We began with the Boer War (1899 - 1902) between the Dutch and British for control of South Africa. Great Britain won the Boer War. South Africa became independent from Great Britain in 1910. A white minority of just 20% remained in control of the country. The black majority of South African citizens had no rights. We covered the Boer War between the Dutch and British for control of South Africa. In 1948 the policy of "Apartheid" becomes official law in South Africa. It enforced extreme social, political and economic segregation. in 1912, the African National Congress (ANC) was established. It pursued peaceful and moderate protest against the white minority government for 40 years. In the 1950s, a South African attorney, Nelson Mandela, helped to organize ANC boycotts, strikes and demonstrations - following a course of peaceful civil disobedience. The South African government responded with violence and oppression and Mandela was imprisoned in 1963. South Africa's freedom struggle was deemed illegal by the government. But the struggle didn't stop - it became an underground South African anti-apartheid movement that gained international support in the 70s and 80s. After 27 years, Nelson Mandela is released from prison in 1990 and he becomes South Africa's first black president in 1994.

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.

Anna's essay assessment about the effects of WWII was well thought out, structured and contained depth of knowledge, covering broad and important topics. I told Anna that was an "A" essay! Her writing skills have gained strength over these past few months. Really well done, Anna! we then returned to the course material. In 1933, Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. The Nuremberg Laws are passed in 1935. These laws ostracize Germany's Jewish population from the rest of Germany. On Nov. 8, 1938, Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) is an organized, violent attack against Germany's Jewish community. This is considered to mark the official "start" of the Holocaust. We covered the "Final Solution," death camps and concentration camps. The Nazis targeted other groups: Slavs, communists, Russians, Poles, the Roma (Gypsy) people, gay people, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Six death camps: 6 million Jewish people perished, Prior to WWII, 3 million Jewish people (nearly 1/2 of Europe'e Jewish population) lived in Poland. By the end of WWII, there were approximately 9,000 Jewish people left in Poland. We then covered the migration of many Holocaust survivors to other countries. In 1948, the United Nations approved the creation of the State of Israel. We discussed the Nuremberg Trials and crimes against humanity. We then focused on Japanese authoritarianism and atrocities during WWII. The Great Depression also hit Japan hard and in the 1930s, military nationalists gain power in Japan. In 1931, Japan invades Manchuria. In 1936, Japan joins the Axis powers. In 1937, Japan invades China. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declares war, entering WWII on Dec. 8, 1941. We discussed the "island hopping" strategy in the Pacific. Back to the European Theater: 1936: Hitler invades the Rhineland, 1938: Hitler annexes Austria and invades Czechoslovakia, 1939: the Nazis invade Poland and WWII officially begins. In 1940: Hitler invades France, 1941: the Battle of Britain saves the U.K. from Nazi invasion. In 1943, the Allies invade Sicily and in June, 1944 the Allies invade France in the D-Day invasion. Germany is defeated by April, 1945. In August, 1945, the U.S. ends the war with Japan by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9). The costs of WWII in human casualties...an estimated 75 - 80 million people killed. To this day, it's unfathomable.

We began with an overview of the causes of the Great Depression in the U.S.: supply exceeds demand, stocks purchased on margin, over speculation in the stock market, the Stock Market Crash on Oct. 24, 1929. President Franklin D. Roosevelt guides the U.S. through the Great Depression Era of the 1930s with his New Deal programs which begin to stabilize the economy with reforms such as: reducing unemployment, insuring banks, creating jobs that improve America's infrastructure, social security, minimum wage, and welfare for the needy. When democracy is challenged it is not uncommon to see instability in society and government. While FDR brings stability to the U.S., nationalist, aggressive and authoritarian regimes emerge in the USSR, Japan, Italy and Germany in the 1920s & 30s. We examined the rise of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler. Fascism and Nazism were defined. Italy, Germany and Japan (and for a brief time, the USSR) form the Axis Powers in 1936. We will continue our study of WWII in our next class on Mon., 4/27/20 at 3:00pm.

Today we began with a review and evaluation of Anna's HW assessment on the Meiji Restoration in 19th century Japan. We then resumed our study of WWI. Last class, we reviewed the causes of WWI, new weapons of warfare and the Armenian Genocide. Anna was asked many review prompts and questions about these topics. We then noted Russia's withdrawal from WWI before the war's conclusion. (This was due to the Russian Revolution.) The U.S. enters WWI in 1917. We reviewed the effects of WWI, including, but not at all limited to: 1. widespread destruction of Europe - especially France, 2) Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. 3) New countries and borders that change the maps of Europe and other parts of the world. 4) The 1919 Treaty of Versailles: establishes conditions that will lead to WWII in another 20 years, Germany loses its colonies and 15% of its European territory, Germany is forced to pay reparations to the Allies, Germany's military is greatly minimized and restricted, Germany had to assume full responsibility for WWI, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire produces a new map of the Middle East with British and French mandates. There is an intensified struggle for Indian independence. The U.S. emerges as the world's dominant and most powerful country following WWI. We then turned our focus to the Great Depression between the wars. Issues covered: the stock market crash on Oct. 24, 1929... the collapse of the American economy and unprecedented unemployment rates which soared above 30% by 1932. We touched upon general reasons for the stock market crash: supply exceeded demands for goods in 1920s America. Post-WWI enforced German reparations placed financial strains on many countries - including the US. We discussed speculation in the stock market and buying stocks on margin. We will pick up with the Great Depression in our next class on Wednesday, 4/22/20.

We concluded our discussion of Chap.19: Empires in Collision today with a look at why Japan did not succumb to Imperialism. The answer lies with Japan's Meiji Restoration of the late 19th century that leads to the rise of an industrialized and modernized Japan. We began with the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet in Japan in 1853. During the last three decades of the 19th century, Japan became fascinated with everything western. There were social and political changes. Hundreds of Japanese students were sent to study abroad and return to Japan with their new ideas. Japan adopted a parliament to work in concert with its emperor. Rights for Japanese women also improved. Japan industrialized rapidly with railroads, technology, industry, military, even adopting western styles of dress and fashion. In 1902, the Anglo-Japanese Treaty acknowledged Japan as a world power. Japan begins to launch its own colonial building enterprise and gains control of Taiwan and Korea. In 1905, Japan goes to war with Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. The result: Japan was victorious and seized control of Russia's only port on the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan on Russia's far east coast, just north of the Japanese archipelago. This was a humiliating defeat for Russia. At the same time, other non-western cultures began to take note of Japan's rapid changes and successes with admiration. We then began to look at the events that will be covered in Chapter 20: Collapse at the Center. This chapter covers a stunning amount of 20th century history, beginning with World War I, then the Great Depression and on to World War II. We began with the concept of "total war," which requires mobilization of a country's entire population. We also reviewed the causes of WWI and new weapons of warfare. Anna was introduced to the first genocide of the 20th century: the Armenian Genocide. The Armenians comprised a small Christian minority in Muslim Turkey. Once the Ottoman Turks (allied with the Central Powers) began to lose battles in WWI, he Armenians were used as scapegoats and they were also victims of extreme nationalist racism. As one famous scholar states,"It should not be surprising that both world wars of the 20th century included genocide." We will continue with this chapter at our next class on Monday, April 20, 2020. HW: using pp. 852 - 860, answer the following question: "How did the Meiji Restoration modernize Japan to make it a leading world power by the beginning of the 20th century?" This is due in class on Monday, April 20, 2020.

We began by reviewing a H.W. assessment. Anna answered a question and wrote an essay about how colonialism rested on violence and coercion, but it also generated cooperation and benefits for some people. Anna seems to have a good grasp of this complex issue. We examined imperialism in Africa. European colonies in Africa were essentially dictatorships. We also discussed apartheid in South Africa and its ongoing tragic legacy. We then began to study Chapter 10. We looked at the decline of China and the Ottoman Empire throughout the 19th century. In China, we looked at the Taiping Rebellion from 1850-1864, the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century and the Boxer Rebellion from 1898-1901. The last Chinese emperor abdicates in 1912. As the 19th century closes, the Ottoman Empire can no longer equate with the industrial and military power of Europe. It is weakened from within as there are multitudes of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups seeking independence. In 1908, a group called the Young Turks comes to power in Turkey. They advocate for Turks to lead the Ottoman Empire, for military, secular public life and modernization. They are not very tolerant of other nationalities within the Ottoman Empire and this will lead to horrific consequences in WWI. By the dawn of the 20th century, China and the Ottoman Empire were "semi-colonies" of the western world.

We continued to cover European colonialism and the Age of Imperialism.Today we noted how European culture, education and religion was imposed on vast areas of Asia and Africa between 1750 -1950. There were attempts at colonial rebellion such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857-58. This brings subsequent direct British control over India. We discussed colonial racism in the countries within Asia and Africa. In South Africa, extreme racism was known as apartheid. While African people are forced into lives of hard labor in mines, plantations and construction, there is no racial, political or social integration. Women remained "inferior." Colonies were essentially dictatorships. By 1913, much of South Africa and Kenya "belong" to white colonizers.

We began class by reviewing Anna's Chapter 17 assessment performance. Her answers were good and she earned an "A" on the Chap. 17 assessment and an "A-" on the Chap. 16 assessment last week. Today we reviewed changing patterns of economic and social life around the world. We reviewed the definitions of colonialism, imperialism and social Darwinism. We looked at maps of colonial Asia and Africa. Anna has a sense of colonies established by Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan and the United States in Africa and Asia between 1750-1900.

We began class by reviewing Anna's Chapter 17 assessment performance. Her answers were good and she earned an "A" on the Chap. 17 assessment and an "A-" on the Chap. 16 assessment last week. Today we reviewed changing patterns of economic and social life around the world. We reviewed the definitions of colonialism, imperialism and social Darwinism. We looked at maps of colonial Asia and Africa. Anna has a sense of colonies established by Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan and the United States in Africa and Asia between 1750-1900.