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12. War and Revolution (Milestones of Century)

Second World War (1937-1945)

genuinely global, even more than World War I (Great War)

independent origins in both Asia and Europe

dissatisfied states sought to fundamentally alter the international arrangements from World War I

many Japanese (like in Italy and Germany) felt frustrated by Britain and United States

sought empires that they regarded as essential

national greatness

economic well-being

Asia: Japan vs. China and America

World War II began in Asia before it occurred in Europe

Growing Japanese imperial ambitions

late 1920s-1930s

military became more powerful in Japan’s political life

earlier cultural cosmopolitanism gave way to more nationalist sentiments

initial problem: rise of Chinese nationalism

seemed to threaten Japan’s sphere of influence in Manchuria (acquired after Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905)

military seized control of Manchuria; established puppet state called Manchukuo

condemned by China, United States, League of Nations

no effective military response

prompted Japan to withdraw from League of Nations; allied more closely with Germany and Italy in 1936

relations with increasingly nationalist China deteriorated further

led to full-scale attack on heartland China in 1937

escalated World War II in Asia: bitter conflict that would last another eight years

National survival

felt increasingly isolated, surrounded, threatened

anti-Japanese immigration policies in United States convinced some Japanese that racism prevented the West from acknowledging Japan as an equal power

Japan dependent on foreign, especially American, sources of strategic goods (e.g. oil) even as United States were becoming more hostile to Japanese ambitions

Western imperialist powers (British, French, Dutch) controlled resource-rich colonies in Southeast Asia

Soviet Union proclaimed alien communist ideology; loomed in northern Asia

Freeing Japan from dependence

1940-1941: Japan extended military operations to French, British, Dutch, American colonies of Southeast Asia

Malaya, Burma, Indonesia, Indochina, Philippines

wanted to acquire the resources that would free it from dependence on the West

Japan presented themselves as liberators and modernizers

wanted to create an “Asia for Asians”

hoped to free their continent from European and American dominance

soon reality became clear

Japan’s concern was more for Asia’s resources than its liberation

Japanese rule exceeded Europeans in brutality

Pearl Harbor attack

attack on United States in Hawaii; December 1941

authorities were reluctant

only occurred after

negotiations to end American hostility to Japan’s empire-building proved fruitless

American oil embargo imposed on Japan (July 1941)

Japanese authorities felt that their alternatives for their country were:

acceptance of American terms: feared would reduce Japan to second- or third-rank

war with uncertain outcome: decided on with foreboding

United States entered war

began struggle that ended only with use of atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

Japan allied with Germany and Italy; Pearl Harbor joined ongoing conflict in Europe into single global struggle

Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan

Allied Powers: United States, Britain, Soviet Union

Europe: Germany vs. Allied Powers

many Germans had deep resentments about their country’s position internationally

defeated in World War I

harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles

start of World War II in Europe helped by:

Nazis pledging to rectify treaty’s perceived injustices

initial unwillingness of Britain, France, Soviet Union to forcefully confront that aggression

Territorial expansion

Hitler rearmed country for war and expanded Germany’s territories

annexed Austria and German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia

conference in Munich: British and French reluctantly blessed his actions; hoped that this “appeasement” could satisfy his demands and avoid all-out war

September 1, 1939: Germany unleashed a devastating attack on Poland → Britain and France declared war on Germany

France: quickly defeated

Britain: Germans launched destructive air war

Soviet Union: faced Germany’s war machine in 1941

most of Europe became under Nazi control

Differences to Word War I

not welcomed with massive enthusiasm across Europe

bitter experience of Great War suggested that only suffering laid ahead

conduct of the wars

First: trench warfare emphasizing defense

Second: German tactic of blitzkrieg (lightning war) coordinated rapid movement of infantry, tanks, airpower over very large areas

Counterattack

Germany’s military tactics initially successful

German forces, aided by Italy, swept over Europe, western Soviet Union, North Africa

1942: Soviet Union absorbed German onslaught and began to counterattack, moving westwards towards German heartland

United States joined struggle in 1942

led invasion of northern France in 1944

opened long-awaited second front in struggle against Hitler’s Germany

these two huge military movements defeated Germany in May 1945

Impacts

Destruction

most destructive conflict in world history

total deaths ~60 million (6x more than World War I)

half of casualties were civilians

new warfare technologies

heavy bombers

jet fighters

missiles

atomic weapons

blurring of traditional line between civilian and military targets; entire cities and whole populations defined as the enemy

Soviet Union: 40% of total deaths

25 million deaths

equal number made homeless

thousands of towns, villages, industrial enterprises destroyed

China: 15 million deaths and uncounted refugees

due to prolonged Chinese resistance and Japanese killing every person and animal in many villages

Rape of Nanjing (1937-1938): 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese civilians killed; often mutilated or sexually assaulted

bombing

reflected new morality of total war

Germans on British cities

Allies on Japanese and German cities

atomic bombs:

Hiroshima⁠

, Nagasaki; vaporized tens of thousands of people in an instant

Mobilization efforts

more extensively than before

economies

people

propaganda machines

harnessed colonial resources

British: extensive use of colonial troops and laborers from India, Africa

Japan: comfort women

several hundred thousand women from Korea, China, etc.

served sexual needs of Japanese troops; accommodated 20-30 men a day

Women

needs of war brought huge numbers of women into industry and military

United States: “Rosie the Riveter” represented women who took heavy industrial jobs

Soviet Union

women were half of industrial workforce by 1945

almost completely dominated agricultural production

participated actively in combat; 100,000 won military honors

Germany: small percentage mobilized for factory work

Japan

small percentage mobilized for factory work

Greater Japan’s Women’s Society enrolled 19 million members

did volunteer work

promised to abandon gold jewelry and extravagant weddings

war heightened prestige of masculinity

few women wanted to directly challenge patriarchy immediately following the war

due to the sacrifices that men had made

Holocaust

Atrocities

Nazi dream of ridding Germany of Jewish population accelerated by outbreak of war

closed off certain possibilities (e.g. forced emigration)

brought millions of additional Jews in Poland and Soviet Union under German control

triggered various schemes for “final solution”

death camps

Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibór

6 million Jews died

technologically sophisticated form of mass murder

millions more who were deemed inferior, undesirable, dangerous also died

Russians, Poles, other Slavs

Gypsies, Roma

mentally or physically handicapped people

homosexuals

communists

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Impacts

haunted postwar Germany, Western world

Europe: bore legacy of Christianity and Enlightenment

sent Europe’s remaining Jews to Israel

gave urgency to establishment of modern Jewish nation in ancient Jewish homeland

outraged many Arabs (displaced); fostered enduring conflict in Middle East

defined new category of crimes against humanity: genocide (attempted elimination of entire peoples)

Rearranging politics

Europe became much weaker

impoverished

industrial infrastructure shattered

great cities left in ruins

millions of people homeless or displaced

essentially divided

western: willingly under American security umbrella

eastern: less willingly subject to Soviet control

end of Europe’s dominance in world affairs

war weakened will and ability of European powers to hold on to their colonies

emboldened nationalist and anti-colonial movements

Europe lost prestige

Japanese victories in Southeast Asia

tens of thousands of Africans fought for British and French

saw white people die

enjoyed company of white women

returned home with different ideas about white superiority and permanence of colonial rule

Franklin Roosevelt (U.S. president), Winston Churchill (British prime minister) declared that “we respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live”

Internationalism

renewed interest in international efforts to maintain the peace

United Nations (1945)

successor to the dying League of Nations

dependent on agreement among most powerful members → more effective as forum for international opinion than for resolving major conflict

World Bank and International Monetary Fund (1945)

regulate global economy

prevent another depression

stimulate economic growth

shared: dominant presence of United States

after World War II, emerged as global superpower

Hiroshima

Atomic bombing

United States destroyed Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs

hasten end of World War II

strengthen Untied States’ position in relation to Soviet Union

debated: whether bombing was necessary to force Japan to surrender

horrific destruction adn human suffering

centers of both cities were flattened

80,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima, 40,000 o Nagasaki perished almost instantly

Survivors

Iwao Nkamura: schoolboy in Hiroshima who lived through the attack

“old people pleading for water, tiny children seeking help, students unconsciously calling for their parents”

“mother prostrate on the ground, moaning with pain but with one arm still tightly embracing her dead baby”

by 1950: 200,000 additional victims succumbed to their injuries

burns

radiation

cancer, genetic deformations continue to affect survivors and descendants

Mass human suffering

defining feature of total war

atomic bomb was latest development in arms race to create more weapons of mass destruction

no weapon from the period was as revolutionary

capacity for destruction previously associated only with divine apocalypse

human beings acquired the ability

scientists contemplating possible extinction of humankind by our own hands

survivors of bombings push for a world free from nuclear weapons

Communist consolidation and expansion: Chinese Revolution

Communism in Europe

Soviet victory over Nazis gave credibility to that regime and Joseph Stalin (leader)

despite atrocities

credited with leading struggle against Nazi aggression

Stalin presided over major expansion of communist control in Eastern Europe

mostly occupied by Soviets as the war ended

insisted that Soviet security required “friendly” governments to permanently end the threat of invasion from the West

acted to install fully communist governments, loyal to himself

feared large-scale American aid would incorporate Eastern Europe into a Western and capitalist network

Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria

communism in Europe largely imposed from outside rather than domestic revolution (as in Russia)

differed in Yugoslavia: genuinely popular communist movement came to power with little Soviet help; Josef Broz (Tito) openly defined Soviet efforts to control Yugoslav communism

Communism in Asia

took root after World War II

Korea: partitioned after Japan’s defeat, northern half became Soviet (communist)

Vietnam: locally-based communist movement under Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

embodied socialist and Vietnamese nationalist vision

battled Japanese, French, later American invaders

established communist control first in northern half and after 1975 throughout entire country

spilled into neighboring Laos and Cambodia

China: most striking expansion; Communist Party took power in 1949

Chinese Revolution of 1949

took decades rather than a single year

1911:

Chinese imperial system collapsed⁠

⁠

foreign imperialism

own inadequacies

mounting internal opposition

ideas of Karl Marx barely known in China (unlike Russia)

Growth of CCP

1921: small Chinese Communist Party (CCP) founded; initially aimed at organizing minuscule urban working class

over next 28 years:

grew enormously (from 60 people)

transformed its strategy

found a charismatic leader in Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

engaged in an epic struggle with its opponents

fought the Japanese heroically

1949: emerged victorious as rulers of world’s most populous country

surprising; CCP faced more formidable foe than the weak Provisional Government than the Bolsheviks (Soviets) won against in Russia

Guomindang (Nationlist Party) that governed China after 1928

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