The Holocaust
amanda1martinez
Week11.pptxChapter 26
The New Imperialism in Africa and Southeast Asia, 1830–1914
Learning Objectives
Define the new imperialism and outline its main causes.
Explain how Africans responded to European imperialism
Identify the main outcomes of the New Imperialism in Southeast Asia.
Discuss rubber as a case study of how natural resources, technology, and the profit motive could drive imperialism.
The New Imperialism
New Imperialism, period of intensified imperialistic expansion from the latter half of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The renewed push to expand territorial control included not only the earlier colonial powers of western Europe but also newcomers such as Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States..
In the 1870s and 1880s, the great powers of Europe suddenly shook off almost a century of apathy toward overseas colonies and, in the space of 20 years, partitioned almost the entire uncolonized portion of the globe. Once the scramble for colonies was complete, pressure groups formed in the various countries to argue the economic promise of imperialism, but just as often governments had to foster colonial development. In most cases, trade did not lead but followed the flag.
One necessary condition that characterized this New Imperialism, often overlooked, is technological The tsetse fly and the Anopheles mosquito—bearers of sleeping sickness and malaria—were the ultimate defenders of African and Asian jungles
The New Imperialism
The correlation of forces between Europe and the colonizable world shifted, however, with the invention of shallow-draft riverboats, the steamship and telegraph, the repeater rifle and Maxim gun, and the discovery (in India) that quinine is an effective prophylactic against malaria.The correlation of forces between Europe and the colonizable world shifted, however, with the invention of shallow-draft riverboats, the steamship and telegraph, the repeater rifle and Maxim gun, and the discovery (in India) that quinine is an effective prophylactic against malaria.
African Resistance to Conquest
Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists but were mostly overwhelmed by European military and technological superiority, compounded by famines. The exception to this pattern was in Ethiopia, where local rulers had imported European weapons and military strategy, which they used to successfully crush an Italian invasion.
Outcomes of the New Imperialism in Southeast Asia.
Early in the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company established control over most of the 3,000-mile-long chain of Indonesian islands. The British established a major trading port at Singapore. The French took over Indochina on the Southeast Asian mainland. The Germans claimed the Marshall Islands and parts of New Guinea and the Solomon islands. The lands of Southeast Asia were perfect for plantation agriculture. The major focus was on sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, rubber, coconuts, bananas, and pineapple. As these products became more important in the world trade markets, European powers raced each other to claim lands colonization brought mixed results. Economies grew based on cash crops or goods that could be sold on the world market. Roads, harbors, and rail systems improved communication and transportation but mostly benefited European business. However, education, health, and sanitation did improve. Unlike other colonial areas, millions of people from other areas of Asia and the world migrated to work on plantations and in the mines in Southeast Asia.
Outcomes of the New Imperialism in Southeast Asia.
The region became a melting pot of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists. The resulting cultural changes often led to racial and religious clashes that are still seen today
A case study of the New Imperialism: Rubber
In 1884, the Berlin Conference marked the official beginning of colonialism in Africa. One of the justifying principles behind colonialism was the need to civilize the purportedly backward peoples of Africa. the supposed imperative of civilizing non-whites was expressed in Rudyard Kipling’s poem published in 1899 in McClure’s Magazine entitled “White Man’s Burden”: The idea of the White Man’s Burden was to better (“seek another’s profit”) an ostensibly backward people (anyone who was not white). The lines following this initial declaration reveal the prevailing attitude in regards to how such a civilizing mission would proceed.
The sentiments expressed in “White Man’s Burden” were not uncommon during this time. Africans were considered culturally inferior, an idea that was supported by scientific racism. this idea was followed by a campaign to popularize ideas about Africans’ lack of civilization through educational and media materials. Practically, this was carried out in the colonies through increasing infrastructure, public health campaigns, education, and political reform.
A case study of the New Imperialism: Rubber
Unfortunately, the eventual result of this was the use of coercive measures, including forced labor and violence that would ultimately cripple the continent
In addition to disrupting traditional African industries and forms of agriculture, the Europeans did little to foster the development of trade between African states. This exploitation produced far-reaching consequences, as African societies often remained economically dependent states long after their independence
The search of rubber caused a huge crisis in Congo. A example was King Leopold who tried to use natives since tha arab slave trade was abolished Villagers tried to flee into the forest but Leopold sent his army into the forest and kill them. When they succeeded in finding and killing the villagers, they would cut off their right hands as a fear campaign. The fear campaign actually worked into getting the villager to collect the rubber. To counter, the villagers attacked and killed sentries. King Leopold tried countering this by massive massacres and villages being burned to the ground. Due to the massive amount of violence in Congo, Leopold was forced to turn his colony over the Belgian government. He neither developed the region nor provided any benefit to the local people.
Torture in King Leopold’s Congo
Here two victims of King Leopold’s policies, Mola and Yoka, display their mutilated limbs. The hands of Mola were eaten by gangrene after his hands were tied too tightly by Leopold’s agents. Yoka’s right hand was cut off by soldiers who planned to receive a bounty at headquarters by using the hand as proof of a kill. Once the world learned about this extreme violence, humanitarian voices were raised against Leopold.
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Chapter Timeline
| EVENT | APPROXIMATE DATE(S) (CE) |
| For Comparison: Industrial Revolution | From Circa 1780 to 1918 |
| Africa: Lifetime of King Khama of the Bangwato | 1837 to 1923 |
| For Comparison: First Opium War | 1939 to 1842 |
| For Comparison: First steamship crosses | 1853 |
| Africa: Xhosa cattle killing | 1856 to 1857 |
| Southeast Asia: Reign of King Chulalongkorn of Siam | 1868 to 1910 |
| For Comparison: Plains Indians suppressed, completing dispossession of native peoples in North America | 1868 to 1890 |
| Africa: Suez Canal | 1869 |
| Africa: Berlin Conference | 1884 |
| Africa: Reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia | 1889 to 1913 |
| Southeast Asia: Federation of Indochina | 1897 |
| Africa: Battle of Omdurman | 1898 |
| For Comparison: Boxer Rebellion | 1898 to 1901 |
| Southeast Asia: U.S. Possession of Philippines | 1900 |
| Africa: Union of South Africa | 1910 |
Table description: Events and approximate dates as shown on the timeline.
11
Chapter 27
War, Revolution, and Global Uncertainty, 1905–1928
Learning Objectives
Explain the causes of World War I
Discuss why World War I was regarded as a "total war."
Identify the factors that ended the war.
Explain the Versailles Treaty
Describe the internal and external problems the Weimar Republic
Learning Objectives
Discuss the impact of Lenin's New Economic Policy and Stalin's Five-Year Plan.
Causes of World War I
As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun, primarily over the number of each country's warships, and the increasing size of their armies—countries began training more and more of their young men to be prepared for battle.
By 1914, Germany had nearly 100 warships and two million trained soldiers. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved into war.
Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria-Hungary but instead be part of Serbia. This specific essentially nationalistic and ethnic revolt led directly to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which was the event that tipped the scales to war.
World War I as Global “Total” War
Total war is mainly characterized by the lack of distinction between fighting lawful combatants and civilians. The purpose is to destroy the other contender’s resources so that they are unable to continue to wage war. This might include targeting major infrastructure and blocking access to water, internet, or imports (often through blockades). Additionally, in total war, there is no limit on the type of weapons used and biological, chemical, nuclear, and other weapons of mass destruction may be unleashed.
Nations in World War I mobilized their own civilians for the war effort through forced conscription, military propaganda, and rationing, all of which can all be aspects of total war. People who had not consented were made to sacrifice food, supplies, time, and money to aid the war. When it comes to the conflict itself, the United States initiated the four-year Blockade of Germany which starved citizens and soldiers alike and debilitated the nation’s access to resources. In addition to blocking food and agriculture supplies, the blockade also restricted their access to foreign weapon imports.
World War I, 1914–1918
The term "total war" was not created until the 1930s by a German general, which was after World War I, but preceding World War II. Both of these wars put incredible strain on all aspects of the nations involved. Governments passed laws that would normally never be acceptable in order to bolster wartime efforts.
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The End of the Great War
World War One ended at 11am on 11 November, 1918. This became known as Armistice Day - the day Germany signed an armistice (an agreement for peace) which caused the fighting to stop.
At the start of 1918, Germany was in a strong position. Russia had already left the year before which made Germany even stronger.
A few events turned things around:
Britain and France counterattacked strongly after Germany's 'Michael Offensive' in March 1918.
The German Navy was on strike.
In April 1917 the United States joined the war against Germany.
Germany and her allies realized it was no longer possible to win the war.
The leaders of the German army told the government to stop. Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany's ruler, stepped down on 9 November 1918.
The Paris Peace Conference
The leaders of the USA, Great Britain and France met in Versailles to decide what should happen next.
Germany, Austria and Hungary were not invited.
The agreement was called the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was shocked by it because:
They had to accept total blame for starting the war.
They could not join the new League of Nations, where countries worked together for peace.
Some places Germany used to own, like Alsace-Lorraine, were taken from them.
They were banned from having an army of more than 100,000 men and from having any submarines or an air force.
People in Germany were angry. The country had to pay 132 billion gold marks (their currency before the Euro) to repair the damages of war. They became poor because of this.
The Weimar Republic
Lighting a fire with worthless banknotes during the 1923 hyperinflation
The Weimar Republic lasted less than 15 years before falling to the oncoming storm of Nazism. Countless historians have sought to understand and explain why the Weimar Republic failed. The only certainty is that the answer is complex and many factors were involved.
The Weimar Republic failed because it was at the mercy of many different ideas and forces – political and economic, internal and external, structural and short-term. It is difficult to isolate one or two of these forces or problems as being chiefly responsible for the demise of the Republic.
To the everyday observer, Adolf Hitler and Nazism appear the main architects of the downfall of Weimar democracy – but this required a collapse in the economic order, allowing Hitler and the National Socialists (NSDAP) to emerge from the margins of German politics and become a national force.
Some historians believe the Weimar Republic failed mainly by post-war conditions in Germany. Others suggest longer-term factors, such as Germany’s inexperience with democratic forms of government, were significant. Others still point to failings in the international order, such as Germany’s brutal post-war treatment and isolation by the Allies.
Lenin's New Economic Policy
The policy of War Communism, in effect since 1918, had by 1921 brought the national economy to the point of total breakdown. The Kronshtadt Rebellion of March 1921 convinced the Communist Party and its leader, Vladimir Lenin, of the need to retreat from socialist policies in order to maintain the party’s hold on power. measures included the return of most agriculture, retail trade, and small-scale light industry to private ownership and management while the state retained control of heavy industry, transport, banking, and foreign trade.
The peasantry were allowed to own and cultivate their own land, while paying taxes to the state. The New Economic Policy reintroduced a measure of stability to the economy and allowed the Soviet people to recover from years of war, civil war, and governmental mismanagement. The small businessmen and managers who flourished in this period became known as NEP men.
But the NEP was viewed by the Soviet government as merely a temporary expedient to allow the economy to recover while the Communists solidified their hold on power.
Stalin's Five-Year Plans
Joseph Stalin, in 1928, launched the first Five-Year Plan; it was designed to industrialize the USSR in the shortest possible time and, in the process, to expedite the collectivization of farms. In the first five year plan for example Stalin demanded 200% increase in Iron production, and 335% increase in electrical power. Firstly Russia was turned into a modern state which could resist Hitlers invasion. Secondly after the five year plans, there was geniune Communist enthusiasm among the Russian people.
However the Five year plan wasn't perfect, there were some huge criticisms of it.
Firstly it was very easy to get sent into a labour/ slave camp - which treated human beings appallingly.
Secondly there were a lot of deaths and accidents, due to the fact that they were trying to progress to quickly. The public also had to live, with poor housing, horrible wages and virtually no human rights.
Stalin's Five-Year Plans
Russia's production of arms for the war against Germany was proof of Stalin's success in industrialising the country despite the huge human cost. It was through the Five-Year Plans that Russia emerged from World War II as one of the superpowers, along with the United States of America.
Chapter Timeline
| EVENT | APPROXIMATE DATE(S) (CE) |
| Europe: Lifetime of Louise Bryant | Before 1885 to 1936 |
| For Comparison: Foreign Occupation of Beijing | 1900 |
| North America: Mexican Revolution | 1910 |
| For Comparison: Japan annexes Korea | 1910 |
| The Middle East and Asia: Chinese Revolution and fall of the Quing Dynasty | 1911 |
| Europe: World War I | 1914 to 1918 |
| Europe: October Revolution in Russia | 1917 |
| North America: United States enters World War I | 1917 |
| Europe: Paris Peace Conference | 1919 |
| The Middle East and Asia: End of the Ottoman Empire | 1919 |
| Europe: Weimar Republic | 1919 to 1933 |
| The Middle East and Asia: British mandate in Palestine | 1920 |
| For Comparison: Growth of Indian National Congress | Circa 1920 to 1947 |
| For Comparison: African National Congress gains momentum in South Africa | Circa 1920 to 1994 |
| For Comparison: Mussolini prime minister in Italy | 1922 |
| Europe: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | 1922 to 1991 |
| For Comparison: Great Depression | 1929 to Circa 1939 |
| For Comparison: Gandhi leads salt march | 1930 |
| For Comparison: Hilter chancellor in Germany | 1933 |
| For Comparison: World War II begins | 1939 |
Table description: Events and approximate dates as shown on the timeline.
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Chapter 28
Responses to Global Crisis, 1920–1939
Learning Objectives
Explain the Great Depression
Explain how Hitler and the Nazis came to power
Summarize what Hitler's policies meant for Jews, communists, homosexuals, and the handicapped.
Explain collectivization and purges in the Soviet Union,
Learning Objectives
Analyze the rise of nationalism and militarization of Japan in the 1920s and 1930s.
Describe the philosophy of nonviolent protest promoted by Gandhi
The Great Depression, 1929–1939
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.
hroughout the 1920s, the U.S. economy expanded rapidly, and the nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, a period dubbed “the Roaring Twenties.”
The stock market, centered at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City, was the scene of reckless speculation, where everyone from millionaire tycoons to cooks and janitors poured their savings into stocks. As a result, the stock market underwent rapid expansion, reaching its peak in August 1929.
The Great Depression, 1929–1939
By then, production had already declined and unemployment had risen, leaving stock prices much higher than their actual value. Additionally, wages at that time were low, consumer debt was proliferating, the agricultural sector of the economy was struggling due to drought and falling food prices and banks had an excess of large loans that could not be liquidated. On October 24, 1929, as nervous investors began selling overpriced shares en masse, the stock market crash that some had feared happened at last. A record 12.9 million shares were traded that day, known as “Black Thursday.”
Five days later, on October 29 or “Black Tuesday,” some 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. Millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had bought stocks “on margin” (with borrowed money) were wiped out completely.
the downturn in spending and investment led factories and other businesses to slow down production and begin firing their workers. For those who were lucky enough to remain employed, wages fell and buying power decreased.
The Great Depression, 1929–1939
Many Americans forced to buy on credit fell into debt, and the number of foreclosures and repossessions climbed steadily. The global adherence to the gold standard, which joined countries around the world in a fixed currency exchange, helped spread economic woes from the United States throughout the world, especially Europe.
Hitler and National Socialism in Germany
The rise and fall of Adolf Hitler is one of the most terrible, dramatic and unbelievable stories in history. He dealt in death in such boxcar numbers, and so irrevocably altered civilization, that it is impossible for the ordinary human being to fathom how so much evil could exist and be perpetrated essentially by a single person.
By all accounts, from his earliest years Hitler was strange and a loner. He wanted to be a painter, even though he was not very good at it.
At 16, Hitler moved to Vienna. He was a young man alone. During this period, he began to develop his theories of race, which were not original to him but which had existed in Germany the previous century.
In Vienna, Hitler’s Jew-hatred became an obsession – the obsession of his life. Almost his entire war strategy was based upon the Jews. Even as the end of Nazi Germany became obvious, Hitler and other Nazis felt they had accomplished some measure of victory because they had destroyed European Jewry.
Amid the turmoil after the war, there arose in Germany many nationalist parties called the Folk Parties. Each shared two or three common themes.
Hitler and National Socialism in Germany
First, they said, Germany did not lose the war, but was betrayed into losing the war. Usually, the corollary to that was that the leftists and Jews betrayed them.
Second, the parliamentary democracy set up after the war to run Germany, the Weimar Republic, was hopelessly unwieldy and inefficient.
Third was a call to law and order. German culture abhors chaos and if nothing else post-war Germany was chaotic. Therefore, the Folk Parties appealed to the German peoples’ sense of law and order. Better to have an autocratic regime than allowing the chaos to continue.
Hitler was the 55th member of a Folk Party founded in 1921 called the National Socialist Party, the Nazi Party for short. The Nationalist Socialist Party was not going anywhere and there was no reason for it to go anywhere. It was only because Hitler galvanized the party, imbuing it with a platform and spirit, that it turned into a political force.
In 1923, Hitler tried to overthrow the German government. However, the attempted coup – known in history as the Beer Hall Putsch — failed miserably and Hitler was arrested.
Hitler and National Socialism in Germany
His prison stay was more like a house arrest and became a media event that, incredibly, earned him the sympathy of the masses. It was during this incarceration that he wrote Mein Kampf, his rambling, anti-Semitic, semi-autobiographical political testament, outlining what Germany had to do to regain its superior, dominant and domineering place on the world stage
After the war, and into the 1920s, Germany experienced violent strikes. Communism saw Germany as the next country after Russia most likely to turn communist. Trotsky, Lenin and others put effort into mobilizing their forces to expand their revolution into Germany.
Hitler capitalized upon that fear. He found a ready response in the German people, who were more afraid of communism than what he stood for.
Hitler was a gifted orator. He would go on for hours at a time and mesmerize his audience. The psychology of domination was an essential ingredient of Hitler’s talent and rise to power. Hitler also learned to use the radio, which was a revolutionary media in its time.
Hitler and National Socialism in Germany
Hitler was able to mobilize criminal elements into street thugs who literally beat up his enemies. These became a paramilitary organization, the “brown shirts,” named after their uniforms
Hitler found ready financial support among the German industrialists. They were uneasy with him, but at least he wasn’t a communist calling for the seizure and nationalization of their businesses.
Germans were looking for a savior and a scapegoat. Hitler provided them with both: he was the savior and the Jews were the scapegoat.
More than anything else, the Great Depression helped boost Hitler. In the election after the Depression first struck the Nazis doubled their seats in the Reichstag,
At that point, he felt victory was in his grasp and let loose the brown shirts more than ever before. The Nazis terrorized the opposition. It was open hooliganism.
Hitler and National Socialism in Germany
The president of the Weimar Republic was the elderly war hero General Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler wanted to be appointed chancellor, which was the second most powerful position to president, and only the president could grant that. Von Hindenburg had resisted the Nazis all along and disparagingly called Hitler the “Bohemian corporal.” Now, however, he felt he had to give in, hoping that being second-in-command would mollify Hitler and he would stop there.
Once Hitler got power, however, no one controlled him. He increased the activities of his brown shirts, even beating to death opposing politicians. Then he presented the Reichstag with the Enabling Act, a bill that would give him absolute powers, in effect making the Reichstag powerless. Although it was political suicide to vote for it, no one dared vote against Hitler and it was passed into law.
When the almost senile President Hindenburg died that summer Hitler had complete control of Germany.
Hitler's policies meant for Jews, communists, homosexuals, and the handicapped.
By genocide, the murder of hostages, reprisal raids, forced labor, "euthanasia," starvation, exposure, medical experiments, and terror bombing, and in the concentration and death camps, the Nazis murdered from 15,003,000 to 31,595,000 people, most likely 20,946,000 men, women, handicapped, aged, sick, prisoners of war, forced laborers, camp inmates, critics, homosexuals, Jews, Slavs, Serbs, Germans, Czechs, Italians, Poles, French, Ukrainians, and many others. Among them 1,000,000 were children under eighteen years of age.1 And none of these monstrous figures even include civilian and military combat or war-deaths.
When we think of Nazi killing, genocide immediately comes to mind, particularly that of "6,000,00 Jews." But they also murdered for reasons other than race or religion. For one, the Nazis slew those who opposed or hindered them, whether actually or potentially. This was why Hitler assassinated hundreds of top Nazi SA's (Sturmabteilung)4 in June and July 1934, who under Ernst Rohm were becoming a strong competitor to the SS (Schutzstaffel); or executed perhaps 5,000 Germans after the 1944 plot on his life and attempted coup d'etat.
Hitler's policies meant for Jews, communists, homosexuals, and the handicapped.
Indeed, it is why critics, pacifists, conscientious objectors, campus rebels, dissidents, and others throughout the twelve-year history of the regime in Germany, were executed, disappeared, or slowly died in concentration camps. The Nazis thus killed some 288,000 Germans, not counting Jews, homosexuals, and those forcibly "euthanized." If these are included, then the Nazis murdered at least 498,000 Germans, probably 762,000.
Moreover, the Nazis murdered as an administrative device. They used terror and mass reprisals to maintain their control, prevent sabotage, and safeguard their soldiers. For the partisans or underground to kill a German soldier could mean that the Nazis would round up and execute all the men in a nearby village, burn the village to the ground, and send all the women and children off to concentration camps.
In some occupied areas in which the Nazis had to contend with well organized and active guerrilla units, they applied a simple rule: they would massacre one hundred nearby civilians for every German soldier killed; fifty for every one wounded. Often this was a minimum that might be doubled or tripled
Hitler's policies meant for Jews, communists, homosexuals, and the handicapped.
Most Nazis were absolute racists, especially among the top echelon; they believed utterly in the superiority of the "Aryan" race. Inferior races were like diseased appendixes that had to be surgically removed for the health of the body. Therefore they must exterminate the Jew and Gypsy. So also must they liquidate the homosexual and handicapped.
These genocides cost the lives of probably 16,315,000 people. Most likely the Nazis wiped out 5,291,000 Jews, 258,000 Gypsies, 10,547,000 Slavs, and 220,000 homosexuals. They also "euthanized" 173,500 handicapped Germans. Then in repression, terrorism, reprisals, and other cold-blooded killings done to impose and maintain their rule throughout Europe, the Nazis murdered more millions including French, Dutch, Serbs, Slovenes, Czechs, and others. In total, they likely annihilated 20,946,000 human beings.
Stalin: Collectivization and the Great Purges
By the end of the 1920s, Joseph Stalin had consolidated power as the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union. In 1928 he introduced a pro gram to collectivize farms and end private ownership of land. Farmers in Ukraine, known as the “bread basket” of the Soviet Union for its fertile soil, resisted giving up their land to the state and joining collective farms. The Soviet state under Stalin responded with a program called “de kulakization,” which evicted farmers and their families. The word “kulak” means “fist” in Russian and was used to demonize private farmers who refused to open their “clenched fists” and participate in building socialism. More than a million Ukrainian farmers were exiled to the far reaches of the Soviet Union or left without homes or work in the process. In 1932, the Soviet state increased Ukrainian grain harvest quotas, even as collectivization policies led to much lower production levels. The im possibly high quotas meant grain that would be normally be eaten by farmers was confiscated and sent to other parts of the Soviet Union or sold abroad. As a result, millions, mostly rural Ukrainians, went hungry. The state gave orders to the internal police, the NKVD, to arrest or exe cute farmers who tried to steal grain from fields or storage facilities. The so-called kulaks were also denied residency permits to gain access to housing in cities
Collectivization and purges in the Soviet Union,
Signs of agony became widespread as starving families moved to the streets of cities such as Kharkiv, desperate to find food. In 1930, an estimated 30,000 people were dying of starvation per day, many of them children. Some resorted to cannibalism. Because the USSR did not record deaths from the famine and attempted to cover it up, an exact number of victims is difficult to verify. However, scholars generally agree that millions lost their lives.
The Great Purge, also known as the “Great Terror,” was a brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat. Although estimates vary, most experts believe at least 750,000 people were executed during the Great Purge, which took place between about 1936 and 1938. More than a million other people were sent to forced labor camps, known as Gulags. This ruthless and bloody operation caused rampant terror throughout the U.S.S.R. and impacted the country for many years.
Collectivization and purges in the Soviet Union,
The exact motives for the Great Purge are debated among historians. Some claim the actions of Stalin were prompted by his desire to maintain authority as dictator. Others see it as his way to preserve, enhance and unify the Soviet Communist Party.
Stalin launched his purge, claiming that he had uncovered a dangerous conspiracy of anti-Stalinist Communists. The dictator began killing or imprisoning any suspected party dissenters, eventually eliminating all the original Bolsheviks that participated in the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Ultranationalism in Japan
Modernization combined with a sense of national pride, the growth of population, the industrial development contributed to the rise of militarism in Japan. It was in late 1920s and early 1930s that brought this change and took alarming proportions by 1937.This was the creation of right wing political parties and the army. The army that dominated the Japanese politics was keen on war conquest; its officers had little knowledge of international politics advocated expansion of the empire by the force which culminated into a national disaster post World War II.Japanese militarism was anti democratic and authoritarian in nature.
Military warlords who believed that Japan’s interests could be safeguarded only under totalitarian regime dominated it. The power came under the war minister and the Navy minister who dominated the Japanese politics. The totalitarian feature of Japanese militarism also highlighted that it was not a peaceful movement but dominated by ultra nationalism. Ultra nationalists started operating in Japan to reduce the influence of liberal organizations
Ultranationalism in Japan
The Japanese militarism was anti communist and pro capitalist. Russia was the natural enemy of Japan as their interests clashed over Manchuria and other parts of Asia. The rise of Bolsheviks further deteriorated the relations between them. Japan was also concerned with the colonial expansion based on capitalist lines that was resented by Russia. This was one feature that made Japan to sign Anti –Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Japanese totalitarianism retained a Japanese pattern shaped by the absence of individualism. The personality cult was absent and emperor was still regarded as a symbol of unity and common rallying point for the whole nation
The philosophy of nonviolent protest promoted by Gandhi
Satyagraha (firmness in truth) and sarvodaya (welfare of all) are the core concepts of Mahatma Gandhi’s political philosophy. Satyagraha became the alternative nonviolent resistance soul force of the oppressed against injustice—an alternative to guerrilla war, civil war and genocide. But satyagraha today means world federation, global citizenship, nuclear disarmament, ecological sustainability, poverty eradication, investigative journalism and restorative justice.
World federation: “There will be an international league only when all the nations, big or small, composing it are fully independent.... In a society based on nonviolence, the smallest nation will feel as tall as the tallest. The idea of superiority and inferiority will be wholly obliterated.”
Global citizenship: “I learnt from my illiterate but wise mother that all rights to be deserved and preserved came from duty well done. Thus, the very right to live accrues to us only when we do the duty of citizenship of the world. From this one fundamental statement, perhaps it is easy enough to define the duties of man and woman and correlate every right to some corresponding duty to be first performed.”
The philosophy of nonviolent protest promoted by Gandhi
Nuclear disarmament: “The west is today pining for wisdom. It is despairing of the multiplication of the atom bomb, because atom bombs mean utter destruction not merely of the west but of the whole world, as if the prophecy of the Bible was going to be fulfilled and there was to be a perfect deluge.”
Gandhi was quite aware that there was need to train people who could carry on with his Satyagraha campaigns. He trained them in his "Satyagraha Ashrams"
Especial rule was:
A satyagrahi must accept to suffer in order to correct a situation.
In a nutshell, Satyagraha is itself a movement intended to fight social and promote ethical values. It is a whole philosophy of nonviolence. It is undertaken only after all the other peaceful means have proven ineffective. At its heart is nonviolence. An attempt is made to convert, persuade or win over the opponent. It involves applying the forces of both reason and conscience simultaneously, while holding aloft the indisputable truth of his/her position.
Chapter Timeline
| EVENT | APPROXIMATE DATE(S) (CE) |
| Africa and Asia: Lifetime of Halinde Edib | Before 1,884 to 1,964 |
| Africa and Asia: Growth of Indian National Congress | 1,920s and 1,930s |
| For Comparison: U.S. Senate rejects League of Nations | 1,920 |
| For Comparison: Chinese Community Party founded | 1,921 |
| Europe: Mussolini controls Italy | 1,922 |
| Africa and Asia: Republic of Turkey | 1,923 |
| For Comparison: Chiang Kai-shek consolidates Guomindang power | Circa 1,924 to 1,931 |
| Africa and Asia: Igbo Women's War | 1,929 |
| Europe: Soviet collectivization and Great Purges | 1,930s |
| Africa and Asia: Invasion of Manchuria | 1,931 |
| Europe: Hitler takes power in Germany | 1,933 |
| For Comparison: Chinese Communist Long March | 1,934 to 1,936 |
| Africa and Asia: Italian invasion of Ethiopia | 1,935 |
| Europe: Spanish Civil War | 1,936 to 1,939 |
| Africa and Asia: Rape of Nanjing | 1,937 |
| For Comparison: Quit India campaign begins | 1,942 |
Table description: Events and approximate dates as shown on the timeline.
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