Post WW2: Global Restructuring

• After WW2, global powers were reshaped, leading to the end of European empires.
• The United States and the Soviet Union became the new superpowers.
• Tensions rose between the United States and the Soviet Union, fueling the Cold War.
• The Cold War ended in the 1990s, but new tensions such as terrorism and economic shifts emerged.
• Technological advances revolutionized transport, communication, and healthcare, improving post-war living standards.
• Growing environmental awareness led to the first global movement to address climate challenges by the late 20th century.

League of Nations

• The League of Nations was an international organization formed by 40+ nations after WW1 to prevent wars.
• The League of Nations ultimately failed, leading to WW2.
• The League of Nations was proposed by former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Failures of the League of Nations

• Powerful nations like Germany did not remain members.
• The League could only ask, not force, members to take peaceful action in conflicts.

United Nations

• The United Nations replaced the League of Nations on October 24, 1945.
• The UN aims to promote peace and freedom through global initiatives.
• The UN's work is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, focusing on economic and social improvement in developing nations.
• Australia is a member of the UN and is committed to maintaining global peace.
• UN forces are called 'Peacekeepers'.
• The UN has used force to resolve conflicts on three occasions: The Korean War (1950-53), The Suez Crisis (1956), and The Gulf War (1991).

Post WW2 Civil Rights Movement

• The world wars spurred the modern civil rights movement, strengthening the resolve to protect justice, freedom, and peace.
• Australia’s military has aided in UN peacekeeping operations in 36 nations.
• Post WW2, the UN Declaration affirmed universal rights, driving workplace protections, wage laws, women’s rights, independence for colonised nations, and protections for minorities.

Indigenous Civil Rights

• European arrival in Australia led to ongoing struggles for rights and freedom for Native Australians.
• In the 19th century, Indigenous peoples were dispossessed from their land, leading to resistance and political activism.
• Indigenous Australians faced harsh government controls, including restrictions on marriage, finance, and movement.

Reconciliation Efforts

• The late 20th century saw reconciliation efforts led by figures like Vincent Lingari and Eddie Koiki Mabo.
• The Wave Hill Cattle Station Protest, led by Lingari, marked a significant advance in land rights for Indigenous peoples.
• The 1992 Mabo decision recognized the need to address past injustices against Indigenous people.

Women's Movement

• The 20th century saw major progress in the women’s movement due to WW1.
• The 1970s Women’s Liberation Movement pushed for broader reforms and legal changes.

The Whitlam Labor government

• The Whitlam Labor government (1972-1975) extended the minimum wage to adult women in 1974, but true wage equality remained unmet.

Women Suffrage

• Germany/Britain granted voting rights to women =/< 30 years old
• French women only received voting rights after WW2.
• Australian women were allowed to vote since the Federation of 1901.

Women's Liberation Movement (1970) Objectives

• Workplace and educational equality.
• Access to family planning services and childcare.
• Legal protections for vulnerable women.
• Ending discrimination in public institutions.
• Legislative reforms to promote equality.

Independence for All

• World War I weakened major empires, and World War II accelerated their decline due to colonial powers losing control, dependence on colonial resources, and exposure of colonial soldiers to modern ideas.
• By 1945, only Egypt and Ethiopia were independent in Africa, but by 1960, 800 million Africans and Asians had gained independence, forming 40 new nations.

The Case of Myanmar (Burma)

• Burma's path to democracy post-independence has been challenging.
• After gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Burma fell under military rule.
• Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader, spent over two decades as a political prisoner.
• A slow transition to democracy began in 2011.

The Cold War

• The United States and the Soviet Union became the new superpowers after World War II.
• The world was divided into an ‘Eastern bloc’ led by the communist Soviet Union and a ‘Western bloc’ led by the capitalist United States.
• Winston Churchill described Soviet Union control of the Eastern bloc as being like an ‘iron curtain’.
• The conflict between the Eastern and Western blocs became known as the Cold War, an indirect war fought through proxy wars.
• Joseph Stalin intended to establish a buffer as protection against any future attack.
• The ‘iron curtain’ marked the beginning of four decades of suspicion, rivalry, and conflict.

Berlin Wall

• The Allies temporarily split up Germany to restore their independence.
• Since Russia believed in communism, it enforced that in their area of Berlin, and east Berlin became a lifeless, bleak place to live
• The Allies’ capitalist sections were all vibrant, thriving places
• The Brain Drain began when all the academics in East Berlin began moving to West Berlin
• Russia built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop people escaping communism
• The Berlin Wall began as a barbed wire fence, but since people would easily evade that, they upgraded it to a proper concrete wall with barbed wire, landmines
• It fell on November 9, 1989, and was torn apart by German civilians.

Technology and Change.

• Major improvements occurred in technology during the 19th century.
• Airplanes and cars became more mainstream.
• Americanisation - imported content from america in other countries, e.g. britain.
• World population reached 2 billion in 1950

NATO vs Warsaw

• NATO is related to the western bloc, while Warsaw is related to the USSR and the eastern bloc.
• Indochina includes Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• The Geneva Conference was held in Switzerland to discuss the outcome of Indochina and aimed to re-unify Vietnam.