Global Conflicts: c. 1900 - Present
AP Concept: 6.2 Global Conflicts and Their Consequences
Key Concepts
Global Conflict
Opposition
Key Concepts
- Military conflicts occurred on an unprecedented global scale
- Many individuals and groups opposed military conflict
- World War I (1914 - 1918) occurred due to both long-term and short-term causes, many related to imperialism and nationalism, and had a devastating impact on involved countries due to improved military technology
- Long-term causes included:
- The complicated alliance system between European powers
- Tensions over imperialism
- The militaristic arms race between major powers, including Germany and Britain
- Growing nationalism among ethnic groups in Europe
- The war began when a Serbian Slav nationalist assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne
system of alliances meant that soon all major European powers were involved in the war - Improvements in military technology, including machine guns and gas, significantly increased the number of casualties, and trench warfare led to a stalemate between powers
- Civilians became involved as women entered the workforce, thus making WWI a total war
- When the war ended with the Treaty of Versailles, the victorious Allied powers (Italy, Britain, France, and the United States) punished Germany for its involvement and redrew the map of Europe
- Most countries were both devastated demographically and geographically by the war
- World War II (1939 - 1945) occurred partially due to the resolution of WWI, as the League of Nations, formed after WWI, failed to prevent fascist countries in Europe from launching a new international conflict
- Led by Adolf Hitler, Germany sought retribution for its punishment after WWI and gradually expanded throughout Europe; Italy invaded Ethiopia; and Japan invaded Manchuria
- Europe formally entered war in 1939, while the United States was drawn into Japan's ongoing expansionist war with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor once again, WWII became a global conflict
- Germany and Japan oppressed and exterminated populations within the countries they occupied
- The Nazis' Holocaust killed 6 million Jews, while the Japanese killed millions of Chinese as they moved across the continent
- New technologies such as radar, sonar, rockets, and the nuclear bomb raised the stakes and devastation of the war
- The Cold War (1945 - 1989) evolved from tensions between the former Allies of WWII
- The powers competed in an arms race to build destructive weapons, and fought proxy wars across the world, though they never actually fought each other
- These new global conflicts were so devastating that opposition to war grew in the 20th century
- Commercial overfishing has significantly depleted many oceanic fish species, leading to government regulation
- Conscientious objectors and draft dodgers refused to fight in wars their governments drafted them into
- Peace movements attempted to end conflicts, with limited success
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Related Links: AP World History Quizzes AP World History AP World History Notes Demographic and Environmental Changes: c. 1900 - Present |