We began with the recovery of Europe and Japan following WWII and the beginning of the Cold War as Soviet forces refused to withdraw from Eastern Europe and the eastern half of Germany and Berlin. The Marshall Plan, Soviet Block, Iron Curtain, Berlin Wall, Nuremberg Trials were discussed. A new era of political tensions begins between the two super powers of the U.S.A. and USSR lasting for the 2nd half of the 20th century. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, we also see the end of empire and an era of "decolonization." Areas around the world that had been subjected to outside rule begin to break away from their colonizers/imperializers. It was a decline of empire that promised many positive changes. During the mid 50s - 70s there is an era of independence in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Oceania and Caribbean Island. The 1959 Cuban Revolution and the rise of a communist dictatorship in Cuba was cited - along with communist leader Ho Chi Minh in North Vietnam.
We reviewed the empires that crumbled in the 20th century: Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Russian to USSR (and then the fall of the USSR towards the end of the 20th century), Germany and Japan. The concept of "self-determination" begins to gain global acceptance. Multiple African and Asian independence movements emerge after WWII. Inspiring new nationalist leaders such as Gandhi and Mandela emerge in India and S.Africa as well as other nations such as: Indonesia, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. The lat third of class focused on the life and legacy of Gandhi.