Modern World: 1500-1945 AD

⇒ The 16th century is commonly designated as the ‘Age of Renaissance’, also called the ‘Revival of learning’.

⇒ It is said to have started with the capture of Constantinople (now Istanbul) by the Turks in 1453 and the dispersal of the scholars throughout Europe, who sought asylum in Italy.

⇒ Italy practically became the home of the Renaissance and fundamental to the Renaissance was the revival of classical learning, art and architecture and the concept of the dignity of the man, which characterized Humanism. It resulted in the emancipation of the mind of man from the shackles of effete dogmatism, and in the creation of fresh intellectual atmosphere and ideals of life.

⇒ The person, which has considered as the ‘symbol of renaissance’ was Leonardo da Vinci of Itly.

⇒ Great writers of the Italian Renaissance included Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio & Machiavelli. Great painters of Italian Renaissance included Leonardo da Vinci (Famous Paintings: The Last Supper’& Monalisa’), Michelangelo (The Last Judgement’ & ‘The Fall of Man’) & Raphel (Madona’). Great astronomers of Italian Renaissance included Bruno & Galileo.

⇒ The movement spread to other countries of Europe also, especially to France & Germany; and at last it reached the shores of England, where it manifested itself in the poems of Chaucer & Spenser, the plays of Shakespeare, the essays of Francis Bacon & utopianism of Thomas More, and particularly in the courts of such rulers as Elizabeth I of England.

⇒ The Renaissance movement was enormously, helped by the invention of the printing press (in 1454 by Gutenberg of Germany; ‘Gutenberg Bible’ 1456-the first printed book); with the help of which old and classical books were multiplied leading to a great increase in knowledge and in the spirit of enquiry and experiment.

⇒ The Reformation was another movement that the 16th century witnessed.

⇒ It was started by Martin Lutherin Wittenburg, Germany in 1517 by publicly protesting against the sale of letters of Indulgence.

(Indulgence the letters which remitted punishments of the sinners who bought them and which began to be considered as passports to heaven.)

⇒ It was a revolt against the control of conscience by the priests.

⇒ Thanks to the inborn spirit of revolt against the Catholic Church, Henry VIII of England could take the bold step of breaking away from the papacy i.e., authority of the Pope on the issue of his first divorce in 1534. Henry VIII declared himself the head of the church when the Pope would not give him permission to divorce his wife, Catherine.

⇒ With the breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church by such leaders as Luther of Germany and Calvin of Switzerland, Western Europe was split between Catholic & Protestant countries, a situation which developed enmities of the fiercest nature.

⇒ The movement, which began within the Catholic Church to combat the effects of the Protestant Reformation, was known as Counter-Reformation Movement.

⇒ A great development which marked the beginning of the modern age in Europe was a series of geographical discoveries.

⇒ Helped by some remarkable inventions viz. the Compass and Astrolabe, daring sailors sailed to distant lands.

⇒ They were financed by rulers and merchants.

⇒ The main motivation behind these adventures was the lure of profits that trade with the East would bring.

⇒ During 1288-93, Marco Polo (1256-1326), Venetian traveller, travelled from Venice to China and Japan. He was the ‘first European to visit China’. From his travelogue the Europeans learned about the all round prosperity of the East.

⇒ The first great steps in the exploration of the earth were taken by the sailors under the patronage of the Portuguese and Spanish rulers.

⇒ Prince Henry (1394-1460), the Navigator of Portugal, encouraged sailors by making maps based on trips to the African coast.

⇒ In 1487, Bartholomew Diaz, reached the point which the Portuguese named Cape of Good Hope (the southernmost point of Africa).

⇒ Vasco da Gama followed this route and sailed on round the cape and reached Calicut in India in 1498.

⇒ Italian sailor Columbus’ trip was financed by Spain from where he sailed in 1492. When he had reached land, he thought he had reached India; so he called the islands, the ‘Indies’; but it was America.

⇒ The land discovered by Columbus was soon to be called the ‘Americas’ after the name of a later Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci.

⇒ Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, went beyond the lands that had stopped Columbus. He sailed around the tip of South America, which is named after him-the Straits of Magellan. He called the new ocean that he entered, ‘The Pacific’ because it seemed quiter than the Atlantic. Magellan reached what is now called the Phillippine Islands where he died. Magellan was the first to sail round the world.

⇒ Other countries-England, France & Holland-also sent out their ships to join the race for explorations. Francis Drake of England sailed round the world in 1577.

⇒ These voyages laid the foundations for the almost complete geographical knowledge of the world.

⇒ James II was a Roman Catholic. His tactless attempt to secure freedom of worship for the Catholics united the Whigs and the Tories of the Anglican Church against him.

⇒ People tolerated the rule of James II, because they thought that he would be succeeded by his daughter Mary who was a Protestant. But a son was born to James II. The knowledge that James’ policies might be continued by a son to be brought up as a Catholic turned against him many Tories, hitherto loyal to him.

⇒ So a few leading men-Whigs as well as Toriesdispatched an invitation to William of Orange, ruler of Holland, to succeed to the English throne and save England from Catholic tyranny.

⇒ William accepted the invitation and came to England for his purpose.

⇒ James II, throwing the great seal into the Thames, fled to France.

⇒ This event is known as in England Glorious or Bloodless Revolution.

⇒ Effects: 1. The despotic rule of the Stuarts ended; the supremacy of Parliament was established. 2. The system of requiring estimate and accounts for supplies and, of specific appropriations-which is the nucleus of modern budgetary system-now became fixed. 3. The Bill of Right (1689) It settled the problem of succession; it also laid the provision that no Roman Catholic can wear the Crown. As William III and his wife Mary II (daughter of James II and a Protestant by faith), the joint monarchs accepted the Bill of Rights.

⇒ The process of change that transformed Britain first and then other countries from agricultural to industrial beconomies.

⇒ The Industrial Revolution began about 1750 when the agricultural revolution was well under way. Inventions were made in the textile industry by such men as James Hargreaves (Spinning Jenny, 1764), Richard Arkwright (Water Frame, 1769), Samuel Crompton (Mule, 1779), and Emmund Cartwright (Power Loom, 1785), which made the production of cloth much faster and the yarn produced of better quality.

⇒ These new machines required factories to house them, at first near rivers for water power and then, when the steam engine was invented (by James Watt in 1769), near coalfields.

⇒ England, an agricultural country was now turned into a manufacturing country. The production increased manifold. Things were available at cheaper rates. Improved methods of communication followed.

⇒ The economic progress and industrialisation of England influenced the social and cultural life of the people. It had far-reaching affects on the political history of England.

⇒ By 1850 the Industrial Revolution had penetrated into Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and USA. By 1900 it had extended to Sweden, Italy, Russia, Japan & Argentina. Presently it is penetrating into China, India and Africa.

⇒ The American Revolution is the name given to the struggle by which the 13 colonies of England in North America declared their independence from England and fought a war to make it a reality.

⇒ By the middle of the 18th century, differences in thought and interests had developed between the colonies on the one hand and the mother country (England) on the other.

⇒ Attempts to collect new taxes such as the Stamps Act (1765) and Tax on tea (1767) angered the colonists who maintained that the British government was imposing ‘taxation without representation’ and that only the colonial representative assemblies could rightfully tax the Americans.

⇒ Boston Tea Party (1773): The tax on tea led to trouble. In 1773, several colonies refused to unload the tea coming in English ships. In Boston, when the governor ordered a ship to be unloaded, a group of citizens dressed as American Indians, boarded the ship and dumped the crates of tea into water. This incident is known as the ‘Boston Tea Party’.

⇒ The American Revolution started in 1775 and lasted until 1781.

⇒ On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued. Its author was Thomas Jafferson. The Declaration stated that all men are created equal; that they have a natural and inalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; and that they are justified in revolting when these rights are violated by any government.

⇒ The colonies won the war against England. The American Revolution made possible the establishment of a new nation, the United States of America (U.S.A.).

⇒ In 1783 England acknowledged American independence in the Treaty of Paris and George Washington was elected the first President of USA.

⇒ The French Revolution was a great event in the history not only of France & Europe but of mankind as a whole. It gave to humanity new ideas of ‘Liberty, Equality & Fraternity’.

⇒ The French Revolution is the name given to the struggle which swept away the Old Regime in France and brought about fundamental changes in the sociopolitical set-up.

⇒ This political upheaval began in 1789. King Louis XIV and his successors had brought divine-right absolutism to the peak. The French king, in the 18th century, had unlimited powers. Opponents were put in prison without trial.

⇒ The French society consisted of three estates or classes. The first (clergy) and the second (nobility) estates were privileged in many ways. Members of the third estate commoners (middle class, workers & peasants) were the ‘underdogs’. They made 90% of the population. Almost the entire tax burden fell on the third estate. But the privileged classes were exempted from these taxes.

⇒ These undemocratic features of French society were sharply criticised by able writers and thinkers like Montesquieu (1689-1775), Voltaire (1694-1778) and Rousseau (1712-1778).

⇒ The immediate cause of the French Revolution was the bankrupt condition of the French treasury brought about in part by the extravagant expenditure and inefficiency of Louis XV & Louis XVI.

⇒ The French Revolution started with the Fall of Bastille Fort. The mobs in Paris attacked the Bastille on July 14, 1789, killed its governor and freed the prisoners. This ancient fortress, where political prisoners were kept, was the symbol of tyranny in France. Its capture aroused the whole nation. Peasants in the provinces plundered and burnt several castles.

⇒ ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ became the watch word.

⇒ Government in France broke down, as royal officials fled and the people stopped paying taxes. The National Assembly governed France from 1789 to 1791. It drafted a constitution which created a limited monarchy. Its preamble was the famous Declaration of the Rights of Man. All feudal rights were abolished. Local government was reorganised. The old provinces were replaced by 83 departments. Church lands were confiscated and sold to peasants. Special Church privileges were abolished. The first Republic was proclaimed on Sep. 21, 1792. King Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette were beheaded on the guillotine on Jan. 21, 1793 and Oct. 16, 1793 respectively on charges of treason. Napolean, after sometime, emerged as the strong man of France.

⇒ The French Revolution was an event of fundamental importance not only for France but for the whole of Europe and ultimately for the whole world. In France, the Revolution established the political supremacy of the middle class in the towns and transferred the bulk of landed property to the peasantry in the countryside. For Europe and the world, it represented an ideal of popular sovereignty and equality before the law.

⇒ One of the major features of the history of Europe in the 19th century was the struggle for national unification and independence. Italy & Germany were the two important nations which emerged as united, independent states in the 19th century.

⇒ In the early 19th century, Italy was divided into a number of states in which the Kingdom of Sardinia was the most powerful.

⇒ The struggle for Italian independence and unification was organised by the two famous revolutionaries — Mazzini & Garibaldi. The movement led by them is known as the ‘Young Italy’ movement.

⇒ After the revolution of 1848, Count Cavour, the Prime Minister of Sardinia, took the initiative of uniting Italy under the leadership of Sardinia.

⇒ By the year 1861, the entire states (except Rome) had been united and then Victor Emmanuel II, the king of Sardinia took the title of ‘King of Italy’.

⇒ Rome was still outside the kingdom of Italy. It was ruled by the Pope. Italian soldiers liberated the city of Rome in 1870 and in 1871, Rome became the capital of united Italy.

⇒ Like Italy, Germany was also divided into a number of states. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) there were 38 independent states in Germany in which Prussia was the most powerful.

⇒ In 1815, the German states along with Austria were organised into a Germanic confederation.

⇒ In 1848 revolts occurred in every German state and the rulers were forced to grant democratic constitutions. To unite Germany and to frame a constitution for the united Germany, a constituent assembly met in Frankfurt.

⇒ The Frankfurt Assembly proposed the unification of Germany as a constitutional monarchy under the king of Prussia who would become the emperor of Germany. However, the king of Prussia declined the offer. Repression soon followed.

⇒ With the failure of the revolution of 1848 to unify Germany, one phase in the struggle for unification came to an end.

⇒ Now Germany was to be unified not into a democratic country by the efforts of revolutionaries but by the rulers into militaristic empire. The leader of this policy was Bismarck who belonged to a Prussian aristocratic family. He wanted to achieve the unification of Germany under the leadership of the Prussian monarchy.

⇒ Bismarck described his policy of unification as one of ‘blood and iron’. The policy of blood and iron meant a policy of war.

⇒ He defeated Austria and dissolved the Germanic confederation. Thus Austria was separated from other German states. In place of old confederation, he united 22 states of Germany into North German Confederation in 1866.

⇒ The unification of Germany was completed as a result of Prussia- France War (1870) in which the French emperor Louis Bonaparte was defeated and captured. This war enabled Bismarck to absorb the remaining German states into a united Germany.

⇒ The formal ceremony at which William I, the king of Prussia, took the title of German Emperor was not held on the German soil. It took place at Versailles in France, in the palace of the French kings.

⇒ After unification, Germany emerged as a very strong power in Europe.

The causes of First World War are as under –

1. Militarism: This means the dangerous and burdensome mechanism of great standing armies and large navies alongwith an espionage system.

2. Narrow Nationalism or Competitive Patriotism: The love of one’s country demanded the hatred of the other. Love of Germany demanded the hatred of France and vice-versa.

3. Economic Imperialism : It led to international rivalries. Every country tried to capture markets in every nook and corner of the world. This led to bitterness and heartburning.

4. Anglo-German Rivalry & The Charter of William II : Anglo-German rivalry proved to be the main cause of World War I. Germany had become a great industrial country and wanted to have more markets for trade. Germany was jealous of the colonial and naval greatness of England. William II, emperor of Germany was very ambitious and wanted to gain influence in Turkey by linking Berlin with Baghdad by a railway line. This gave rise to a great rivalry between England and Germany. William II was arrogant, haughty and ambitious. He wanted Germany to be the strongest power in the world. He believed in the policy of ‘world power or downfall’.

5. Lack of International Organisation : There was lack of an International Organisation to control international relations.

Immediate Cause: The immediate cause of the war was the murder of Archduke Ferdinand who was the heir to the Austrian throne. He and his wife Sophie were killed at Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia, an annexed territory of Austria, by a Serbian. The Austrians held Government of Serbia responsible for the murder and ultimately attacked Serbia. There was a strong rivalry already between AustriaHungary and Serbia in the Balkans.

Course of War: To begin with, Austria was in favour of local war but as time passed, the situation became more grave. Other countries jumped into the fray. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey & Bulgaria were on one side; they were called Central Powers. On the other side were England, France, Serbia, Belgium, Japan and Russia; they were called the Allied Powers. The Allied powers joined by Italy in 1915 and USA in 1917. The war started on July 28, 1914 and ended on Nov. 11, 1918.

Peace Settlement (1919-20): The Central Powers were completely defeated by the Allied Powers and an Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, followed by a Peace Conference at Paris. The defeated countries were not represented at the Peace Conference. Though the number of countries represented at the Peace Conference was 27, the terms of the peace treaties were really decided by three countries -USA, Britain and France. The three persons who played the determining role in framing the terms of the treaties were Woodrow Wilson (President of USA), Lloyed George (Prime Minister of Britain) and George Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France). After prolonged discussion, the Treaty of Versailles (Versailles – a city of France) was signed between the Allies and allies & Germany on June 28, 1919. This Treaty rearranged the boundaries of Europe, and many new states – Poland, Czechoslovakiya, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Lithuania, etc. were formed. William II, the German Emperor, abdicated and took asylum in the Netherlands (Holland). The treaty also contained provisions for disarming Germany, the strength of her army was to be limited to 1,00,000 troops. Germany was to pay £6,50,00,000 as war-reparations for damage done to the Allies during the war. The Treaty of Versailles was followed by the Treaty of St. Germaine (1919), the Treaty of Neuilly (1919), the Treaty of Trianon (1920) and the Treaty of Severes (1920).

The peace settlement of 1919-20 criticised. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were harsh and humiliating for Germany. The peace settlement was based on the principle: “To the victors belong the spoils and Allies are the victors’. Meanwhile the many suggestions were made from time to time for the creation of an international organisation which could check wars in the future. At the instance of Woodrow Wilson, the President of America, the League of Nations officially came into existence of Jan. 10, 1920. Its headquarter was fixed at Geneva in Switzerland.

⇒ The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most significant events of 20th century. It established the ideology of Marxism. It was a great revolution after the French revolution and was not limited to Russia but affected several countries of the world.

⇒ The great revolution in Russia took place in two stages. The first stage of the Russian Revolution began in March 1917 with the overthrow of the Czar Nicholas II. The second stage in Nov. of the same year led to the establishment of the world’s first communist state by the Bolsheviks under Lenin.

⇒ The basic causes of the revolution were deep-seated. The government was autocratic. The Czar was the source of all authority and his powers were vigorously exercised by corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. The general standard of living of the people was tragically low. There was little social freedom. All Russians were forced to support the orthodox church.

⇒ The immediate cause of the event was however the suffering and confusion caused by Russia’s disastrous defeats during World War I. Her armies lacked arms and ammunition. Prices soared high and the economy was in shambles.

⇒ Russian Revolution began with March Revolution (February Revolution, according to old Russian Calendar). Disorder broke out in Petrograd (now Leningrad), the Russian capital, in March 1917. Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. (He and his family were later killed by the revolutionaries).

⇒ A provisional government composed of liberal and democratic elements (Mensheviks group) under the successive premiership of Prince Lvov and then Aleksandr Kerensky lost ground to the radical wing (Bolsheviks group) of the Social Democratic Labour Party.

⇒ The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized power in Petrograd on Nov. 7, 1917-November Revolution (October Revolution, according to the old Russian calendar). The Kerensky Government was overthrown and authority was vested in a council of Commissars (Ministers) with Lenin as Premier.

⇒ The new Government immediately decreed the abolition of private land ownership and set up a dictatorship of the Proletariat-actually of the Communist Party, as the Bolsheviks came to called.

⇒ The Bolsheviks extended their authority over a large part of European Russia, but elsewhere they faced the resistance of the anti-Bolshevik Parties. The resulting civil war lasted till 1920 and was complicated by foreign intervention. The communists were ultimately in undisputed control of the country.

⇒ In the period between 1917 and 1920, the Communists took drastic action against internal enemies, or counterrevolutionaries, as they were called. Former landlords, capitalists, Czarist officers, etc. were arrested, exiled or executed, the Czar and his family were killed.

⇒ In 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)came into being. Its constitution declared the establishment of a ‘republic of workers and peasants’. Ownership of the means of production, including land, factories, mines, banks and railroads was vested in the state. The state which is known officially as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U. S. S. R.), also commonly referred to as the Soviet Russia or just Russia.

⇒ Lenin died in 1924 and was succeeded by Stalin (1924-53)

Note: In 1991, Communist Party rule in Soviet Union collapsed following the failure of an anti-Gorbachov coup by Communist hardliners. The constituent republics asserted their independence and the Soviet Union was officially dissolved on Dec. 25, 1991. In the same month the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), a looser organisation with responsibility for economic & military co-operation was formed by Russia, Ukraine & Belarus. Nine other former Soviet republics joined later. Now CIS is a community of 12 independent states. Three former Soviet republics (Baltic States)-Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania-are fully independent states. It is notable that Soviet Union was a federal state consisting of 15 separate republics.

⇒ In Oct., 1911, a revolution under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen ousted the Manchu or Ch’ing Dynasty and a republic was set up.

⇒ However, the first President Sun Yat-sen resigned in 1912, in favour of strongman Yuan Shik-Kai (1912-16)

⇒ The period 1916-18, known as the Warlord Era,was one of great chaos, as a number of generals seized control of different provinces.

⇒ A party known as the Kuomintang (KMT)or Nationalists (formed by Sun Yat Sen in 1912) was trying to govern China and control the generals who were busy fighting each other. The KMT leaders were Sun Yat sen and after his death in 1925, General Chiang Kai-Shek.

⇒ The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921, and at first it cooperated with the KMT in its struggle against the warlords.

⇒ As the KMT gradually established control over more and more of China, it felt strong enough to do without the help of the communists, and it tried to destroy them.

⇒ The communists, under their leader Mao Tse-tunge (Mao Zedong), reacted vigorously, and after escaping from surrounding KMT forces, embarked on the 6000 mile Long March (Oct. 1934-Oct. 1935) to form a new power base in northern China.

⇒ Civil war dragged on, complicated by Japanese interference which culminated in a full-scale invasion in 1937.

⇒ When the Second World War ended with defeat for Japan and their withdrawal from China, the KMT and the CCP continued to fight it out.

⇒ Chiang Kai-Shek had help from the USA, but in 1949 it was Mao Tse-tunge and the communists who finally triumphed.

⇒ Chiang Kai Shek and his supporters fled to the island of Taiwan (Formosa).

⇒ Mao Tse-tunge quickly established control over the whole of China and he remained leader until his death in 1976.

⇒ Turkey was called ‘Sickman of Europe’

⇒ The disintegration of the Ottoman empire began in the 19th century and was completed after Turkey’s defeat in the First World War.

⇒ The Allies wanted to establish their domination over Turkey itself and to give away parts of Turkey to Greece and Italy.

⇒ The treatment meted out to Turkey by the Allies had led to a mass upsurge in India directed against Britain. This upsurge is known as the Khilafat Movement

⇒ The nationalist movement in Turkey was organised to prevent the domination of the country by the Allied Powers and the annexation of parts of Turkey agreed to the terms dictated by the Allied Powers.

⇒ However, even before the treaty was signed by the Sultan, a national government had been established under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha with its headquarter in Ankara.

⇒ Following the treaty with the Sultan, Turkey had been invaded by Greece.

⇒ The turks under Kemal’s leadership were able to repel the invasion and the Allies were forced to repudiate the earlier treaty. The Allied troops were withdrawn from Turkish territory and the areas which were to be annexed by European countries remained in Turkey. Thus, Turkey was able to win her complete independence.

⇒ The success of the Turks in winning the complete independence of their country was followed by a programme to modernize Turkey and to end the influence of backward-looking feudal elements.

⇒ Turkey was proclaimed a republic on Oct. 29, 1923 and Kemal became the first President of Turkey. He ruled the new republic for 15 years (1923-38). The Turkish Sultan had carried the title of Caliph (Khalifa); the new government abolished the institution of Caliph (Khalifa) in 1924. Education was taken out of the hands of the religious leaders. Religion was separated from the State.

⇒ Mustafa Kemal Pasha is known as the ‘founder of modern Turkey’ and ‘Ataturk’ (the father of the Turks).

⇒ In Economic terms, a decline in trade and general prosperity is called Depression.

⇒ The Great Depression of 1929-34 was worldwide, starting with an agricultural recession followed by financial panic and collapse, known as the Wall Street Crash (Oct., 1929), in the USA.

⇒ The effects on the USA were catastrophic by 1933 almost 14 million people were out of work and American President Hoover’s efforts failed to make any impression on the crisis.

Nobody was surprised when the Republicans lost the presidential election of Nov., 1932. The new Democrat President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, introduced policies known as the New Deal to try and put the country on the road to recovery.

⇒ The Great Depression in turn affected financial institutions and money markets in other parts of the world and caused a run on the pound in the UK. The result was a decline in internal consumption and exports in industrialized countries, factory closures and massive unemployment.

⇒ The unification of Italy was only completed in 1870, however, the new state suffered from economic and political weaknesses.

⇒ The First World War (1914-18) was a great strain on her economy, and there was bitter disappointment at her treatment by the Versailles settlement.

⇒ Between 1919 and 1922 there were five different governments, all of which were incapable of taking the decisive action that the situation demanded.

⇒ In 1919 Benito Mussolini founded the Italian Fascist Party, which won 35 seats in the 1921 elections.

⇒ At the same time there seemed to be a real danger of a left-wing revolution; in an atmosphere of strikes and riots, the fascists staged a ‘March on Rome’ which culminated in King Victor Emmanuel inviting Mussolini to form a government (Oct., 1922); he remained in power until July 1943.

⇒ Gradually Mussolini took on the powers of a dictator and attempted to control the entire way of life of the Italian people.

⇒ At first it seemed as though his authoritarian regime might bring lasting benefits to Italy, and he won popularity with his adventurous and successful foreign policy.

Later he made the fatal mistake of entering the Second World War on the side of Germany (June, 1940) even though he knew Italy could not afford involvement in another war.

⇒ After the Italians suffered defeats by the British, who captured her African possessions and occupied Sicily, they turned against Mussolini. He was deposed and arrested (July, 1943), but was rescued by the German (Sep., 1943) and set up as ruler in northern Italy, backed by German troops.

⇒ In April, 1945, as British and American troops advanced northwards through Italy towards Milan. Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland but was captured and shot dead by his Italian enemies (known as partisans).

⇒ As Germany moved towards defeat in 1918, public opinion turned against the government, and in Oct., the Kaiser, in a desperate bid to hang on to power, appointed Prince Max as Chancellor. He was known to be in favour of more democratic form of government in which parliament had more power.

⇒ But it was too late; in Nov. revolution broke out, the Kaiser escaped to Holland and abdicated, and Prince Max resigned. Friedrich Ebert, leader of the left-wing Social Democrat Party, became head of the government.

⇒ In Jan., 1919, a general election was held, the first complete democratic one ever to take place in Germany. The Social Democrats emerged as the largest single party and Ebert became the first President of the Republic. They had some Marxist ideas but believed that the way to achieve socialism was through parliamentary democracy.

⇒ The new government was by no means popular with all Germans: even before the elections the communist had attempted to seize power in the Spartacist Rising (Jan., 1919).

⇒ In 1920 right-wing enemies of the republic occupied Berlin (the Kapp Putsch). The government managed to survive these threats and several later ones, including Hitler’s Munich Beer Hall Putsch (1923).

⇒ By the end of 1919 a new constitution had been agreed upon by the National Assembly (Parliament), which was meeting at Weimer because Berlin was still torn by political unrest. This Weimer constitution, gave its name to the Weimer Republic and lasted until 1933, when it was destroyed by Hitler. The Great Depression, beginning with the Wall Street Crash in Oct., 1929, had disastrous effects on Germany, producing massive unemployment with 6.5 million unemployed. The Government was unable to cope with the situation and by the end of 1932 the Weimer Republic seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

⇒ Meanwhile Adolf Hitler and his National Socialists (Nazis) had been carrying out a great propaganda compaign blaming the government for all the ills of Germany, and setting out Nazi solutions to the problems.

⇒ In Jan., 1933, President Hindenberg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, and soon afterwards Hitler saw to it that democracy ceased to exist; the Weimer Republic was at an end, and from then on until April 1945, Hitler was the dictator of Germany. Only defeat in the Second World War and the death of Hitler (April 30, 1945) freed the German people from the Nazi tyranny.

⇒ Adolf Hitler appointed Rudolf Hess as ‘Deputy Fuheror’ of Nazi Party in 1933. Hess delivered a speech on the occassion of the first anniversary of the proclamation of the party progress on 25 Feb., 1934, which was broadcast to the nation. In his speech (the oath to Adolf Hitler) he said “Adolf Hitler is Germany and Germany is Adolf Hitler. He who pledges Himself to Hitler pledges himself to Germany”.

⇒ During the 20 years after Mussolini’s March on Rome (1922), many other countries, faced with severe economic problems, followed the examples of Italy and Germany and turned to fascism or right-wing nationalism.

⇒ In Japan the democratically elected government, increasingly embarrassed by economic, financial and political problems, fell under the influence of the army in the early 1930s.

⇒ The military soon involved Japan in war with China, and later took the country into the Second World War with its attack on Pearl Harbor (1941).

⇒ After a brilliant start, the Japanese eventually suffered defeat and devastation when the two atomic bombs were dropped.

⇒ After the Second World War, Japan returned to democracy and made a remarkable recovery, soon becoming one of the world’s most powerful states economically.

Causes: The causes of Second World War are as under—

1. The Treaty of Versailles (1919): The Treaty of Versailles had in itself the germs of the Second World War. The Germany was very badly treated. She was forced to sign the treaty at the point of a bayonet, in a spirit of revenge. To tear away the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler joined hands with Mussolini of Italy.

2. Nationalist Movements of Germany & Italy: The rise of the national movement in Germany & Italy added fuel to the fire. Although Hitler tried to assure the world that he meant peace, he could not conceal his ambition for long. He embarked on a career of aggression which ultimately led to war. The same was the case with Mussolini who had established his dictatorship in Italy in 1922.

3. Conflict of Ideology between Dictatorship & Democracy: Countries like Germany, Italy & Japan represented the ideology of dictatorship while Great Britain, France & USA represented the ideology of democracy. Mussolini described the conflict between the two ideologies thus: ‘The struggle between the two worlds can permit no compromise. Either we or they’.

4. Inefficiency of League of Nations Unfortunately, when hostility was growing between the two camps there was no effective international organisation which could bring the leaders of the two camps on a common platform and bring about a reconciliation between them. The League of Nations was practically dead.

5. Colonial & Commercial Rivalry: The colonial and commercial rivalry between England and France on one side, and Germany and Italy on the other brought them in to conflict with each other.

6. Aggressiveness of Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis Hitler had become very aggressive. He annexed the Saar Valley, occupied Rhineland and Austria, captured Chechoslovakia etc. Mussolini attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia) Japan attacked China. This aggressive mood of the Fascist Powers got its fullest expression when they formed an Axis providing for mutual aid in the international sphere.

⇒ Immediate Cause: The immediate cause of the war was the refuse of Poland to surender. Germany gave an ultimatum to Poland regarding : (i) surrender of the port of Danzig, (ii) the right of establishing a rail link between Germany and East Prussia through the Polish corridor. These two demands were rejected by Poland. So Germany invaded Poland on Sep. 1, 1939. Britain and France as they were under treaty obligations to aid Poland, declared war against Germany on Sep. 3, 1939.

Course of War: On one side were Germany, Italy and Japan, called the Axis Powers (or Central Powers), and on the other were Great Britain, France, USSR, USA, China etc. called the Allied Powers (or Allies).

Germany had to face defeat once again. Hitler, Goebbels & Himmler committed suicide (April 30, 1945) and their successors surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945. After the fall of Germany, USA and UK concentrated their focus against Japan. On Aug. 6, 1945, an atom bomb, ‘Little Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Japan was asked to surrender and when she refused another atom bomb, ‘Fat Man’, was dropped on Aug. 9, 1945, on the city of Nagasaki. It is estimated that more than one lakh persons were killed and leaving thousands more slowly dying of radiation poisoning. On Aug. 14, 1945, Japan conveyed its acceptance of the Allied demand to surrender but the actual surrender took place on Sep. 2, 1945. With the Japanese surrender, the Second World War came to an end.

Effects of WW II: 1. After about 15 months of preparatory work, the peace treaties were given a final shape by the 21 participating countries and they were signed on Feb. 10, 1947, in Paris by the representatives of the five enemy states and the Allied Powers. As regards Germany she was occupied by the Big Four. After its fall in May, 1945, it was divided into four zones, each of which was administered separately by one of the occupying powers. Berlin came under joint occupation. Ultimately out of one Germany came two countries – West Germany and East Germany. Italy was also deprived of her colonies. As regards Japan, a peace treaty was signed with her at San Francisco in 1951. 2. The United Nation Organisation (UNO) was established in Oct. 24, 1945. 3. The USA and USSR emerged as the two most powerful nations in the world. 4. The emergence of Russia (USSR) gave rise to the desire for freedom in colonies which were under European control in Asia. 5. The British empire thus rapidly lost its leadership as more and more of its colonies won independence. 6. France also lost much of their past glory. 7. Nearly all the East European countries embraced communism and communist rule was established in the Chinese mainland also.

Important Axis Leaders of WW II: Adolf Hitler (Nazi dictator of Germany), Benito Mussolini (Prime Minister of Italy) and Hirohito (Emperor of Japan) & his Prime Ministers Hidehi Tojo & Fumimaro Konoe.

Franklin Important Allied Leaders of WW II: D. Roosevelt-upto April 12, 1945 & Harry Truman-after April 12, 1945 (Presidents of USA), Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of Britain), Joseph Stalin (Premier of USSR), Paul Reynaud & Charles De Gaulle (Prime Ministers of France) and Chiang Kai-shek (Head of the Nationalist Government of China).

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