20th Century Global Order and Conflicts

• Sovereign nations possessing great power inevitably lead to war.

Changes to the Global Order

• The 20th century had significant changes to the global order.
• The West dominated global politics at the start of the century.
• World Wars I and II shifted power within the West, from Europe to the United States.
• Global conflicts led to the rise of new states as independence movements ended colonial ties from the previous century.
• The Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires collapsed due to internal decay and political revolutions.
• Other countries faced political upheaval due to economic depression and demands for democracy.
• Totalitarian governments often emerged from these crises.

Political Causes of Global Conflict in the 20th Century

• WWI is considered the first "total war" because it was fought on an industrial scale by soldiers from around the world.
• The combatants discovered more, and deadlier, methods of killing each other, which led to millions of deaths on both sides of the war.
• Long-range artillery, poison gas, flamethrowers, and machine guns caused many deaths during WWI.
• A balance of power was established during the 19th century through the constantly shifting system of alliances.
• Although the system of alliances was meant to create a balance of power, it was a trigger of the war to expand.
• Nationalism was a growing force for political change in Europe, especially Serbian nationalism.
• Serbian nationalism sparked conflict in the Balkans, known as the "powder keg of Europe," which led to the expansion of the war throughout Europe.
• An arms race among European powers and imperial rivalries among Western nations, Japan, and Russia increased the likelihood of war.
• The desire for Imperial Japan to take control over territory in Asia to obtain sources of oil, rice, rubber, and other raw materials was a cause for WWII.
• In response to Japan's desire for expansion, the United States placed an embargo on Japan that cut off oil and steel exports.
• The embargo caused the Japanese to attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which later led to the United States entering WWII.
• Economic crises, such as the Great Depression (1929–1939), fueled global conflict and led to the rise of leaders like Adolf Hitler.

Economic Causes of Global Conflict in the 20th Century

• The main economic cause of global conflict in the early 20th century was the acquisition and control of markets and resources.
• Western European governments, followed by the United States, Russia, and Japan, took control of trade, territory, or both in Asia and Africa in the 19th century.
• Armed conflict often erupted as rivals fought to control natural resources.
• Control over markets to sell consumer goods was a primary motive of imperialistic policies as the Industrial Revolution spread beyond Great Britain.
• Attempts to prevent wars over trade in the late 19th century met with mixed success.
• The Opium Wars, the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars, the Crimean War, and the World Wars had economic factors as root causes.

Effects of Global Conflict in the 20th Century

• Rapid advances in science and technology in the 20th century led to a better understanding of the natural world.
• Improvements were made in communication, transportation, industry, agriculture, and medicine.
• States also improved their war-making capabilities as warfare became deadlier for both combatants and civilians.
• Immense loss of life occurred due to large-scale aerial bombing, deadly policies targeting minority groups (e.g., European Jews), and new military technology like the atomic bomb.
• Global conflict caused unprecedented deaths among civilian populations.
• Mass starvation and crimes against humanity led to millions of civilian deaths.
• Global conflict in the 20th century brought political changes, like the Mexican Revolution due to the population wanting political and economic reforms.
• Mexico created a new constitution giving more rights to the majority of Mexicans.
• True democratic institutions emerged slowly in Mexico.
• Due to WWI, regime change occurred in the Ottoman and Russian Empires, but these empires were also experiencing ineffective or corrupt leadership.
• The Ottoman government was replaced by a Western-style democracy, and the Russian Revolution instituted a totalitarian government under the Communist Party.
• Treaty of Versailles helped bring about totalitarian regimes in Germany and Italy.
• These governments appealed to nationalism and a desire to restore national glory, thus leading their nations toward war.
• WWI weakened the colonial powers.
• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson advocated for self-determination in 1918, encouraging colonies to seek independence.
• Many people in the colonies believed that their support during the war meant they deserved self-government.
• Organized independence movements were formed or grew when these demands were not met.
• The desire for independence grew after WWII, weakening colonial powers.
• Former colonies with small foreign settler populations gained independence peacefully, whereas those with large settler populations often experienced violent transitions.
• Passive resistance and civil disobedience led to India's independence from Britain in 1947, but religious and ideological differences led to the partition into a Muslim-dominated Pakistan and a Hindu-dominated India.
• However, tensions between Muslims and Hindus in British India caused military conflicts between the two countries after partition.
• Global conflicts in the 20th century led to a repositioning of power from Western Europe to the United States.
• The United States became a world power due to its involvement in both World Wars and its relatively smaller scale of destruction compared to Western European countries.
• The Soviet Union soon emerged as a second superpower.