Important People
Gandhi: His non-violent resistance helped end British rule in India and has influenced modern civil disobedience movements across the globe. Widely referred to as Mahatma, meaning great soul or saint in Sanskrit, Gandhi helped India reach independence through a philosophy of non-violent non-cooperation.
Vladimir Lenin: was a Russian lawyer, revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party and of the October Revolution. He was the first leader of the USSR and the government that took over Russia in 1917. Lenin's ideas became known as Leninism. Gave hope to the struggling people of Russia because he said if you give me something then I can give you everything you need.
Nelson Mandela: He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: was a Baptist minister and social rights activist in the United States in the 1950s and '60s. He was a leader of the American civil rights movement. He organized a number of peaceful protests as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, including the March on Washington in 1963.
MAPS
WWI
This war started in July of 1914 and lasted until November of 1918. The war pitted the Central Powers (mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) against the Allies (mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States). Allied victory Central Powers victory on the Eastern Front nullified by defeat on the Western Front and Italian Front Fall of all continental empires in Europe (including Germany, Russia, Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary) Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, with the collapse of the Russian Empire and the subsequent formation of the Soviet Union Widespread unrest and revolutions throughout Europe and Asia Creation of the League of Nations. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved into war. The immediate cause of World War I that made the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
WWII
This war started in 1939 and went until 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. The Axis powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan. And the Allies were France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. After the end of the war, a conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, to set up peace treaties . The countries that fought with Hitler lost territory and had to pay reparations to the Allies . Germany and its capital Berlin were divided into four parts. The major causes of World War II were numerous. They include the impact of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, the worldwide economic depression, failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany and Japan, and the failure of the League of Nations.
Cold War
This "war" started in 1947 and lasted until 1991. The Cold War was a period of ideological and geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, after World War IIThe Cold War shaped American foreign policy and political ideology, impacted the domestic economy and the presidency, and affected the personal lives of Americans creating a climate of expected conformity and normalcy. During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved into its component republics. With stunning speed, the Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end. The Cold war has also affected us today by helping the West evade Communist rule; without intervention from The U.S. forces China and The Soviet Union might have conquered Europe and The U.S.. Finally, The Cold War helped form modern day friendships, alliances and hostilities between countries.In its course, the Cold War became a growing threat to world peace and when it reached its highest form of confrontation, as a direct and indirect consequence, numerous people suffered great misfortunes.
Technology
Radios and cellular and internet all allowed for a larger range of communication in the new world. It allowed for fsast communication over long ranges and had better quality that previous technology. However, it did mean that the world now had power lines and radio towers popping up in rural areas and in the city.
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The Green Revolution increased agricultural production in the modern world but was hot or cold for most areas. Some people greatly benefitted but some did very poorly because of it. It was also a little dangerous due to the new chemicals being used while producing food.
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Medicine was able to advance with the development of vaccines and now less people were getting sick and more people were able to recover from illness. Many people were skeptical but science was able to prove how beneficial it was for our bodies.
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New types of energy was being used and that including nuclear and solar. Some of these new methods proved to be very beneficial to the environment and were encouraged to be used. However, some of the energy did harm the environment and would kill off many good things
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Deforestation caused much damage of the environment. Homes of animals were being taken and destroyed and national parks had to be made in order to reserve much of our historic land. There was a lot of controversy, however, because we did need to use the resources in order to create a lot of the new technology. It was and still is a tricky game.
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New Borders
Independence
In 1900, India was part of the British Empire; but by the end of 1947, India had achieved independence. Their reforms lead to each province in India having its own governor and Indian nationals were allowed to sit on the councils which advised these governors. After 1918, nationalism within India intensified.
On 6 March 1957, the Gold Coast (now known as Ghana) gained independence from Britain. The country was the first to gain independence from European colonialism.
On September 28, 1958, in a referendum, the colonies were offered full internal self-government as fellow members with France of a French Community that would deal with supranational affairs. All of the colonies voted for this scheme except Guinea, where Sékou Touré led the people to vote for complete independence.
In 1959 Charles de Gaulle declared that the Algerians had the right to determine their own future. Despite terrorist acts by French Algerians opposed to independence and an attempted coup in France by elements of the French army, an agreement was signed in 1962, and Algeria became independent.
In early 1945, Japan ousted the French administration in Vietnam and executed numerous French officials. When Japan formally surrendered to the Allies on September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh felt emboldened enough to proclaim the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Portugal granted Angola independence on November 11, 1975, at a time when multiple Angolan nationalist forces were fighting among themselves to establish control over the newly liberated state.
On December 12, 1963, Kenya declares its independence from Britain. The East African nation is freed from its colonial oppressors, but its struggle for democracy is far from over. A decade before, in 1952, a rebellion known the Mau Mau Uprising had shaken the British colony.
GENOCIDES
Super Powers and Alliances
League of Nations
The League of Nations was started by Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan and later expanded to roughly 40+ countries.
The Security Council consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent:[5] China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
United Nations
NAFTA
NAFTA has three member States, namely Canada, Mexico and United States.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
ASEAN
Disease
Malaria-Africa in 1980/2000
TB-1900s and still ongoing until present; more prevalent in foreign countries
Cholera-1940s/1900s;
Influenza (with 1918 as a separate data point)-1940s;
Ebola-1980s/2000; Africa
HIV/Aids-1980s; America
Diabetes-1940s/1980s; America
Heart Disease-1980s; America
Alzheimer's-1940s (closer to 1980s); America