Questions & Answers: World History – Modern Global Events

Discuss and describe the beginnings of The Cold War.
After the defeat of the Axis powers in WWII, the United States and Russia entered into a long and often secret conflict, in which each side used diplomatic, economic, and occasionally military forces to try and assert itself as the dominant world power. The first issue on which these nations butted heads was the rebuilding of Europe. Germany was divided into an eastern and western section; the western half was democratic and looked to the US for guidance, while Eastern Germany became a communist nation in the USSR’s sphere of influence. Russia worked to bring all of its neighbors (including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) under its control. The western borders of these nations formed what Churchill referred to as the iron curtain, dividing communist Eastern Europe from democratic Western Europe.

Define and discuss the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO and Warsaw Pact.
In order to stop the spread of communism in Europe and elsewhere, the President Truman asserted his policy of “containment” in the so-called Truman Doctrine. This meant that the US would support the anticommunist governments throughout the world. The Marshall Plan advanced this policy by supplying aid to war-ravaged countries in Western Europe. When the Eastern Bloc countries prevented aid from reaching West Berlin, the US , England, and France organized the Berlin Airlift to overcome this obstacle. In 1949, the Western European and North American nations entered into a mutual defense treaty, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). As a response, the eastern Bloc nations joined with the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact.

Discuss and describe the Communist Revolution in China.
China was torn by civil strife all throughout the Second World War. At one point, the American government had to renounce its trade rights in China in order to persuade China not to sign a peace treaty with Japan while the US still needed Chinese support. Once Japan had been defeated, the Red Army under Mao moved into Manchuria (which had recently been vacated by the Soviets). The major cities were still occupied by Nationalist forces, supported by the Americans. In 1946, fighting resumed between the opposing factions, and the Nationalists under Chiang were eventually forced to abandon central China. In 1949, the Red Army forced Chiang Kai-shek to leave the mainland and find refuge on Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, the communists declared the official creation of the People’s Republic of China.

How did the Cold War end?
Over time, the leaders of the Soviet Union and United States began to realize the total annihilation that would ensue if nuclear war was declared, and it was agreed that both sides would disarm. The two treaties that were signed during the 1970s are known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) I and II. When Mikhail Gorbachev came into power in the USSR in 1985, he established a policy of glasnost, or “openness.” In response to US President Ronald Reagan’s military build-up using the might of the US economy, Gorbachev understood that the Soviet Union could not economically compete militarily under a communist system and overcome the military might of the United States. He thus advocated perestroika, a gradual metamorphosis of the Soviet economy. In 1991, these reforms culminated in the disintegration of the ruling Communist party, and the disbanding of the Soviet Union. This occurred two years after the Berlin Wall, which for more than forty years had separated communist and anticommunist Germany, was finally torn down.

Identify and describe the arms race, Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs in the Cold War.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union each tried to deter an attack by the other by building up fantastic arsenals of nuclear missiles. The two nations would also expend considerable effort trying to be the first in space. Finally, in the late 60s and early 70s, the two nations would begin talks aimed at mutual disarmament. This occurred in part because relations between China and the USSR had cooled. Before this period of détente, however, there had been a couple of serious threats to global peace. In 1961, the US had financed an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. This led the Soviet Union to establish missile bases on communist Cuba; the US and USSR almost declared war on one another during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Discuss and describe the Middle East from 1947 to 1977.
After WWII, the United Nations announced that Palestine would be partitioned in order to make room for a new Jewish state. Israel was created in 1948. In 1951, the Iranian leader Mossadegh nationalized the oil interests, making his government extremely wealthy and powerful. This move would be emulated by future leaders. In 1967, in the Six Day War, Israel routed a coalition of Arab nations, seizing the West Bank, Sinai, and Jerusalem. In 1972, Palestinian terrorists murdered 12 Israeli athletes at the Olympics in Munich. In 1973, the oil-producing Arab nations placed an embargo on shipments to the West, causing major energy crises in the US and Europe. Also in 1973, Israelis and Arabs battled again in the Yom Kippur War. In 1977, Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

Discuss and describe India and Pakistan after WWII.
In 1947, after years of peaceful protests led by Mahatma Gandhi, India was given its independence and partitioned into two states, India and Pakistan. The following year, Gandhi would be assassinated in India. In 1965, border disputes would flare into the Indo-Pakistani War. In 1971, Pakistan would fend off attacks from Bengali rebels, who sought to achieve independence. The next year, however, Bangladesh would be established as an independent state. In 1984, India had its own internal problems: after the Indian army occupied the Golden Temple sacred to the Sikhs, the Indian leader Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Anti-Sikh riots resulted, and much blood was shed.

Outline the factors and shifts in power leading to the Korean War.
In 1910, Japan took control of Korea, and maintained this control until 1945, when Soviet and US troops occupied the country. The Soviet Union controlled North Korea, while the US controlled South Korea. In 1947, the UN ordered elections in Korea to unify the country but the Soviet Union refused to allow them to take place, instead setting up a communist government in North Korea. In 1950, the US withdrew troops, and the North Korean troops moved to invade South Korea.
The Korean War was the first war in which the UN—or any international organization—played a major role. The US, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, Great Britain, Turkey, China, USSR and other countries sent troops at various times, for both sides, throughout the war. In 1953, the war ended in a truce, but no peace agreement was ever achieved, and Korea remains divided.

Discuss and describe the Middle East from 1978 to 1985.
In 1978, American President Jimmy Carter hosted successful peace talks between Egypt and Israel at Camp David. The next year, however, a fundamentalist Islamist regime would take power in Iran, and many Americans would be taken hostage, only released upon the election of Ronald Reagan. Between 1980 and 1988, Iran and Iraq engaged in a bloody and brutal war, begun when the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein seized territory in eastern Iran. Also during this period, Afghan rebels were engaged in a prolonged, ultimately successful fight for independence from the Soviets. In 1982, Israel attacked Lebanon, which was harboring the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Lebanon would be forced to oust Arafat the next year. Israel would continue attacking Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and the PLO would continue to sponsor terrorist activities against Israel.

Name three major occurrences of genocide in modern history other than the Holocaust.

1. Armenian genocide—occurred in the 1900s when the Young Turks, heirs to the Ottoman Empire, slaughtered over a million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. This constituted nearly half the Armenian population at the time.
2. Russian purges under Stalin—Scholars have attributed deaths between 3 and 60 million, both directly and indirectly, to the policies and edicts of Joseph Stalin’s regime. The deaths took place from 1921 to 1953, when Stalin died. In recent years, many scholars have settled on a number of deaths near 20 million but this is still disputed today.
3. Rwandan Genocide—in 1994, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and Hutu sympathizers were slaughtered during the Rwandan Civil War. The UN did not act or authorize intervention during these atrocities.

Discuss the events leading to the Vietnam War and the involvement of France.
Vietnam had previously been part of a French colony called French Indochina.
The Vietnam War began with the French Indochina War from 1946-1954, in which France battled with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, ruled by Ho Chi Minh.
In 1954, a siege at Dien Bien Phu ended in a Vietnamese victory. Vietnam was then divided into North and South, much like Korea. Communist forces controlled the North and the South was controlled by South Vietnamese forces, supported by the US. Conflict ensued, leading to a war. US troops eventually lead the fight, in support of South Vietnam. The war became a major political issue in the US, with many citizens protesting American involvement.
In 1976, South Vietnam surrendered, and Vietnam became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Define decolonization and describe its effect on the post-war period.
A rise of nationalism among European colonies led to many of them declaring independence. India and Pakistan became independent of Britain at this time, and numerous African and Asian colonies declared independence, as well. This period of decolonization lasted into the 1960s.
Some colonies moved successfully into independence but many, especially in Africa and Asia, struggled to create stable governments and economies, and suffered from ethnic and religious conflicts. Some of those countries still struggle today.

Outline the origins of the United Nations.
The United Nations (UN) came into being toward the end of World War II. A successor to the less-than-successful League of Nations, formed after World War I, the UN built and improved on those ideas. Since its inception, the UN has worked to bring the countries of the world together for diplomatic solutions to international problems, including sanctions and other restrictions. It has also initiated military action, calling for peacekeeping troops from member countries to move against countries violating UN policies.
One example of UN involvement in an international conflict is the Korean War, the first war in which an international alliance of this kind was actively involved.

Define Globalism as a political term.
In the modern era, globalism has emerged as a popular political ideology. Globalism is based in the idea that all people and all nations are interdependent. Each nation is dependent on one or more other nations for production of and markets for goods, and for income generation. Today’s ease of international travel and communication, including technological advances such as the airplane, has heightened this sense of interdependence.
The global economy, and the general idea of globalism, has shaped many economic and political choices since the beginning of the twentieth century. Many of today’s issues, including environmental awareness, economic struggles, and continued warfare, often require the cooperation of many countries if they are to be dealt with effectively.

Define terrorism.
Terrorism is politically- motivated violence. It is invariably considered criminal activity. It can include such crimes as murder, assault and battery, destruction of property, airplane hijacking and kidnapping, as long as those crimes are performed with the intent of altering the political process in some way. It is rarely a direct attack on whatever political mechanism is meant to be affected, but on innocent victims with the intent of politically and ideologically influencing others. Terrorism has been around for centuries if not millennia. The most famous terrorist act of recent years was almost certainly the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Virginia.

Describe the role of the Middle East in international relations and economics.
Its location on the globe, with ease of access to Europe and Asia, and its preponderance of oil deposits, makes the middle eastern countries a crucial factor in many international issues both diplomatic and economic. Because of its central location, the Middle East has been a hotbed for violence since before the beginning of recorded history. Conflicts over land, resources, religious and political power continue in the area today, spurred by conflict over control of the area’s vast oil fields as well as over territories that have been disputed for literally hundreds—and even thousands—of years.

Discuss how globalization has affected the way countries interact with each other and how it affects supply and demand.
With countries worldwide often seeking the same resources, some, particularly nonrenewable resources, have experienced high demand. At times this has resulted in wild price fluctuations. One major example is the demand for petroleum products such as oil and natural gas.
Increased travel and communication make it possible to deal with diseases in remote locations; however, it also allows diseases to be spread via travelers, as well.
A major factor contributing to increased globalization over the past few decades has been the Internet. By allowing instantaneous communication with anyone nearly anywhere on the globe, the Internet has led to interaction between far-flung individuals and countries, and an ever increasing awareness of happenings all over the world.