8.1 Contextualizing 20th-Century Global Conflicts

Learning Objective Unit 8.A: Explain the context in which global conflict developed in the 20th century.

• KC-4.1 Total war and political instability in the first half of the 20th century gave way to a polarized state order during the Cold War and eventually to efforts at transnational union.
  • KC-4.1.I World War I, caused by a complex interaction of long- and short-term factors, resulted in immense losses and disruptions for both victors and vanquished.
  • KC-4.1.II The conflicting goals of the peace negotiators in Paris pitted diplomatic idealism against the desire to punish Germany, producing a settlement that satisfied few.
  • KC-4.1.III In the interwar period, fascism, extreme nationalism, racist ideologies, and the failure of appeasement resulted in the catastrophe of World War II, presenting a grave challenge to European civilization.
• KC-4.2 The stresses of economic collapse and total war engendered internal conflicts within European states and created conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the ideological battle between and among democracy, communism, and fascism.
• KC-4.3 During the 20th century, diverse intellectual and cultural movements questioned the existence of objective knowledge, the ability of reason to arrive at truth, and the role of religion in determining moral standards.
  • KC-4.3.II Science and technology yielded impressive material benefits but also caused immense destruction and posed challenges to objective knowledge.
• KC-4.4 Demographic changes, economic growth, total war, disruptions of traditional social patterns, and competing definitions of freedom and justice altered the experiences of everyday life.
  • KC-4.4.I The 20th century was characterized by large-scale suffering brought on by warfare and genocide, but also by tremendous improvements in the standard of living.

8.2 World War I

Thematic Focus (SOP): States and Other Institutions of Power — European states and nations developed governmental and civil institutions from 1450 to the present to organize society and consolidate political power, with a variety of social, cultural, and economic effects.

Thematic Focus (TSI): Technological and Scientific Innovation — Scientific and technological innovations have increased efficiency, improved daily life, and shaped human development and interactions, having both intended and unintended consequences.

Learning Objective Unit 8.B: Explain the causes and effects of World War I.

• KC-4.1.I World War I, caused by a complex interaction of long- and short-term factors, resulted in immense losses and disruptions for both victors and vanquished.
  • KC-4.1.I.A A variety of factors—including nationalism, military plans, the alliance system, and imperial competition—turned a regional dispute in the Balkans into World War I.

Learning Objective Unit 8.C: Explain how new technology altered the conduct of World War I. THEMATIC FOCUS Interaction of Europe and the World INT Motivated by a variety of factors, Europe’s interaction with the world led to political, economic, social, and cultural exchanges that influenced both European and non-European societies. LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• KC-4.1.I.B New technologies confounded traditional military strategies and led to trench warfare and massive troop losses. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Learning Objective Unit 8.D: Explain how the developments of World War I changed political and diplomatic interactions between and among nations.

• KC-4.1.I.C The effects of military stalemate, national mobilization, and total war led to protest and insurrection in the belligerent nations and eventually to revolutions that changed the international balance of power.
• KC-4.1.I.D The war in Europe quickly spread to non-European theaters, transforming the war into a global conflict.
• KC-4.1.I.E The relationship of Europe to the world shifted significantly with the globalization of the conflict, the emergence of the United States as a world power, and the overthrow of European empires.

Illustrative examples:

• New technologies: §Bullet Machine gun §Bullet Barbed wire §Bullet Submarine §Bullet Airplane §Bullet Poison gas §Bullet Tank Discontent and revolution: §Bullet Mutinies in armies §Bullet Easter Rebellion in Ireland §Bullet Russian Revolution Non-European theaters of conflict: §Bullet Armenian Genocide §Bullet Arab revolt against the Turks §Bullet Japanese aggression in the Pacific and on the Chinese mainland Collapse of European empires: §Bullet Mandate system §Bullet Creation of modern Turkey §Bullet Dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire

8.3 The Russian Revolution and Its Effects

Thematic Focus (SOP): States and Other Institutions of Power — European states and nations developed governmental and civil institutions from 1450 to the present to organize society and consolidate political power, with a variety of social, cultural, and economic effects.

Learning Objective Unit 8.E: Explain the causes and effects of the Russian Revolution.

• KC-4.2.I The Russian Revolution created a regime based on Marxist–Leninist theory.
  • KC-4.2.I.A In Russia, World War I exacerbated long-term problems of political stagnation, social inequality, incomplete industrialization, and food and land distribution, all while creating support for revolutionary change.
  • KC-4.2.I.B Military and worker insurrections, aided by the revived Soviets, undermined the Provisional Government and set the stage for Lenin’s long-planned Bolshevik Revolution and establishment of a communist state.
  • KC-4.2.I.C The Bolshevik takeover prompted a protracted civil war between communist forces and their opponents, who were aided by foreign powers.
  • KC-4.2.I.D.i In order to improve economic performance, Lenin compromised communist principles and employed some free-market principles under the New Economic Policy.

Illustrative examples:

• Revolutionary change in Russia:
  • February/March Revolution
  • Petrograd Soviet

8.4 Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement

8.5 Global Economic Crisis

8.6 Fascism and Totalitarianism

Thematic Focus (SOP): States and Other Institutions of Power — European states and nations developed governmental and civil institutions from 1450 to the present to organize society and consolidate political power, with a variety of social, cultural, and economic effects.

Learning Objective Unit 8.H: Explain the factors that led to the development of fascist and totalitarian regimes in the aftermath of World War I.

• KC-4.2.II The ideology of fascism, with roots in the pre-World War I era, gained popularity in an environment of postwar bitterness, the rise of communism, uncertain transitions to democracy, and economic instability.
  • KC-4.2.II.A Fascist dictatorships used modern technology and propaganda that rejected democratic institutions, promoted charismatic leaders, and glorified war and nationalism to attract the disillusioned.
  • KC-4.2.II.B Mussolini and Hitler rose to power by exploiting postwar bitterness and economic instability, using terror, and manipulating the fledgling and unpopular democracies in their countries.
  • KC-4.2.II.C Franco’s alliance with Italian and German fascists in the Spanish Civil War—in which the Western democracies did not intervene—represented a testing ground for World War II and resulted in authoritarian rule in Spain from 1936 to the mid-1970s.
  • KC-4.2.II.D After failures to establish functioning democracies, authoritarian dictatorships took power in central and eastern Europe during the interwar period. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Learning Objective Unit 8.I: Explain the consequences of Stalin’s economic policies and totalitarian rule in the Soviet Union.

• KC-4.2.I.D.ii After Lenin’s death, Stalin undertook a centralized program of rapid economic modernization, often with severe repercussions for the population.
• KC-4.2.I.E Stalin’s economic modernization of the Soviet Union came at a high price, including the liquidation of the kulaks (the land-owning peasantry) and other perceived enemies of the state, devastating famine in the Ukraine, purges of political rivals, and, ultimately, the creation of an oppressive political system.

Illustrative examples:

• Fascist propaganda: §Bullet §Bullet Joseph Goebbels
  • Leni Riefenstahl §Bullet Architecture §Bullet
• Authoritarian dictatorship in central and eastern Europe: §Bullet Poland
  • Hungary
  • Romania
• The Soviet Union’s rapid economic modernization:
  • Collectivization §Bullet Five Year Plan
• The Soviet Union’s oppressive political system: §Bullet Great purges §Bullet
  • Secret police

8.7 Europe During the Interwar Period

Thematic Focus (SOP): States and Other Institutions of Power — European states and nations developed governmental and civil institutions from 1450 to the present to organize society and consolidate political power, with a variety of social, cultural, and economic effects.

Learning Objective Unit 8.J: Explain how and why various political and ideological factors resulted in the catastrophe of World War II.

• KC-4.1.III.A French and British fears of another war, American isolationism, and deep distrust between Western democratic, capitalist nations and the authoritarian, communist Soviet Union allowed fascist states to rearm and expand their territory.
• KC-4.1.III In the interwar period, fascism, extreme nationalism, racist ideologies, and the failure of appeasement resulted in the catastrophe of World War II, presenting a grave challenge to European civilization.

Illustrative examples:

• Fascist states’ expansion allowed by European powers:
  • Remilitarization of the Rhineland
  • Italian invasion of Ethiopia
  • Annexation of Austria
  • Munich Agreement and its violation
  • Nazi–Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

8.8 World War II

8.9 The Holocaust

Thematic Focus (NEI): National and European Identity — Definitions and perceptions of regional, cultural, national, and European identity have developed and been challenged over time, with varied and often profound effects on the political, social, and cultural order in Europe.

Learning Objective Unit 8.L: Explain how and why cultural and national identities were affected by war and the rise of fascist/totalitarian powers in the period from 1914 to the present.

• KC-4.1.III.D Fueled by racism and anti-Semitism, Nazi Germany—with the cooperation of some of the other Axis powers and collaborationist governments—sought to establish a “new racial order” in Europe, which culminated with the Holocaust.
• KC-4.4.I.B World War II decimated a generation of Russian and German men; virtually destroyed European Jewry; resulted in the murder of millions in other groups targeted by the Nazis including Roma, homosexuals, people with disabilities, and others; forced large-scale migrations; and undermined prewar class hierarchies.

Illustrative examples:

• Nazi establishment of a new racial order: §Bullet Nuremberg Laws
  • Wannsee Conference
  • Auschwitz and other death camps

8.10 20th-Century Cultural, Intellectual, and Artistic Developments

8.11 Continuity and Changes in an Age of Global Conflict

Learning Objective Unit 8.N: Explain how economic challenges and ideological beliefs influenced prior conceptions about the relationship between the individual and the state.

• KC-4.1 Total war and political instability in the first half of the 20th century gave way to a polarized state order during the Cold War and eventually to efforts at transnational union.
  • KC-4.1.I World War I, caused by a complex interaction of long- and short-term factors, resulted in immense losses and disruptions for both victors and vanquished.
  • KC-4.1.II The conflicting goals of the peace negotiators in Paris pitted diplomatic idealism against the desire to punish Germany, producing a settlement that satisfied few.
  • KC-4.1.III In the interwar period, fascism, extreme nationalism, racist ideologies, and the failure of appeasement resulted in the catastrophe of World War II, presenting a grave challenge to European civilization.
• KC-4.2 The stresses of economic collapse and total war engendered internal conflicts within European states and created conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the ideological battle between and among democracy, communism, and fascism.
• KC-4.3 During the 20th century, diverse intellectual and cultural movements questioned the existence of objective knowledge, the ability of reason to arrive at truth, and the role of religion in determining moral standards.
  • KC-4.3.II Science and technology yielded impressive material benefits but also caused immense destruction and posed challenges to objective knowledge.
• KC-4.4 Demographic changes, economic growth, total war, disruptions of traditional social patterns, and competing definitions of freedom and justice altered the experiences of everyday life.
  • KC-4.4.I The 20th century was characterized by large-scale suffering brought on by warfare and genocide, but also by tremendous improvements in the standard of living.