Chapter 28

1)        The Treaty of Versailles was written in 1919, ending WWI, but unfortunately it had reprocussions that have been said to start WWII.  The Treaty of Versailles was created by Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, and George Clemenceau; they were known as the “Big Three”.  Each man wanted something different, but eventually the treaty ended up being a compromise of all three views.  A League of Nations was created with the intent of solving diplomatic problems and maintaining world peace.  The Treaty gave Germany all of the blame for the war.  Germany had to pay reparations of $30 billion, pensions for allied widows, they had to limit their military and navy, eliminate their air force, and they lost Alsace-Lorraine and their colonies.  While Germany’s punishment was not as harsh as the big three thought it should be, the Germans were outraged.  Citizens turned against who signed the treaty.  Germany did not intend to surrender in the first place; they only signed an armistice.  This led to Germany wanting revenge after the end of WWI, eventually leading to the start of WWII.  The Treaty of Versailles was meant to end a war and create peace, but instead it caused political and geographical difficulties that started WWII.

2)        The Global Wars and Great Depression caused the diminish of Western Global Domination.  During the wars, the economies of the countries were stretched thin in order to accomodate the need for weapons and soldiers to fight.  Once the war was over, America had become a World Power.  During World War II, the United States joined the fighting later because of the seperation of the ocean, but America lost less soldiers than other countries.  Even though they lost 100,000 men, that was only a portion of what other countries lost.  The United States had a good population and good resources and the war had stimulated industry.  Wages were increased and more people had jobs during the war.  The United States clearly emerged as a World power ove the west that had a weak economy and suffering population.

3)        At the end of World War I, a depression began; currently referred to as the Great Depression.  After the war, their was overpopulation, which was bad for farmers.  Because of the boom in industrialization that the war caused, workers wages had increased, causing the prices on goods to increase, which was also bad for farmers.  America bought stock on margin-calls on loans, but in 1929 they had to sell the stock, causing stock prices to decline.  America was forced to recall all foreign loans. The banks failed and millions were out of work.  Tariffs were raised to help protect the United States industry.  The depression resulted in a challenge to democracy and capitalism.  A rise in dictators and communism occured.

Journal!!

February 23
People’s morals are based on the cultural experiences of their life. If someone is raised in an isolated wilderness, they might not see killing as wrong, but someone raised in church would see it as wrong. Personal experiences and the culture we live in effects our decisions and morals. I believe that their cannot be absolute truth because everyone has different beliefs. Some things cannot have an absolute truth, such as morals. Morals vary from person to person, location to location, their cannot be a set morality for every person.

Abolition Movement Project

http://prezi.com/o19-_xdq16ag/abolition-movements/

Chapter 27 Review

1)      In both countries, industrialization effected the traditional and social hierarchies. In Russia, the aristicacy was threatened by the ending of serfdom, the creation of regional zemstvoes, and reforms of the army. In Japan the samurai were almost completely destroyed by the defeat of the shogunate, the destruction of feudalism, and military reform. Both nations used territorial expansion as a means of mollifying the aristocracy and building support for the imperial government. The course of expansion in Japan and Russia was different.  Japan did not begin until the 1890’s, after industrialization, as it sought to secure sources of raw mmarerials in Korea and Manchuria. Russian expansion began long before industrialization; one primary motive was the securing of a warm water port.

2)      The Revolution in Russia in 1905 was caused byeconomic change, industrialization, famine and population pressures. Alexander II’s reforms and economic change encouraged minority nationality demands. Cultural nationalism led to political demands that worried the state. Social protest was increased by the mimitations of the reforms and iindustrialization. Their was famine, redemption payments, taxes, and population pressure on the peasant class.  Even the educated citizens were unsatisfied. Business and professional people wanted more personal freedom and political rights. The inteligents wanted radical political change, social reform, but also wanted to preserve the Russian culture. Some intellectuals became anarchists who hoped for triump by gaiing support from the peasants.  When the peasants did not show any interest, many people resorted to terrorism. The government reacted by pulling back from reforms, introduce censorship, and exile dissidents to Siberia. In 1881 Alexander II was assasinatted and his succesor did not want any reform so continued suppression. By the 1890s new protest currents appeared. Marxist socialism spread among intellects and Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov) attempted to make Marxism fit Russian conditions and organized disciplined cells to work for the expected revolution. At the same time working-class unrest in the cities showed through union formation and strikes – both illegal – tocompensate for lack of political outlets.

3)           Both Japan and Russia made conscious use of Western models in achieving industrialization and incorporating aspects of Western culture in the process of industrialization. Both traded with the West, so in a sense both were culturally and technologically dependent on the West. Japan’s industrialization was more complete and accomplished with less foreign capitalization, and less foreign control of development. Japan, with the exception of a lack of raw materials, was more economically autonomous. Russia, even after industrialization, retained some of the aspects of dependent economies, such as heavy foreign capitalization of industry and continued reliance on agricultural exports to the West. Both were involved in alliances that largely were the creation of Western states. The chief difference from Latin America was the successful industrialization of Russia and Japan. Latin America was less involved in Western diplomatic systems and in colonialism. In cultural borrowing and the importation of Western capital there were greater similarities.

 

Chapter 26 Revi…

Chapter 26 Review

1)          Islam had been in conflict with the West for a long time, while China’s conflicts were more recent.  The Chinese had brought less Western technology into their culture than the Muslims had.  The Muslims and West had in common a Judeo- Christian background and classical rationalism.  The Chineses had isolated their culture from Western influences. China was more vulnerable to a single defeat because of political unity, while the Muslims were split into many different centers, but all needed defending.  When Chinese were defeated they had to rely on a defense of the Qing dynasty as summation of their civilization.  Muslims fell back on the religious unity of the Islamic civilization.  The Wests invasion of China ruined the traditional civilization.  Before, China had relied on centralized state government run by and imperial dynasty and a Confucian scholar- gentry bureaucracy.  Islam kept their culture intact, but were also able to adapt to Western military technoligical advances.

2)     Western incursions into Africa and China had many similiarities, but were also different. Europeans operated from ports under indigenous contro for trade with the interior.  The Europeans traded things that were considered socially unacceptable such as slaves and opium. Later on the more traditional products came out to be more successful. Africans lost their territory to Europeans in the 19th century.  The Chinese had European influence entering their country.  The British invasion of Europe was very similiar to some other invasions in Africa.  The indigenous officials were held  captive and Western refoms were introduced.  In both locations, Western- educated leaders led paths towards independence.

3)       The British were able to gain control of Egypt because of the debt and weak rulers it had. Egypt became dependent on cotton crops.  The state revenues were spent on lavish pastimes and military efforts in the Sudan. The regime and elite became indebted to European creditors. Europeans built the Seuz canal, which opened in 1869. Muslim activists and politicians tried to protect Egypt from its incapable rulers. The University of al-Azhar became a focal point for Muslims from all over. Some Muslims wanted Egypt to revert to past habits, but men like al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh thought it necessary for Muslims to adopt Western science and technology. They stressed the importance of the tradition of rational inquiry in Islamic history and contested conserative views that the single source of truth was found in a literally interpreted Quaran.  They believed that Islam should develop and accept the new advances that the West brought. Differences between rival interpretations damaged Muslim ability to meet European threat.  Because of the split in opinions, the Muslims could not hold out the Europeans. Growing Egyptian debt to Europeans and the strategic importance of Suez Canal caused British and France thoughts of intervention. When army officer Ahmad Orabi led a revolt against the khedive in1882, the British intervened to save the ruler.  The British now controlled the Egyptian government by controlling khedives.

Journals 2/6 – 2/10

February 6
Worldview is the way a person sees and interprets the world, based on their opinions, experiences, and beliefs. I don’t really know exactly what my worldview is. I’m still young and will have many experiences later on in life that will affect and change my worldview. Currently my worldview is shaped by my religious beliefs, the way I have been raised, and opinions I have formed from the experiences that I have had.

February 8
“let the beauty you love be what you do”. -rummi
This quote means that you should do what you love and believe. If u love something you should do that, even if it isn’t the easy thing.

February 9
Characteristics I look for are kindness, trustworthiness, and other cliche things

Chapter 24

1) In the early period, European imperialism was limited to cooperation with local rulers and entry into trade systems that were already present in Africa and Asia. Slavery and plantation products were important to the trade, and Asia focused on importation of luxuries. In China, Western products were not valued, giving Europe a negative trade balance. Force of arms and missionaries had little success. Later, colonialism accompanied Western industrialization and gave the West military superiority. Europeans shifted fromm importing luxuries and slaves to raw materials. Colonies became imortant markets for manufactured goods. Europeans created dominant political units, missionaries had more influence, and many Europeans living abroad had white racial supremacy.

2) “Tropical dependencies,” White Dominions,” and “contested settler states had many similarities and differences. Tropical Dependencies made up a large part of the European overseas empires in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific. A small group of European settlers ruled much larger proportions of the native populations. White Dominions were colonies in which European settlers made up most of the population because the natives were cleared due to disease, conquest and war. This type of holding was typical of the British in North America and Australia because of growing independence in the 19th century. Contested settler colonies had different numbers of European settlers and native “response”. There were two main types of colonies: tropical dependencies and settlement colonies. In the first type, small numbers of Europeans ruled large numbers of indigenous peoples. Within the settlement colonies there were two different patterns. In the White Dominion, such as Canada and Australia, much of the population descended from European immigrants. In contested settler colonies, such as Algeria, Kenya, New Zealand, and Hawaii, large numbers of European immigrants competed with indigenous populations for control of the land and its natural resources. As in the White Dominions, contested settler colonies attracted large numbers of European immigrants. From their initial foothold at Cape Colony, Boer farmers penetrated the South African interior in search of farm land. Similar to the situation in Australia, the Boers found much of the interior sparsely settled and found little resistance to their advance. The Boers enslaved the first indigenous people they encountered, the Khoikhoi. Until the first decades of the nineteenth century, the experience of settlers in South Africa was very similar to those in Australia and Canada.
The arrival of the British and their annexation of Cape Colony in 1815 sent South Africa on a separate course. By the 1830s, the Boers fled the Cape Colony seeking independence and the right to continue a pattern of life they established long ago. In the Great Trek, the Boer population crossed the Great Fish River into the South African plains, where they encountered for the first time the Bantu states of the Zulus and Xhosa. War between the Bantu states and the Boer settlers was common during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. At the same time, the British established a second colonial outpost on the eastern coast of South Africa at Natal. In the 1850s, the Boers established two independent republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
When gold and diamonds were discovered in the Boer republics, the finds drew British investors, such as Cecil Rhodes, into the region. Relations between the British colonies and the Boer republics deteriorated until war was declared in 1899. The Boer War paved the way for decolonization in South Africa and established the political power of the Boers over indigenous Africans.

3) The 19th century European imperialists transformed their methods of econimic extraction. Many Europeans, especially britian, used forced labor to lead a successful exportation system and trade relations with the world. Europeans depended on handicraft manufacturing and crops. The presence of precious metals and minerals made the exploitation of African mines more obvious. African mines, plus the raw materials and farm produce already being shipped transcontinentally grew dramatically in many of the colonies.