Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
I Chapter 30: Revolution and Nationalism, 1900-1939 Revolutions in Russia The oppressive rule of 19-th century czars created social unrest for decades Army officers revolted in 1825 and secret revolutionary groups plotted to overthrow the government In 1881 revolutionaries assassinated czar Alexander II because they were angry over the slow pace of political change A Czars Resist Change What caused the Marxist revolutionaries of Russia to split into two groups? Alexander III succeeded his father Alexander II in 1881 and halted all reforms in Russia Alexander III used the principles of autocracy, a government where he had total power, like his grandfather Nicholas I Anyone who questioned the absolute authority of the czar, worshipped outside the Russian Orthodox Church or spoke a language other than Russian was thought dangerous 1 Czars Continue Autocratic Rule Alexander III used harsh measures to wipe out revolutionaries He imposed strict censorship codes on published materials and written documents, including private letters His secret police watched universities and secondary schools and teaches had to send detailed reports on every student Political prisoners were sent to Siberia, a remote region of eastern Russia He oppressed other national groups in Russia to establish a uniform Russian culture He made Russian the official language of the empire and forbade the use of minority languages like Polish, in schools Jews were the target of persecution and a wave of pogroms, organized violence against Jews, broke out in much of Russia Police and soldiers did nothing even when they witnessed Russian citizens loot and destroy Jewish homes, stores and synagogues Nicholas II became czar in 1894 and continued Russian autocracy which made him unaware of the changing of times 2 Russia Industrializes The number of factories in Russia more than doubles between 1863 and 1900 but Russia still lagged behind the industrial nations of western Europe Nicholas’s most capable minister launched a program to move the country forward in the 1890’s The government sought foreign investors and raised taxes to finance the buildup This boosted the growth of heavy industry, particularly steel and by 1900 Russia had become the world’s fourth-ranking producer of steel The Trans-Siberian Railway, the world’s longest continuous rail line, was started in 1891with the help of British and French investors It was completed in 1916 and it connected European Russia in the west with Russian ports on the Pacific Ocean in the East 3 The Revolutionary Movement Grows The growth of factories brought new problems to the people of Russia like poor working conditions, low wages and child labor The government outlawed trade unions so to improve their lives, works unhappy with their low standard of living and lack of political power organized strikes Several revolutionary movements began to grow and compete for power as a result A group that followed the views of Karl Marx established a following in Russia These Marxist revolutionaries believed that the industrial class of workers would overthrow the czar The workers would then form “a dictatorship of the proletariat” meaning that the proletariat, the workers, would rule the country Russian Marxist split into two groups, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks, in 1908 over revolutionary tactics The Mensheviks were more moderate and wanted a broad base of popular support for revolution The Bolsheviks were more radical and supported a small number of committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for change Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (1870-1924), who adopted the name of Lenin, was the major leader of the Bolsheviks He was an excellent organizer, had an engaging personality and was ruthless In the early 1900’s Lenin fled to western Europe to avoid arrest by the czarist regime and from there maintained contact with other Bolsheviks He waited until he could safely return home to Russia B Crises at Home and Abroad Who was Rasputin and how did he obtain his power? Between 1904 and 1917 Russia faced a series of crises which showed the czar’s weakness and paved the way for revolution 1 The Russo-Japanese War Russia and Japan competed for control of Korea and Manchuria in the late 1800’s The nations signed a series of agreements over the territories but Russia broke them Japan retaliated by attacking the Russians at Port Author, Manchuria , in February 1904 Russian losses created unrest at home and led to revolt 2 Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905 On January 22, 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg They had a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom and an elected national legislature Nicholas II’s generals ordered soldiers to fire into the crowd and more than 1,000 were wounded and several hundred were killed in the end, leading to the name “Bloody Sunday” Bloody Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country Nicholas promised freedom in October 1905 and approved creation of the Duma, Russia’s first parliament In May 1906 the first Duma met but because the czar was hesitant to share his power, he dissolved the Duma in only ten weeks The leaders of the Duma were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy like Britain 3 World War I: The Final Blow When Nicholas II made the decision to enter Russia into World War I in 1914, Russia was unprepared to handle the military and economic costs Its weak generals and poorly equipped troops were no match for the Germany army More than four million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner after only a year World War I revealed the weaknesses of czarist rule and military leadership in Russia like the Russo-Japanese war did. Nicholas moved his headquarters to the war front in 1915 where he hoped to rally his troops to victory His wife Czarina Alexandra ran the government while he was away She ignored the czar’s advisors and fell under influence of the Rasputin, a selfdescribed “holy man” who claimed to have magical healing powers Alexis, Nicholas and Alexandra’s son, suffered from hemophilia and Rasputin seemed to ease the boy’s symptoms Alexandra allowed Rasputin to make key political decisions to show her gratitude He opposed reform measures and obtained powerful positions for his friends In 1916 a group of nobles murdered Rasputin, fearing his increasing role in government affairs On the war front Russian soldiers mutinied, deserted or ignored orders At home food and fuel supplies were running low and prices were inflated People of all classes were clamoring for change and an end to the war but neither Nicholas of Alexandra seemed capable of tackling these problems C The March Revolution In what ways was the March Revolution successful and unsuccessful? Women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike in March 1917 Riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel in the next five days Nearly 200,000 workers swarmed the streets shouting “Down with the autocracy!” and “Down with the war!” At first soldiers followed orders and shot the rioters, but later they sided with them 1 The Czar Steps Down The March Revolution was caused by the local protests and forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne A year later revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family and the three-czarist rule of the Romanovs finally collapsed The March Revolution brought down the czar but failed to set up a strong government in his place Duma leaders established a provisional government, a temporary government, with Alexander Kerensky at the head He lost support of soldiers and civilians when he decided to continue fighting in the World War I and conditions in Russia worsened as the war went on Peasants demanded land, workers grew more radical and socialist revolutionaries, competing for power, formed soviets Soviets were local councils consisting of workers, peasants and soldiers and in many cities they had more influence than the provisional government 2 Lenin Returns to Russia The Germans believed that Lenin and his Bolshevik supports would stir unrest in Russia and hurt the Russian war effort against Germany They arranged Lenin’s return to Russia after many years and Lenin reached Petrograd in April 1917 D The Bolshevik Revolution h E Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control of the Petrograd soviet as well as the soviets in other major Russian cities By fall of 1917 people in cities were rallying to the call “All power to the soviets” and Lenin’s slogan “Peace, Land and Bread” became widely popular Lenin took action 1 The Provisional Government Topples Armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd in November 1917 They called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards and they took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government Kerensky and his colleges quickly disappeared 2 Bolsheviks in Power Lenin ordered that all farmland be distributed among the peasants within days after the Bolshevik takeover Lenin and the Bolsheviks also gave control of factories to the workers A truce with Germany was signed to stop all fighting and begin peace talks German and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 In this, Russia surrendered a large part of its territory to Germany and its allies The humiliating terms of the treaty caused anger among many Russians The rejected the Bolsheviks, their policies and to the murder of the royal family 3 Civil War Rages in Russia The new challenge of the Bolsheviks was stamping out their enemies at home Their opponents formed the White Army, which was made up of several different groups including those who wanted to return to rule by the czar, those who wanted democratic government and also socialists who opposed Lenin’s style of socialism Their only unifying factor was defeating the Bolsheviks and the groups barely cooperated with each other Leon Trotsky, the revolutionary leader, commanded the Bolshevik Red Army From 1918 to 1920 civil war raged in Russia Although several Western nations, including the United States, sent military aid and forces to Russia to help the White Army they were of little help Around 14 million Russians died in the three-year struggle an in the famine that followed Destruction from fighting, hunger and worldwide flu epidemic left Russia in chaos The Red Army crushed all opposition in the end, showing that the Bolsheviks were able to seize power and also maintain it 4 Comparing World Revolutions The Russian Revolution was more like the French Revolution than the American Revolution in its immediate and long-term effects The American Revolution expanded English political ideas into a constitutional government that built on many existing structures, whereas both the French and Russian revolutions attempted to destroy existing social and political structures French and Russian revolutionaries used violence and terror to control people France became a constitutional monarchy for a time but the Russian Revolution established a state-controlled society that lasted for decades Lenin Restores Order How was Lenin’s Communist Party similar and different from Marx’s idea of communism? War and revolution destroyed the Russian economy Trade was at a standstill, industrial production dropped and may skilled workers fled to other countries Lenin turned to reviving the economy and restructuring the government 1 New Economic Policy Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state-controlled economy in March 1921 He resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP) Reforms under the NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government The government kept control of major industries, banks and means of communication, but it let come small factories, businesses and farms operate under private ownership The government also encouraged foreign investment The country slowly recovered thanks partly to the new policies and to the peace that followed the civil war By 1928 Russia’s farms and factories were producing as much as they had before World War I 2 Political Reforms Bolshevik leaders saw nationalism as a threat to unity and party loyalty To keep nationalism in check, Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the central government In 1922 the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party which came from the writings of Karl Marx who used the word communism to describe the classless society that would exist after workers had seized power In 1924 Communists created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles, but in reality the Communist Party held all the power Lenin had established a dictatorship of the Communist Part, not a “dictatorship of the proletariat” as Marx had promoted F Stalin Becomes Dictator How did Stalin’s name fit his personality? Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922 and survived but the incident set in motion competition for heading up the Communist Party Two of the most notable men were Len Trotsky and Joseph Stalin Stalin was cold, hard and impersonal He had changed his name to Stalin which means “man of steel” in Russian during his earlier days as a Bolshevik Between 1922 and 1927 Stalin began his climb to head of the government As general secretary of the Communist Party in 1922 he worked behind the scenes to move his supports into positions of power Lenin believed that Stalin was a dangerous man By 1928 Stalin was in total command of the Communist Party Trotsky, forced into exile in 1929 was no longer a threat and Stalin now stood poised to weld absolute power as a dictator II Totalitarianism Stalin dramatically transformed the government of the Soviet Union He was determined that the Soviet Union should find its place both politically and economically among ht most powerful of nations in the world Using tactics designed to rid himself of opposition Stalin worked to establish total control of all aspects of life in the Soviet Union He controlled the economy, government and also many aspects of citizens’ private lives A A Government of Total Control How do Totalitarian leaders attempt to control all aspects of citizens’ lives? Totalitarianism describes a government that takes total, centralized state control over every aspect of public and private life Totalitarian leaders appear to provide a sense of security and to give a direction for the future The 20th century’s use of communication made it possible to reach into all aspects of citizens’ lives At the head of most totalitarian governments is a dynamic leader who can build support for his policies and justify his actions The leader often utilizes secret police to crush opposition and create a sense of fear among the people No one is exempt from suspicion or accusations that he or she is an enemy of the state Totalitarianism challenges the highest values prized by Western democracies such as; reason, freedom, human dignity and the worth of the individual All totalitarian states share basic characteristics Totalitarian leaders devised methods of control and persuasion to dominate an entire nation including; use of terror, indoctrination, propaganda, censorship, and religious or ethnic persecution 1 Police Terror Dictators of totalitarian states use terror and violence to force obedience and crush opposition Normally the police are expected to respond to criminal activity and protect citizens but in a totalitarian state the police serve to enforce the central government’s policies They may spy on citizens or intimidate them to do this They sometimes even use brutal force and murder to achieve their goals 2 Indoctrination Totalitarians rely on indoctrination, instruction in the government’s beliefs, to mold people’s minds Control of education is absolutely essential to glorify the leader and his policies and to convince all citizens that their unconditional loyalty and support are require. Indoctrination begins with very young children, is encouraged by youth groups, and is strongly enforced by schools 3 Propaganda and Censorship Totalitarian states spread propaganda, biased or incomplete information used to sway people to accept certain beliefs or actions They can do this by controlling all mass media No publication, film, art, or music is allowed to exist without permission of the state Citizens are surrounded with false information that appears to be true and suggestion that the information is incorrect is considered an act of treason and severely punished Individuals who dissent must retract their work or they are imprisoned or killed 4 Religious or Ethnic Persecution To blame things that often go wrong Totalitarian leaders often create “enemies of the state” These enemies are frequently members of religious or ethnic groups These groups are easily identified and are subjected to campaigns of terror and violence and also may be forced to live in certain areas or subjected to rules that apply only to them B Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State What were Stalin’s views on religion and how did he enforce these views? To create a perfect communist state in Russia Stalin planned to transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state He began building his totalitarian state by destroying his enemies, real and imagined 1 Police State Stalin built a police force to maintain his power His secret police used tanks and armored cars to stop riots and also monitored telephone lines, read mail and planted informers everywhere Even children told police about disloyal remarks they heard and every family came to fear a knock on their door in the early morning hours, which usually meant an arrest Millions of so-called traitors were arrested and executed by the secret police Stalin turned against members of the Communist party in 1934 In 1937 he launched the Great Purge, a campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who threatened his power Thousands of old Bolsheviks who helped stage the Revolution in 1917 stood trial and were eventually executed or sent to labor camps for “crimes against the Soviet State” Stalin had gained control of the Soviet government and the Communist Party when the Great Purge ended in 1938 2 Russian Propaganda and Censorship Stalin’s government controlled all newspapers, motion pictures, radio and other sources of information Many Soviet writers, composers and other artists also fell victim to official censorship because Stalin did not tolerate individual creativity that did not conform to the views of the state Soviet newspapers and radio broadcasts glorified the achievements of communism, Stalin and his economic programs Arts were also used for propaganda under Stalin 3 Education and Indoctrination The government controlled all education from nursery schools through universities Schoolchildren learned the virtues of the Communist Party College professors or students who questioned the Communist Party’s interpretations of history or science risked losing their jobs or faced imprisonment Party leaders in the Soviet Union lectured workers and peasants on the ideals of communism and stressed the importance of sacrifice and hard work to build the Communist State State-supported youth groups trained future party members 4 Religious Persecution Communists aimed to replace religious teachings with the ideals of communism The government and the League of the Militant Godless, an officially sponsored group of atheists, spread propaganda attacking religion “Museums of atheism” displayed exhibits to show that religious beliefs were mere superstitions but many people in the Soviet Union stuck with their faiths One of the main targets of persecution was the Russian Orthodox Church but other religious groups also suffered greatly The police destroyed magnificent churches and synagogues and many religious leaders were killed or sent to labor camps The perfect Communist state came at a tremendous cost to Soviet citizens Stalin’s total control of society eliminated personal rights and freedoms in favor of the power of the state C Stalin Seizes Control of the Economy Why were Stalin’s tactics to spur industrialization so effective? Stalin was setting plans to overhaul the economy in motion In 1928 his plans called for a command economy, a system in which government made all economic decisions With this system, political leaders identify the country’s economic needs and determine how to fulfill them 1 An Industrial Revolution Stalin’s Five-Year Plans set impossibly high quotas to increase the output of steel, coal, oil and electricity for the development of the Soviet Union’s economy To reach these targets, the government limited production of consumers goods and as result people faced shortages of housing, food, clothing and other necessary goods Stalin’s tough methods produced impressive economic results even though most of the targets of the first Five-Year Plan fell short The second plan launched in 1933 was equally successful and from 1928 to 1937 industrial production of steel increased more than twenty-five percent 2 An Agricultural Revolution The government began to seize over 25 million privately owned farms in the USSR in 1928 and combined them into large, government owned farms called collective farms Hundreds of families worked on these farms producing food for the state The government expected that the modern machinery on the collective farms would boost food production and reduce the number of workers Resistance was especially strong among kulaks, wealthy peasants and the Soviet decided to eliminate them Peasants actively fought the government’s attempt to take their land by killing livestock and destroying crops in protest Soviet secret police herded peasants onto collective farms at the point of a bayonet and between 5 and 10 million peasants died as a result of Stalin’s agricultural revolution In 1938 the country produced almost twice the wheat than it had in 1928 before collective farming Where farming was more difficult, the government set up state farms which operated like factories The workers received wages instead of a share of profits and these farms were much larger than collectives and mostly produced wheat D Daily Life Under Stalin In what ways could Stalin’s rule be viewed as beneficial? Under Stalin’s totalitarian rule, women’s roles greatly expanded and people became better educated and mastered new skills The changes in people’s lives came at a great cost Soviet citizens personal freedoms were limited, consumer goods in short supply and dissent prohibited Stalin’s economic plans created a high demand for skilled workers and university and technical training became the key to a better life 1 Women Gain Rights In 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution declared men and women equal and laws were passed to grant women equal rights After Stalin became dictator, women helped the state-controlled economy prosper Under the Five-Year Plans they had no choice but to join the labor force The state provided child care for all working mothers Some women did the same jobs a men but men still continued to hold the best jobs Women prepared for careers in engineering, medicine and science with their new educational opportunities By 1950 women made up 75 percent of Soviet doctors Soviet women paid a heavy price for their rising status in society Besides having full-time jobs, they were responsible for housework and child care Motherhood is considered a patriotic duty in totalitarian regimes and Soviet women were expected to provide the state with future generations of loyal, obedient citizens E Total Control Achieved What did Stalin think threatened conformity of his citizens? Stalin had forcibly transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian regime and an industrial an political power by the mid 1930’s He stood unopposed as dictator and maintained authority over the Communist Party He would not tolerate individual creativity because he saw it as a threat to the conformity and obedience required of citizens in a totalitarian state He brought in a period of total social control and rule by terror, rather than constitutional government China would also fall under Marx’s theories and Communists beliefs like Russia III Imperial China Collapses China had faced years of humiliation at the hands of outsiders Foreign countries controlled its trade and economic resources Many Chinese believed that modernization and nationalism were the keys to the country’s survival They wanted to build up the army and navy, construct modern factories, and to reform education but yet others feared change They believed that Chinas greatness lay in its traditional ways A Nationalists Overthrow Qing Dynasty What did the Treaty of Versailles lead to in China? The Kuomintang, or the Nationalist Party, was one of the groups pushing for modernization and nationalization Its first great leader was Sun Yixian In 1911 the Revolutionary Alliance, a forerunner of the Kuomintang, overthrew the last emperor of the Qing dynasty 1 Shaky Start for the New Republic Sun became president of the new Republic of China in 1912 Sun hoped to establish a modern government based on the “Three Principles of the People”- nationalism, an end to foreign control –people’s rights, democracy, and – people’s livelihood, economic security for all Chinese Sun also considered nationalism vital Sun lacked authority and military support to secure national unity despite his influence as a revolutionary leader He quickly turned presidency over to a powerful general, Yuan Shikai who quickly betrayed the democratic ideals of the revolution His actions sparked local revolts and after the general died in 1916, civil war broke out Authority fell into the hands of provincial warlords or powerful military leaders who ruled territories as large as their armies could conquer 2 World War I Spells More Problems The government in Beijing declared war against Germany in 1917, hoping for an allied victory Some leaders mistakenly thought that for China’s participation, the thankful allies would return control of Chinese territories that had previously belonged to Germany But under the Treaty of Versailles the Allied leaders gave Japan those territories The Chinese were outraged upon hearing of the Treaty of Versailles On May 4, 1919 over 3,000 angry students gathered in the center of Beijing Their demonstrations spread to other cities and exploded into a national movement called the May Fourth Movement Workers, shopkeepers and professionals joined the cause Although it was not officially a revolution these movements showed the Chinese people’s commitment to the goal of establishing a strong, modern nation Sun Yixian and members of the Kuomintang also shared the aims of the movement but they could not strengthen central rule of their own Many young Chinese intellectuals turned against Sun Yixian’s belief in Western democracy in favor of Lenin’s type of Soviet communism B The Communist Party in China Why were the Communists angry at the Nationalists? Mao Zedong, an assistant librarian at Beijing University, was among the founders of a group that met in Shanghai to organize the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 He would become China’s greatest revolutionary leader He had already begun to develop his own style of communism Unlike Lenin who based his Marxist revolution on his organization in Russia’s cities, Mao believed he could bring revolution to a rural country where the peasants could be the first true revolutionaries 1 Lenin Befriends China Sun Yixian and his Nationalist Party set up a government in south China while the Communist Party was forming Like the Communists, Sun became disillusioned with the Western democracies that refused to support his struggling government Sun decided to ally the Kuomintang with the newly formed Communist Party He hoped to unite all the revolutionary groups for common action Lenin seized opportunity to help China’s Nationalist government In 1923 he sent military advisors and equipment to the Nationalists in return for allowing the Chinese Communists to join the Kuomintang 2 Peasants Align with the Communists After Sun Yixian died in 1925, Jiang Jieshi, formerly called Chiang Kai-shek, headed the Kuomintang He was the son of a middle class merchant Many of his followers were bankers and businesspeople, who, like Jiang, feared the Communists goal of creating a socialist economy modeled after the Soviet Unions Jiang had promised democracy and political rights to all Chinese but his government became steadily less democratic and more corrupt Most peasants believed that Jiang was doing little to improve their lives and as a result threw their support to the Chinese Communist Party To enlist the support of the peasants, Mao divided land that the Communists won among the local farmers 3 Nationalists and Communists Clash In the beginning Jiang put aside his differences with the communists Together Jiang’s Nationalist forces and the communists successfully fought the warlords but soon after he turned against the communists. In April 1927 Nationalist troops and armed gangs moved in to Shanghai killing many communist leads and trade union members in the city streets The Nationalists nearly wiped out the Chinese community party In 1928 Jiang became president of the Nationalist Republic of China Great Britain and the United States both formally recognized the new government The Soviet Union did not because of the slaughter of communists at Shanghai Jiang’s treachery also had long term effects The communists deep seated rage over the massacre erupted in a civil war that lasted until 1949 C Civil War Rages in China What was the main reason the civil war in China came to a stop? Nationalists and communists were fighting a bloody civil war by 1930 Mao and other communist leaders established themselves in the hills of south central China Mao referred to this tactic of taking his revolution to the countryside as “swimming in the peasant sea” He recruited the peasants to join the Red Army He trained them in guerrilla warfare and Nationalist attacked the Communists repeatedly but failed to drive them out 1 The Long March Jiang gathered an army of at least 700,000 men in 1933 to surround the Communists mountain stronghold The communist party leaders realized they faced defeat 100,000 communist forces fled in a daring move They began an hazardous 6,000 mile long journey called “The Long March” Between 1934 and 1935 the Communists kept only a step ahead of Jiang’s forces Thousands died from hunger, cold, exposure and battle wounds Finally, after little more than a year Mao and the 7 or 8,000 communists survivors settled in caves in northwestern China where they gained new followers Meanwhile as civil war between Nationalists and Communists raged Japan invaded China 2 Civil War Suspended In 1931 the Japanese watched the Chinese versus Chinese power struggles with rising interest Japanese forces took advantage of China’s weakening situation They invaded Manchuria, an industrialized providence in the northeastern part of China In 1937 the Japanese launched an all out invasion of China Massive bombings of villages and cities killed thousands of Chinese and the destruction of farms caused many more to die of starvation By 1938 Japan controlled a large part of China Jiang’s and Mao’s forces were forced into an uneasy truce by the Japanese threat The Nationalists and Communists temporarily united to fight the Japanese and the civil war gradually came to a halt The National Assembly further agreed to promote changes outlined in Sun Yixian’s “Three principles of the People” IV Nationalism in India and Southwest Asia The Ottoman and the British Empire, which controlled India, was showing signs of cracking at the end of WW1 The weakening of these empires stirred nationalist activity in India, Turkey, and some southwest Asian countries Indian nationalism had been growing since the mid-1800’s Many upper-class Indians who had attended British schools learned European views of nationalism and democracy and began to apply these political ideas to their own country A Indian Nationalism Grows How did the Indians intended to protest and to what were they protesting? To rid India of foreign rule two groups formed: the primarily Hindu Indian National Congress or Congress Party in 1885 and the Muslim League in 1906 Despite the deep division between Hindus and Muslims the found common ground They shared the heritage of British rule and an understanding of democratic ideals These two groups both worked toward the goal of independence from the British 1 World War I increases Nationalist Activity The Indians had little interest in nationalism until WW1 as over a million Indians enlisted in the British Army The British government promised reforms that would eventually lead to selfgovernance in return for their service When Indian troops returned home from war in1918 they expected Britain to fulfill its promise but instead they were once again treated as second class citizens Radical nationalists carried out acts of violence to show their hatred of British rule To curb dissent in 1919 the British passed the Rowlatt Acts which allowed the government to jail protesters without a trial for as long as 2 years To western educated Indians denial of a trial by jury violated their individual rights 2 Amritsar Massacre Around 10,000 Hindus and Muslims went to Amritsar, a major city in the Punjab in the Spring of 1919 to protest the Rowlatt Acts They intended to fast and pray and listen to political speeches at a huge festival in an enclosed square The demonstration alarmed the British who saw it as a nationalist outburst They were especially concerned about the alliance of Hindus and Muslims Although many people at the gathering were unaware that the British government had banned public meetings, the British commander at Amritsar believed they were openly defying the ban He ordered his troops to fire on the crowd without warning and the shooting in the courtyard continued for 10 minutes News of the slaughter, called the Amritsar Massacre sparked an explosion of anger across India and almost overnight millions of Indians changed from loyal British subjects into nationalists These Indians demanded independence B Gandhi’s Tactic of Nonviolence How did civil disobedience eventually work out for Gandhi and his followers? The massacre at Amritsar set the stage for Mohandas K. Gandhi to emerge as the leader of the independence movement His strategy for battling injustice evolved from his deeply religious approach to political activity His teachings blended ideas for all of the major world religions including; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity Gandhi attracted millions of followers who soon began calling him the Mahatma meaning “great soul” 1 Noncooperation When the British failed to punish the officers responsible for the Amritsar massacre Gandhi urged the Indian National Congress to follow a policy of noncooperation with the British government The Congress party endorsed civil disobedience, deliberate and public refusal to obey and unjust law, and nonviolence as the means to achieve independence in 1920 To weaken the British government’s authority and economic power over India Gandhi launched his campaign of civil disobedience 2 Boycotts Gandhi called on Indians to refuse to but British goods, attend government schools, pay British taxes or vote in elections Gandhi also staged a successful boycott of British cloth, a source of wealth for the British, by urging all Indians to weave their own cloth Gandhi devoted himself to spinning his own yarn for two hours a day and he wore only homespun cloth and encouraged Indians to follow his example The sale of British cloth in India dropped sharply as a result of the boycott 3 Strikes and Demonstrations Civil disobedience took a toll on Britain’s economy They struggled to keep trains running, factories operating and overcrowded jails from bursting Throughout 1920 the British arrested thousands of Indians who had participated in strikes and demonstrations and despite Gandhi’s pleas for nonviolence, protests often led to riots 4 The Salt March Gandhi organized a demonstration to defy the hated Salt Acts in 1930 According to the Salt Acts, Indians could buy salt from no other source but the government and also had to pay taxes on salt Gandhi and his followers showed their opposition by walking about 240 miles along the seacoast and beginning to make their own salt by collecting seawater and letting it evaporate This peaceful protest was called the Salt March Some demonstrators intended to march to a British saltworks and shut it down Police officials with steel-tipped clubs attacked the demonstrators but the people continued to march peacefully and refused to defend themselves against their attackers Eventually 60,000 people including Gandhi were arrested from the salt tax demonstrations C Britain Grants Self-Rule What were the Indian Muslims afraid of? Gandhi and his followers eventually gained greater political power for the Indian people In 1935 the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act which provided local self-government and limited democratic elections, but not total independence The Government of India Act also fueled tensions between Muslims and Hindus, who had conflicting views of India’s future as an independent nation Indian Muslims, who were outnumbered by Hindus, feared that Hindus would control India if it won independence D Nationalism in Southwest Asia How was the revolution in Turkey than the one in India? The breakup of the Ottoman Empire and growing Western political and economic interest in Southwest Asia spurred the rise of nationalism in the region The people of Southwest Asia launched their own independence movements to rid themselves of imperial rulers 1 Turkey Becomes a Republic The Ottoman Empire was forced to give up all of its territory except Turkey at the end of World War I Turkish lands included the old Turkish homeland of Anatolia and a small strip of land around Istanbul In 1919 Greek soldiers invaded Turkey and threatened to conquer it and the Turkish sultan was powerless to the Greeks However in 1922 commander Mustafa Kemal successfully led Turkish nationalists in fighting back the Greeks and their British leaders The nationalists overthrew the last Ottoman sultan after winning a peace Kemal became the president of the new Republic of Turkey in 1923 He brought in reforms to transform Turkey into a modern nation These reforms were: separating the laws of Islam from the laws of the nation, abolishing religious courts and creating a new legal system based on European law, granting women the right to vote and to hold public office, and launching government funded programs to industrialize Turkey and to spur economic growth Kemal died in 1938 but Turkey gained a new sense of nation identity The Turkish people gave him the name Ataturk, “father of the Turks” 2 Persia Becomes Iran Both Great Britain and Russia had established spheres of influence in the ancient country of Persia before World War I After the war, the British tried to take over all of Persia triggering a nationalist revolt in Persia In 1921 a Persian army officers seized power and in 1925 he got rid of the ruling shah Persia’s new leader Reza Shah Pahlavi set out to modernize his country He established, public schools, built roads and railroads, promoted industrial growth and extended women’s rights He also kept all power in his own hands In 1935 he changed the name of his country from Persia to Iran 3 Saudi Arabia Keeps Islamic Traditions 4 In 1902 Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud, a member of a once powerful Arabian family began a successful campaign to unify Arabia In 1932 he renamed the new kingdom Saudi Arabia after his family Ibn Saud carried on Arab and Islamic traditions and loyalty to the Saudi government was based on custom, religion and family ties Ibn Saud brought some modern technology like telephones and radios to his country Modernization in Saudi Arabia was limited to religiously acceptable areas Also there were no efforts to begin to practice democracy Oil Drives Development Nationalism was a major force in Southwest Asia, but the rising demand for petroleum products in industrialized countries brought new explorations to Southwest Asia During the 1920’s and 1930’s European and American companies discovered enormous oil deposits in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait Foreign businesses invested huge sums of money to develop these oil fields This important resource led to rapid and dramatic economic changes and development Western nations tried to dominate this region because to the huge profits