Mr. White’s World History Class
When we are finished this section, we should be able to:
Explain how nationalism impacted events in the Middle East and Africa during and after World War I
Explain how Gandhi used non-violent methods in India's struggle for independence from Britain
Explain how nationalist and communist forces struggled in China
Describe how Japanese political, economic, and social pressures resulted in Japanese militarism and expansionism
As part of his Fourteen Points, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson hoped nations would be given self-determination following World War I – they would be allowed to decide for themselves what they wanted
In most cases, European powers tightened their control on their colonies, or expanded into new spheres of influence
In the Middle East and Africa, new forces for nationalism and independence created tensions.
In the Middle East and Africa, World War I and the influence of European nations had de-stabilized the region and added many new dynamics
Middle East – Ottoman Empire collapsed, Arab nationalism rose, independence movements started
Africa – Movements opposed to European rule began to press for independence
The nation of Turkey was all that was left of the Ottoman Empire after World War I
Greece invaded Turkey in attempt to crush the Turkish state, but failed
General Mustafa Kemal of Turkey led a group known as the Young Turks and defeated Greece
With Kemal's growing popularity, the Turkish sultan gave up his power, and Kemal became the first Turkish president
Kemal wanted to industrialize Turkey so that it could become a modern nation
Kemal adopted many western customs in an attempt to modernize Turkey
Adopted the European calendar, Latin alphabet, and metric system, supported adopted western names
Banned the fez, tried to stop female veiling Reformed the legal code and separated
government and religion Kemal adopted other reforms to give a sense of
Turkish national pride Purged the language of Persian and Arabic
influences and words Changed his name to Kemal Attaturk
While his reforms were not always popular, Kemal did successfully modernize Turkey
The nation of Persia was ruled by a shah After World War I, Great Britain and the
Soviet Union had interests and businesses in Persia's oil fields
In 1921, Persian nationalist forces under Reza Khan overthrew the shah to end these foreign influences
The new government built infrastructure – schools, roads, hospitals
Reza Shah Pahlavi used Persia's oil fields to make money for the nation
Coming up to World War II, Pahlavi aligned his government with Hitler – was an admirer and considered Persians and Germans to be of the same Aryan descent
Pahlavi changed the name of Persia to Iran (variant of Aryan)
Britain and the Soviet Union sponsored a revolution by Pahlavi's son to overthrow him
After World War I, Britain received a mandate for the area known as Palestine – Britain would oversee the area basically as a colony
The previous relationships between religious groups in the area had been peaceful, and kept that way by whichever Muslim empire had ruled the area – Abbasids, Ottomans, etc.
As the British ruled the area, Jews and Muslims within Palestine came into conflict with each other
Beginning in the late 1800s, Jewish persecution in Europe (such as pogroms) resulted in many Jews returning to Palestine
Jews claimed land based on a Biblical heritage; many wanted to set up a Jewish home state - Zionism
Muslims and Arabs claimed that they had held the land continuously
During World War I, the British had promised self-government and independence to Arabs in return for support against the Ottomans
The British had also made promises to support a Jewish state
As more and more Jews immigrated to Palestine, Great Britain struggled to keep the peace
Egypt had been held by the British as a protectorate since the late 1800s
Egyptian nationalist forces under Saad Zaghlul demanded independence
In 1922, Britain gave Egypt limited independence
In World War II, when Italy (allied with Nazi Germany) invaded Ethiopia, the British granted Egyptian independence in return for Egyptian support against Italy
In Kenya, independence movements struggled against British colonialism
After World War I, the British increased their imperial control on Kenya – coffee plantations were planted and used as cash crops
Kenya's Henry Thuku protested colonial taxes and labor laws – the British arrested him
Jomo Kenyatta opposed British imperialism by campaigning for Kenyan independence in London – slow going
In Nigeria following World War I, the British increased their colonial control
A protest by unarmed Nigerian women attacking British goods and property resulted in police killing fifty people – many Nigerians started to want independence
Future Nigerian protests adopted non-violent methods
Still no independence for Nigeria by World War II
In British colonial India, Mohandas Gandhi used non-violent methods to protest British colonialism and work for Indian
independence.
Great Britain's most valuable colony prior to World War II was India
Coffee, tea, jute, indigo, and cotton were cash crops that Britain got from India
In return for the support of Indian troops, Britain promised eventual independence for India
Over time, more and more Indians stopped seeing British rule as beneficial or benevolent
In 1919, a large crowd of around 10,000 Indians gathered for a political and religious festival in a walled-off garden
The British had outlawed large public gatherings
To disperse the gathering and discourage such disobedience, British General Reginald Dyer ordered sepoy troops to fire into the crowd until it dispersed
The sepoy troops had blocked the largest escape route As people tried to escape through the other small
passages, they often were trampled to death by others behind them
Many Indians dove into a well in the center of the courtyard to avoid the gunfire – reports of 120 bodies found in the well
A British imposed-curfew prevented anyone from tending to the wounded that night – many more died
Totals reached 400 dead, 1200 wounded The British General showed no remorse for his actions The Amritsar or Jallianwala Bagh massacre shocked many
Indians, and many began to call for independence
Mohandas Gandhi was educated in England and had practiced law in South Africa
In response to British imperialism, Gandhi proposed and supported pacifist methods Civil disobedience – disobey laws
considered unjust Gandhi began to work with the Indian
National Congress to gain Indian independence Urged tolerance between India's groups –
Hindus and Muslims Opposed Western notions of brute force,
money worship, and prejudice
Gandhi's non-violent methods led to increased popularity and followers
He began to organize boycotts of British goods Spun cloth for 30 minutes a day so he
wouldn't have to buy British cloth As Gandhi gained in popularity, the
British arrested and imprisoned him for the rest of the 1920s
When Gandhi got out of prison, he continued to use non-violent methods
The British passed a law taxing salt in India – very necessary for life Gandhi led a growing march to the sea,
where he and others gathered salt, breaking the British law
Gandhi and his followers continued to disobey British laws until the British would respond with arrests, threats, or violence
The British gradually began to give Indians more political power
In 1935, the Government of India Act gave India a constitution Some limited power in making laws for the
Indian people Many people were unhappy with this
small measure, but Gandhi's influence convinced many people that this was a small, but important, first step
Even with Gandhi as a unifying influence, Hindu-Muslim relations became strained
As possible self-government approached, the Muslim minority began to a government run by Hindus
When Hindus won some provincial elections, Muslims began to demand a separate nation
Gandhi called for unity, but the Indian independence movement split because of these religious differences
Chinese nationalists and communists struggled to take power in China; an invasion by the Japanese forced them
to work together.
Sun Yat-Sen was the leader of the Kuomintang, or the Chinese Nationalist Party
In 1912, Sun took power in China and tried to establish a democratic republic Held power for a few
months, then was overthrown by Yuan Shigai
Sun organized resistance to Yuan, but failed to overthrow him and fled to Japan
Yuan died in 1916, and China descended into civil war
Sun returned from Japan, and with the help of the Soviet Union and an officer named Chiang Kai-Shek, the Kuomintang took power in China
Even though Sun wanted a republic, the Kuomintang government was undemocratic
It improved infrastructure in the nation, but did not improve the lives of the peasants
In 1927, communists who had helped Sun and the Kuomintang tried to take over the party, but failed
Chiang Kai-Shek, fearing the communists, decided to purge them from the Kuomintang
The communists fled to the southern part of China and formed the Chinese Red Army Worked for the support of the peasants Overthrew local landholders and redistributed
land to peasants
A civil war between the nationalist Kuomintang and the communist Red Army began
By 1934, the Red Army was almost defeated The Red Army escaped through a year-long
forced march, pursued by the Kuomintang army – known as the Long March
Japan’s invasion of Manchuria would force the Kuomintang and Red Army to work together
Japan’s military gradually took power from the democratic government of Japan.
Japanese relations with the western nations after World War I were mixed
On the positive side: Japan gained Germany’s Pacific colonies north of the
equator Japan was allowed, by an agreement, to build the
nation’s third-largest navy (U.S. and Great Britain) On the negative side:
The League of Nations had refused to accept a Japanese proposal for a statement of racial equality in the League charter – insult
The United States had banned Japanese immigration The western nations opposed Japanese influence over
China, which Japan had basically made into a protectorate
Japan had experienced a population explosion between the 1870s and the 1920s – from around 35 million to 60 million people
Social, political, industrial, and military factors, plus this population explosion, encouraged Japan to expand or for its people to move by one of three ways: Immigration Imperial expansion Capitalism and world markets
Japan had rapidly industrialized during the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Because the U.S. would allow no immigration, the Japanese focused on manufacturing and trade to provide employment for people
Heavy industry expanded in the hands of rich industrialists known as zaibatsu, and the government
Increased manufacturing spurred a desire for cheap raw materials - colonies
Social changes placed more pressures on Japan that could be relieved by expansion
Overpopulated rural areas and land scarcity drove many Japanese into the cities to work in industrial jobs
In those cities, western customs and culture were adopted – clash of cultures with traditional
More and more Japanese had the right to vote, so there was growing democratic representation
Even though more and more were voting, political power in Japan was concentrated in the hands of nobles, zaibatsu, and the military
Emperor Hirohito and the people, in theory, were supposed to have power, but didn’t
When the Great Depression caused prices to drop in Japanese manufacturing, many unemployed and desperate Japanese began to call for strong leadership
Militarism began to influence many aspects of Japanese life
The military opposed western lifestyles and promoted Japanese culture
The military leaders thus were wary of the western customs that many people were adopting
September, 1931 – without government approval, the Japanese military invaded Manchuria in China – government had lost control
The military gradually took more power in the government, and by 1937 basically was the government
The emperor, fearing a strong stance would result in his overthrow, didn’t take a stand against the militarists
As Japan invaded other nations, western criticism of Japan led to many Japanese backing the military
With this, the support for militarism in the nation grew