 1.2). There were Germans, Hungarians, Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Poles, Romanians, Ruthenians and Slovenes, as well as Serbs and Croats. If the Serbs and Croats left the fold, many of the others would demand their independence as well, and the Hapsburg Empire would break up. Consequently some Austrians were keen for what they called a ‘preventive war’ to destroy Serbia before she became strong enough to provoke the break-up of their empire. The Austrians also resented Russian support for Serbia.
Arising from all these resentments and tensions came a series of events which culminated in the outbreak of war in late July 1914.
1.3 EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
Time chart of main events
Europe divides into two armed camps:
1882
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy
1894
France and Russia sign alliance
1904
Britain and France sign ‘Entente Cordiale’ (friendly ‘getting-together’)
1907
Britain and Russia sign agreement.
Other important events:
1897
Admiral Tirpitz’s Navy Law – Germany intends to build up fleet
1902
Britain and Japan sign alliance
1904–5
Russo-Japanese War, won by Japan
1905–6
Moroccan Crisis
1906
Britain builds first ‘Dreadnought’ battleship
1908
Bosnia Crisis
1911
Agadir Crisis
1912
First Balkan War
1913
Second Balkan War
1914
28 June
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
28 July
Austria–Hungary declares war on Serbia
29 July
Russia orders general mobilization of troops
1 August
Germany declares war on Russia
3 August
Germany declares war on France
4 August
Britain enters war
6 August
Austria–Hungary declares war on Russia.
(a) The Moroccan Crisis (1905–6)
This was an attempt by the Germans to expand their empire and to test the recently signed Anglo-French ‘Entente Cordiale’ (1904), with its understanding that France would recognize Britain’s position in Egypt in return for British approval of a possible French takeover of Morocco; this was one of the few remaining areas of Africa not controlled by a European power. The Germans announced that they would assist the Sultan of Morocco to maintain his country’s independence, and demanded an international conference to discuss its future. A conference was duly held at Algeciras in southern Spain (January 1906). The British believed that if the Germans had their way, it would lead to virtual German control of Morocco. This would be an important step on the road to German diplomatic domination and it would encourage them to press ahead with their Weltpolitik. The British, who had just signed the ‘Entente Cordiale’ with France, were determined to lead the opposition to Germany at the conference. The Germans did not take the ‘Entente’ seriously because there was a long history of hostility between Britain and France. But to the amazement of the Germans, Britain, Russia, Italy and Spain supported the French demand to control the Moroccan bank and police. It was a serious diplomatic defeat for the Germans, who realized that the new line-up of Britain and France was a force to be reckoned with, especially as the crisis was soon followed by Anglo-French ‘military conversations’.