Covenant College | 20th Century World History | Exam 1

Karl Marx

Karl Marx 5 May 1818 - 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, political theorist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist.

Triple Entente

The Triple Entente (from French entente [ɑ̃tɑ̃t] "friendship, understanding, agreement") was the understanding linking the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on 31 August 1907. The understanding between the three powers, supplemented by agreements with Japan and Portugal, constituted a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy, though Italy did not side with Germany and Austria during World War I and joined the Entente Powers instead, in the 1915 Treaty of London.

Post-War Disillusionment

Who What When Where Why

Confucianism

Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life.[1] Confucianism developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE), who considered himself a retransmitter of the values of the Zhou dynasty golden age of several centuries before.[2] In the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang-Lao, as the official ideology while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism. The disintegration of the Han political order in the second century CE opened the way for the doctrines of Buddhism and Neo-Taoism, which offered spiritual explanations lacking in Confucianism.

David Linvingstone

David Livingstone (/ˈlɪvɪŋstən/; 19 March 1813 - 1 May 1873) was a Scottish Christian Congregationalist, pioneer medical missionary[1] with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of the late-19th-century in the Victorian era. He had a mythical status that operated on a number of interconnected levels: Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags-to-riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial and colonial expansion. His fame as an explorer and his obsession with discovering the sources of the Nile River was founded on the belief that if he could solve that age-old mystery, his fame would give him the influence to end the East African Arab-Swahili slave trade.

Direct Rule

Direct rule (Irish: riail dhíreach[1][2][3]) is the term given to the administration of Northern Ireland directly by the Government of the United Kingdom. It was practiced for 26 straight years between 1972 and 1998 during the Troubles, and has since then been temporary applied during suspensions. The most recent period of direct rule came to an end on 8 May 2007 when power was restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly following April elections and a power-sharing agreement among major parties.

Edmund Morel

Edmund Dene Morel, originally Georges Eduard Pierre Achille Morel de Ville (10 July 1873 - 12 November 1924), was a British journalist, author, pacifist, and politician. In collaboration with Roger Casement, Morel led a campaign against slavery in the Congo Free State, founding the Congo Reform Association and running the West African Mail. He played a significant role in the British pacifist movement during the First World War, participating in the foundation and becoming secretary of the Union of Democratic Control, at which point he broke with the Liberal Party. After the war he joined the Independent Labour Party. Bertrand Russell said of Morel, "No other man known to me has had the same heroic simplicity in pursuing and proclaiming political truth."

Enlightenment

Enlightenment, French siècle des Lumières (literally "century of the Enlightened"), German Aufklärung, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West and that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. Central to Enlightenment thought were the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.

Japanese Isolation

From 1641 to 1853, the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan enforced a policy which it called kaikin. The policy prohibited foreign contact with most outside countries. However, the commonly held idea that Japan was entirely closed is misleading. In fact, Japan maintained limited-scale trade and diplomatic relations with China, Korea, the Ryukyu Islands and the Netherlands.[6] The culture of Japan developed with limited influence from the outside world and had one of the longest stretches of peace in history. During this period, Japan developed thriving cities, castle towns, increasing commodification of agriculture and domestic trade,[7] wage labor, increasing literacy and concomitant print culture,[8] laying the groundwork for modernization even as the shogunate itself grew weak.

Indirect Rule

Indirect rule is a system of government used by the British and French to control parts of their colonial empires, particularly in Africa and Asia, through pre-existing local power structures. These dependencies were often called "protectorates" or "trucial states". By this system, the day-to-day government and administration of areas both small and large was left in the hands of traditional rulers, who gained prestige and the stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica, at the cost of losing control of their external affairs, and often of taxation, communications, and other matters, usually with a small number of European "advisors" effectively overseeing the government of large numbers of people spread over extensive areas.

Industrialization

Industrialisation or industrialization is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society, involving the extensive re-organisation of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing.[2] As industrial workers' incomes rise, markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds tend to expand and provide a further stimulus to industrial investment and economic growth.

T.S. Eliot "The Wasteland"

It is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry.[2][3] Published in 1922, the 434-line[B] poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of The Criterion and in the United States in the November issue of The Dial. It was published in book form in December 1922. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the mantra in the Sanskrit language "Shantih shantih shantih".[C] Eliot's poem loosely follows the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King combined with vignettes of contemporary British society. Eliot employs many literary and cultural allusions from the Western canon, Buddhism and the Hindu Upanishads. Because of this, critics and scholars regard the poem as obscure.[4] The poem shifts between voices of satire and prophecy featuring abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location, and time and conjuring of a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures.

John A. Hobson

John Atkinson Hobson (commonly known as John A. Hobson or J. A. Hobson; 6 July 1858 - 1 April 1940), was an English economist, social scientist and critic of imperialism, widely popular as a lecturer and writer.

John Locke

John Locke 29 August 1632 - 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence

Leopold II

Leopold II (9 April 1835 - 17 December 1909) reigned as the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and became known for the founding and exploitation of the Congo Free State as a private venture.

Liberalism

Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equalityLiberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas and programmes such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments, gender equality and international cooperation. Liberalism first became a distinct political movement during the Age of Enlightenment, when it became popular among philosophers and economists in the Western world. Liberalism rejected the prevailing social and political norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy and the Divine Right of Kings. The 17th-century philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct philosophical tradition. Locke argued that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property,[11] while adding that governments must not violate these rights based on the social contract. Liberals opposed traditional conservatism and sought to replace absolutism in government with representative democracy and the rule of law.

Max Havelaar

Max Havelaar: Or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key role in shaping and modifying Dutch colonial policy in the Dutch East Indies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the novel, the protagonist, Max Havelaar, tries to battle against a corrupt government system in Java, which was then a Dutch colony.

Meiji Reforms

Meiji Restoration, in Japanese history, the political revolution in 1868 that brought about the final demise of the Tokugawa shogunate (military government)—thus ending the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603-1867)—and, at least nominally, returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under Mutsuhito (the emperor Meiji). In a wider context, however, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 came to be identified with the subsequent era of major political, economic, and social change—the Meiji period (1868-1912)—that brought about the modernization and Westernization of the country.

Modernity

Modernity is a term of art used in the humanities and social sciences to designate both a historical period (the modern era), as well as the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in post-medieval Europe and have developed since, in various ways and at various times, around the world. While it includes a wide range of interrelated historical processes and cultural phenomena (from fashion to modern warfare), it can also refer to the subjective or existential experience of the conditions they produce, and their ongoing impact on human culture, institutions, and politics (Berman 2010, 15-36). As a historical category, modernity refers to a period marked by a questioning or rejection of tradition; the prioritization of individualism, freedom and formal equality; faith in inevitable social, scientific and technological progress and human perfectibility; rationalization and professionalization; a movement from feudalism (or agrarianism) toward capitalism and the market economy; industrialization, urbanization and secularization; the development of the nation-state and its constituent institutions (e.g. representative democracy, public education, modern bureaucracy) and forms of surveillance

Nationalism

Nationalism is a range of political, social, and economic systems characterized by promoting the interests of a particular nation, particularly with the aim of gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, over the group's homeland. The political ideology therefore holds that a nation should govern itself, free from unwanted outside interference, and is linked to the concept of self-determination. Nationalism is further oriented towards developing and maintaining a national identity based on shared characteristics such as culture, language, race, religion, political goals or a belief in a common ancestry.[1][2] Nationalism therefore seeks to preserve the nation's culture. It often also involves a sense of pride in the nation's achievements, and is closely linked to the concept of patriotism. In some cases, nationalism referred to the belief that a nation should be able to control the government and all means of production.[

"New" Imperialism

New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1] The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments, making their territory bigger through conquest, and exploiting their resources.

Nicholas II

Nicholas II or Nikolai II 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 - 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917.[1] His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Due to the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, the violent suppression of the 1905 Revolution, the execution of political opponents and his perceived responsibility for the Russo-Japanese War, he was given the nickname Nicholas the Bloody by his political adversaries. Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader, whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects.[4]

Oswald Spengler

Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 - 8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics, science, and art. He is best known for his book The Decline of the West (Der Untergang des Abendlandes), published in 1918 and 1922, covering all of world history. Spengler's model of history postulates that any culture is a superorganism with a limited and predictable lifespan. Spengler predicted that about the year 2000, Western civilization would enter the period of pre‑death emergency whose countering would necessitate Caesarism (extraconstitutional omnipotence of the executive branch of the central government).

Otto von Bismarck

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 - 30 July 1898), known as Otto von Bismarck (German: [ˈɔtoː fɔn ˈbɪsmark] (About this sound listen)), was a conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890. In the 1860s, he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, deliberately excluding Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. With that accomplished by 1871, he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany's position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, remained at peace.

Epondo

Picture of a Congo child mutilated by Belgian soldiers.

Lusitania

RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner that a German submarine sank in World War I, causing a major diplomatic uproar. The ship was a holder of the Blue Riband, and briefly the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister ship Mauretania. The Cunard Line launched Lusitania in 1906, at a time of fierce competition for the North Atlantic trade. She made a total of 202 trans-Atlantic crossings.

Realpolitik

Realpolitik (from German: real "realistic", "practical", or "actual"; and Politik "politics", German pronunciation: [ʁeˈaːlpoliˌtiːk]) is politics or diplomacy based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical premises. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism. It is often simply referred to as pragmatism in politics, e.g. "pursuing pragmatic policies". The term Realpolitik is sometimes used pejoratively to imply politics that are perceived as coercive, amoral, or Machiavellian. Realpolitik is often confused with the philosophy of political realism. Political realism is a particular modern, descriptive paradigm, or theoretical and methodological framework, aimed at describing, explaining and, eventually, predicting events in the international relations domain. Both are often believed to suggest working from the hypothesis that it is chiefly based on the pursuit, possession, and application of power. (See also power politics) However, some international relations realists, such as Kenneth Waltz and Hans Morgenthau, have viewed states in terms of their desire for immediate survival or security, rather than the pursuit of power.

Rene Descartes

René Descartes 31 March 1596 - 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosophy, much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings,[11][12] which are studied closely to this day.

Sati

Sati or suttee[note 1] is an obsolete funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her husband's pyre or commits suicide in another fashion shortly after her husband's death.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 - 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst

Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution.

Lord Macaulay

Sir Thomas James Babington Macaulay, Baron of Rothley generally known as Baron Macaulay, (25 October 1800 - 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer; his books on British history have been hailed as literary masterpieces.[1] Macaulay held political office as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1848. He played a major role in introducing English and western concepts to education in India, publishing his argument on the subject in the "Macaulay Minute" published in 1835. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the use of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers.[1] This led to Macaulayism in India.

Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen (/ˈsʊn ˈjɑːtˈsɛn/; 12 November 1866 - 12 March 1925)[1][2] was a Chinese physician, writer, philosopher, calligrapher[3] and revolutionary, the first president and founding father of the Republic of China. As the foremost pioneer of the Republic of China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic of China (ROC), Hong Kong,[citation needed] Macau[citation needed] and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in People's Republic of China (PRC). Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the years leading up to the Xinhai Revolution. He was appointed to serve as Provisional President of the Republic of China when it was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Nationalist Party of China, serving as its first leader.[4] Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and he remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Partition of Africa

The "Scramble for Africa" was the occupation, division, and colonisation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and by some, the Conquest of Africa. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to almost 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (present-day Somalia)[1] and Liberia still being independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, is usually referred to as the starting point of the scramble for Africa.[2] Consequent to the political and economic rivalries among the European empires in the last quarter of the 19th century, the partitioning, or splitting up of Africa was how the Europeans avoided warring amongst themselves over Africa.[3] The later years of the 19th century saw the transition from "informal imperialism" (hegemony), by military influence and economic dominance, to direct rule, bringing about colonial imperialism.[4]

American Revolution

The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from Great Britain, becoming the United States of America. They defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War in alliance with France and others.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly from Africa to the Americas, and then their sale there. The slave trade used mainly the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were Africans from central and western Africa, who had been sold by other West Africans to Western European slave traders (with a small number being captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids), who brought them to the Americas.[1] The South Atlantic and Caribbean economies especially were dependent on the supply of secure labour for the production of commodity crops, making goods and clothing to sell in Europe. This was crucial to those western European countries which, in the late 17th and 18th centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires.

The Berlin Conference

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85, also known as the Congo Conference or West Africa Conference regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. The conference was organized by Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, can be seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa. The conference ushered in a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance.

The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement was a violent anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", for many of their members had been practitioners of the martial arts, such as boxing. They were motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments and opposition to Western colonialism and associated Christian missionary activity.

British Raj

The British Raj (/rɑːdʒ/; from rāj, literally, "rule" in Hindustani)[2] was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947.[3][4][5][6] The rule is also called Crown rule in India,[7] or direct rule in India.[

Congo Free State

The Congo Free State was a large state in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908, which was in personal union with the Kingdom of Belgium under Leopold II. Leopold was able to procure the region by convincing the European community that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade.[2] Via the International Association of the Congo he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo basin. On May 29, 1885, the king named his new colony the Congo Free State. The state would eventually include an area now held by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, a form of biological adaptation distinct from, yet interconnected with, natural selection. The book discusses many related issues, including evolutionary psychology, evolutionary ethics, differences between human races, differences between sexes, the dominant role of women in mate choice, and the relevance of the evolutionary theory to society.

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies.[1] Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress (INC, often called Congress) is a broad-based political party in India. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.[a][10] From the late 19th-century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants.[11] The Congress led India to independence from Great Britain,[b][12][c][13] and powerfully influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.[d][10]

Open Door Policy

The Open Door Policy is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, as enunciated in Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Note, dated September 6, 1899 and dispatched to the major European powers.[1] The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, keeping any one power from total control of the country, and calling upon all powers, within their spheres of influence, to refrain from interfering with any treaty port or any vested interest, to permit Chinese authorities to collect tariffs on an equal basis, and to show no favors to their own nationals in the matter of harbour dues or railroad charges. The Open Door policy was rooted in the desire of U.S. businesses to trade with Chinese markets, though it also tapped the deep-seated sympathies of those who opposed imperialism, with the policy pledging to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity from partition. It had little legal standing, and was mainly used to mediate competing interests of the colonial powers without much meaningful input from the Chinese, creating lingering resentment and causing it to later be seen as a symbol of national humiliation by Chinese historians. There was an essential conflict in the policy. The U.S. announced its Open Door Policy with the dual intentions of avoiding the actual political division of China and taking financial advantage, but only in a fair way, acknowledging equal rights for all nations to trade with China. All the imperial nations gave a green light to the American decision except Russia. The next result was that China remained undivided, but in the coming years the imperial nations continued to exploit China to a large extent.

The Opium Wars

The Opium Wars were two wars in the mid-19th century involving Anglo-Chinese disputes over British trade in China and China's sovereignty. The disputes included the First Opium War (1839-1842) and the Second Opium War (1856-1860). The wars and events between them weakened the Qing dynasty and forced China to trade with the other parts of the world.

The Qing Dynasty

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing (English: /tʃɪŋ/), also called the Qing Empire by itself or the Manchu dynasty by foreigners, was the last imperial dynasty of China, established in 1636 and ruling China from 1644 to 1912. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for the modern Chinese state.The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria.

Bolshevik Revolution

The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917 which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II and the old regime was replaced by a provisional government during the first revolution of February 1917 (March in the Gregorian calendar; the older Julian calendar was in use in Russia at the time). Alongside it arose grassroots community assemblies (called 'soviets') which contended for authority. In the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was toppled and all power was given to the soviets.

The Schlieffen Plan

The Schlieffen Plan was the German army's plan for war against France and Russia . It was created by the German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen in 1903 the request of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was revised in 1905. The German state remained in disunity before Otto von Bismarck consolidated it in 1871. Even though it was the most dynamic country on the European continent at the time, its late unification put it well behind the other European states in imperialistic activity. Although Germany was still able to gain a few small colonies, it could not compete with the other European powers. Surrounding states, afraid of Germany's quick growth and aggressive attitude, were eager to contain it. In 1898, the Kaiser sought out Schlieffen and directed him to devise a plan that would allow Germany to gain power and assert itself as a dominant state.

Boer War

The Second Boer War known variously as the Boer War, Anglo-Boer War, South African War or Anglo-Boer South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa: the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles) was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I signed separate treaties.[8] Although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.

Triple Alliance

The Triple Alliance, also known as the Triplice, was a secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on 20 May 1882 and renewed periodically until it expired in 1915 during the Diplomatic history of World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been closely allied since 1879. Italy sought support against France shortly after it lost North African ambitions to the French. Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other great power. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it was attacked by France without provocation. In turn, Italy would assist Germany if attacked by France. In the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Italy promised to remain neutral.

Willy-Nicky Letters

The Willy-Nicky correspondence was a set of messages relayed between Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia during the eve of the First World War.

Balance of Power

The balance of power theory in international relations suggests that national security is enhanced when military capability is distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others.[1] If one state becomes much stronger than others, the theory predicts that it will take advantage of its strength and attack weaker neighbors, thereby providing an incentive for those threatened to unite in a defensive coalition. Some realists maintain that this would be more stable as aggression would appear unattractive and would be averted if there was equilibrium of power between the rival coalitions.[1]

Balkans

The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geography; historically the area was known as a crossroads of several cultures. It has been a meeting point between the Latin and Greek parts of the Roman Empire. It became an area where Orthodox and Catholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting point between Islam and Christianity. Many Jewish people fled here from Inquisition.

German Unification

The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Princes of the German states, excluding Austria, gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm I of Prussia as German Emperor after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. Unofficially, the de facto transition of most of the German-speaking populations into a federated organization of states had been developing for some time through alliances formal and informal between princely rulers—but in fits and starts; self-interests of the various parties hampered the process over nearly a century of autocratic experimentation, beginning in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, which saw the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (1806), and the subsequent rise of German nationalism.

World Revolution of Westernization

Theodore H. Von Laue Published 1987 Von Laue's stunningly original and controversial book approaches the dynamics of twentieth-century history from an entirely new perspective by proposing that the little-understood historic process known as the world revolution of Westernization has caused the global violence and warfare of this century. Accounting for world wars, the rise of communism and fascism, decolonization, Third World dictatorships, and contemporary terrorism, he describes the twin processes of the expansion of Western power and the emergence of global interdependence.

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 - February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921.

The Black Hand

Unification or Death, popularly known as the Black Hand, was a secret military society formed on 9 May 1911 by officers in the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia, originating in the conspiracy group that assassinated the Serbian royal couple (1903), led by captain Dragutin Dimitrijević "Apis". It was formed with the aim of uniting all of the territories with a South Slavic majority not ruled by either Serbia or Montenegro. Its inspiration was primarily the unification of Italy in 1859-70, but also that of Germany in 1871.[1][2] Through its connections to the June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which was committed by the members of youth movement Young Bosnia, the Black Hand is often viewed as having contributed to the start of World War I by precipitating the July Crisis of 1914, which eventually led to Austria-Hungary's invasion of the Kingdom of Serbia.[

Vladimir I. Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 - 21 January 1924), was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as head of government of the Russian Republic from 1917 to 1918, of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party communist state governed by the Russian Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, he developed political theories known as Leninism.

Charles Darwin

WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHYCharles Robert Darwin,12 February 1809 - 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist,[4] best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.[I] He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors[5] and, in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.[6]

Highest Stage of Capitalism

WHO: Vladimir Lenin WHAT: And essay describing the function of financial capital in generating profits from imperialist colonialism as the final stage of capitalist development to ensure greater profits. The essay is a synthesis of Lenin's modifications and developments of economic theories that Karl Marx formulated in Das Kapital (1867). WHEN: 1917 WHERE: Russian Republic WHY:

The "three C's"

Who What When Where Why

The Scramble for Africa

Who What When Where Why

Total War

Who What When Where Why

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, MC (18 March 1893 - 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon, and stood in stark contrast both to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Among his best-known works - most of which were published posthumously - are "Dulce et Decorum est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Exposure" and "Strange Meeting".

Wilhelm II

Wilhelm II or William II (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen, English: Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia; 27 January 1859 - 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them".[2] Parties failing to abide by this promise "should be denied of the benefits furnished by this treaty". It was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on 27 August 1928, and by most other nations soon after. Sponsored by France and the U.S., the Pact renounces the use of war and calls for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Similar provisions were incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations and other treaties and it became a stepping-stone to a more activist American policy.[3] It is named after its authors, United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand.

Taiping Rebellion

a massive rebellion or civil war in China that lasted from 1850 to 1864 and was fought between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Christian millenarian movement of the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace.

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

League of Nations

an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.[1] Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.[2] Other issues in this and related treaties included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, the arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe.[3] At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members.

The "White Man's Burden"

is a 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling about the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), which invites the U.S. to assume colonial control of that country. The poem was published in The New York Sun on 10 February 1899.

Militarism

the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.

Assimilation

the process by which a person's or group's culture come to resemble those of another group. The term is used to refer to both individuals and groups; the latter case can refer to either foreign immigrants or native residents that come to be culturally dominated by another society.

Middle Class

the social group between the upper and working classes, including professional and business workers and their families.