Unit 7 · Global Conflict, c. 1900–Present

Collapse of land-based empires ● (core concept) — The older, land-based Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires collapsed due to a combination of internal and external factors. By the century's end, both land-based and maritime empires had given way to new states.

Ottoman Empire collapse ● (core concept) — The long-standing land-based power of the Middle East, which collapsed at the start of the 20th century under a combination of internal and external pressures. Its fall ended centuries of Ottoman rule and redrew the map of the region.

Russian communist revolution ● (core concept) — In Russia, the collapse of the tsarist empire led to a communist revolution that created the Soviet Union. It was one of the century's most consequential challenges to the existing political and social order.

Qing dynasty collapse ● (core concept) — China's Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China, collapsed under a combination of internal and external factors. Its fall ended over two thousand years of dynastic rule in China.

Mexican Revolution ● (core concept) — A major early-20th-century revolution that arose in Mexico as a result of political crisis. It was one of the states around the world that challenged the existing political and social order after 1900.

Empires giving way to new states ● (core concept) — As both land-based and maritime empires broke apart across the 20th century, new states emerged in their place. This transformation ended the West's uncontested domination of the global political order.

World War I ● (core concept) — The 1914–1918 global conflict — the first truly worldwide war — fought mainly in Europe but drawing in colonies and powers around the globe.

Imperialist expansion (cause of WWI) ● (core concept) — Competition among European powers to acquire colonies and extend their influence heightened rivalries before 1914. Imperialist expansion and the struggle it produced were root causes of World War I.

Competition for resources (cause of WWI) ● (core concept) — Rivalry among industrialized states over access to raw materials and markets intensified tensions before 1914. Competition for resources fed the imperial competition that helped cause World War I.

Alliance system ● (core concept) — The network of binding military treaties — such as the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance — that linked the great powers to one another. This flawed alliance system escalated regional tensions into global conflict.

Intense nationalism (cause of WWI) ● (core concept) — Extreme pride in one's nation, combined with ethnic tensions, pushed states toward war. Intense nationalism helped turn territorial and regional conflicts into a global one.

Territorial and regional conflicts (cause of WWI) ● (core concept) — Disputes over territory — in the Balkans and in colonial borderlands — combined with the flawed alliance system and intense nationalism to escalate tensions into global conflict.

Total war ● (core concept) — World War I was the first total war — a war in which governments mobilized their entire societies and economies, not just their armies, for the purpose of waging war.

Wartime propaganda ● (core concept) — Governments used political propaganda, art, and media to shape public opinion and win support for the war. These campaigns were essential to sustaining long, costly conflicts.

Mobilization of colonial populations ● (core concept) — Warring governments mobilized populations not only in the home countries but also in their colonies. Colonial peoples were recruited as soldiers and laborers, spreading the war's demands — and its costs — around the world.

New military technology (WWI) ● (core concept) — New weapons and military technology in World War I — such as machine guns, poison gas, tanks, submarines, and aircraft — led to increased levels of wartime casualties.

Great Depression ● (core concept) — The severe worldwide economic crisis that began in 1929, spreading from the United States across the globe. It pushed governments everywhere to take a more active role in economic life.

Government intervention in the economy ● (core concept) — After World War I and the onset of the Great Depression, governments began to take a more active role in economic life — through spending, regulation, and planning rather than leaving the economy to markets alone.

Five Year Plans ● (core concept) — The Soviet Union's centralized economic plans that put the national economy under government control. They were implemented with repressive policies and had negative repercussions for the population.

New Deal ○ — President Franklin Roosevelt's program of federal programs and reforms to fight the Great Depression in the United States. It is the CED's lead example of a government taking a more active role in economic life.

Fascist corporatist economy ○ — The fascist economic model in which the state organized the economy through corporations of employers and workers under government control. It is the CED's example of a fascist economy intervening in economic life during the interwar period.

Imperial states maintaining colonial control ● (core concept) — Between the two world wars, Western and Japanese imperial states predominantly maintained control over their colonial holdings. In some cases they gained additional territories through conquest or treaty settlement.

Anti-imperial resistance after WWI ● (core concept) — Movements in colonized regions that resisted continued imperial rule between the wars — for example, the Indian National Congress and West African resistance (strikes and congresses) to French rule. They challenged empires that had survived World War I.

League of Nations mandate system ○ — The system by which former German colonies were transferred to Britain and France as 'mandates' supervised by the League of Nations. It was meant to prepare territories for self-rule but in practice extended European control.

Indian National Congress ○ — The organization that led the movement for Indian independence from British rule. It became the main vehicle of anti-imperial resistance in India between the world wars.

Manchukuo / Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere ○ — Japan's puppet state in Manchuria (Manchukuo) and the broader Japanese claim that it was liberating Asia from Western imperialism through a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere — in reality a cover for Japanese conquest and control.

Fascism ● (core concept) — An extreme nationalist, authoritarian ideology that glorified the nation, demanded obedience to a strong leader, and rejected democracy and communism. The rise of fascist regimes was a central cause of World War II.

Totalitarian regimes ● (core concept) — States in which a single party or leader controls nearly all aspects of public and private life, repressing basic freedoms. Fascist and totalitarian regimes used aggressive militarism to expand their power, causing World War II.

Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler ● (core concept) — Germany under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, whose aggressive militarism — seizing neighboring lands and persecuting minorities — the CED singles out as especially responsible for causing World War II.

Unsustainable peace settlement after WWI ● (core concept) — The peace settlement after World War I — the Treaty of Versailles — imposed harsh terms on Germany that proved unsustainable. Resentment of the settlement helped fascists rise to power and helped cause World War II.

Aggressive militarism ● (core concept) — The buildup of military force and its use to threaten or seize other nations. The aggressive militarism of Nazi Germany was, the CED stresses, especially responsible for causing World War II.

Continued imperialist aspirations ● (core concept) — Imperial ambitions did not end after World War I: powers such as Japan and Italy still sought empires. These continued imperialist aspirations were one of the causes of World War II.

Ideological mobilization for war ● (core concept) — Governments used ideologies — including fascism and communism — to mobilize all of their states' resources for war. In totalitarian states these ideologies also justified repressing basic freedoms and dominating many aspects of daily life during the conflict and beyond.

Totalitarian repression of daily life ● (core concept) — In totalitarian states, wartime mobilization went beyond the battlefield: governments repressed basic freedoms and dominated many aspects of daily life during the conflict and beyond.

Atomic bomb ● (core concept) — The nuclear weapon developed by the United States and dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, ending World War II. It showed how new military technology increased wartime casualties on an unprecedented scale.

Fire-bombing ● (core concept) — The tactic of using incendiary bombs to burn entire cities. Along with the atomic bomb, fire-bombing showed how new tactics of 'total war' in World War II multiplied wartime casualties, especially among civilians.

Mass atrocities ● (core concept) — Widespread, systematic acts of violence against civilian populations after 1900. The CED links them to the rise of extremist groups in power.

Holocaust ● (core concept) — The Nazi killing of the Jews during World War II — the systematic, state-sponsored murder of six million Jews and millions of others. It is the CED's central example of the attempted destruction of a specific population.

Genocide ● (core concept) — The deliberate attempted destruction of a specific population or ethnic group. After 1900, extremist regimes carried out multiple genocides, including the Holocaust.

Ethnic violence ● (core concept) — Violence targeting people because of their ethnicity, often carried out by states or extremist groups in power. The CED treats it alongside genocide as a consequence of extremism in power.

Extremist groups in power ● (core concept) — Radical movements — such as the Nazis — that seized state power and used it to attempt the destruction of specific populations. Their rise was the key cause of mass atrocities after 1900.

Armenian genocide ○ — The killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I — one of the CED's examples of genocide and ethnic violence after 1900.

Khmer Rouge (Cambodia, late 1970s) ○ — The Cambodian communist regime of the late 1970s that carried out mass killings of its own population. It is one of the CED's examples of mass atrocities after 1900.

Rwandan genocide ○ — The 1990s mass killing of Tutsi in Rwanda — one of the CED's examples of genocide and ethnic violence after 1900.