Download Era Overview: 1900-1945

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History Lab
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A2 How did the leaders of
the newly unified Germany
view their place in the
imperial competition for
colonies?
o Great Britain
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A1 Which nation controlled
one-fifth of the world and a
quarter of its population in
the dawn of the 20th
century?
o They were ambitious and
believed that Germany had a
right to a greater empire, just
as Great Britain, France, and
Russia had.
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B1 What was the outcome of the
rivalry between Russia and
Japan for control over
Manchuria and Korea?
o Russia and Japan went to war.
Russia was forced to return
Manchuria to China and to
respect Japan’s control over
Korea.
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B2 How did the imperialism of
the United States differ from
German and Japanese
imperialism?
o U.S. actions were not driven
primarily by a desire for land.
Although the United States
annexed Hawaii and seized the
Philippines, American attention
focused on U.S. business
investments in Latin America.
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C1 How did Latin American
peoples react to U.S. and
European economic
imperialism?
o They were offended by the idea
that they were not capable of
managing their own nations. U.S.
and European economic
imperialism also aroused their
spirit of nationalism.
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C2 How did nationalism lead to
unrest in Asia?
o Indian nationalism fueled a
movement for self-rule—and later,
independence—in the British
Empire. Nationalist groups called
for violent resistance to British
rule in Burma and French rule in
Vietnam.
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D1 Which nations were
part of the Triple
Alliance?
o Germany, Austria-Hungary,
and Italy
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D2 How did France,
Russia, and Great Britain
react to the formation of
the Triple Alliance?
o They formed the Triple
Entente.
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E1 What challenges did
the old empires of AustriaHungary, Russia, and the
Ottoman Empire face?
o Rising nationalism in these
empires was causing unrest,
and they were trying to avoid
decline.
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E2 With a smaller overseas
empire, how did Germany
build its power?
o Germany used its industries
to build a strong military and
its power in Europe instead.
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F1 Why did the Balkan
Peninsula become the location
for increasing tensions among
the Russian, Austro-Hungarian,
and Ottoman empires?
o They all wanted control of the
area. The Turks wanted to hold
onto the region, while Russia and
Austria-Hungary wanted it for
themselves.
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F2 What ambitions did Serbia
have in the Balkans?
o Serbia was landlocked and
wanted an outlet to the sea. In
addition, it had visions of an even
larger nation that included all
Serbians in the Balkans.
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G1 What were the larger forces
that turned the regional conflict
of the murder of Archduke Frank
Ferdinand into a world war?
o nationalism, imperialism,
militarism, and the alliance
system
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G2 How did the alliance system
of the 19th century change into
the Central Powers and the
Allies?
o After war broke out, the nations of
the Triple Entente (France, Russia,
and Great Britain) became the
allies. They were later joined by
Italy and the United States. The
nations of the Triple Alliance
(Germany and Austria-Hungary),
joined by the Ottoman Empire,
became the Central Powers.
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H1 What happened to the
Ottoman Empire after World War
I?
o
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It was broken up. Turkey
overthrew its Ottoman ruler and
became a republic. The rest of
the Ottoman Empire was divided
into Arab nations that were put
under British and French control.
H2 How did the Allies treat
Germany after defeating it in
World War I?
o They took over all of Germany’s
colonies in China, Africa, and the
Pacific. They reduced its military
to a size that made it almost
powerless. They also forced
Germany to admit that it had
started the war and to pay $33
billion for war damages.
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I1 What did Benito Mussolini do
after gaining control over Italy’s
democratic government?
o He abolished elections and
banned all other political parties.
He also ended all civil rights in
Italy, including freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly,
and trial by jury. By the late
1920s he had turned Italy into a
police state.
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I2 How did Adolf Hitler appeal to
many Germans who felt bitter
and humiliated by the Treaty of
Versailles?
o Hitler promised to undo the war’s
results, regain Germany’s lost
territory and colonies, and restore
Germany as a great military
power.
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J1 Why did many Japanese turn
against the West after World
War I?
o The West blocked Japan’s desire
to be the greatest power in Asia.
The suffering that resulted from
the Great Depression also turned
many Japanese against the West,
further strengthening Japanese
nationalism and militarism.
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J2 How did Great Britain and
France react to the growing
nationalism in their colonies in
Africa?
o They kept a tight hold on their
colonies in Africa. They also tried
to weaken African nationalism by
giving more power to tribal
leaders and increasing Africans’
role in colonial governments.
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K1 What did Manchuria,
Ethiopia, and the
Sudetenland have in
common?
o Each of those lands was
conquered by aggressor
nations (Japan, Italy, and
Germany, respectively), but
the former Allies were
unwilling to risk another war to
save those lands.
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K2 Which event finally forced
Great Britain and France to
declare war on Germany?
o the German invasion of
Poland on September 1,
1939.
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L1 How did Hitler change
the course of the war after
the British air force
prevented the Germans
from being able to launch
a land invasion of Britain?
o Instead, Hitler invaded the
Soviet Union.
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L2 What was the
Holocaust?
o The Holocaust was a
genocide—the systematic
murder of some 6 million
Jews and others considered
dangerous or inferior by the
Nazis.
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M1 How did the Allies finally defeat
Germany?
o
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The Germans were unable to resist the
Red Army advancing from the east,
while Allied troops pushed westward
from France. Soon after U.S. and Red
Army troops met in central Germany,
Germany surrendered.
M2 How did the United States finally
end the war against Japan?
o
U.S. planes dropped two atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
destroying both cities and immediately
killing more than 100,000 people.
(Thousands more died later from the
bombs’ radiation.) The horrible
devastation of these attacks
convinced Japan’s
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N1 Which agreement at the
Yalta Conference did the Soviet
leader Stalin later ignore?
o He ignored his pledge that
Eastern European nations freed
from the Germans by the Red
Army would have democratic
governments.
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N2 What effect did World War II
have on the independence
movement in India?
o The war strengthened the
independence movement. India
won its freedom from Great
Britain and was partitioned into
two nations—Muslim Pakistan and
mostly Hindu India—in 1947.
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O1 How did France respond to
independence movements in the
Middle East and Southeast
Asia?
o France resisted independence,
but had to grant independence
after uprisings in Syria, Lebanon,
and Indochina.
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O2 What did the United Nations
do in Israel in 1948 that led to
much of the tension that exists
in the region today?
o The United Nations created Israel
as a Jewish homeland for the
many Jewish survivors of the
Holocaust who had migrated
there during and after the war.