Unit Seven

Major Global Developments

1
The major Global Developments in the
20th Century
 The First World War- 1914-18
 The Second World War 1939-45
 The Formation of the UNO- 1945
 The Cold War and the Two Super
Powers 1945-91

2
 7.1. The Two World Wars
7.1.1. The First World War (1914-18)
⮚ WWI was a global military conflict between the
Allies(principally France, Britain, Russia, Serbia,
Belgium, Japan, Italy after 1915 and USA after
1917) and
⮚ the Central Powers (principally Germany, Bulgaria,
Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey).
⮚The war was mainly fought in Europe and the
Middle East.
3
⮚It was known as the Great War/the World War
before the outbreak of WWII in 1939.
 Causes of WWI- MAIN
1. Militarism/Arms Race: was the mutual
suspicion and fear caused by the menace of
the hostile division of Europe into two armed
camps.
 It was also a persistent competition among
the European powers mainly between
Britain and Germany in Naval powers.
2. Alliances/Military Alliances: the formation of
alliances (two armed camps) was another
development that led to the outbreak of WWI.
4
A. Triple Alliance: was a military alliances of the Central
powers which formed in 1882.
 It was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
Ottoman Turks joined in 1914 and Bulgaria in 1915.
 Italy left the alliance and joined the Triple Entente in 1915.
Because The Allies bloc win Italy by promising, that if they
achieved victory, Italy would get her lost territories/her
claims from Austria and certain parts from Turkish Empire.
B. Triple Entente: the military alliances of the Allied powers.
 It was first formed between France and Britain in 1904
known as the Entente Cordiale.
 In 1907, Russia joined the alliance and became Triple
Entente. It also includes USA (1917), South Africa, Portugal
5
and Romania.
3. Imperialism/colonial Rivalry: the rivalry
among the imperialist powers of Great Britain,
France and Germany was one of the major
cause.
✔ It was caused by the Industrial revolution in
order to control foreign markets and raw
materials for their growing industry.
4. Nationalism: it created tension between
France and Germany.
 It was caused by the Treaty of Frankfurt in 6
1871 which humiliating France because of
• The Balkan Nationalism was also
another sources of tension between
Austria-Hungary and Serbia as well
as the Balkan States struggle for
independence from the Ottoman
Turks domination.

7
 Crisis Preceding WWI
❑The First Moroccan Crisis of 1905: was
started when French got free hand in
Morocco and Germany’s announcement
of its support for the independence of
Morocco from France.
✔It was ended by an international
conference held at Algeciras, SW
Spain in 1906. 8
❑The Second Moroccan Crisis of
1911: was also called the Agadir
Crisis which started when Germany
sent warship to Agadir to protest
French supremacy in Morocco.
✔ In 1912, Germany allowed to France
a free hand in Morocco in exchange
of French Congo to Germany.
9
❑ The Balkan Crisis: caused by the
annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina
by Austria-Hungary in 1908.
✔ This event also known as the
Bosnian Crisis which brought a
bitter enmity between Austria-
Hungary and Serbia.
10
 The Immediate Cause of WWI
✔ the breaking point/immediate cause
of WWI was the assassination of the
Austria-Hungarian Crown Prince
(Archduke) Francis Ferdinand and his
wife Sofia by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb
nationalist, on 28 June 1914 at
Sarajevo (Bosnian capital).
11
 Course of WWI
✔The assassination of Francis
Ferdinand triggered the tension built
over the past years to explode and
move the great powers to war one
after the other in support of one’s
ally.
12
A. The Western Front: the most
decisive front fought between
France, Britain and Belgium in the
one side and Germany on the other
side.
The Schlieffen Plan: the war plan of
Germany designed by Alfred Von
Schlieffen in 1905 to attack France
13
through Belgium.
✔It was aimed to occupy Paris with in
six weeks through “A Swinging Door
Operation”.
The Trench Warfare: was run from
English to Switzerland in which the
opposing armies face each other in
entrenched positions.
No Man’s Land: was the space
between opposing positions. 14
B. The Eastern Front: was fought between Russia and
Germany.
❖The USA was entered to WWI on the side of the
Allied powers on 6 April 1917.
❖It was caused by the German’s U-boat Submarine
attack that sank a Commercial ship of Britain which
resulted the death of many American citizens on 7
May 1915.
❖America' s entry into the war dramatically
changed the balance of power in favour of the
Allies.
15
❖America’s fresh resources, both human and
material boosted the morale of the Allied forces.
⮚ The Central Powers began to crumble one after the
other.
⮚ Bulgaria was the first to surrender on September 30,
1918.
⮚ Austria-Hungary in October and Ottoman Turkey in
November, 1918.
⮚ WWI was came to an end with Allied victory on 11
November 1918 when Germany accepted an armistice.
⮚ WWI ended – 11,11,11,1918.

16
 Consequences of WWI
❖Millions of soldiers and civilians lost their lives,
wounded and dislocated.
❖Destroyed industrial plants, bridges, buildings
and infrastructures.
❖USA and USSR became the leading world powers
❖Disintegration of the old dynasties in Europe.
✔ Hohenzollern of Germany
✔ Romanovs of Russia
✔ Hapsburg of Austria-Hungary
✔ Ottoman Turkish of Turkey
17
❖Formation of Nation-States like
Turkey and Arab states
❖Facilitated the anti-colonial struggle
in Africa by developing sense of
identity, nationalism and self-rule.
❖Established the League of Nations in
1920 to solve global problems and
advanced world peace. 18
Treaties signed after the end of WWI
❖The purpose of the cease-fire agreement
(Nov. 11,1918) was to stop the fighting as it
did.
❖It had been followed by a peace
treaty/treaties signed by the warring nations
through which they would settle their
disputes and establish an enduring peace.
❖The victorious Allied powers signed
concluding treaties with the defeated central19
powers as follow:
 The Paris Peace Conference- held in 1919
❖ The dominant figures- The Big Four
❖ Namely- Lloyd George (Britain), Orlando (Italy),
Clemenceau (France) and Woodrow Wilson (USA).
❖ They accused the central powers for the destruction of the
war caused and they have to be punished for it.
❖ They came up with their own proposals as follow:
 France- insisted on imposing mind harsh terms on
Germany so as to prevent it from becoming a strong
military power again.
 Italy- demanded the rest of the Allied powers to fulfil
what they had promised to Italy.
20
 Britain- hoped to maintain a balance of power in
Europe without weakening Germany too much.
 USA- Wilson stood for an enduring world peace that
would be realized by applying his Fourteen Points.
 On the whole; the final settlement seem to have more
or less satisfied British and French interests, though
France was bitterly disappointed at not being allowed
to annex German territory up to the River Rhine.

21
❖The Versailles Peace Treaty was signed between
the Allied powers and Germany on 28 June 1919.
By this Treaty Germany was:
✔ Forced to pay large amount of war indemnity.
✔ Lost the rich mineral deposit regions of
Rhineland.
✔ Put a strict limit on Germany’s military power.
 According to this treaty, Germany lost all her
colonies in Africa and the Pacific Ocean.

22
❖These colonies were given to Britain, France,
Belgium, South Africa, Japan, Australia and
New Zealand as trust territories (Mandatory
rule) to be administered under the
supervision of the League of Nations.
✔ German East Africa to Britain
✔ Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium
✔ South West Africa to the union of South
Africa
✔ Cameroon and Togoland to Britain and France
✔ Samoan and Marshal Island to New Zeeland
✔ New Guinea to Australia.
23
❖The Treaty of Saint German
 Signed between the allies and Austria on
September 10, 1919.
 This treaty limited the Austrian Republic to an
area one tenth the size of the former Habsburg
Empire.
 Some of Austria Hungary' s former territories
went to the new republics of Poland and
Yugoslavia, and to the kingdom of Italy.
 The Treaty of Trianon- On June 4, 1920
 signed between the Allied powers and Hungary
which was formed as a separate from the 24

dismembered of the Austro- Hungarian Empire.

❖The Treaty of Sevres- August 10, 1920
 was signed between the Allies and Ottoman-
Turkey.
❖the former Ottoman territories in the Middle East
were given to Britain and France as trust
territories.
 Syria and Lebanon went to France, while Iraq,
Palestine and Trans- Jordan were given to
Britain.
 The Allies even tried to partition Asia Minor, the
heart land of Turkey.
25
 7.1.2. The Second World War (1939-45)
 WWII was a global military conflict which
fought between two major military blocs.
Namely :-
 The Allied Powers: consisted mainly Britain,
France, the USA (after December 1941) and
the USSR
 The Axis Powers: composed of Germany,
Japan and Italy (after June 1940).

26
 However, a successful movement of Turkish
nationalists, led by Musapha Kemal (Kemal
Ataturk, as he was known since then) aborted
this plan and established an independent Turkish
Republic in 1923.
 The Allies signed the treaty of Lausanne in 1923
with the new republic.

27
 Causes of WWII
1. The Rise of Fascism: Fascism was a philosophy of
totalitarian governments in which one party
controls total power.
 It was characterized by extreme nationalism
(chauvinism), glorification of violence.
Imperialism, dictatorship and opposed democracy.

 Fascism was first started in Italy (1922) led by

Benito Mussolini, in Germany (1933) led by Adolf
Hitler and the militarist Japan in the 1930s.
2. Expansionism: was a doctrine of expanding the 28

territorial base / economic influence of a country by

means of military aggression.
 The Nazi /Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s
Party/ made a military coup d'état with the army
known as “Brown Shirts” in November 1923.
 Hitler was imprisoned.
 Mein Kampf (My Struggle): was the philosophical book
of Adolf Hitler written in prison.
 He assumed the Germans (Aryans) as a superior race
over the non-Aryan people, declared the restoration
of the old Germany’s and opposed the Versailles
Treaty.
 The Nazi party also occupied the Rhine Land
(demilitarized zone by Versailles Treaty) in March
1936, Anschluss of Austrian German in March 1938,
29
Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and Poland on 1
September 1939.
• The Fascist Party in Italy aspired to create a great
Italian Empire in the Horn of Africa and invaded
Ethiopia in 1935.
• Italy and Germany were also intervened in the
Spanish Civil War (1936-39) by supporting the
Spanish nationalist Party led by General Francisco
Franco against the democratically elected
republican government of Spain.
• The Militarist Japan was invaded Manchuria /
North China in 1931 and started the second Sino-
Japanese War (1937-45) for total subjugation of 30
China.
3. The Great Depression: was an
international economic crisis of the whole
world following WWI between 1929-1933.
 This crisis created economic troubles and
political instabilities in many countries
and resulted the rise of Nazi in Germany
and the militarist government in Japan.

31
4. Isolationism: the western powers were
failed to create a united front against
Fascist aggressors. Rather Britain and
France followed the Policy of
Appeasement where as the USA
preferred a Policy of Isolation (not to ally
with any power).
 Thus, the Fascist states (Germany, Italy
and Japan) were encouraged to
intensify their war of conquest on a
global scale. 32
5. The Failure of the League of Nations: was an
international organization established in 1920 to
prevent future wars and to achieve a stable
peace for the world.
 But it was now unable to stop the aggressive
Fascist powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in
the 1930s
 N.B: the League of Nations had 63 members. Of
them 28 were founding and permanent
members throughout its entire existence. And
35 members were joined and withdrew at 33
various times.
Eg. Japan: founding member and
withdrew in May 1933
Germany: joined in 1926 and withdrew
in October 1933.
Italy: founding member and withdrew
in 1937

34
 The Munich Deal
• How was appeasement put into action at the Munich
conference?
• It was an agreement signed between Britain, France
and Germany on 30 September 1938.
• Britain and France allowed Germany to take part of
Czechoslovakia inhabited by German-speaking peoples
called the Sudetens.

35
 Why did Britain and France ref rain to react to
Mussolini' s invasion of Ethiopia?

 After the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Britain and

France ref rained from taking effective action.
 They feared to antagonize Mussolini and push him
into alliance with Hitler.
Hoare-Laval Pact, ( December, 1935)
 Signed between British Foreign Secretary Samuel
Hoare and French Prime Minister Pierre Laval.
 A secret plan to offer Benito Mussolini most of
Ethiopia (then called Abyssinia) in return for a truce in
the Italo-Ethiopian War. 36
 Despite their caution, however, the Fascist military
bloc was formed: Berlin- Rome- Tokyo Axis.
 The Axis Alliance
• It was known as the Rome-Berlin-
Tokyo Axis formed by Italy, Germany
and Japan in the period between
1936 and 1940.

37
 The Non-Aggression Pact
• Was the Nazi-Soviet agreement signed
b/n Vyachelav Molotov (Soviet Foreign
Minister) and Joachim Von Ribbentrop
(Germans Foreign Minister) in Moscow
on 23 August 1939.
• It was aimed at territorial and political
rearrangements in the independence
countries of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, 38

Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

 Immediate Cause
• The breaking point that led to
the outbreak of WWII was the
invasion of Poland by the Nazi
Germany on 1 September
1939.

39
 The Course of WWII
The Blitzkrieg /Lightning War: was a
German war strategy to invaded
Poland. Germany invaded Western
Poland on 1 September 1939 which
marked the beginning of WWII.
✔On 3 September 1939, Britain and
France declared war on Germany. 40
• Russia annexed Eastern Poland and the
Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Finland between 1939-
40.
Operation Barbarossa: was the code
name for Hitler’s invasion of Russia in
June 1941.
 The operation was expected to be a
quick victory for Nazis but Russia
41
The Maginot Line: was a French
defensive fortification on the Franco-
German border.
 It was invaded by Germany through
neutral Belgium in May, 1940.
 It proved ineffective against the
German invasion and marked the
collapse of the Allied powers in
Dunkirk. 42
The Vichy Government: was founded
by the Nazi in Southern France
headed by Marshal Petain.
The French Free Government: was
formed by General Charles de Gaulle
in England and determined to
continue a war of liberation.

43
• Japan made a surprise attack on the
US naval base at Pearl Harbor on the
pacific Island of Hawaii on 7
December, 1941.
• This was because of the opposition of
USA to Japanese expansion in the Far
East and the prevention of Japanese
loan request.
44
• The US declared war on Japan and
joined WWII on the side of the Allied
powers and began to sending
continues supplies to them.
• Japan secured the support of Italy
and Germany.
• B/n 1939 and 1942, the Axis powers
were at the height of their success.
But their was a strong resistance of 45
 The Battle of Stalingrad and
Kursk
⮚At the battles of Stalingrad (1942)
and Kursk (1943), the Soviet Union
scored a decisive victory and turned
back the tide of the Nazi success in
Europe.
⮚It also marked the beginning of the
Allied counter-offensive in Europe 46
 The Battle of El-Alamein
• In May 1943, Britain, France and
USA drove out Germany and Italy
from North Africa.
• The balance of power was evidently
shifting in favor of the Allied
powers from 1943-45.
47
 The Liberation of France and
Russia
⮚The overthrow of Mussolini from power
by the Allied invasion in 1943 was
followed by the liberation of France in
1944.
⮚Russia was also liberated her provinces
between 1943 and 1944 and continued
her advance towards Germany and 48

entered Berlin (Germany’s capital).

• On 30 April, 1945, Adolf Hitler was
committed suicide while Benito
Mussolini was murdered by the
Italian communists.
• Germany was unconditionally
surrender and WWII came to an end
in Europe.

49
 The Defeat of Japan
❖USA dropped an atomic bomb on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on
August 9, 1945.
❖USSR declared war on Japan and
invaded Manchuria on August 8,
1945. 50
❖USA was occupied Tokyo (Japanese
capital) on 2 September, 1945.
❖Japan was unconditionally surrender.
❖The Second World War was over
with the complete victory of the
Allied powers.

51
 The Factors for the Defeat of
the Axis Powers
• The Axis powers were extended over
the vast territories and inability to
defend them.
• The shift of the military balance in
favor of the Allied because the Axis
powers invited powerful enemies
called USSR and USA by Germany and 52
• The coordinated military
operations of the Allied powers.

53
 Consequences of WWII
✔Caused immense loss of lives, homes,
industries and communications.
✔ Hastened the process of
decolonization in Asia and Africa.
✔ USA and USSR become superpowers
of the world.
54
✔The bloodless diplomatic and
political competitions and conflicts
known as the Cold War (1945-91)
was started b/n the USA and The
USSR.
✔The UNO was emerged in place of
the League of Nations to maintain
world peace and order.
55
 7.3. The Formation of The
United Nations Organization
(UNO)
• It is an internal organization established
on the basis of the agreement reached
at the international conferences held
during WWII.
A. The Atlantic Charter: Franklin D.
Roosevelt of USA and Winston
Churchill of Britain met in August 56
1941 on the Atlantic coast of Canada.
They pledged to the creation of an
international organization to keep world
peace and promote cooperation.
B. The Washington Meeting: in
January 1942, 26 nations of the world
agreed to accept the principles of the
Atlantic Charter including the name
United Nations which was coined by F.
D. Roosevelt. 57
C. The Moscow Conference:
was signed b/n USA, UK,
China and USSR in 1943.
They agreed to established an
international organization in
place of the League of
Nations. 58
D. The Dumbarton Oaks: was held
from August to November 1944 near
Washington DC by USA, Britain, USSR
and China to implement the Moscow
conference of 1943.
E. The Yalta Conference: was held at
Crimea in Russia by Roosevelt,
Churchill and Joseph Stalin in February
1945. 59
• They called upon the world nations to
send delegates to San Francisco to
established the UNO.
F. The San Francisco Conference: the
UNO came in to existence by 50 nations
on 25 April, 1945.
The headquarter of the UN is New
York city to encourage the 60

continued involvement of the USA.

 The Main Goals of the UN are:
Maintain international peace and security.
Take effective and collective measures and
suppress acts of aggression.
Encourage international cooperation in
solving economic, social, cultural and
humanitarian problems.
Develop friendly relations among nations.
Promote and respect human rights without
distinction as to race, sex, languages and 61

religion.
Organization of the United Nations
Security
Internation
al Court of Council
Justice General
Assembly
Secretariat/
Secretary
ECOSOC
Trusteeship General
Council 62
The General Assembly: is made up of
all the 193 UN member states, with
each having one vote.
It has the power to admit new
members to the UN and elects the
non-permanent members of the
Security Council.

63
The Security Council: is the leading
and peace keeping organ of the UN.
It has Five Permanent members
(Britain, USA, France, Russia and
China) with Veto Power and Ten Non-
permanent members (elected every
two years).
64
The Secretary General: is executive
or administrative organ of the UN.
It is appointed by the General
Assembly on the recommendation of
the Security Council for a period of 5
years.

65
United Nations Secretaries General
Since 1946
N Name Nationalities Years in
o Office
1 Trygve Lie Norwegian 1946-53
2 Dag Swedish 1953-61
Hammarskjold
3 U Thant Burmese 1961-71
4 Kurt Austrian 1972-81
Waldheim 66
5 Javier Perez de Peruvian 1982-91
Cuellar
6 Boutros Boutros Egyptian 1992-96
Ghali
7 Kofi Annan Ghanaian 1997-
2006
8 Ban Ki-moon South Korean 2007-16
9 Antonio Portuguese 2017-
Guterres

67
The Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC): is assigned by the
General Assembly for 3 years.
Responsible to handle the
economic and social affairs.
It also coordinates many
specialized agencies like: WHO, ILO,
FAO, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNRWA etc.68
The International Court of Justice/the
World Court: is the judicial organ of the
UN which seated in the Hague,
Netherlands. It has 15 judges elected by
the Security Council and the General
Assembly.
The Trusteeship Council: established to
oversee the transition of a handful of
colonies to independence. The Palau
69
Islands, gained independence in 1994,
making the Trusteeship Council obsolete.
 Successes of the UN
• Stopped a civil war in Greece and
Korea.
• Halted the religious bloodshed
between India and Pakistan.
• Arbitrated the Arab-Israeli conflicts.
• Mediated the Suez Canal crisis of
1956. 70
• Adopted the Declaration of Human
Rights (to protect natural rights of
man) and the Genocide Convention
(to protect any ethnic group from
extinction) in 1948.
Limitations of the UN
Inability to establish a permanent
international armed forces. 71
The Veto Power affects the
equality of the member nations.
Political blocs affected the internal
unity and effectiveness of the UN.
E.g. * American Bloc
* Soviet Bloc
* Afro-Asia Bloc
72
 7.3. The Cold War (1945-91)
• It was the international political conflicts,
military tension and economic
competition between the USSR (led the
Eastern Blocs) and the USA (led the
Western blocs).
• It was expressed through military
coalitions, arms race, conventional and
strategic force deployment, espionage,73
proxy wars, propaganda and space race.
 Causes
The differences of principles
between the Communists (USSR)
and the Capitalists (USA).
The hostility of USA and UK
politicians to the soviet government.
Stalin’s foreign policy aiming to
strengthen Russian influence in 74

Europe.
• Stalin established the Russian
Communist Satellite states between
1945 and 1948: Albania, Bulgaria,
Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia,
Poland and East Germany.
• Yugoslavia under Tito was exceptional
• The communist governments were
also established in the Middle East,
Latin America, Africa and SE Asia 75
 The Western Reaction
A. The Truman Doctrine
/Containment/
Was the policy of US president Harry S.
Truman aimed to contain the expansion
of communism throughout the world.
It was started in 1947 as a counter
communist attack in Greece, Turkey,
76
Korea and Vietnam.
• The Western blocs formed a military
alliance known as the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization/NATO in 1949
where as the Eastern blocs military
alliance called the Warsaw Pact
formed in 1955.
• Other western sponsored military
alignments were SEATO and METO.
77
 B. The Marshal Plan
It was a policy announced by George
Marshal (US Secretary of State) on 5
June 1947 for the recovery/rebuilding
of the European economy.
COMECON: was a Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance established in
January 1949 by Russia to assist and
coordinate the economic 78

developments of its members.

 C. The Point Four program
It was another economic defense of
the USA for non-European countries
of SE Asia and Africa.

79
The Non-Aligned Movement
• It was a policy of Neutralism intended to
avoid political or ideological affiliations/
links with either blocs of the Cold War
(the Capitalist or the Socialists).
• Endorsed by the African and Asian
countries such as Jawaharlal Nehru of
India, Sukarno of Indonesia, Gamal
Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Joseph Broz 80
Tito of Yugoslavia.
• The first conference of Non- Alignment
was held at Bandung in Indonesia in
1955.
Aims of the Non-Alignment
To protect their own sovereignty.
 to get the much needed economic and
technical assistance from both blocs.
 to relax the East-West tension before
it was develop in to a total and 81

catastrophic war.
 Setbacks/problems of Non-
Alignment
Differences in political ideologies
among member states.
Economic backwardness of the
member states.
 in the late 1980, Neutralism/Non-
Alignment was lost much of its 82

influence.