Years of Crisis 915

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

POWER AND AUTHORITY AsGermany, Italy, and Japan con-quered other countries, the restof the world did nothing to stopthem.

Many nations today take a moreactive and collective role inworld affairs, as in the UnitedNations.

• appeasement• Axis Powers• Francisco

Franco

• isolationism• Third Reich• Munich

Conference

4

SETTING THE STAGE By the mid-1930s, Germany and Italy seemed bent onmilitary conquest. The major democracies—Britain, France, and the UnitedStates—were distracted by economic problems at home and longed to remain atpeace. With the world moving toward war, many nations pinned their hopes forpeace on the League of Nations. As fascism spread in Europe, however, a pow-erful nation in Asia moved toward a similar system. Following a period of reformand progress in the 1920s, Japan fell under military rule.

Japan Seeks an EmpireDuring the 1920s, the Japanese government became more democratic. In 1922,Japan signed an international treaty agreeing to respect China’s borders. In 1928,it signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war. Japan’s parliamentary systemhad several weaknesses, however. Its constitution put strict limits on the powersof the prime minister and the cabinet. Most importantly, civilian leaders had lit-tle control over the armed forces. Military leaders reported only to the emperor.

Militarists Take Control of Japan As long as Japan remained prosperous, thecivilian government kept power. But when the Great Depression struck in 1929,many Japanese blamed the government. Military leaders gained support andsoon won control of the country. Unlike the Fascists in Europe, the militarists didnot try to establish a new system of government. They wanted to restore tradi-tional control of the government to the military. Instead of a forceful leader likeMussolini or Hitler, the militarists made the emperor the symbol of state power.

Keeping Emperor Hirohito as head of state won popular support for the armyleaders who ruled in his name. Like Hitler and Mussolini, Japan’s militaristswere extreme nationalists. They wanted to solve the country’s economic prob-lems through foreign expansion. They planned a Pacific empire that included aconquered China. The empire would provide Japan with raw materials and mar-kets for its goods. It would also give Japan room for its rising population.

Japan Invades Manchuria Japanese businesses had invested heavily in China’snortheast province, Manchuria. It was an area rich in iron and coal. In 1931, theJapanese army seized Manchuria, despite objections from the Japaneseparliament. The army then set up a puppet government. Japanese engineers andtechnicians began arriving in large numbers to build mines and factories.

Aggressors Invade Nations

Following ChronologicalOrder Use a time line totrace the movement of Japan from democraticreform to military aggression.

TAKING NOTES

1922 1930 1937

1928 1931 1936

The Japanese attack on Manchuria was the first direct challenge to the Leagueof Nations. In the early 1930s, the League’s members included all major democra-cies except the United States. The League also included the three countries thatposed the greatest threat to peace—Germany, Japan, and Italy. When Japan seizedManchuria, many League members vigorously protested. Japan ignored theprotests and withdrew from the League in 1933.

Japan Invades China Four years later, a border incident touched off a full-scalewar between Japan and China. Japanese forces swept into northern China. Despitehaving a million soldiers, China’s army led by Jiang Jieshi was no match for thebetter equipped and trained Japanese.

Beijing and other northern cities as well as the capital, Nanjing, fell to theJapanese in 1937. Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of captured soldiers andcivilians in Nanjing. Forced to retreat westward, Jiang Jieshi set up a new capitalat Chongqing. At the same time, Chinese guerrillas led by China’s Communistleader, Mao Zedong, continued to fight the Japanese in the conquered area.

European Aggressors on the MarchThe League’s failure to stop the Japanese encouraged European Fascists to planaggression of their own. The Italian leader Mussolini dreamed of building a colo-nial empire in Africa like those of Britain and France.

Mussolini Attacks Ethiopia Ethiopia was one of Africa’s three independentnations. The Ethiopians had successfully resisted an Italian attempt at conquestduring the 1890s. To avenge that defeat, Mussolini ordered a massive invasion ofEthiopia in October 1935. The spears and swords of the Ethiopians were no matchfor Italian airplanes, tanks, guns, and poison gas.

The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, urgently appealed to the League forhelp. Although the League condemned the attack, its members did nothing. Britaincontinued to let Italian troops and supplies pass through the British-controlledSuez Canal on their way to Ethiopia. By giving in to Mussolini in Africa, Britainand France hoped to keep peace in Europe.

Hitler Defies Versailles Treaty Hitler had long pledged to undo the VersaillesTreaty. Among its provisions, the treaty limited the size of Germany’s army. InMarch 1935, the Führer announced that Germany would not obey these restric-tions. The League issued only a mild condemnation.

The League’s failure to stop Germany from rearming convinced Hitler to takeeven greater risks. The treaty had forbidden German troops to enter a 30-mile-widezone on either side of the Rhine River. Known as the Rhineland, the zone formed

MakingInferences

What was themajor weakness ofthe League ofNations?

916 Chapter 31

September 1931Japan invades Manchuria.

September 1938Germany takes Sudetenland.

October 1935Italy attacks

Ethiopia.

March 1938Germany annexes

Austria.

March 1936Germany occupies

Rhineland.

July 1937Japan

invades China.

March 1939Germany seizes Czechoslovakia.

April 1939Italy conquers Albania.

Aggression in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1931–1939

JapaninvadesChina,July 1937

PACIFICOCEAN

Sea ofJapan

YellowSea

C H I N A

JAPAN

MANCHURIA(1931)

JEHOL(1933)

KOREA

TAIWAN

120°E

40°N

Tropic of Cancer

Japan and its coloniesInvaded by Japan

0

0

1,000 Miles

2,000 Kilometers

Aggression in Asia,1931–1937

INDIANOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

Mediterranean Sea

LIBYA

ITALY

ANGLO-EGYPTIAN

SUDAN

BELGIANCONGO

EGYPT

FRENCHEQUATORIAL

AFRICA

KENYANIGERIA

ALBANIA (1939)

ETHIOPIA(1935)

SOMALIA

ERITREA

0° Equator

40°E

40°N

0°

Tropic of Cancer

ItalyItalian colonyInvaded by Italy

0

0

1,000 Miles

2,000 Kilometers

Aggression in Africa,1935–1939

Vocabularyaxis: a straight linearound which anobject rotates. Hitlerand Mussoliniexpected theiralliance to becomethe axis aroundwhich Europe wouldrotate.

a buffer between Germany and France. It was also an important industrial area. OnMarch 7, 1936, German troops moved into the Rhineland. Stunned, the Frenchwere unwilling to risk war. The British urged appeasement, giving in to anaggressor to keep peace.

Hitler later admitted that he would have backed down if the French and Britishhad challenged him. The German reoccupation of the Rhineland marked a turningpoint in the march toward war. First, it strengthened Hitler’s power and prestigewithin Germany. Second, the balance of power changed in Germany’s favor. Franceand Belgium were now open to attack from German troops. Finally, the weakresponse by France and Britain encouraged Hitler to speed up his expansion.

Hitler’s growing strength convinced Mussolini that he should seek an alliance withGermany. In October 1936, the two dictators reached an agreement that becameknown as the Rome-Berlin Axis. A month later, Germany also made an agreementwith Japan. Germany, Italy, and Japan came to be called the Axis Powers.

Civil War Erupts in Spain Hitler and Mussolini again tested the will of thedemocracies of Europe in the Spanish Civil War. Spain had been a monarchy until1931, when a republic was declared. The government, run by liberals andSocialists, held office amid many crises. In July 1936, army leaders, favoring aFascist-style government, joined General Francisco Franco in a revolt. Thus begana civil war that dragged on for three years.

Hitler and Mussolini sent troops, tanks, and airplanes to help Franco’s forces,which were called the Nationalists. The armed forces of the Republicans, as sup-porters of Spain’s elected government were known, received little help fromabroad. The Western democracies remained neutral. Only the Soviet Union sentequipment and advisers. An international brigade of volunteers fought on theRepublican side. Early in 1939, Republican resistance collapsed. Franco becameSpain’s Fascist dictator.

Years of Crisis 917

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Location On these maps, which countries are the aggressors?2. Movement On what two continents did the aggression occur?

918 Chapter 31

Democratic Nations Try to Preserve PeaceInstead of taking a stand against Fascist aggression in the 1930s, Britain andFrance repeatedly made concessions, hoping to keep peace. Both nations weredealing with serious economic problems as a result of the Great Depression. Inaddition, the horrors of World War I had created a deep desire to avoid war.

United States Follows an Isolationist Policy Many Americans supported isolationism, the belief that political ties to other countries should be avoided.Isolationists argued that entry into World War I had been a costly error. Beginningin 1935, Congress passed three Neutrality Acts. These laws banned loans and thesale of arms to nations at war.

The German Reich Expands On November 5, 1937, Hitler announced to hisadvisers his plans to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich (ryk),or German Empire. The Treaty of Versailles prohibited Anschluss (AHN•SHLUS), ora union between Austria and Germany. However, many Austrians supported unitywith Germany. In March 1938, Hitler sent his army into Austria and annexed it.France and Britain ignored their pledge to protect Austrian independence.

Hitler next turned to Czechoslovakia. About three million German-speakingpeople lived in the western border regions of Czechoslovakia called theSudetenland. (See map, page 895.) This heavily fortified area formed the Czechs’main defense against Germany. The Anschluss raised pro-Nazi feelings amongSudeten Germans. In September 1938, Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland begiven to Germany. The Czechs refused and asked France for help.

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visual Sources1. Analyzing Motives What were Picasso’s

probable motives for painting Guernica?2. Hypothesizing What feelings do you think

Guernica stirred in the public in the late1930s?

GuernicaOn April 26, 1937, Franco’s German alliesbombed the ancient Basque city ofGuernica in Spain. The photograph (above)shows the city reduced to rubble by thebombing. However, Spanish artist PabloPicasso’s painting, called Guernica (below),captures the human horror of the event.

Using the geometric forms of Cubism,Picasso shows a city and people that havebeen torn to pieces. Unnatural angles andoverlapping images of people, severedlimbs, and animals reflect the suffering andchaos caused by the attack. At left, amother cries over her dead child. In thecenter, a horse screams and a soldier liesdead. At right, a woman falls from aburning house.

Years of Crisis 919

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • appeasement • Axis Powers • Francisco Franco • isolationism • Third Reich • Munich Conference

USING YOUR NOTES2. What event was the most

significant? Why?

MAIN IDEAS3. Compare the militarists in

Japan with the EuropeanFascists.

4. Which countries formed theAxis Powers?

5. What were the effects ofisolationism and appeasement?

SECTION ASSESSMENT4

STAGING A DEBATE

Established in 1945, the United Nations was intended to be an improvement on the Leagueof Nations. Research to learn about the recent successes and failures of the UN. Then hold adebate in which you argue whether the institution should be preserved.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. SYNTHESIZING What similar goals did Hitler, Mussolini,

and Hirohito share?

7. FORMING OPINIONS Do you think the Fascist nations ofthe Axis Powers could have been stopped? Explain.

8. EVALUATING DECISIONS Why weren’t the Czechs invitedto take part in the Munich Conference?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write a letterto the editor in which you voice your opinion about theU.S. policy of isolationism during the 1930s.

POWER AND AUTHORITY

CONNECT TO TODAY

AnalyzingPrimary Sources

Why didChurchill believethat Chamberlain’spolicy of appease-ment was a defeatfor the British?

1922 1930 1937

1928 1931 1936

Britain and France Again Choose Appeasement France andBritain were preparing for war when Mussolini proposed a meeting ofGermany, France, Britain, and Italy in Munich, Germany. TheMunich Conference was held on September 29, 1938. The Czechswere not invited. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain believedthat he could preserve peace by giving in to Hitler’s demand. Britainand France agreed that Hitler could take the Sudetenland. Inexchange, Hitler pledged to respect Czechoslovakia’s new borders.

When Chamberlain returned to London, he told cheering crowds,“I believe it is peace for our time.” Winston Churchill, then a memberof the British Parliament, strongly disagreed. He opposed theappeasement policy and gloomily warned of its consequences:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EWe are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude. . . . we have sustained adefeat without a war. . . . And do not suppose that this is the end. . . . This is only thefirst sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by yearunless, by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor, we arise again andtake our stand for freedom as in the olden time.

WINSTON CHURCHILL, speech before the House of Commons, October 5, 1938

Less than six months after the Munich meeting, Hitler took Czechoslovakia.Soon after, Mussolini seized Albania. Then Hitler demanded that Poland return theformer German port of Danzig. The Poles refused and turned to Britain and Francefor aid. But appeasement had convinced Hitler that neither nation would risk war.

Nazis and Soviets Sign Nonaggression Pact Britain and France asked theSoviet Union to join them in stopping Hitler’s aggression. As Stalin talked withBritain and France, he also bargained with Hitler. The two dictators reached anagreement. Once bitter enemies, Fascist Germany and Communist Russia nowpublicly pledged never to attack one another. On August 23, 1939, their leaderssigned a nonaggression pact. As the Axis Powers moved unchecked at the end ofthe decade, war appeared inevitable.

▲ Chamberlainwaves thestatement heread followingthe MunichConference.

World War II 925

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

EMPIRE BUILDING Using thesudden mass attack called theblitzkrieg, Germany overranmuch of Europe and NorthAfrica.

Hitler’s actions set off World WarII. The results of the war stillaffect the politics andeconomics of today’s world.

• nonaggressionpact

• blitzkrieg• Charles de Gaulle• Winston Churchill

• Battle ofBritain

• Erwin Rommel• Atlantic

Charter

1

SETTING THE STAGE During the 1930s, Hitler played on the hopes and fearsof the Western democracies. Each time the Nazi dictator grabbed new territory, hewould declare an end to his demands. Peace seemed guaranteed—until Hitlermoved again. After his moves into the Rhineland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia,Hitler turned his eyes to Poland. After World War I, the Allies had cut out thePolish Corridor from German territory to give Poland access to the sea. In 1939,Hitler demanded that the Polish Corridor be returned to Germany.

Germany Sparks a New War in EuropeAt this point, as you recall from Chapter 31, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed aten-year nonaggression pact with Hitler. After being excluded from the MunichConference, Stalin was not eager to join with the West. Also, Hitler had promisedhim territory. In a secret part of the pact, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed todivide Poland between them. They also agreed that the USSR could take overFinland and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Germany’s Lightning Attack After signing this nonaggression pact, Hitlerquickly moved ahead with plans to conquer Poland. His surprise attack tookplace at dawn on September 1, 1939. German tanks and troop trucks rumbledacross the Polish border. At the same time, German aircraft and artillery began amerciless bombing of Poland’s capital, Warsaw.

France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3. ButPoland fell some time before those nations could make any military response.After his victory, Hitler annexed the western half of Poland. That region had alarge German population.

The German invasion of Poland was the first test of Germany’s newest mili-tary strategy—the blitzkrieg (BLIHTS•kreeg), or “lightning war.” It involvedusing fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, totake enemy defenders by surprise and quickly overwhelm them. In the case ofPoland, the strategy worked.

The Soviets Make Their Move On September 17, Stalin sent Soviet troops tooccupy the eastern half of Poland. Stalin then moved to annex countries to thenorth of Poland. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia fell without a struggle, butFinland resisted. In November, Stalin sent nearly one million Soviet troops into

Hitler’s Lightning War

Recognizing Effects Use a chart to identify the effects of some of the early events of World War II.

TAKING NOTES

Cause

First blitzkrieg

Alliesstranded at Dunkirk

Lend-LeaseAct

Effect

926 Chapter 32

Finland. The Soviets expected to win a quick victory, so they were not prepared forwinter fighting. This was a crucial mistake.

The Finns were outnumbered and outgunned, but they fiercely defended theircountry. In the freezing winter weather, soldiers on skis swiftly attacked Soviet posi-tions. In contrast, the Soviets struggled to make progress through the deep snow. TheSoviets suffered heavy losses, but they finally won through sheer force of numbers.By March 1940, Stalin had forced the Finns to accept his surrender terms.

The Phony War After they declared war on Germany, the French and British hadmobilized their armies. They stationed their troops along the Maginot(MAZH•uh•NOH) Line, a system of fortifications along France’s border withGermany. There they waited for the Germans to attack—but nothing happened.With little to do, the bored Allied soldiers stared eastward toward the enemy.Equally bored, German soldiers stared back from their Siegfried Line a few milesaway. Germans jokingly called it the sitzkrieg, or “sitting war.” Some newspapersreferred to it simply as “the phony war.”

Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, the calm ended. Hitler launched a surprise invasion ofDenmark and Norway. In just four hours after the attack, Denmark fell. Two monthslater, Norway surrendered as well. The Germans then began to build bases along theNorwegian and Danish coasts from which they could launch strikes on Great Britain.

The Fall of FranceIn May of 1940, Hitler began a dramatic sweep through the Netherlands, Belgium,and Luxembourg. This was part of a strategy to strike at France. Keeping theAllies’ attention on those countries, Hitler then sent an even larger force of tanks

40° E0°

English

Channel

BalticSeaNorth

Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea

GREECE

ALB

AN

IA

YUGOSLAVIABULGARIA

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

ITALY

SPAIN

MOROCCO(Fr.)

TURKEY

SWITZ.

FRANCE

ALGERIA(Fr.)

GREAT

BRITAIN

DENMARK

SWEDEN

NETH.IRELAND

PO

RT

UG

AL

BELG.

AUSTRIAHUNGARY

ROMANIA

TUNISIA(Fr.)

LIBYA(It.)

EGYPT

TRANS-JORDAN

SYRIA

IRAQ

SAUDI ARABIA

LEBANON

PALESTINE

POLAND

FINLAND

SOVIET

UNION

GERMANY

NORWAY

EASTPRUSSIA

VICHYFRANCE

(Unoccupiedzone)

LITHUANIA

ESTONIA

LATVIA

1940

1941

1941

1941

1941

1941

1941

1940

1941

1941

1939

19391940

1940

LondonDunkirk

Paris

Berlin

Warsaw

Rome

Moscow

Leningrad

Stalingrad

Crete

0 500 Miles

0 1,000 Kilometers

Axis nations, 1938Axis-controlled, 1941AlliesNeutral nationsGerman advances

World War II: GermanAdvances, 1939–1941

Analyzing MotivesWhat were

Stalin’s goals inEurope at thebeginning of WorldWar II?

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps1. Region Which countries

did Germany invade?2. Location In what way

was Germany’sgeographic location anadvantage when it was onthe offensive in the war?

and troops to slice through the Ardennes (ahr•DEHN). This was a heavily woodedarea in northern France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. Moving through the forest, theGermans “squeezed between” the Maginot Line. From there, they moved acrossFrance and reached the country’s northern coast in ten days.

Rescue at Dunkirk After reaching the French coast, the German forces swungnorth again and joined with German troops in Belgium. By the end of May 1940,the Germans had trapped the Allied forces around the northern French city of Lille(leel). Outnumbered, outgunned, and pounded from the air, the Allies retreated tothe beaches of Dunkirk, a French port city near the Belgian border. They weretrapped with their backs to the sea.

In one of the most heroic acts of the war, Great Britain set out to rescue the army.It sent a fleet of about 850 ships across the English Channel to Dunkirk. Along withRoyal Navy ships, civilian craft—yachts, lifeboats, motorboats, paddle steamers,and fishing boats—joined the rescue effort. From May 26 to June 4, this amateurarmada, under heavy fire from German bombers, sailed back and forth from Britainto Dunkirk. The boats carried some 338,000 battle-weary soldiers to safety.

France Falls Following Dunkirk, resistance in Francebegan to crumble. By June 14, the Germans had taken Paris.Accepting the inevitable, French leaders surrendered onJune 22, 1940. The Germans took control of the northernpart of the country. They left the southern part to a puppetgovernment headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain (pay•TAN),a French hero from World War I. The headquarters of thisgovernment was in the city of Vichy (VEESH•ee).

After France fell, Charles de Gaulle (duh GOHL), aFrench general, set up a government-in-exile in London. Hecommitted all his energy to reconquering France. In a radiobroadcast from England, de Gaulle called on the people ofFrance to join him in resisting the Germans:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C E It is the bounden [obligatory] duty of all Frenchmen who stillbear arms to continue the struggle. For them to lay down theirarms, to evacuate any position of military importance, or agreeto hand over any part of French territory, however small, toenemy control would be a crime against our country.

GENERAL CHARLES DE GAULLE, quoted in Charles de Gaulle: A Biography

De Gaulle went on to organize the Free French military forcesthat battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.

The Battle of BritainWith the fall of France, Great Britain stood alone against theNazis. Winston Churchill, the new British prime minister,had already declared that his nation would never give in. In arousing speech, he proclaimed, “We shall fight on thebeaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fightin the fields and in the streets . . . we shall never surrender.”

Hitler now turned his mind to an invasion of Great Britain.His plan was first to knock out the Royal Air Force (RAF) andthen to land more than 250,000 soldiers on England’s shores.

Winston Churchill1874–1965

Possibly the most powerful weaponthe British had as they stood aloneagainst Hitler’s Germany was thenation’s prime minister—WinstonChurchill. “Big Winnie,” Londonersboasted, “was the lad for us.”

Although Churchill had a speechdefect as a youngster, he grew tobecome one of the greatest oratorsof all time. He used all his gifts as aspeaker to rally the people behindthe effort to crush Germany. In onefamous speech he promised thatBritain would

. . . wage war, by sea, land and air,with all our might and with all thestrength that God can give us . . .against a monstrous tyranny.

RESEARCH LINKS For more onWinston Churchill, go toclasszone.com

World War II 927

928 Chapter 32

In the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe(LOOFT•VAHF•uh), Germany’s air force, beganbombing Great Britain. At first, the Germanstargeted British airfields and aircraft factories.Then, on September 7, 1940, they began focus-ing on the cities, especially London, to breakBritish morale. Despite the destruction and lossof life, the British did not waver.

The RAF, although badly outnumbered,began to hit back hard. Two technologicaldevices helped turn the tide in the RAF’sfavor. One was an electronic tracking systemknown as radar. Developed in the late 1930s,radar could tell the number, speed, and direc-tion of incoming warplanes. The other devicewas a German code-making machine namedEnigma. A complete Enigma machine hadbeen smuggled into Great Britain in the late1930s. Enigma enabled the British to decodeGerman secret messages. With information

gathered by these devices, RAF fliers could quickly launch attacks on the enemy. To avoid the RAF’s attacks, the Germans gave up daylight raids in October 1940 in

favor of night bombing. At sunset, the wail of sirens filled the air as Londonersflocked to the subways, which served as air-raid shelters. Some rode out the bombingraids at home in smaller air-raid shelters or basements. This Battle of Britain contin-ued until May 10, 1941. Stunned by British resistance, Hitler decided to call off hisattacks. Instead, he focused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. The Battle ofBritain taught the Allies a crucial lesson. Hitler’s attacks could be blocked.

The Mediterranean and the Eastern FrontThe stubborn resistance of the British in the Battle of Britain caused a shift inHitler’s strategy in Europe. He decided to deal with Great Britain later. He thenturned his attention east to the Mediterranean area and the Balkans—and to theultimate prize, the Soviet Union.

Axis Forces Attack North Africa Germany’s first objective in the Mediterraneanregion was North Africa, mainly because of Hitler’s partner, Mussolini. Despite itsalliance with Germany, Italy had remained neutral at the beginning of the war. WithHitler’s conquest of France, however, Mussolini knew he had to take action. Afterdeclaring war on France and Great Britain, Mussolini moved into France.

Mussolini took his next step in North Africa in September 1940. While theBattle of Britain was raging, he ordered his army to attack British-controlledEgypt. Egypt’s Suez Canal was key to reaching the oil fields of the Middle East.Within a week, Italian troops had pushed 60 miles inside Egypt, forcing Britishunits back. Then both sides dug in and waited.

Britain Strikes Back Finally, in December, the British struck back. The result wasa disaster for the Italians. By February 1941, the British had swept 500 miles acrossNorth Africa and had taken 130,000 Italian prisoners. Hitler had to step in to savehis Axis partner. To reinforce the Italians, Hitler sent a crack German tank force,the Afrika Korps, under the command of General Erwin Rommel. In late March1941, Rommel’s Afrika Korps attacked. Caught by surprise, British forcesretreated east to Tobruk, Libya. (See the map on page 923.)

RecognizingEffects

Why was theoutcome of theBattle of Britainimportant for theAllies?

VocabularyLuftwaffe is theGerman word for“air weapon.”

VocabularyThe Middle Eastincludes the coun-tries of SouthwestAsia and northeastAfrica.

▲ A London bus issubmerged in abomb crater after a German air raid.

After fierce fighting for Tobruk, the British began to drive Rommel back. Bymid-January 1942, Rommel had retreated to where he had started. By June 1942,the tide of battle turned again. Rommel regrouped, pushed the British back acrossthe desert, and seized Tobruk—a shattering loss for the Allies. Rommel’s successesin North Africa earned him the nickname “Desert Fox.”

The War in the Balkans While Rommel campaigned in North Africa, otherGerman generals were active in the Balkans. Hitler had begun planning to attackhis ally, the USSR, as early as the summer of 1940. The Balkan countries of south-eastern Europe were key to Hitler’s invasion plan. Hitler wanted to build bases insoutheastern Europe for the attack on the Soviet Union. He also wanted to makesure that the British did not interfere.

To prepare for his invasion, Hitler moved to expand his influence in the Balkans.By early 1941, through the threat of force, he had persuaded Bulgaria, Romania,and Hungary to join the Axis powers. Yugoslavia and Greece, which had pro-British governments, resisted. In early April 1941, Hitler invaded both countries.Yugoslavia fell in 11 days. Greece surrendered in 17. In Athens, the Nazis cele-brated their victory by raising swastikas on the Acropolis.

Hitler Invades the Soviet Union With the Balkans firmly in control, Hitler couldmove ahead with Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the Soviet Union. Earlyin the morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and aircraft announcedthe beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not prepared for this attack.Although it had the largest army in the world, its troops were neither well equippednor well trained.

The invasion rolled on week after week until the Germans had pushed 500 milesinside the Soviet Union. As the Soviet troops retreated, they burned and destroyedeverything in the enemy’s path. The Russians had used this scorched-earth strategyagainst Napoleon.

On September 8, German forces put Leningrad under siege. By early November,the city was completely cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union. To force a sur-render, Hitler was ready to starve the city’s more than 2.5 million inhabitants.German bombs destroyed warehouses where food was stored. Desperately hungry,people began eating cattle and horse feed, as well as cats and dogs and, finally,crows and rats. Nearly one million people died in Leningrad during the winter of1941–1942. Yet the city refused to fall.

▼ Russian soldiersprepare to attackGerman lines out-side Leningrad.

929

930 Chapter 32

Impatient with the progress in Leningrad, Hitler looked to Moscow, the capitaland heart of the Soviet Union. A Nazi drive on the capital began on October 2,1941. By December, the Germans had advanced to the outskirts of Moscow. SovietGeneral Georgi Zhukov (ZHOO•kuhf) counterattacked. As temperatures fell, theGermans, in summer uniforms, retreated. Ignoring Napoleon’s winter defeat 130years before, Hitler sent his generals a stunning order: “No retreat!” German troopsdug in about 125 miles west of Moscow. They held the line against the Soviets untilMarch 1943. Hitler’s advance on the Soviet Union gained nothing but cost theGermans 500,000 lives.

The United States Aids Its Allies Most Americans felt that the United States should not get involved in the war.Between 1935 and 1937, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts. The lawsmade it illegal to sell arms or lend money to nations at war. But PresidentRoosevelt knew that if the Allies fell, the United States would be drawn into thewar. In September 1939, he asked Congress to allow the Allies to buy Americanarms. The Allies would pay cash and then carry the goods on their own ships.

Under the Lend-Lease Act, passed in March 1941, the president could lend orlease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the United States. By the sum-mer of 1941, the U.S. Navy was escorting British ships carrying U.S. arms. Inresponse, Hitler ordered his submarines to sink any cargo ships they met.

Although the United States had not yet entered the war, Roosevelt and Churchillmet secretly and issued a joint declaration called the Atlantic Charter. It upheldfree trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government.The charter later served as the Allies’ peace plan at the end of World War II.

On September 4, a German U-boat fired on a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic. Inresponse, Roosevelt ordered navy commanders to shoot German submarines onsight. The United States was now involved in an undeclared naval war with Hitler.To almost everyone’s surprise, however, the attack that actually drew the UnitedStates into the war did not come from Germany. It came from Japan.

Making InferencesWhat does the

fact that Germanarmies were not prepared for theRussian winter indi-cate about Hitler’sexpectations for theSoviet campaign?

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • nonaggression pact • blitzkrieg • Charles de Gaulle • Winston Churchill • Battle of Britain • Erwin Rommel • Atlantic Charter

USING YOUR NOTES2. Which of the listed events

might be considered a turningpoint for the Allies? Why?

MAIN IDEAS3. Why were the early months of

World War II referred to as the“phony war”?

4. Why was Egypt of strategicimportance in World War II?

5. Why did President FranklinRoosevelt want to offer help tothe Allies?

SECTION ASSESSMENT1

PREPARING AN ORAL REPORT

Conduct research into “stealth” technology, which is designed to evade radar. Use yourfindings to prepare a brief oral report titled “How Stealth Technology Works.”

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. CLARIFYING What do you think is meant by the statement

that Winston Churchill possibly was Britain’s mostpowerful weapon against Hitler’s Germany?

7. MAKING INFERENCES What factors do you think acountry’s leaders consider when deciding whether tosurrender or fight?

8. COMPARING How were Napoleon’s invasion of Russiaand Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union similar?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write a magazinearticle on German conquests in Europe through 1942.

EMPIRE BUILDING

CONNECT TO TODAY

Cause

First blitzkrieg

Alliesstranded at Dunkirk

Lend-LeaseAct

Effect

World War II 931

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

EMPIRE BUILDING Japanattacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaiiand brought the United Statesinto World War II.

World War II established theUnited States as a leading playerin international affairs.

• IsorokuYamamoto

• Pearl Harbor• Battle of

Midway

• DouglasMacArthur

• Battle ofGuadalcanal

2

SETTING THE STAGE Like Hitler, Japan’s military leaders also had dreams ofempire. Japan’s expansion had begun in 1931. That year, Japanese troops tookover Manchuria in northeastern China. Six years later, Japanese armies sweptinto the heartland of China. They expected quick victory. Chinese resistance,however, caused the war to drag on. This placed a strain on Japan’s economy. Toincrease their resources, Japanese leaders looked toward the rich Europeancolonies of Southeast Asia.

Surprise Attack on Pearl HarborBy October 1940, Americans had cracked one of the codes that the Japaneseused in sending secret messages. Therefore, they were well aware of Japaneseplans for Southeast Asia. If Japan conquered European colonies there, it couldalso threaten the American-controlled Philippine Islands and Guam. To stop theJapanese advance, the U.S. government sent aid to strengthen Chinese resistance.And when the Japanese overran French Indochina—Vietnam, Cambodia, andLaos—in July 1941, Roosevelt cut off oil shipments to Japan.

Despite an oil shortage, the Japanese continued their conquests. They hopedto catch the European colonial powers and the United States by surprise. So they planned massive attacks on British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asiaand on American outposts in the Pacific—at the same time. Admiral IsorokuYamamoto (ih•soh•ROO•koo YAH•muh•MOH•toh), Japan’s greatest navalstrategist, also called for an attack on the U.S. fleet in Hawaii. It was, he said, “a dagger pointed at [Japan’s] throat” and must be destroyed.

Day of Infamy Early in the morning of December 7, 1941, American sailors atPearl Harbor in Hawaii awoke to the roar of explosives. A Japanese attack wasunderway! U.S. military leaders had known from a coded Japanese message thatan attack might come. But they did not know when or where it would occur.Within two hours, the Japanese had sunk or damaged 19 ships, including 8 bat-tleships, moored in Pearl Harbor. More than 2,300 Americans were killed—withover 1,100 wounded. News of the attack stunned the American people. The nextday, President Roosevelt addressed Congress. December 7, 1941, he declared,was “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress quickly accepted his request fora declaration of war on Japan and its allies.

Japan’s Pacific Campaign

Recognizing Effects Use a chart to identify the effects of four major events of the war in the Pacific between 1941 and 1943.

TAKING NOTES

Event Effect

932 Chapter 32

Almost at the same time of the PearlHarbor attack, the Japanese launchedbombing raids on the British colony ofHong Kong and American-controlledGuam and Wake Island. (See the map onthe opposite page.) They also landed aninvasion force in Thailand. The Japanesedrive for a Pacific empire was under way.

Japanese VictoriesLightly defended, Guam and WakeIsland quickly fell to Japanese forces.The Japanese then turned their attentionto the Philippines. In January 1942, theymarched into the Philippine capital ofManila. American and Filipino forcestook up a defensive position on theBataan (buh•TAN) Peninsula on the

northwestern edge of Manila Bay. At the same time, the Philippine governmentmoved to the island of Corregidor just to the south of Bataan. After about threemonths of tough fighting, the Japanese took the Bataan Peninsula in April.Corregidor fell the following month.

The Japanese also continued their strikes against British possessions in Asia.After seizing Hong Kong, they invaded Malaya from the sea and overland fromThailand. By February 1942, the Japanese had reached Singapore, strategicallylocated at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. After a fierce pounding, thecolony surrendered. Within a month, the Japanese had conquered the resource-richDutch East Indies (now Indonesia), including the islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo,and Celebes (SEHL•uh•BEEZ). The Japanese also moved westward, taking Burma.From there, they planned to launch a strike against India, the largest of GreatBritain’s colonies.

By the time Burma fell, Japan had taken control of more than 1 million squaremiles of Asian land. About 150 million people lived in this vast area. Before theseconquests, the Japanese had tried to win the support of Asians with the anticolo-nialist idea of “East Asia for the Asiatics.” After victory, however, the Japanesequickly made it clear that they had come as conquerors. They often treated the peo-ple of their new colonies with extreme cruelty.

However, the Japanese reserved the most brutal treatment for Allied prisoners ofwar. The Japanese considered it dishonorable to surrender, and they had contemptfor the prisoners of war in their charge. On the Bataan Death March—a forcedmarch of more than 50 miles up the peninsula—the Japanese subjected their cap-tives to terrible cruelties. One Allied prisoner of war reported:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C E I was questioned by a Japanese officer, who found out that I had been in a PhilippineScout Battalion. The [Japanese] hated the Scouts. . . . Anyway, they took me outside andI was forced to watch as they buried six of my Scouts alive. They made the men digtheir own graves, and then had them kneel down in a pit. The guards hit them over thehead with shovels to stun them and piled earth on top.

LIEUTENANT JOHN SPAINHOWER, quoted in War Diary 1939–1945

Of the approximately 70,000 prisoners who started the Bataan Death March, only54,000 survived.

▲ The U.S.S. WestVirginia is engulfedby flames after taking a direct hitduring the Japaneseattack on PearlHarbor.

160°

E

120°

E

80° E

160°

W

40° N

0° Equator

Tropic of Cancer

CoralSea

INDIANOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

MALAYA

FRENCHINDOCHINA

THAILAND

BURMA

PHILIPPINES

NEW GUINEA

Alaska (U.S.)

KOREA

INDIA(Br.)

C H I N A

S O V I E T U N I O N

MONGOLIA MANCHURIA

JAPA

N

Hawaiian

Islands (U.S.)

DU

T

CH

EAST INDIES

MarianaIslands

CarolineIslands

MarshallIslands

GilbertIslands

ElliceIslands

SolomonIslands

Moluccas

Mindanao

Kyushu

Shikoku

Honshu

Sakhalin

Karafuto

Hokkaido

Kuril Is

.

Luzon

Celebes

Java

Sumatra

Borneo

A leut ian Is l a nds

Taiwan

1943–1944

1944

1944

1944

1943

1943

1945

1945

1945

1945

1942

1943–1944

Tokyo

Nagasaki, Aug. 1945Nanking

Hong Kong(Br.)

Singapore

Shanghai

OkinawaApr.–July 1945

Leyte GulfOct. 1944

GuadalcanalAug. 1942–Feb. 1943Coral Sea

May 1942

Iwo JimaFeb.–Mar. 1945

SaipanJune–July 1944

Midway IslandJune 1942

Wake IslandDec. 1941

TarawaNov. 1943

Pearl HarborDec. 1941

AttuMay 1943

Beijing(Peking)

HiroshimaAug. 1945

GuamJuly–Aug. 1944

PA C I F I CO C E A N

Midway IslandsKureAtoll

From Japan

From

Pearl H

arbo

r

Enterprise

Hornet & Enterprise

Yorktown

Yorktown(sinks June 7)

Soryu(sinksJune 4)

Kaga (sinks

June 4)

Akagi(sinks June 5)

Hiryu

Hiryu(sinks June 5)

30° N

29° N

31° N

180°

W

179°

W

178°

W

177°

W

Some Japanese search aircraft were late getting into the air. As a result, the Japanese were completely unaware that U.S. ships were nearby.

0 50 Miles

0 100 Kilometers

Japanese fleet movementsU.S. fleet movementsJapanese air strikesU.S. air strikesJapanese aircraft carriersU.S. aircraft carriers

Battle of Midway, June 1942

0 1,000 Miles

0 2,000 Kilometers

Japanese empire, 1931Japanese gains by 1942Extent of Japanese expansionAlliesNeutral nationsAllied advancesBattle

World War II in Asia and the Pacific, 1941–1945

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps1. Location Which battle was fought in the most northern

region?2. Movement From what two general directions did Allied

forces move in on Japan?

World War II 933

The Japanese warship Mikumalists and begins to sink afterbeing struck by bombs fromAmerican aircraft during theBattle of Midway.

The Allies Strike BackAfter a string of victories, the Japanese seemed unbeatable. Nonetheless, theAllies—mainly Americans and Australians—were anxious to strike back in thePacific. The United States in particular wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor. In April1942, 16 B-25 bombers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James H.Doolittle bombed Tokyo and several other Japanese cities. The bombs did littledamage. The raid, however, made an important psychological point to bothAmericans and Japanese: Japan was vulnerable to attack.

The Allies Turn the Tide Doolittle’s raid on Japan raised American morale andshook the confidence of some in Japan. As one Japanese citizen noted, “We startedto doubt that we were invincible.” In addition, some Japanese worried that defend-ing and controlling a vast empire had caused them to spread their resources too thin.

Slowly, the Allies began to turn the tide of war. Early in May 1942, an Americanfleet with Australian support intercepted a Japanese strike force headed for PortMoresby in New Guinea. This city housed a critical Allied air base. Control of the airbase would put the Japanese in easy striking distance of Australia.

In the battle that followed—the Battle of the Coral Sea—both sides used a newkind of naval warfare. The opposing ships did not fire a single shot. In fact, theyoften could not see one another. Instead, airplanes taking off from huge aircraft car-

riers attacked the ships. The Allies suffered more losses inships and troops than did the Japanese. However, the Battleof the Coral Sea was something of a victory, for the Allieshad stopped Japan’s southward advance.

The Battle of Midway Japan next targeted Midway Island,some 1,500 miles west of Hawaii, the location of a keyAmerican airfield. Thanks to Allied code breakers, AdmiralChester Nimitz, commander in chief of the U.S. PacificFleet, knew that a huge Japanese force was heading towardMidway. Admiral Yamamoto himself was in command of theJapanese fleet. He hoped that the attack on Midway woulddraw the whole of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harborto defend the island.

On June 4, with American forces hidden beyond the hori-zon, Nimitz allowed the Japanese to begin their assault onthe island. As the first Japanese planes got into the air,American planes swooped in to attack the Japanese fleet.Many Japanese planes were still on the decks of the aircraftcarriers. The strategy was a success. American pilotsdestroyed 332 Japanese planes, all four aircraft carriers, andone support ship. Yamamoto ordered his crippled fleet towithdraw. By June 7, 1942, the battle was over. The Battleof Midway turned the tide of war in the Pacific. (See theinset map on page 933.)

An Allied OffensiveWith morale high after their victory at Midway, the Alliestook the offensive. The war in the Pacific involved vast dis-tances. Japanese troops had dug in on hundreds of islandsacross the ocean. General Douglas MacArthur, the com-mander of the Allied land forces in the Pacific, developed aplan to handle this problem.

Analyzing MotivesWhy might the

Americans sendtheir entire PacificFleet to defendMidway Island?

Vocabularyinvincible:unconquerable

General Douglas MacArthur1880–1964

Douglas MacArthur’s qualities as aleader and a fighting soldier emergedin France during World War I. Show-ing incredible dash and courage onthe battlefield, he received severaldecorations for bravery. And he wonpromotion from the rank of major tobrigadier general.

After serving in several positions inthe United States, MacArthur receiveda posting to the Philippines in 1935.He remained there until shortlybefore the islands fell in 1941. But heleft very reluctantly. In a message tothe troops who remained behind, hevowed, “I shall return.” As you willread later in the chapter, MacArthurkept his promise.

934 Chapter 32

World War II 935

IdentifyingProblems

If the vast dis-tances of the Pacificcaused problemsfor the Allies, howmight they havealso caused prob-lems for theJapanese?

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Isoroku Yamamoto • Pearl Harbor • Battle of Midway • Douglas MacArthur • Battle of Guadalcanal

USING YOUR NOTES2. Which event was most

important in turning the tide of the war in the Pacific against the Japanese? Why?

MAIN IDEAS3. How did the Japanese plan to

catch the European colonialpowers and the United Statesby surprise?

4. In what way was the Battle ofthe Coral Sea a new kind ofnaval warfare?

5. What was General DouglasMacArthur’s island-hoppingstrategy?

SECTION ASSESSMENT2

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. EVALUATING DECISIONS Did Admiral Yamamoto make a

wise decision in bombing Pearl Harbor? Why or why not?

7. ANALYZING MOTIVES Why do you think the Japanesechanged their approach from trying to win the support ofthe colonized peoples to acting as conquerors?

8. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS What problems did Japan facein building an empire in the Pacific?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Imagine you are aforeign diplomat living in Asia during World War II. Writejournal entries describing the Japanese advance acrossAsia and the Pacific during 1941 and 1942.

EMPIRE BUILDING

INTERNET ACTIVITY

Use the Internet to research the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii.Create a Web page that describes the memorial and providesbackground information on the attack.

INTERNET KEYWORDPearl Harbor

MacArthur believed that storming each island would be a long,costly effort. Instead, he wanted to “island-hop” past Japanesestrongholds. He would then seize islands that were not welldefended but were closer to Japan.

MacArthur’s first target soon presented itself. U.S. military lead-ers had learned that the Japanese were building a huge air base onthe island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The Allies had tostrike fast before the base was completed and became anotherJapanese stronghold. At dawn on August 7, 1942, several thousandU.S. Marines, with Australian support, landed on Guadalcanal andthe neighboring island of Tulagi.

The marines had little trouble seizing Guadalcanal’s airfield.But the battle for control of the island turned into a savage strug-gle as both sides poured in fresh troops. In February 1943, after sixmonths of fighting on land and at sea, the Battle of Guadalcanalfinally ended. After losing more than 24,000 of a force of 36,000soldiers, the Japanese abandoned what they came to call “theIsland of Death.”

To American war correspondent Ralph Martin and the U.S. sol-diers who fought there, Guadalcanal was simply “hell”:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C E Hell was red furry spiders as big as your fist, . . . enormous rats and bats everywhere,and rivers with waiting crocodiles. Hell was the sour, foul smell of the squishy jungle,humidity that rotted a body within hours. . . . Hell was an enemy . . . so fanatic that itused its own dead as booby traps.

RALPH G. MARTIN, The GI War

As Japan worked to establish a new order in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, theNazis moved ahead with Hitler’s design for a new order in Europe. This designincluded plans for dealing with those Hitler considered unfit for the Third Reich.You will learn about these plans in Section 3.

Event Effect

▲ U.S. Marinesstorm ashore atGuadalcanal.

936 Chapter 32

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

EMPIRE BUILDING During theHolocaust, Hitler’s Nazis killedsix million Jews and five millionother ”non-Aryans.“

The violence against Jewsduring the Holocaust led to thefounding of Israel after WorldWar II.

• Aryan• Holocaust• Kristallnacht• ghetto

• ”FinalSolution“

• genocide

3

SETTING THE STAGE As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposeda new racial order. They proclaimed that the Germanic peoples, or Aryans, werea “master race.” (This was a misuse of the term Aryan. The term actually refersto the Indo-European peoples who began to migrate into the Indian subcontinentaround 1500 B.C.) The Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularlyJewish people, were inferior. This racist message would eventually lead to theHolocaust, the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups judged infe-rior by the Nazis.

The Holocaust BeginsTo gain support for his racist ideas, Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred forJews that had deep roots in European history. For generations, many Germans,along with other Europeans, had targeted Jews as the cause of their failures.Some Germans even blamed Jews for their country’s defeat in World War I andfor its economic problems after that war.

In time, the Nazis made the targeting of Jews a government policy. TheNuremberg Laws, passed in 1935, deprived Jews of their rights to German citi-zenship and forbade marriages between Jews and non-Jews. Laws passed lateralso limited the kinds of work that Jews could do.

“Night of Broken Glass” Worse was yet to come. Early in November 1938,17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan (GRIHN•shpahn), a Jewish youth fromGermany, was visiting an uncle in Paris. While Grynszpan was there, he receiveda postcard. It said that after living in Germany for 27 years, his father had beendeported to Poland. On November 7, wishing to avenge his father’s deportation,Grynszpan shot a German diplomat living in Paris.

When Nazi leaders heard the news, they launched a violent attack on theJewish community. On November 9, Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes,businesses, and synagogues across Germany and murdered close to 100 Jews.An American in Leipzig wrote, “Jewish shop windows by the hundreds weresystematically . . . smashed. . . . The main streets of the city were a positive lit-ter of shattered plate glass.” It is for this reason that the night of November 9became known as Kristallnacht (krih•STAHL•NAHKT), or “Night of BrokenGlass.” A 14-year-old boy described his memory of that awful night:

The Holocaust

Analyzing Bias Use aweb diagram to identify examples of Nazipersecution.

TAKING NOTES

Nazi persecution

RecognizingEffects

What steps didHitler take to ridGermany of Jews?

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EAll the things for which my parents had worked for eighteen long years were destroyedin less than ten minutes. Piles of valuable glasses, expensive furniture, linens—in short,everything was destroyed. . . . The Nazis left us, yelling, “Don’t try to leave this house!We’ll soon be back again and take you to a concentration camp to be shot.”

M. I. LIBAU, quoted in Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust

Kristallnacht marked a major step-up in the Nazi policy of Jewish persecution. Thefuture for Jews in Germany looked truly grim.

A Flood of Refugees After Kristallnacht, some Jews realized that violenceagainst them was bound to increase. By the end of 1939, a number of German Jewshad fled to other countries. Many however, remained in Germany. Later, Hitlerconquered territories in which millions more Jews lived.

At first, Hitler favored emigration as a solution to what he called “the Jewishproblem.” Getting other countries to continue admitting Germany’s Jews becamean issue, however. After admitting tens of thousands of Jewish refugees, such coun-tries as France, Britain, and the United States abruptly closed their doors to furtherimmigration. Germany’s foreign minister observed, “We all want to get rid of ourJews. The difficulty is that no country wishes to receive them.”

Isolating the Jews When Hitler found that he could not get rid of Jews throughemigration, he put another plan into effect. He ordered Jews in all countries underhis control to be moved to designated cities. In those cities, the Nazis herded theJews into dismal, overcrowded ghettos, or segregated Jewish areas. The Nazisthen sealed off the ghettos with barbed wire and stone walls. They hoped that theJews inside would starve to death or die from disease.

Even under these horrible conditions, the Jews hung on. Some formed resis-tance organizations within the ghettos. They also struggled to keep their traditions.Ghetto theaters produced plays and concerts. Teachers taught lessons in secretschools. Scholars kept records so that one day people would find out the truth.

The “Final Solution”Hitler soon grew impatient waiting for Jews to die from starvation or disease. Hedecided to take more direct action. His plan was called the “Final Solution.” It wasactually a program of genocide, the systematic killing of an entire people.

▲ After 1941, allJews in German-controlled areashad to wear a yellow Star of David patch.

▼ German soldiersround up Jews inthe Warsaw ghetto.

Hitler believed that his plan of conquest depended on the purity of the Aryanrace. To protect racial purity, the Nazis had to eliminate other races, nationalities,or groups they viewed as inferior—as “subhumans.” They included Roma (gyp-sies), Poles, Russians, homosexuals, the insane, the disabled, and the incurably ill.But the Nazis focused especially on the Jews.

The Killings Begin As Nazi troops swept across Eastern Europe and the SovietUnion, the killings began. Units from the SS (Hitler’s elite security force) movedfrom town to town to hunt down Jews. The SS and their collaborators rounded upmen, women, children, and even babies and took them to isolated spots. They thenshot their prisoners in pits that became the prisoners’ graves.

Jews in communities not reached by the killing squads were rounded up andtaken to concentration camps, or slave-labor prisons. These camps were locatedmainly in Germany and Poland. Hitler hoped that the horrible conditions in thecamps would speed the total elimination of the Jews.

The prisoners worked seven days a week as slaves for the SS or for Germanbusinesses. Guards severely beat or killed their prisoners for not working fastenough. With meals of thin soup, a scrap of bread, and potato peelings, most pris-oners lost 50 pounds in the first few months. Hunger was so intense, recalled onesurvivor, “that if a bit of soup spilled over, prisoners would . . . dig their spoonsinto the mud and stuff the mess in their mouths.”

The Final Stage The “Final Solution” reached its last stage in 1942. At that time,the Nazis built extermination camps equipped with huge gas chambers that couldkill as many as 6,000 human beings in a day. (See the map on page 953.)

When prisoners arrived at Auschwitz (OUSH•vihts), the largest of the extermi-nation camps, they paraded before a committee of SS doctors. With a wave of thehand, these doctors separated the strong—mostly men—from the weak—mostlywomen, young children, the elderly, and the sick. Those labeled as weak would diethat day. They were told to undress for a shower and then led into a chamber with

Analyzing BiasHow was the

“Final Solution” anatural outcome ofNazi racial theory?

Jewish ResistanceEven in the extermination camps, Jews rose upand fought against the Nazis. At Treblinka inAugust 1943, and at Sobibor in October 1943,small groups of Jews revolted. They killedguards, stormed the camp armories and stoleguns and grenades, and then broke out. In bothuprisings, about 300 prisoners escaped. Mostwere killed soon after. Of those who survived,many joined up with partisan groups andcontinued to fight until the end of the war.

Late in 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz revolted,too. Like the escapees at Treblinka and Sobibor,most were caught and killed. Young women likeElla Gartner and Roza Robota made theAuschwitz uprising possible. Gartner smuggledgunpowder into the camp from the munitionsfactory where she worked. Robota helpedorganize resistance in the camp. Gartner andRobota were executed on January 6, 1945. Lessthan a month later, Auschwitz was liberated.

938 Chapter 32

▲ Ella Gartner

▲

Roza Robota

World War II 939

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Aryan • Holocaust • Kristallnacht • ghetto • “Final Solution” • genocide

USING YOUR NOTES2. What Nazi actions were part

of the “Final Solution”?

MAIN IDEAS3. What was the new racial order

proposed by the Nazis?

4. What Nazi action marked thefinal stage of the “FinalSolution”?

5. How did some non-Jewsoppose Hitler’s “FinalSolution”?

SECTION ASSESSMENT3

CREATING A MAP

Find information on instances of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the last 20 years. Use the information to create an annotated map titled “Genocide in the Late 20th Century.”

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. ANALYZING MOTIVES Why might people want to blame a

minority group for most of their country’s problems?

7. MAKING INFERENCES Why do you think the Germanpeople went along with the Nazi policy of persecution ofthe Jews?

8. RECOGNIZING EFFECTS What impact did the Holocausthave on the Jewish population of Europe?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write apersuasive essay discussing how German scientists,engineers, and doctors asked to participate in theHolocaust might have opposed Hitler’s policy.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

CONNECT TO TODAY

fake showerheads. After the doors were closed, cyanide gas poured from the showerheads. All inside were killed in a matter of minutes. Later, the Nazisinstalled crematoriums, or ovens, to burn the bodies.

The Survivors Some six million European Jews died in these death camps and inNazi massacres. Fewer than four million survived. Some escaped the horrors of thedeath camps with help from non-Jewish people. These rescuers, at great risk totheir own lives, hid Jews in their homes or helped them escape to neutral countries.

Those who survived the camps were changed forever by what they had experi-enced. As Elie Wiesel, nearly 15 years old when he entered Auschwitz, noted:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C ENever shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned intowreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames whichconsumed my faith forever. . . . Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. . . . Never.

ELIE WIESEL, quoted in Night

PercentSurviving

Poland

Soviet Union (areaoccupied by Germans)

Hungary

Romania

Germany/Austria

*Estimates

Original JewishPopulation

2,800,000

1,500,000

200,000

425,000

210,000

15%

29%

49%

50%

22%

3,300,000

2,100,000

404,000

850,000

270,000

Jews Killed

Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule*

Source: Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt

Nazi persecution

940 Chapter 32

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

EMPIRE BUILDING Led by theUnited States, Great Britain, andthe Soviet Union, the Alliesscored key victories and wonthe war.

The Allies’ victory in World War IIset up conditions for both theCold War and today’s post-ColdWar world.

• Dwight D.Eisenhower

• Battle ofStalingrad

• D-Day• Battle of the

Bulge• kamikaze

4

SETTING THE STAGE On December 22, 1941, just after Pearl Harbor,Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt met at the White House to develop ajoint war policy. Stalin had asked his allies to relieve German pressure on hisarmies in the east. He wanted them to open a second front in the west. This wouldsplit the Germans’ strength by forcing them to fight major battles in two regionsinstead of one. Churchill agreed with Stalin’s strategy. The Allies would weakenGermany on two fronts before dealing a deathblow. At first, Roosevelt was torn,but ultimately he agreed.

The Tide Turns on Two FrontsChurchill wanted Britain and the United States to strike first at North Africa andsouthern Europe. The strategy angered Stalin. He wanted the Allies to open thesecond front in France. The Soviet Union, therefore, had to hold out on its ownagainst the Germans. All Britain and the United States could offer in the way ofhelp was supplies. Nevertheless, late in 1942, the Allies began to turn the tide ofwar both in the Mediterranean and on the Eastern Front.

The North African Campaign As you recall from Section 1, General ErwinRommel took the key Libyan port city of Tobruk in June 1942. With Tobruk’sfall, London sent General Bernard Montgomery—“Monty” to his troops—totake control of British forces in North Africa. By the time Montgomery arrived,however, the Germans had advanced to an Egyptian village called El Alamein(AL•uh•MAYN), west of Alexandria. (See the map on page 942.) They were dugin so well that British forces could not go around them. The only way to dislodgethem, Montgomery decided, was with a massive frontal attack. The Battle of ElAlamein began on the night of October 23. The roar of about 1,000 British gunstook the Axis soldiers totally by surprise. They fought back fiercely and heldtheir ground for several days. By November 4, however, Rommel’s army hadbeen beaten. He and his forces fell back.

As Rommel retreated west, the Allies launched Operation Torch. OnNovember 8, an Allied force of more than 100,000 troops—mostly Americans—landed in Morocco and Algeria. American general Dwight D. Eisenhower ledthis force. Caught between Montgomery’s and Eisenhower’s armies, Rommel’sAfrika Korps was finally crushed in May 1943.

The Allied Victory

Recognizing EffectsUse a chart to identify the outcomes of severalmajor World War IIbattles.

TAKING NOTES

Battle

Battle of El Alamein

Battle of Stalingrad

Outcome

D-DayInvasion

World War II 941

The Battle for Stalingrad As Rommel suf-fered defeats in North Africa, German armiesalso met their match in the Soviet Union. TheGerman advance had stalled at Leningrad andMoscow late in 1941. And the bitter wintermade the situation worse. When the summerof 1942 arrived, however, Hitler sent his SixthArmy, under the command of GeneralFriedrich Paulus, to seize the oil fields in theCaucasus Mountains. The army was also tocapture Stalingrad (now Volgograd), a majorindustrial center on the Volga River. (See themap on page 942.)

The Battle of Stalingrad began on August23, 1942. The Luftwaffe went on nightly bomb-ing raids that set much of the city ablaze andreduced the rest to rubble. The situation lookeddesperate. Nonetheless, Stalin had already toldhis commanders to defend the city named afterhim to the death.

By early November 1942, Germans controlled 90 percent of the ruined city. Thenanother Russian winter set in. On November 19, Soviet troops outside the citylaunched a counterattack. Closing in around Stalingrad, they trapped the Germansinside and cut off their supplies. General Paulus begged Hitler to order a retreat. ButHitler refused, saying the city was “to be held at all costs.”

On February 2, 1943, some 90,000 frostbitten, half-starved German troops sur-rendered to the Soviets. These pitiful survivors were all that remained of an armyof 330,000. Stalingrad’s defense had cost the Soviets over one million soldiers. Thecity was 99 percent destroyed. However, the Germans were now on the defensive,with the Soviets pushing them steadily westward.

The Invasion of Italy As the Battle of Stalingrad raged, Stalin continued to urgethe British and Americans to invade France. However, Roosevelt and Churchilldecided to attack Italy first. On July 10, 1943, Allied forces landed on Sicily andcaptured it from Italian and German troops about a month later.

The conquest of Sicily toppled Mussolini from power. On July 25, King VictorEmmanuel III had the dictator arrested. On September 3, Italy surrendered. Butthe Germans seized control of northern Italy and put Mussolini back in charge.Finally, the Germans retreated northward, and the victorious Allies entered Romeon June 4, 1944. Fighting in Italy, however, continued until Germany fell in May1945. On April 27, 1945, Italian resistance fighters ambushed some Germantrucks near the northern Italian city of Milan. Inside one of the trucks, they foundMussolini disguised as a German soldier. They shot him the next day and laterhung his body in downtown Milan for all to see.

The Allied Home Fronts Wherever Allied forces fought, people on the home fronts rallied to support them.In war-torn countries like the Soviet Union and Great Britain, civilians enduredextreme hardships. Many lost their lives. Except for a few of its territories, such asHawaii, the United States did not suffer invasion or bombing. Nonetheless,Americans at home made a crucial contribution to the Allied war effort. Americansproduced the weapons and equipment that would help win the war.

MakingInferences

What advan-tages might aweaker army fight-ing on its home soilhave over astronger invadingarmy?

▲ Soviet troopslaunch an attackduring the battlefor Stalingrad.

40° E

0°

40° N

Tropic of Cancer

60° N

Arctic Circle

Dnieper R.

Vol

gaR

.

Black Sea

English

Channel

BalticSeaNorth

Sea

Mediterranean Sea

CaspianSea

GREECE

ALB

AN

IA

YUGOSLAVIABULGARIA

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

ITALY

SPAIN

PO

RT

UG

AL

IRAN

MOROCCO(Fr.)

T U R K E Y

SWITZ.FRANCE

ALGERIA(Fr.)

UNITED KINGDOM

DENMARK

SWEDEN

NORWAY

NETH.IRELAND

LUX.

BELG.

AUSTRIA

HUNGARY

ROMANIA

TUNISIA(Fr.)

LIBYA (It . )

EGYPT

TRANSJORDAN

SYRIA

IRAQ

S A U D I

A R A B I A

LEBANON

PALESTINE

POLAND

FINLAND

S O V I E TU N I O N

GERMANY

EASTPRUSSIA

1942

1942

1943

1943

1943

1944

1944

1944

1944

1944

1943

1943

1943

19441945

1944

1945

1945

1944

1944

19421942

1942

LondonDunkirk

ParisNormandy

(1944)

Berlin(1945)

Battle of theBulge (1944–45)

Warsaw(1944–45)

Smolensk

Rome

Anzio(1944)

Moscow

Leningrad

Stalingrad(1942–43)

Kursk(1943)

Minsk(1944)

Tobruk

AlexandriaEl Alamein(1942)

Oran (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

Algiers (1942)

Tunis (1943)

Sicily (1943)

Crete

0 250 Miles

0 500 Kilometers

Axis nations, 1938Axis-controlled, 1942AlliesNeutral nationsAllied advancesMajor Battles

World War II: Allied Advances, 1942–1945

942 Chapter 32

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps1. Region Which European countries remained neutral during

World War II?2. Movement What seems to be the destination for most of the

Allied advances that took place in Europe during 1943–1944?

World War II 943

Mobilizing for War Defeating the Axis powersrequired mobilizing for total war. In the United States,factories converted their peacetime operations towartime production and made everything frommachine guns to boots. Automobile factories pro-duced tanks. A typewriter company made armor-piercing shells. By 1944, between 17 and 18 millionU.S. workers—many of them women—had jobs inwar industries.

With factories turning out products for the war, ashortage of consumer goods hit the United States.From meat and sugar to tires and gasoline, fromnylon stockings to laundry soap, the American gov-ernment rationed scarce items. Setting the speedlimit at 35 miles per hour also helped to save gasoline and rubber. In European countries directlyaffected by the war, rationing was even more drastic.

To inspire their people to greater efforts, Alliedgovernments conducted highly effective propagandacampaigns. In the Soviet Union, a Moscow youngster collected enough scrap metalto produce 14,000 artillery shells. And a Russian family used its life savings to buya tank for the Red Army. In the United States, youngsters saved their pennies andbought government war stamps and bonds to help finance the war.

War Limits Civil Rights Government propaganda also had a negative effect. AfterPearl Harbor, a wave of prejudice arose in the United States against JapaneseAmericans. Most lived in Hawaii and on the West Coast. The bombing of Pearl Harborfrightened Americans. This fear, encouraged by government propaganda, was turnedagainst Japanese Americans. They were suddenly seen as “the enemy.” On February19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued an executive order calling for the internment ofJapanese Americans because they were considered a threat to the country.

In March, the military began rounding up “aliens” and shipping them to reloca-tion camps. The camps were restricted military areas located far away from thecoast. Such locations, it was thought, would prevent these “enemy aliens” fromassisting a Japanese invasion. However, two-thirds of those interned were Nisei,native-born American citizens whose parents were Japanese. Many of them volun-teered for military service and fought bravely for the United States, even thoughtheir families remained in the camps.

Victory in EuropeWhile the Allies were dealing with issues on the home front, they also were prepar-ing to push toward victory in Europe. In 1943, the Allies began secretly buildingan invasion force in Great Britain. Their plan was to launch an attack on German-held France across the English Channel.

The D-Day Invasion By May 1944, the invasion force was ready. Thousands ofplanes, ships, tanks, and landing craft and more than three million troops awaitedthe order to attack. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of this enor-mous force, planned to strike on the coast of Normandy, in northwestern France.The Germans knew that an attack was coming. But they did not know where itwould be launched. To keep Hitler guessing, the Allies set up a huge dummy armywith its own headquarters and equipment. This make-believe army appeared to bepreparing to attack the French seaport of Calais (ka•LAY).

Analyzing MotivesWhy did U.S.

government propa-ganda try to portraythe Japanese as sinister?

Vocabularyrationed: distributedin limited amounts

▲ American school-children helped the war effort byrecycling scrapmetal and rubberand by buying war bonds.

944 Chapter 32

Code-named Operation Overlord, the invasion ofNormandy was the largest land and sea attack in history. The invasion began on June 6, 1944—known as D-Day. Atdawn on that day, British, American, French, and Canadiantroops fought their way onto a 60-mile stretch of beach inNormandy. (See the map on this page.) The Germans haddug in with machine guns, rocket launchers, and cannons.They sheltered behind concrete walls three feet thick. Notsurprisingly, the Allies took heavy casualties. Among theAmerican forces alone, more than 2,700 men died on thebeaches that day.

Despite heavy losses, the Allies held the beachheads.Within a month of D-Day, more than one million additionaltroops had landed. Then, on July 25, the Allies punched a holein the German defenses near Saint-Lô (san•LOH), and theUnited States Third Army, led by General George Patton,broke out. A month later, the Allies marched triumphantly intoParis. By September, they had liberated France, Belgium, andLuxembourg. They then set their sights on Germany.

The Battle of the Bulge As Allied forces moved towardGermany from the west, the Soviet army was advancingtoward Germany from the east. Hitler now faced a war ontwo fronts. In a desperate gamble, he decided to counter-attack in the west. Hitler hoped a victory would splitAmerican and British forces and break up Allied supplylines. Explaining the reasoning behind his plan, Hitler said,“This battle is to decide whether we shall live or die. . . . Allresistance must be broken in a wave of terror.”

On December 16, German tanks broke through weakAmerican defenses along a 75-mile front in the Ardennes. Thepush into Allied lines gave the campaign its name—the Battleof the Bulge. Although caught off guard, the Allies eventuallypushed the Germans back. The Germans had little choicebut to retreat, since there were no reinforcements available.

Vocabularybeachheads: enemyshoreline capturedjust before invadingforces move inland

UTAH

BEACH

OMAHABEACH

GOLDBEACH JUNO

BEACHSWORDBEACH

U.S. 1st ARMYBradley

BRITISH 2nd ARMYDempsey

21st ARMY GROUP COMMANDER OF GROUND FORCES

Montgomery

E n g l i s h C h a n n e l

Arromanches

BayeuxCarentan

TrévièresColleville

Caen

to St.-Lô Lion

Courseulles

La Madeleine

Isigny

Ste.-Mère Eglise

Vierville

Quinéville

POINTE-DU-HOC

50˚ N

2˚ W

4˚ W

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0˚

UNITED KINGDOM

FRANCE

Calais

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Cherbourg

PortlandPortsmouth

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0

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20 Kilometers Glider landing areas

Planned drop zones

Flooded areas

Allied forces

The D-Day Invasion, June 6, 1944

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps1. Human-Environment Interaction What environmental problem might have

been encountered by 1st Army soldiers landing at Utah Beach?2. Movement Looking at the map, what might have been the Allied strategy

behind parachuting troops into France?

General Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969

In his career, U.S. General DwightEisenhower had shown anuncommon ability to work with allkinds of people—even competitiveAllies. His chief of staff said ofEisenhower, “The sun rises and setson him for me.” He was also wildlypopular with the troops, whoaffectionately called him “Uncle Ike.”

So it was not a surprise when, inDecember 1943, U.S. Army Chief ofStaff George Marshall namedEisenhower as supreme commanderof the Allied forces in Europe. Thenew commander’s “people skills”enabled him to join American andBritish forces together to put apermanent end to Nazi aggression.

INTERNET ACTIVITY Create anillustrated report on Eisenhower’smilitary career. Go to classzone.com foryour research.

Germany’s Unconditional Surrender After the Battle of the Bulge, the war inEurope rapidly drew to a close. In late March 1945, the Allies rolled across theRhine River into Germany. By the middle of April, a noose was closing aroundBerlin. About three million Allied soldiers approached Berlin from the southwest.Another six million Soviet troops approached from the east. By April 25, 1945, theSoviets had surrounded the capital and were pounding the city with artillery fire.

While Soviet shells burst over Berlin, Hitler prepared for his end in an under-ground headquarters beneath the crumbling city. On April 29, he married his long-time companion, Eva Braun. The next day, Hitler and Eva Braun committedsuicide. Their bodies were then carried outside and burned.

On May 7, 1945, General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of theThird Reich from the German military. President Roosevelt, however, did not live towitness the long-awaited victory. He had died suddenly on April 12, as Allied armieswere advancing toward Berlin. Roosevelt’s successor, Harry Truman, received thenews of the Nazi surrender. On May 9, the surrender was officially signed in Berlin.The United States and other Allied powers celebrated V-E Day—Victory in EuropeDay. After nearly six years of fighting, the war in Europe had ended.

Victory in the Pacific Although the war in Europe was over, the Allies were still fighting the Japanese inthe Pacific. With the Allied victory at Guadalcanal, however, the Japaneseadvances in the Pacific had been stopped. For the rest of the war, the Japaneseretreated before the counterattack of the Allied powers.

The Japanese in Retreat By the fall of 1944, the Allies were moving in on Japan.In October, Allied forces landed on the island of Leyte (LAY•tee) in the Philippines.General Douglas MacArthur, who had been ordered to leave the islands before their surrender in May 1942, waded ashore at Leytewith his troops. On reaching the beach, he declared,“People of the Philippines, I have returned.”

Actually, the takeover would not be quite that easy.The Japanese had devised a bold plan to halt theAllied advance. They would destroy the Americanfleet, thus preventing the Allies from resupplying theirground troops. This plan, however, required riskingalmost the entire Japanese fleet. They took this gam-ble on October 23, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Withinfour days, the Japanese navy had lost disastrously—eliminating it as a fighting force in the war. Now, onlythe Japanese army and the feared kamikaze stoodbetween the Allies and Japan. The kamikazes wereJapanese suicide pilots. They would sink Allied shipsby crash-diving their bomb-filled planes into them.

In March 1945, after a month of bitter fightingand heavy losses, American Marines took Iwo Jima (EE•wuh JEE•muh), an island 760 miles fromTokyo. On April 1, U.S. troops moved onto the islandof Okinawa, only about 350 miles from southernJapan. The Japanese put up a desperate fight.Nevertheless, on June 21, one of the bloodiest landbattles of the war ended. The Japanese lost over100,000 troops, and the Americans 12,000.

VocabularyThese pilots tooktheir name from thekamikaze, or “divinewind,” that savedJapan from aMongol invasion in1281.

▼ U.S. marines raise the Stars andStripes after theirvictory at Iwo Jima.

World War II 945

Hiroshima: Day of Fire

Impact of the Bombing

Ground temperatures

Hurricane force winds

Energy released

Buildings destroyed

Killed immediately

Dead by the end of 1945

Total deaths related to A-bomb

7,000°F

980 miles per hour

20,000 tons of TNT

62,000 buildings

70,000 people

140,000 people

200,000 people

The overwhelming destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later, changed the nature of war forever. Nuclear destruction also led to questions about the ethics of scientists and politicians who chose to develop and use the bomb.

946

The Atomic BombOn the eve of World War II, scientists in Germany succeeded in splitting thenucleus of a uranium atom, releasing a huge amount of energy. Albert Einsteinwrote to President Franklin Roosevelt and warned him that Nazi Germany mightbe working to develop atomic weapons. Roosevelt responded by giving hisapproval for an American program, later code-named the Manhattan Project, todevelop an atomic bomb. Roosevelt’s decision set off a race to ensure that theUnited States would be the first to develop the bomb.

▼ On the morning of August 6,1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay,flown by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets,Jr., took off from Tinian Island inthe Mariana Islands.

1. Making Inferences What advantagesdid the United States have overGermany in the race to develop theatomic bomb?

See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R10.

2. Comparing and Contrasting If youwere to design a memorial to thevictims of the Hiroshima andNagasaki bombings, what symbolwould you use? Make a sketch ofyour memorial.

▼ Nagasaki citizens trudge through the still smoldering ruinsof their city in this photograph by Yosuke Yamahata.

At precisely 8:16 A.M.,the atomic bombexploded aboveHiroshima, a city on the Japanese island of Honshu.

Patterns of InteractionArming for War: Modern and Medieval Weapons

Just as in World War I, the conflicts of World War II spurred thedevelopment of ever more powerful weapons. Mightier tanks, moreelusive submarines, faster fighter planes—all emerged from this period.From ancient times to the present day, the pattern remains the same:Every new weapon causes other countries to develop weapons ofsimilar or greater force. This pattern results in a deadly race for anultimate weapon: for example, the atomic bomb.

▼

World War II 947

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Dwight D. Eisenhower • Battle of Stalingrad • D-Day • Battle of the Bulge • kamikaze

USING YOUR NOTES2. Which battle do you think

was most important in turning the war in favor of the Allies? Why?

MAIN IDEAS3. Why did Stalin want the United

States and Britain to launch asecond front in the west?

4. How did the Allies try toconceal the true location forthe D-Day landings?

5. What brought about theJapanese surrender?

SECTION ASSESSMENT4

CREATING A POSTER

During World War II, the U.S. government used propaganda posters to encourage citizens tosupport the war effort. Create a similar kind of poster to encourage support for a war on litterin your neighborhood.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. CLARIFYING How do governments gather support for a

war effort on the home front?

7. ANALYZING ISSUES Should governments have the powerto limit the rights of their citizens during wartime? Explainyour answer.

8. FORMING AND SUPPORTING OPINIONS Did PresidentTruman make the correct decision in using the atomicbomb? Why or why not?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write aresearch report on the work of the Manhattan Project indeveloping the atomic bomb.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

CONNECT TO TODAY

Battle

Battle of El Alamein

Battle of Stalingrad

Outcome

D-DayInvasion

▲ J. RobertOppenheimer (left)and General LeslieGroves inspect thesite of the firstatomic bomb testnear Alamogordo,New Mexico.

The Japanese Surrender After Okinawa, thenext stop for the Allies had to be Japan.President Truman’s advisers had informedhim that an invasion of the Japanese homelandmight cost the Allies half a million lives.Truman had to make a decision whether to usea powerful new weapon called the atomicbomb, or A-bomb. Most of his advisers feltthat using it would bring the war to the quick-est possible end. The bomb had been devel-oped by the top-secret Manhattan Project,headed by General Leslie Groves and chiefscientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Truman firstlearned of the new bomb’s existence when hebecame president.

The first atomic bomb was exploded in adesert in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.President Truman then warned the Japanese.He told them that unless they surrendered,they could expect a “rain of ruin from the air.”The Japanese did not reply. So, on August 6,1945, the United States dropped an atomicbomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of nearly350,000 people. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the attack. Three dayslater, on August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a city of 270,000.More than 70,000 people were killed immediately. Radiation fallout from the twoexplosions killed many more.

The Japanese finally surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur on September2. The ceremony took place aboard the United States battleship Missouri in TokyoBay. With Japan’s surrender, the war had ended. Now, countries faced the task ofrebuilding a war-torn world.

948 Chapter 32

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

ECONOMICS World War II costmillions of human lives andbillions of dollars in damages. Itleft Europe and Japan in ruins.

The United States survivedWorld War II undamaged,allowing it to become a worldleader.

• NurembergTrials

• demilitarization• democratization

5

SETTING THE STAGE After six long years of war, the Allies finally were vic-torious. However, their victory had been achieved at a very high price. World WarII had caused more death and destruction than any other conflict in history. It left60 million dead. About one-third of these deaths occurred in one country, theSoviet Union. Another 50 million people had been uprooted from their homesand wandered the countryside in search of somewhere to live. Property damageran into billions of U.S. dollars.

Devastation in EuropeBy the end of World War II, Europe lay in ruins. Close to 40 million Europeanshad died, two-thirds of them civilians. Constant bombing and shelling hadreduced hundreds of cities to rubble. The ground war had destroyed much of thecountryside. Displaced persons from many nations were left homeless.

A Harvest of Destruction A few of the great cities of Europe—Paris, Rome,and Brussels—remained largely undamaged by war. Many, however, had suf-fered terrible destruction. The Battle of Britain left huge areas of London littlemore than blackened ruins. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was almost completelydestroyed. In 1939, Warsaw had a population of nearly 1.3 million. When Sovietsoldiers entered the city in January 1945, only 153,000 people remained.Thousands of tons of Allied bombs had demolished 95 percent of the central areaof Berlin. One U.S. officer stationed in the German capital reported, “Whereverwe looked we saw desolation. It was like a city of the dead.”

After the bombings, many civilians stayed where they were and tried to get onwith their lives. Some lived in partially destroyed homes or apartments. Othershuddled in cellars or caves made from rubble. They had no water, no electricity,and very little food.

A large number of people did not stay where they were. Rather, they took tothe roads. These displaced persons included the survivors of concentrationcamps, prisoners of war, and refugees who found themselves in the wrong coun-try when postwar treaties changed national borders. They wandered acrossEurope, hoping to find their families or to find a safe place to live.

Simon Weisenthal, a prisoner at Auschwitz, described the search made byHolocaust survivors:

Europe and Japan in Ruins

Comparing andContrasting Use a Venndiagram to compare andcontrast the aftermath of World War II in Europeand Japan.

TAKING NOTES

Japan only

both

Europe only

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EAcross Europe a wild tide of frantic survivors was flowing. . . . Many of them didn’t reallyknow where to go. . . . And yet the survivors continued their pilgrimage of despair. . . .“Perhaps someone is still alive. . . .” Someone might tell where to find a wife, a mother,children, a brother—or whether they were dead. . . . The desire to find one’s people wasstronger than hunger, thirst, fatigue.

SIMON WEISENTHAL, quoted in Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust

Misery Continues After the War The misery in Europe continued for years afterthe war. The fighting had ravaged Europe’s countryside, and agriculture had beencompletely disrupted. Most able-bodied men had served in the military, and thewomen had worked in war production. Few remained to plant the fields. With thetransportation system destroyed, the meager harvests often did not reach the cities.Thousands died as famine and disease spread through the bombed-out cities. Thefirst postwar winter brought more suffering as people went without shoes and coats.

Postwar Governments and PoliticsDespairing Europeans often blamed their leaders for the war and its aftermath.Once the Germans had lost, some prewar governments—like those in Belgium,Holland, Denmark, and Norway—returned quickly. In countries like Germany,Italy, and France, however, a return to the old leadership was not desirable. Hitler’sNazi government had brought Germany to ruins. Mussolini had led Italy todefeat. The Vichy government had collaborated with the Nazis. Much of the oldleadership was in disgrace. Also, in Italy and France, many resistance fighterswere communists.

After the war, the Communist Party promised change, and millions were readyto listen. In both France and Italy, Communist Party membership skyrocketed. Thecommunists made huge gains in the first postwar elections. Anxious to speed up apolitical takeover, the communists staged a series of violent strikes. AlarmedFrench and Italians reacted by voting for anticommunist parties. Communist Partymembership and influence began to decline. And they declined even more as theeconomies of France and Italy began to recover.

World War II 949

IdentifyingProblems

Why might ithave been difficultto find democraticgovernment leadersin post-NaziGermany?

Civilians Killed

United States

Great Britain

France

USSR

Germany

Japan

Direct War Costs

292,131**

272,311

205,707***

13,600,000

3,300,000

1,140,429

—

60,595

173,260†

7,720,000

2,893,000††

953,000

$288.0 billion*

$117.0 billion

$111.3 billion

$93.0 billion

$212.3 billion

$41.3 billion

Military Killed/Missing

Costs of World War II: Allies and Axis

* In 1994 dollars.** An additional 115,187 servicemen died

from non-battle causes.*** Before surrender to Nazis.

† Includes 65,000 murdered Jews.†† Includes about 170,000 murdered Jews and

56,000 foreign civilians in Germany.

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts1. Drawing Conclusions Which of the nations listed in the chart

suffered the greatest human costs?2. Comparing How does U.S. spending on the war compare

with the spending of Germany and Japan?

950 Chapter 32

The Nuremberg Trials While nations were struggling torecover politically and economically, they also tried to dealwith the issue of war crimes. During 1945 and 1946, anInternational Military Tribunal representing 23 nations putNazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg, Germany. In thefirst of these Nuremberg Trials, 22 Nazi leaders werecharged with waging a war of aggression. They were alsoaccused of committing “crimes against humanity”—themurder of 11 million people.

Adolf Hitler, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and Minister ofPropaganda Joseph Goebbels had committed suicide longbefore the trials began. However, Hermann Göring, thecommander of the Luftwaffe; Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s formerdeputy; and other high-ranking Nazi leaders remained toface the charges.

Hess was found guilty and was sentenced to life inprison. Göring received a death sentence, but cheated theexecutioner by committing suicide. Ten other Nazi leaderswere hanged on October 16, 1946. Hans Frank, the “Slayerof Poles,” was the only convicted Nazi to express remorse:“A thousand years will pass,” he said, “and still this guilt ofGermany will not have been erased.” The bodies of thoseexecuted were burned at the concentration camp of Dachau(DAHK•ow). They were cremated in the same ovens thathad burned so many of their victims.

Postwar JapanThe defeat suffered by Japan in World War II left the coun-try in ruins. Two million lives had been lost. The country’smajor cities, including the capital, Tokyo, had been largelydestroyed by bombing raids. The atomic bomb had turnedHiroshima and Nagasaki into blackened wastelands. TheAllies had stripped Japan of its colonial empire.

Occupied Japan General Douglas MacArthur, who had accepted the Japanese sur-render, took charge of the U.S. occupation of Japan. MacArthur was determined tobe fair and not to plant the seeds of a future war. Nevertheless, to ensure that peacewould prevail, he began a process of demilitarization, or disbanding the Japanesearmed forces. He achieved this quickly, leaving the Japanese with only a small policeforce. MacArthur also began bringing war criminals to trial. Out of 25 survivingdefendants, former Premier Hideki Tojo and six others were condemned to hang.

MacArthur then turned his attention to democratization, the process of creat-ing a government elected by the people. In February 1946, he and his Americanpolitical advisers drew up a new constitution. It changed the empire into a consti-tutional monarchy like that of Great Britain. The Japanese accepted the constitu-tion. It went into effect on May 3, 1947.

MacArthur was not told to revive the Japanese economy. However, he wasinstructed to broaden land ownership and increase the participation of workers andfarmers in the new democracy. To this end, MacArthur put forward a plan that requiredabsentee landlords with huge estates to sell land to the government. The governmentthen sold the land to tenant farmers at reasonable prices. Other reforms pushed byMacArthur gave workers the right to create independent labor unions.

MakingInferences

How woulddemilitarization anda revived economyhelp Japan achievedemocracy?

A New War Crimes TribunalIn 1993, the UN established theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) toprosecute war crimes committed inthe Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.(See Chapter 35.) This was the firstinternational war crimes court sincethose held in Nuremberg and Tokyoafter World War II.

The ICTY issued its first indictmentin 1994 and began trial proceedingsin 1996. By mid-2003, more than 30defendants had been tried and foundguilty. They received sentences of 5to 48 years in jail. Another 25 wereon trial or awaiting trial. The mostprominent of these defendants wasSlobadan Milosevic, the formerpresident of Yugoslavia. He wascharged with 66 counts of genocide,crimes against humanity, and otherwar crimes.

Occupation Brings Deep ChangesThe new constitution was the most important achievement ofthe occupation. It brought deep changes to Japanese society.A long Japanese tradition had viewed the emperor as divine.He was also an absolute ruler whose will was law. Theemperor now had to declare that he was not divine. Thatadmission was as shocking to the Japanese as defeat. Hispower was also dramatically reduced. Like the ruler of GreatBritain, the emperor became largely a figurehead—a symbolof Japan.

The new constitution guaranteed that real political powerin Japan rested with the people. The people elected a two-house parliament, called the Diet. All citizens over the age of20, including women, had the right to vote. The governmentwas led by a prime minister chosen by a majority of the Diet.A constitutional bill of rights protected basic freedoms. Onemore key provision of the constitution—Article 9—statedthat the Japanese could no longer make war. They could fightonly if attacked.

In September 1951, the United States and 47 other nationssigned a formal peace treaty with Japan. The treaty officially ended the war. Somesix months later, the U.S. occupation of Japan was over. However, with no armedforces, the Japanese agreed to a continuing U.S. military presence to protect theircountry. The United States and Japan, once bitter enemies, were now allies.

In the postwar world, enemies not only became allies. Sometimes, allies becameenemies. World War II had changed the political landscape of Europe. The SovietUnion and the United States emerged from the war as the world’s two major pow-ers. They also ended the war as allies. However, it soon became clear that theirpostwar goals were very different. This difference stirred up conflicts that wouldshape the modern world for decades.

World War II 951

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Nuremberg Trials • demilitarization • democratization

USING YOUR NOTES2. How did the aftermath of the

war in Europe differ from theaftermath of the war in Japan?

MAIN IDEAS3. Why did so many Europeans

take to the roads and wanderthe countryside after the war?

4. How did the Allies deal withthe issue of war crimes inEurope?

5. What three programs didGeneral Douglas MacArthurintroduce during the U.S.occupation of Japan?

SECTION ASSESSMENT5

CREATING A RADIO NEWS REPORT

Conduct research on a recent trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Use your findings to create a two-minute radio news report on the trial.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. ANALYZING CAUSES Why do you think that many

Europeans favored communism after World War II?

7. FORMING AND SUPPORTING OPINIONS Do you think itwas right for the Allies to try only Nazi and Japaneseleaders for war crimes? Why or why not?

8. MAKING INFERENCES Why was demilitarization such animportant part of the postwar program for Japan?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY In the role of an observerfor the United States government, write a report on theeconomic situation in Europe after World War II. Illustrateyour report with appropriate charts and graphs.

ECONOMICS

CONNECT TO TODAY

▲ Emperor Hirohitoand U.S. GeneralDouglas MacArthurlook distant anduncomfortable asthey pose here.

Analyzing CausesWhy did the

Americans choosethe British systemof government forthe Japanese,instead of theAmerican system?

Japan only

both

Europe only

Following ChronologicalOrder Organize importantearly Cold War events in atime line.

TAKING NOTES

1945

Yaltaconference

1960

U-2incident

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

ECONOMICS The opposingeconomic and politicalphilosophies of the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union ledto global competition.

The conflicts between theUnited States and the SovietUnion played a major role inreshaping the modern world.

• United Nations• iron curtain• containment• Truman Doctrine• Marshall Plan

• Cold War• NATO• Warsaw Pact• brinkmanship

1

SETTING THE STAGE During World War II, the United States and the SovietUnion had joined forces to fight against the Germans. The Soviet army marchedwest; the Americans marched east. When the Allied soldiers met at the ElbeRiver in Germany in 1945, they embraced each other warmly because they haddefeated the Nazis. Their leaders, however, regarded each other much morecoolly. This animosity caused by competing political philosophies would lead toa nearly half-century of conflict called the Cold War.

Allies Become EnemiesEven before World War II ended, the U.S. alliance with the Soviet Union hadbegun to unravel. The United States was upset that Joseph Stalin, the Sovietleader, had signed a nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939. Later, Stalinblamed the Allies for not invading German-occupied Europe earlier than 1944.Driven by these and other disagreements, the two allies began to pursue oppos-ing goals.

Yalta Conference: A Postwar Plan The war was not yet over in February 1945.But the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union met at theSoviet Black Sea resort of Yalta. There, they agreed to divide Germany into zonesof occupation controlled by the Allied military forces. Germany also would have

Cold War: Superpowers Face Off

965

Winston Churchill,Franklin D. Roosevelt,and Joseph Stalin meet at Yalta in 1945.

▲

to pay the Soviet Union to compensate for its loss of life and property. Stalin agreedto join the war against Japan. He also promised that Eastern Europeans would havefree elections. A skeptical Winston Churchill predicted that Stalin would keep hispledge only if the Eastern Europeans followed “a policy friendly to Russia.”

Creation of the United Nations In June 1945, the United States and the SovietUnion temporarily set aside their differences. They joined 48 other countries informing the United Nations (UN). This international organization was intended toprotect the members against aggression. It was to be based in New York.

The charter for the new peacekeeping organization established a large bodycalled the General Assembly. There, each UN member nation could cast its vote ona broad range of issues. An 11-member body called the Security Council had thereal power to investigate and settle disputes, though. Its five permanent memberswere Britain, China, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Each couldveto any Security Council action. This provision was intended to prevent any mem-bers of the Council from voting as a bloc to override the others.

Differing U.S. and Soviet Goals Despite agreement at Yalta and their presenceon the Security Council, the United States and the Soviet Union split sharply afterthe war. The war had affected them very differently. The United States, the world’srichest and most powerful country, suffered 400,000 deaths. But its cities and fac-tories remained intact. The Soviet Union had at least 50 times as many fatalities.One in four Soviets was wounded or killed. Also, many Soviet cities were demol-ished. These contrasting situations, as well as political and economic differences,affected the two countries’ postwar goals. (See chart below.)

966 Chapter 33

SummarizingWhy did the

United States andthe Soviet Unionsplit after the war?

United States

• Encourage democracy in other countries to help prevent the rise of Communist governments

• Gain access to raw materials and markets to fuel booming industries

• Rebuild European governments to promote stability and create new markets for U.S. goods

• Reunite Germany to stabilize it and increase the security of Europe

Soviet Union

• Encourage communism in other countries as part of a worldwide workers’ revolution

• Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe’s industrial equipment and raw materials

• Control Eastern Europe to protect Soviet borders and balance the U.S. influence in Western Europe

• Keep Germany divided to prevent its waging war again

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps and Charts1. Drawing Conclusions Which countries separated the Soviet Union from

Western Europe?2. Comparing Which U.S. and Soviet aims in Europe conflicted?

Eastern Europe’s Iron CurtainA major goal of the Soviet Union was to shield itself fromanother invasion from the west. Centuries of history hadtaught the Soviets to fear invasion. Because it lacked naturalwestern borders, Russia fell victim to each of its neighbors inturn. In the 17th century, the Poles captured the Kremlin.During the next century, the Swedes attacked. Napoleon over-ran Moscow in 1812. The Germans invaded Russia duringWorld Wars I and II.

Soviets Build a Buffer As World War II drew to a close, theSoviet troops pushed the Nazis back across Eastern Europe.At war’s end, these troops occupied a strip of countries alongthe Soviet Union’s own western border. Stalin regarded thesecountries as a necessary buffer, or wall of protection. Heignored the Yalta agreement and installed or securedCommunist governments in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary,Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

The Soviet leader’s American partner at Yalta, Franklin D.Roosevelt, had died on April 12, 1945. To Roosevelt’s succes-sor, Harry S. Truman, Stalin’s reluctance to allow free elections in EasternEuropean nations was a clear violation of those countries’ rights. Truman, Stalin,and Churchill met at Potsdam, Germany, in July 1945. There, Truman pressedStalin to permit free elections in Eastern Europe. The Soviet leader refused. In aspeech in early 1946, Stalin declared that communism and capitalism could notexist in the same world.

An Iron Curtain Divides East and West Europe now lay divided between Eastand West. Germany had been split into two sections. The Soviets controlled theeastern part, including half of the capital, Berlin. Under a Communist government,East Germany was named the German Democratic Republic. The western zonesbecame the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Winston Churchill described thedivision of Europe:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EFrom Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended acrossthe continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central andEastern Europe. . . . All these famous cities and the populations around them lie in theSoviet sphere and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influencebut to a very high and increasing measure of control from Moscow.

WINSTON CHURCHILL, “Iron Curtain” speech, March 5, 1946

Churchill’s phrase “iron curtain” came to represent Europe’s division intomostly democratic Western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe.

United States Tries to Contain SovietsU.S.-Soviet relations continued to worsen in 1946 and 1947. An increasingly wor-ried United States tried to offset the growing Soviet threat to Eastern Europe.President Truman adopted a foreign policy called containment. It was a policydirected at blocking Soviet influence and stopping the expansion of communism.Containment policies included forming alliances and helping weak countries resistSoviet advances.

Restructuring the Postwar World 967

AnalyzingPrimary Sources

Why mightWinston Churchilluse “iron curtain”to refer to the division betweenWestern andEastern Europe?

▲ The Iron Curtainis shown droppingon Czechoslovakiain this 1948political cartoon.

Making InferencesWhat was

Truman’s major rea-son for offering aidto other countries?

968 Chapter 33

The Truman Doctrine In a speech asking Congress for foreign aid for Turkey andGreece, Truman contrasted democracy with communism:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EOne way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by freeinstitutions . . . free elections . . . and freedom from political oppression. The second wayof life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It reliesupon terror and oppression . . . fixed elections, and the suppression of personalfreedoms. I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free people . . .resisting attempted subjugation [control] by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN, speech to Congress, March 12, 1947

Truman’s support for countries that rejected communism was called the TrumanDoctrine. It caused great controversy. Some opponents objected to American inter-ference in other nations’ affairs. Others argued that the United States could notafford to carry on a global crusade against communism. Congress, however,immediately authorized more than $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece.

The Marshall Plan Much of Western Europe lay in ruins after the war. There wasalso economic turmoil—a scarcity of jobs and food. In 1947, U.S. Secretary ofState George Marshall proposed that the United States give aid to needy Europeancountries. This assistance program, called the Marshall Plan, would provide food,machinery, and other materials to rebuild Western Europe. (See chart.) AsCongress debated the $12.5 billion program in 1948, the Communists seized powerin Czechoslovakia. Congress immediately voted approval. The plan was a spectac-ular success. Even Communist Yugoslavia received aid after it broke away fromSoviet domination.

The Berlin Airlift While Europe began rebuilding, the United States and its alliesclashed with the Soviet Union over Germany. The Soviets wanted to keep their for-mer enemy weak and divided. But in 1948, France, Britain, and the United Statesdecided to withdraw their forces from Germany and allow their occupation zonesto form one nation. The Soviet Union responded by holding West Berlin hostage.

Although Berlin lay well within the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, it too had been divided into four zones. (See map on next page.) The Soviet Unioncut off highway, water, and rail traffic into Berlin’s western zones. The city facedstarvation. Stalin gambled that the Allies would surrender West Berlin or give up

Mill

ions

of

Dol

lars

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Other

Icelan

d

Yugo

slavia

Portu

gal

Swed

en

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rkey

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Denm

ark

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/Lux

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Austr

ia

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d

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any

Italy

Franc

e

Great

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2,82

6

2,44

5

1,31

6

1,29

7

877 561 547 515

257 237 153 146 119 51 33 29350

Source: Problèmes Économiques No. 306

Countries Aided by the Marshall Plan, 1948–1951

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts1. Drawing Conclusions Which country received the most aid from the United States?2. Making Inferences Why do you think Great Britain and France received so much aid?

Restructuring the Postwar World 969

their idea of reunifying Germany. But American and British officials flew food andsupplies into West Berlin for nearly 11 months. In May 1949, the Soviet Unionadmitted defeat and lifted the blockade.

The Cold War Divides the WorldThese conflicts marked the start of the Cold War between the United States and theSoviet Union. A cold war is a struggle over political differences carried on bymeans short of military action or war. Beginning in 1949, the superpowers usedspying, propaganda, diplomacy, and secret operations in their dealings with eachother. Much of the world allied with one side or the other. In fact, until the SovietUnion finally broke up in 1991, the Cold War dictated not only U.S. and Soviet for-eign policy, but influenced world alliances as well.

Superpowers Form Rival Alliances The Berlin blockade heightened WesternEurope’s fears of Soviet aggression. As a result, in 1949, ten western Europeannations joined with the United States and Canada to form a defensive militaryalliance. It was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). An attack onany NATO member would be met with armed force by all member nations.

The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat and formed it’s own alliance in 1955. Itwas called the Warsaw Pact and included the Soviet Union, East Germany,Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. In 1961, the EastGermans built a wall to separate East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall symbolizeda world divided into rival camps. However, not every country joined the newalliances. Some, like India, chose not to align with either side. And China, the largestCommunist country, came to distrust the Soviet Union. It remained nonaligned.

The Threat of Nuclear War As these alliances were forming, the Cold Warthreatened to heat up enough to destroy the world. The United States already hadatomic bombs. In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its own atomic weapon.President Truman was determined to develop a more deadly weapon before theSoviets did. He authorized work on a thermonuclear weapon in 1950.

50° N

8° E

16° E

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

AUSTRIA

SWITZ.

NETH.

BELG.

LUX.

DENMARK

FRANCE

ITALY

EASTGERMANYWEST

GERMANY

Hanover

Hamburg

Baden-Baden MunichFreiburg

Mainz

Gatow

Tegel

Tempelhof

BERLIN

0 200 Miles

0 400 Kilometers

BritishFrenchSovietU.S.

Air corridorAirport

Occupation zones

Divided Germany, 1948–1949The Berlin AirliftFrom June 1948 to May 1949, Allied planestook off and landed every three minutes inWest Berlin. On 278,000 flights, pilots broughtin 2.3 million tons of food, fuel, medicine, andeven Christmas gifts to West Berliners.

SummarizingWhat Soviet

actions led to theBerlin airlift?

970 Chapter 33

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • United Nations • iron curtain • containment • Truman Doctrine • Marshall Plan • Cold War • NATO • Warsaw Pact • brinkmanship

USING YOUR NOTES2. Which effect of the Cold War

was the most significant?Explain.

MAIN IDEAS3. What was the purpose in

forming the United Nations?

4. What was the goal of theMarshall Plan?

5. What were the goals of NATOand the Warsaw Pact?

SECTION ASSESSMENT1

INTERNET ACTIVITY

Use the Internet to research NATO today. Prepare a chart listingmembers today and the date they joined. Then compare it with a listof the founding members.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING What factors help to

explain why the United States and the Soviet Unionbecame rivals instead of allies?

7. ANALYZING MOTIVES What were Stalin’s objectives insupporting Communist governments in Eastern Europe?

8. ANALYZING ISSUES Why might Berlin be a likely spot fortrouble to develop during the Cold War?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Draw a political cartoonthat shows either capitalism from the Soviet point of viewor communism from the U.S. point of view.

ECONOMICS

INTERNET KEYWORDNorth Atlantic TreatyOrganization

1945

Yaltaconference

1960

U-2incident

RecognizingEffects

How did theU.S. policy of brink-manship contributeto the arms race?

The hydrogen or H-bomb would be thousands of times more powerful than theA-bomb. Its power came from the fusion, or joining together, of atoms, rather thanthe splitting of atoms, as in the A-bomb. In 1952, the United States tested the firstH-bomb. The Soviets exploded their own in 1953.

Dwight D. Eisenhower became the U.S. president in 1953. He appointed thefirmly anti-Communist John Foster Dulles as his secretary of state. If the SovietUnion or its supporters attacked U.S. interests, Dulles threatened, the United Stateswould “retaliate instantly, by means and at places of our own choosing.” This will-ingness to go to the brink, or edge, of war became known as brinkmanship.Brinkmanship required a reliable source of nuclear weapons and airplanes todeliver them. So, the United States strengthened its air force and began producingstockpiles of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union responded with its own militarybuildup, beginning an arms race that would go on for four decades.

The Cold War in the Skies The Cold War also affected the science and educationprograms of the two countries. In August 1957, the Soviets announced the develop-ment of a rocket that could travel great distances—an intercontinental ballistic mis-sile, or ICBM. On October 4, the Soviets used an ICBM to push Sputnik, the firstunmanned satellite, above the earth’s atmosphere. Americans felt they had fallenbehind in science and technology, and the government poured money into scienceeducation. In 1958, the United States launched its own satellite.

In 1960, the skies again provided the arena for a superpower conflict. Five yearsearlier, Eisenhower had proposed that the United States and the Soviet Union beable to fly over each other’s territory to guard against surprise nuclear attacks. TheSoviet Union said no. In response, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)started secret high-altitude spy flights over Soviet territory in planes called U-2s.In May 1960, the Soviets shot down a U-2 plane, and its pilot, Francis GaryPowers, was captured. This U-2 incident heightened Cold War tensions.

While Soviet Communists were squaring off against the United States,Communists in China were fighting a civil war for control of that country.

Recognizing EffectsUse a chart to identify the causes and effectsof the CommunistRevolution in China.

TAKING NOTES

Cause Effect

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

972 Chapter 33

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

REVOLUTION After World War II,Chinese Communists defeatedNationalist forces and twoseparate Chinas emerged.

China remains a Communistcountry and a major power inthe world.

• Mao Zedong• Jiang Jieshi• commune

• Red Guards• Cultural Revolution

2

SETTING THE STAGE In World War II, China fought on the side of the victo-rious Allies. But the victory proved to be a hollow one for China. During the war,Japan’s armies had occupied and devastated most of China’s cities. China’s civilian death toll alone was estimated between 10 to 22 million persons. Thisvast country suffered casualties second only to those of the Soviet Union.However, conflict did not end with the defeat of the Japanese. In 1945, opposingChinese armies faced one another.

Communists vs. NationalistsAs you read in Chapter 30, a bitter civil war was raging between the Nationalistsand the Communists when the Japanese invaded China in 1937. During WorldWar II, the political opponents temporarily united to fight the Japanese. But theycontinued to jockey for position within China.

World War II in China Under their leader, Mao Zedong (MOW dzuh•dahng),the Communists had a stronghold in northwestern China. From there, they mobi-lized peasants for guerrilla war against the Japanese in the northeast. Thanks totheir efforts to promote literacy and improve food production, the Communistswon the peasants’ loyalty. By 1945, they controlled much of northern China.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist forces under Jiang Jieshi (jee•ahng jee•shee)dominated southwestern China. Protected from the Japanese by rugged mountainranges, Jiang gathered an army of 2.5 million men. From 1942 to 1945, theUnited States sent the Nationalists at least $1.5 billion in aid to fight theJapanese. Instead of benefiting the army, however, these supplies and moneyoften ended up in the hands of a few corrupt officers. Jiang’s army actuallyfought few battles against the Japanese. Instead, the Nationalist army saved itsstrength for the coming battle against Mao’s Red Army. After Japan surrendered,the Nationalists and Communists resumed fighting.

Civil War Resumes The renewed civil war lasted from 1946 to 1949. At first,the Nationalists had the advantage. Their army outnumbered the Communists’army by as much as three to one. And the United States continued its support byproviding nearly $2 billion in aid. The Nationalist forces, however, did little towin popular support. With China’s economy collapsing, thousands of Nationalistsoldiers deserted to the Communists. In spring 1949, China’s major cities fell to

Communists Take Power in China

Restructuring the Postwar World 973

the well-trained Red forces. Mao’s troops were also enthusiastic about his promiseto return land to the peasants. The remnants of Jiang’s shattered army fled south.In October 1949, Mao Zedong gained control of the country. He proclaimed it thePeople’s Republic of China. Jiang and other Nationalist leaders retreated to theisland of Taiwan, which Westerners called Formosa.

Mao Zedong’s victory fueled U.S. anti-Communist feelings. Those feelings onlygrew after the Chinese and Soviets signed a treaty of friendship in 1950. Manypeople in the United States viewed the takeover of China as another step in aCommunist campaign to conquer the world.

The Two Chinas Affect the Cold WarChina had split into two nations. One was the island of Taiwan, or NationalistChina, with an area of 13,000 square miles. The mainland, or People’s Republic of China, had an area of more than 3.5 million square miles. The existence of two Chinas, and the conflicting international loyalties they inspired, intensified the Cold War.

The Superpowers React After Jiang Jieshi fled to Taiwan, the United Stateshelped him set up a Nationalist government on that small island. It was called theRepublic of China. The Soviets gave financial, military, and technical aid toCommunist China. In addition, the Chinese and the Soviets pledged to come toeach other’s defense if either was attacked. The United States tried to halt Sovietexpansion in Asia. For example, when Soviet forces occupied the northern half ofKorea after World War II and set up a Communist government, the United Statessupported a separate state in the south.

China Expands under the Communists In the early years of Mao’s reign, Chinesetroops expanded into Tibet, India, and southern, or Inner, Mongolia. Northern, orOuter, Mongolia, which bordered the Soviet Union, remained in the Soviet sphere.

In a brutal assault in 1950 and 1951, China took control of Tibet. The Chinesepromised autonomy to Tibetans, who followed their religious leader, the DalaiLama. When China’s control over Tibet tightened in the late 1950s, the Dalai Lamafled to India. India welcomed many Tibetan refugees after a failed revolt in Tibet in

Chinese Political Opponents, 1945

Area Ruled

Domestic Policy

Public Support

Military Organization

Leader

Foreign Support

Southern China

Defeat of Communists

Weak due to inflation and failing economy

Ineffective, corrupt leadership and poor morale

Jiang Jieshi

United States

Northern China

National liberation

Strong due to promisedland reform for peasants

Experienced, motivatedguerrilla army

Mao Zedong

Soviet Union

Nationalists Communists

RecognizingEffects

How did theoutcome of theChinese civil warcontribute to ColdWar tensions?

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts1. Drawing Conclusions Which party’s domestic policy might appeal more to Chinese peasants?2. Forming and Supporting Opinions Which aspect of the Communist approach do you think

was most responsible for Mao’s victory? Explain.

974 Chapter 33

1959. As a result, resentment between India and China grew.In 1962, they clashed briefly over the two countries’ unclearborder. The fighting stopped but resentment continued.

The Communists Transform ChinaFor decades, China had been in turmoil, engaged in civilwar or fighting with Japan. So, when the Communists tookpower, they moved rapidly to strengthen their rule overChina’s 550 million people. They also aimed to restoreChina as a powerful nation.

Communists Claim a New “Mandate of Heaven” Aftertaking control of China, the Communists began to tightentheir hold. The party’s 4.5 million members made up just 1percent of the population. But they were a disciplinedgroup. Like the Soviets, the Chinese Communists set up twoparallel organizations, the Communist party and thenational government. Mao headed both until 1959.

Mao’s Brand of Marxist Socialism Mao was determinedto reshape China’s economy based on Marxist socialism.Eighty percent of the people lived in rural areas, but mostowned no land. Instead, 10 percent of the rural populationcontrolled 70 percent of the farmland. Under the AgrarianReform Law of 1950, Mao seized the holdings of theselandlords. His forces killed more than a million landlordswho resisted. He then divided the land among the peasants.Later, to further Mao’s socialist principles, the governmentforced peasants to join collective farms. Each of these farmswas comprised of 200 to 300 households.

Mao’s changes also transformed industry and business.Gradually, private companies were nationalized, or broughtunder government ownership. In 1953, Mao launched afive-year plan that set high production goals for industry.By 1957, China’s output of coal, cement, steel, and electric-ity had increased dramatically.

“The Great Leap Forward” To expand the success of thefirst Five-Year Plan, Mao proclaimed the “Great Leap Forward” in early 1958. Thisplan called for still larger collective farms, or communes. By the end of 1958, about26,000 communes had been created. The average commune sprawled over 15,000acres and supported over 25,000 people. In the strictly controlled life of the com-munes, peasants worked the land together. They ate in communal dining rooms, sleptin communal dormitories, and raised children in communal nurseries. And theyowned nothing. The peasants had no incentive to work hard when only the state prof-ited from their labor.

The Great Leap Forward was a giant step backward. Poor planning and ineffi-cient “backyard,” or home, industries hampered growth. The program was ended in1961 after crop failures caused a famine that killed about 20 million people.

New Policies and Mao’s Response China was facing external problems as wellas internal ones in the late 1950s. The spirit of cooperation that had bound theSoviet Union and China began to fade. Each sought to lead the worldwideCommunist movement. As they also shared the longest border in the world, theyfaced numerous territorial disputes.

Analyzing IssuesWhat aspects of

Marxist socialismdid Mao try to bringto China?

Mao Zedong 1893–1976

Born into a peasant family, Maoembraced Marxist socialism as ayoung man. Though he began as anurban labor organizer, Mao quicklyrealized the revolutionary potential of China’s peasants. In 1927, Maopredicted:

The force of the peasantry is likethat of the raging winds anddriving rain. . . . They will burybeneath them all forces ofimperialism, militarism, corruptofficialdom, village bosses and evil gentry.

Mao’s first attempt to lead thepeasants in revolt failed in 1927. Butduring the Japanese occupation, Maoand his followers won widespreadpeasant support by reducing rentsand promising to redistribute land.

RESEARCH LINKS For more on MaoZedong, go to classzone.com

Restructuring the Postwar World 975

USING YOUR NOTES2. Which effect of the

Communist Revolution inChina do you think had themost permanent impact?Explain.

MAIN IDEAS3. How did the Chinese

Communists increase theirpower during World War II?

4. What actions did theNationalists take during WorldWar II?

5. What was the goal of theCultural Revolution?

SECTION ASSESSMENT2

CREATING A COMPARISON CHART

Find political, economic, and demographic information on the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan and make a comparison chart.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. MAKING INFERENCES Why did the United States support

the Nationalists in the civil war in China?

7. ANALYZING ISSUES What policies or actions enabled theCommunists to defeat the Nationalists in their long civilwar?

8. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS What circumstances preventedMao’s Great Leap Forward from bringing economicprosperity to China?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write summaries of thereforms Mao Zedong proposed for China that could beplaced on a propaganda poster.

REVOLUTION

CONNECT TO TODAY

Cause Effect

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Mao Zedong • Jiang Jieshi • commune • Red Guards • Cultural Revolution

DrawingConclusions

Why did theCultural Revolutionfail?

After the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the splitwith the Soviet Union, Mao reduced his role in government.Other leaders moved away from Mao’s strict socialist ideas.For example, farm families could live in their own homes andcould sell crops they grew on small private plots. Factoryworkers could compete for wage increases and promotions.

Mao thought China’s new economic policies weakenedthe Communist goal of social equality. He was determined torevive the revolution. In 1966, he urged China’s young peo-ple to “learn revolution by making revolution.” Millions ofhigh school and college students responded. They left theirclassrooms and formed militia units called Red Guards.

The Cultural Revolution The Red Guards led a majoruprising known as the Cultural Revolution. Its goal was toestablish a society of peasants and workers in which allwere equal. The new hero was the peasant who worked withhis hands. The life of the mind—intellectual and artisticactivity—was considered useless and dangerous. To stampout this threat, the Red Guards shut down colleges andschools. They targeted anyone who resisted the regime.Intellectuals had to “purify” themselves by doing hard laborin remote villages. Thousands were executed or imprisoned.

Chaos threatened farm production and closed down fac-tories. Civil war seemed possible. By 1968, even Maoadmitted that the Cultural Revolution had to stop. The armywas ordered to put down the Red Guards. Zhou Enlai (johehn•leye), Chinese Communist party founder and premiersince 1949, began to restore order. While China was strug-gling to become stable, the Cold War continued to rage. Twofull-scale wars were fought—in Korea and in Vietnam.

The Red GuardsThe Red Guards were students,mainly teenagers. They pledged theirdevotion to Chairman Mao and theCultural Revolution. From 1966 to1968, 20 to 30 million Red Guardsroamed China’s cities and country-side causing widespread chaos. Tosmash the old, non-Maoist way oflife, they destroyed buildings andbeat and even killed Mao’s allegedenemies. They lashed out atprofessors, government officials,factory managers, and even parents.

Eventually, even Mao turned onthem. Most were exiled to thecountryside. Others were arrestedand some executed.

Comparing andContrasting Use adiagram to compare and contrast the Koreanand Vietnam Wars.

TAKING NOTES

Vietnam War

Korean War

both

976 Chapter 33

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

REVOLUTION In Asia, the ColdWar flared into actual warssupported mainly by thesuperpowers.

Today, Vietnam is a Communistcountry, and Korea is split intoCommunist and non-Communist nations.

• 38th parallel• Douglas

MacArthur• Ho Chi Minh• domino theory

• Ngo Dinh Diem• Vietcong• Vietnamization• Khmer Rouge

3

SETTING THE STAGE When World War II ended, Korea became a dividednation. North of the 38th parallel, a line that crosses Korea at 38 degrees northlatitude, Japanese troops surrendered to Soviet forces. South of this line, theJapanese surrendered to American troops. As in Germany, two nations developed.(See map on next page.) One was the Communist industrial north, whose gov-ernment had been set up by the Soviets. The other was the non-Communist ruralsouth, supported by the Western powers.

War in KoreaBy 1949, both the United States and the Soviet Union had withdrawn most oftheir troops from Korea. The Soviets gambled that the United States would notdefend South Korea. So they supplied North Korea with tanks, airplanes, andmoney in an attempt to take over the peninsula.

Standoff at the 38th Parallel On June 25, 1950, North Koreans swept acrossthe 38th parallel in a surprise attack on South Korea. Within days, North Koreantroops had penetrated deep into the south. President Truman was convinced thatthe North Korean aggressors were repeating what Hitler, Mussolini, and theJapanese had done in the 1930s. Truman’s policy of containment was being putto the test. And Truman resolved to help South Korea resist communism.

South Korea also asked the United Nations to intervene. When the matter cameto a vote in the Security Council, the Soviets were absent. They had refused to takepart in the Council to protest admission of Nationalist China (Taiwan), rather than

Wars in Korea and Vietnam

▼ UN forceslanding atInchon in SouthKorea in 1950

Restructuring the Postwar World 977

Communist China, into the UN. As aresult, the Soviet Union could notveto the UN’s plan to send an interna-tional force to Korea to stop the inva-sion. A total of 15 nations, includingthe United States and Britain, partici-pated under the command of GeneralDouglas MacArthur.

Meanwhile, the North Koreanscontinued to advance. By September1950, they controlled the entireKorean peninsula except for a tiny area around Pusan in the farsoutheast. That month, however,MacArthur launched a surpriseattack. Troops moving north fromPusan met with forces that had madean amphibious landing at Inchon.Caught in this “pincer action,” abouthalf of the North Koreans surren-dered. The rest retreated.

The Fighting Continues The UNtroops pursued the retreating NorthKoreans across the 38th parallel intoNorth Korea. They pushed themalmost to the Yalu River at theChinese border. The UN forces weremostly from the United States. TheChinese felt threatened by thesetroops and by an American fleet offtheir coast. In October 1950, theysent 300,000 troops into North Korea.

The Chinese greatly outnumbered the UN forces. By January 1951, they hadpushed UN and South Korean troops out of North Korea. The Chinese then movedinto South Korea and captured the capital of Seoul. “We face an entirely new war,”declared MacArthur. He called for a nuclear attack against China. Truman viewedMacArthur’s proposals as reckless. “We are trying to prevent a world war, not startone,” he said. MacArthur tried to go over the President’s head by taking his case toCongress and the press. In response, Truman removed him.

Over the next two years, UN forces fought to drive the Chinese and NorthKoreans back. By 1952, UN troops had regained control of South Korea. Finally,in July 1953, the UN forces and North Korea signed a cease-fire agreement. Theborder between the two Koreas was set near the 38th parallel, almost where it hadbeen before the war. In the meantime, 4 million soldiers and civilians had died.

Aftermath of the War After the war, Korea remained divided. A demilitarizedzone, which still exists, separated the two countries. In North Korea, theCommunist dictator Kim Il Sung established collective farms, developed heavyindustry, and built up the military. At Kim’s death in 1994, his son Kim Jong Il tookpower. Under his rule, Communist North Korea developed nuclear weapons buthad serious economic problems. On the other hand, South Korea prospered, thankspartly to massive aid from the United States and other countries. In the 1960s, South

RecognizingEffects

What effectsdid the Korean warhave on the Koreanpeople and nation?

40°N

130°E

125°E

38th Parallel

35°N

Sea ofJapan

YellowSea

Ya

lu R.

SOUTHKOREA

JAPAN

NORTHKOREA

CHINA

SOVIETUNION

Antung

Chosan

UnsanHungnam

ChineseIntervention,October 1950

Wonsan

Pyongyang

PanmunjomSeoul

Pohang

Taegu

Taejon

Mokpo Pusan

InchonU.S. Marine StrikeSeptember 1950

0

0

100 Miles

200 Kilometers

Farthest NorthKorean advance,September 1950Farthest UN advance, November 1950Farthest Chineseand North Koreanadvance, January 1951Armistice line, 1953

War in Korea,1950–1953

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Movement What was the northernmost Korean city UN troops

had reached by November 1950?2. Movement Did North or South Korean forces advance farther

into the other’s territory?

Korea concentrated on developing its industry and expanding foreign trade. A suc-cession of dictatorships ruled the rapidly developing country. With the 1987 adop-tion of a democratic constitution, however, South Korea established free elections.During the 1980s and 1990s, South Korea had one of the highest economic growthrates in the world.

Political differences have kept the two Koreas apart, despite periodic discussionsof reuniting the country. North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is a majorobstacle. The United States still keeps troops in South Korea.

War Breaks Out in VietnamMuch like its involvement in the Korean War, the involvement of the United Statesin Vietnam stemmed from its Cold War containment policy. After World War II, stop-ping the spread of communism was the principal goal of U.S. foreign policy.

The Road to War In the early 1900s, France controlled most of resource-richSoutheast Asia. (French Indochina included what are now Vietnam, Laos, andCambodia.) But nationalist independence movements had begun to develop. Ayoung Vietnamese nationalist, Ho Chi Minh, turned to the Communists for help inhis struggle. During the 1930s, Ho’s Indochinese Communist party led revolts andstrikes against the French.

The French responded by jailing Vietnamese protesters. They also sentenced Hoto death. He fled into exile, but returned to Vietnam in 1941,a year after the Japanese seized control of his country dur-ing World War II. Ho and other nationalists founded theVietminh (Independence) League. The Japanese wereforced out of Vietnam after their defeat in 1945. Ho ChiMinh believed that independence would follow, but Franceintended to regain its colony.

The Fighting Begins Vietnamese Nationalists andCommunists joined to fight the French armies. The Frenchheld most major cities, but the Vietminh had widespread sup-port in the countryside. The Vietminh used hit-and-run tacticsto confine the French to the cities. In France the people beganto doubt that their colony was worth the lives and money thestruggle cost. In 1954, the French suffered a major militarydefeat at Dien Bien Phu. They surrendered to Ho.

The United States had supported France in Vietnam.With the defeat of the French, the United States saw a risingthreat to the rest of Asia. President Eisenhower describedthis threat in terms of the domino theory. The SoutheastAsian nations were like a row of dominos, he said. The fallof one to communism would lead to the fall of its neighbors.This theory became a major justification for U.S. foreignpolicy during the Cold War era.

Vietnam—A Divided Country After France’s defeat, aninternational peace conference met in Geneva to discuss the future of Indochina. Based on these talks, Vietnam was divided at 17° north latitude. North of that line, Ho Chi Minh’s Communist forces governed. To the south, the United States and France set up an anti-Communist government under the leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem(NOH dihn D’YEM).

Ho Chi Minh1890–1969

When he was young, the poorVietnamese Nguyen That(uhng•wihn thaht) Thanh worked asa cook on a French steamship. Invisiting U.S. cities where the boatdocked, he learned about Americanculture and ideals. He later took anew name—Ho Chi Minh, meaning“He who enlightens.” Though aCommunist, in proclaiming Vietnam’sindependence from France in 1945,he declared, “All men are createdequal.”

His people revered him, callinghim Uncle Ho. However, Ho Chi Minhdid not put his democratic ideals intopractice. He ruled North Vietnam bycrushing all opposition.

978 Chapter 33

Making InferencesWhat actions

might the UnitedStates have justifiedby the domino theory?

0

0

100 Miles

200 Kilometers

National LiberationFront (Vietcong)Saigon governmentContested areas

Areas controlled in 1973

War in Vietnam, 1957–1973

1968—U.S. Marines at the Battle of Hue

1965—U.S. bombing of North Vietnam

1975—Evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Saigon

SOUTHVIETNAM

LAOS

CHINA

CAMBODIA

NORTHVIETNAM

Gulf ofTonkin

Gulf ofThailand

SouthChina

Sea

Mekong R.

MekongDelta

Hainan

20°N

15°N

10°N 110°E

105°E

HaiphongHanoi

Vihn

Dong Hoi

Hue

Da Nang

Chulai

Kon Tum

Saigon

Bien Hoa

PhnomPenh

Cam RahnBay

Dien BienPhu

HoChi M

ihn Trail

DemarcationLine, 1954

U.S. SeventhFleet, 1964

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps1. Human-Environment Interaction Did the Saigon

government or the Vietcong control more of SouthVietnam in 1973?

2. Movement Through what other countries did NorthVietnamese troops move to invade South Vietnam?

Diem ruled the south as a dictator. Opposition to his government grew.Communist guerrillas, called Vietcong, began to gain strength in the south. Whilesome of the Vietcong were trained soldiers from North Vietnam, most were SouthVietnamese who hated Diem. Gradually, the Vietcong won control of large areas ofthe countryside. In 1963, a group of South Vietnamese generals had Diem assassi-nated. But the new leaders were no more popular than he had been. It appeared that atakeover by the Communist Vietcong, backed by North Vietnam, was inevitable.

The United States Gets InvolvedFaced with the possibility of a Communist victory, the United States decided toescalate, or increase, its involvement. Some U.S. troops had been serving as advis-ers to the South Vietnamese since the late 1950s. But their numbers steadily grew,as did the numbers of planes and other military equipment sent to South Vietnam.

U.S. Troops Enter the Fight In August 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson toldCongress that North Vietnamese patrol boats had attacked two U.S. destroyers inthe Gulf of Tonkin. As a result, Congress authorized the president to send U.S.troops to fight in Vietnam. By late 1965, more than 185,000 U.S. soldiers were incombat on Vietnamese soil. U.S. planes had also begun to bomb North Vietnam.By 1968, more than half a million U.S. soldiers were in combat there.

The United States had the best-equipped, most advanced army in the world. Yetit faced two major difficulties. First, U.S. soldiers were fighting a guerrilla war inunfamiliar jungle terrain. Second, the South Vietnamese government that they weredefending was becoming more unpopular. At the same time, support for theVietcong grew, with help and supplies from Ho Chi Minh, the Soviet Union, andChina. Unable to win a decisive victory on the ground, the United States turned toair power. U.S. forces bombed millions of acres of farmland and forest in anattempt to destroy enemy hideouts. This bombing strengthened peasants’opposi-tion to the South Vietnamese government.

The United States Withdraws During the late 1960s, the war grew increasinglyunpopular in the United States. Dissatisfied young people began to protest the tremen-

dous loss of life in a conflict on the other side of the world.Bowing to intense public pressure, President Richard Nixonbegan withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam in 1969.

Nixon had a plan called Vietnamization. It allowedfor U.S. troops to gradually pull out, while the SouthVietnamese increased their combat role. To pursueVietnamization while preserving the South Vietnamesegovernment, Nixon authorized a massive bombing cam-paign against North Vietnamese bases and supply routes.He also authorized bombings in neighboring Laos andCambodia to destroy Vietcong hiding places.

In response to protests and political pressure at home,Nixon kept withdrawing U.S. troops. The last left in1973. Two years later, the North Vietnamese overranSouth Vietnam. The war ended, but more than 1.5 millionVietnamese and 58,000 Americans lost their lives.

Postwar Southeast AsiaWar’s end did not bring an immediate halt to bloodshed andchaos in Southeast Asia. Cambodia (also known asKampuchea) was under siege by Communist rebels.

▼ The skulls and bones ofCambodiancitizens form a hauntingmemorial to the brutality of its Communistgovernment inthe 1970s.

Restructuring the Postwar World 981

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • 38th parallel • Douglas MacArthur • Ho Chi Minh • domino theory • Ngo Dinh Diem • Vietcong • Vietnamization • Khmer Rouge

USING YOUR NOTES 2. In what ways were the causes

and effects of the wars inKorea and Vietnam similar?

MAIN IDEAS3. What role did the United

Nations play in the KoreanWar?

4. How did Vietnam becomedivided?

5. What was the Khmer Rouge’splan for Cambodia?

SECTION ASSESSMENT3

WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

Research the present-day leader of one of the countries discussed in this section. Then write a three-paragraph biography.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. ANALYZING MOTIVES What role did the policy of

containment play in the involvement of the United Statesin wars in Korea and Vietnam?

7. IDENTIFYING CAUSES How might imperialism be one ofthe causes of the Vietnam War?

8. FORMING OPINIONS Do you think U.S. involvement inVietnam was justified? Why or why not?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write a two-paragraph expository essay for either the United Statesor the Soviet Union supporting its involvement in Asia.

EMPIRE BUILDING

CONNECT TO TODAY

Vietnam War

Korean War

both

RecognizingEffects

What was oneof the effects of PolPot’s efforts to turnCambodia into arural society?

During the war, it had suffered U.S. bombing when it was usedas a sanctuary by North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops.

Cambodia in Turmoil In 1975, Communist rebels knownas the Khmer Rouge set up a brutal Communist govern-ment under the leadership of Pol Pot. In a ruthless attemptto transform Cambodia into a Communist society, Pol Pot’sfollowers slaughtered 2 million people. This was almost onequarter of the nation’s population. The Vietnamese invadedin 1978. They overthrew the Khmer Rouge and installed aless repressive government. But fighting continued. TheVietnamese withdrew in 1989. In 1993, under the supervi-sion of UN peacekeepers, Cambodia adopted a democraticconstitution and held free elections.

Vietnam after the War After 1975, the victorious NorthVietnamese imposed tight controls over the South. Officialssent thousands of people to “reeducation camps” for trainingin Communist thought. They nationalized industries andstrictly controlled businesses. They also renamed Saigon, theSouth’s former capital, Ho Chi Minh City. Communistoppression caused 1.5 million people to flee Vietnam. Mostescaped in dangerously overcrowded ships. More than200,000 “boat people” died at sea. The survivors often spentmonths in refugee camps in Southeast Asia. About 70,000eventually settled in the United States or Canada. AlthoughCommunists still govern Vietnam, the country now wel-comes foreign investment. The United States normalizedrelations with Vietnam in 1995.

While the superpowers were struggling for advantageduring the Korean and Vietnam wars, they also were seek-ing influence in other parts of the world.

Vietnam TodayVietnam remains a Communist country. But, like China, it hasintroduced elements of capitalisminto its economy. In 1997, a travelmagazine claimed that Hanoi, thecapital of Vietnam, “jumps withvitality, its streets and shops jammedwith locals and handfuls of Westerntourists and businesspeople.” Above,two executives tour the city.

Along Hanoi’s shaded boulevards,billboards advertise U.S. andJapanese copiers, motorcycles, videorecorders, and soft drinks. On thestreets, enterprising Vietnamesebusinesspeople offer more traditionalservices. These include bicycle repair,a haircut, a shave, or a tasty snack.

Determining Main IdeasUse a chart to list mainpoints about Third Worldconfrontations.

TAKING NOTES

Country Conflict

Cuba

Nicaragug aIran

982 Chapter 33

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

REVOLUTION The superpowerssupported opposing sides inLatin American and MiddleEastern conflicts.

Many of these areas today aretroubled by political, economic,and military conflict and crisis.

• Third World• nonaligned

nations• Fidel Castro

• Anastasio Somoza• Daniel Ortega• Ayatollah Ruholla

Khomeini

4

SETTING THE STAGE Following World War II, the world’s nations weregrouped politically into three “worlds.” The first was the industrialized capitalistnations, including the United States and its allies. The second was theCommunist nations led by the Soviet Union. The Third World consisted ofdeveloping nations, often newly independent, who were not aligned with eithersuperpower. These nonaligned countries provided yet another arena for competi-tion between the Cold War superpowers.

Fighting for the Third WorldThe Third World nations were located in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Theywere economically poor and politically unstable. This was largely due to a longhistory of colonialism. They also suffered from ethnic conflicts and lack of tech-nology and education. Each needed a political and economic system aroundwhich to build its society. Soviet-style communism and U.S.-style free-marketdemocracy were the main choices.

Cold War Strategies The United States, the Soviet Union, and, in some cases,China, used a variety of techniques to gain influence in the Third World. (See fea-ture on next page.) They backed wars of revolution, liberation, or counterrevolu-tion. The U.S. and Soviet intelligence agencies—the CIA and the KGB—engagedin various covert, or secret, activities, ranging from spying to assassinationattempts. The United States also gave military aid, built schools, set up programsto combat poverty, and sent volunteer workers to many developing nations. TheSoviets offered military and technical assistance, mainly to India and Egypt.

Association of Nonaligned Nations Other developing nations also neededassistance. They became important players in the Cold War competition betweenthe United States, the Soviet Union, and later, China. But not all Third Worldcountries wished to play a role in the Cold War. As mentioned earlier Indiavowed to remain neutral. Indonesia, a populous island nation in Southeast Asia,also struggled to stay uninvolved. In 1955, it hosted many leaders from Asia andAfrica at the Bandung Conference. They met to form what they called a “thirdforce” of independent countries, or nonaligned nations. Some nations, such asIndia and Indonesia, were able to maintain their neutrality. But others took sideswith the superpowers or played competing sides against each other.

The Cold War Divides the World

Egypt built the Aswan Dam with Soviet aid.

Foreign Aid Espionage Multinational Alliances

The two superpowers tried to win allies by giving financial aid to other nations. For instance, Egypt took aid from the Soviet Union to build the Aswan High Dam (see photograph above).

Fearing the enemy might be gaining the advantage, each side spied on the other. One famous incident was the Soviet downing of a U.S. U-2 spy plane in 1960.

To gain the support of other nations, both the Soviet Union and the United States entered into alliances. Two examples of this were NATO and the Warsaw Pact (shown on map above).

Both superpowers used propaganda to try to win support overseas. For example, Radio Free Europe broadcast radio programs about the rest of the world into Eastern Europe.

The policy of brinkmanship meant going to the brink of war to make the other side back down. One example was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Propaganda Brinkmanship Surrogate Wars

The word surrogate means substitute. Although the United States and the Soviet Union did not fight each other directly, they fought indirectly by backing opposing sides in many smaller conflicts.

Major Strategies of the Cold War

How the Cold War Was FoughtDuring the Cold War, the United States and the SovietUnion both believed that they needed to stop theother side from extending its power. Whatdifferentiated the Cold War from other 20th centuryconflicts was that the two enemies did not engage ina shooting war. Instead, they pursued their rivalry byusing the strategies shown below.

Reconstructing the Postwar World 983

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visuals1. Generalizing Judging from the map, how would you describe the effect on

Europe of multinational alliances?2. Analyzing Motives What motive did the two superpowers have for fighting

surrogate wars?

984 Chapter 33

Confrontations in Latin AmericaAfter World War II, rapid industrialization, population growth, and a lingering gapbetween the rich and the poor led Latin American nations to seek aid from bothsuperpowers. At the same time, many of these countries alternated between short-lived democracy and harsh military rule. As described in Chapter 28, U.S. involve-ment in Latin America began long before World War II. American businessesbacked leaders who protected U.S. interests but who also often oppressed their peo-ple. After the war, communism and nationalistic feelings inspired revolutionarymovements. These found enthusiastic Soviet support. In response, the UnitedStates provided military and economic assistance to anti-Communist dictators.

Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by anunpopular dictator, Fulgencio Batista, who had U.S. support. Cuban resentment ledto a popular revolution, which overthrew Batista in January 1959. A young lawyernamed Fidel Castro led that revolution. At first, many people praised Castro for

bringing social reforms to Cuba and improving the economy.Yet Castro was a harsh dictator. He suspended elections, jailedor executed his opponents, and tightly controlled the press.

When Castro nationalized the Cuban economy, he took over U.S.-owned sugar mills and refineries. In response,Eisenhower ordered an embargo on all trade with Cuba. Castrothen turned to the Soviets for economic and military aid.

Tropic of Capricorn

Arctic Circle

40°N

120°

W

80°W

80°E

40°W

40°E

0°

Tropic of Cancer

40°S

0° Equator

SOVIET UNIONGERMANY

GREECE

ANGOLA

CONGO

MOZAMBIQUEBOLIVIA

CHILE

GUATEMALA

UNITEDSTATES

CUBA

TURKEY

EGYPT

IRANCHINA

NORTHKOREA

SOUTH KOREA

VIETNAM

MALAYSIA

I N D O N E S I A

NORTH

AMERICA

SOUTH

AMERICA

EUROPE

A F R I C A

AS I A

AUSTRALIA

ATLANTIC OCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

INDIAN OCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

7. The United Statesintervenes in thegovernments ofGuatemala (1954),Bolivia (1956), and Chile (1973).

2. Communistsretain or gaincontrol after bloodywars in Korea(1950–1953) andVietnam (1957–1975).

3. The Sovietsdown U.S. U-2pilot Francis GaryPowers in 1960.

6. Britain helpsIndonesia repress aCommunist uprisingin 1965.

1. The United Stateshelps Greece defeatCommunist-ledrebels (1946–1949)and gives economicand military aid toTurkey (1947–1950).

4. The United Statesand the Soviet Unionbring the world tothe brink of nuclearwar during the Cubanmissile crisis in 1962.

5. The Soviet Unionaids anticolonialstruggles in Congo(1960), Mozambique (1971), and Angola (1974).0

0

3,000 Miles

5,000 Kilometers

Communist expansionCommunist expansionprevented by U.S. andallies

Cold War Hot Spots, 1948–1975

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Location On what continents identified on the map did Cold War conflicts not occur?2. Region About what fraction of the globe did Communists control by 1975?

CUBA

NICARAGUA

In 1960, the CIA began to train anti-Castro Cuban exiles.In April 1961, they invaded Cuba, landing at the Bay of Pigs.However, the United States did not provide the hoped for airsupport. Castro’s forces easily defeated the invaders, humiliat-ing the United States.

Nuclear Face-off: the Cuban Missile Crisis The failedBay of Pigs invasion convinced Soviet leader NikitaKhrushchev that the United States would not resist Sovietexpansion in Latin America. So, in July 1962, Khrushchevsecretly began to build 42 missile sites in Cuba. In October,an American spy plane discovered the sites. President JohnF. Kennedy declared that missiles so close to the U.S. main-land were a threat. He demanded their removal and alsoannounced a naval blockade of Cuba to prevent the Sovietsfrom installing more missiles.

Castro protested his country’s being used as a pawn in theCold War:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C ECuba did not and does not intend to be in the middle of aconflict between the East and the West. Our problem is aboveall one of national sovereignty. Cuba does not mean to getinvolved in the Cold War.

FIDEL CASTRO, quoted in an interview October 27, 1962

But Castro and Cuba were deeply involved. Kennedy’sdemand for the removal of Soviet missiles put the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union on a collision course. Peoplearound the world feared nuclear war. Fortunately, Khru-shchev agreed to remove the missiles in return for a U.S.promise not to invade Cuba.

The resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis left Castrocompletely dependent on Soviet support. In exchange for thissupport, Castro backed Communist revolutions in LatinAmerica and Africa. Soviet aid to Cuba, however, endedabruptly with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Thisloss dealt a crippling blow to the Cuban economy. But the aging Castro refused toadopt economic reforms or to give up power.

Civil War in Nicaragua Just as the United States had supported Batista in Cuba, ithad funded the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza and his familysince 1933. In 1979, Communist Sandinista rebels toppled Somoza’s son. Both theUnited States and the Soviet Union initially gave aid to the Sandinistas and theirleader, Daniel Ortega (awr•TAY•guh). The Sandinistas, however, gave assistanceto other Marxist rebels in nearby El Salvador. To help the El Salvadoran govern-ment fight those rebels, the United States supported Nicaraguan anti-Communistforces called the Contras or contrarevolucionarios.

The civil war in Nicaragua lasted more than a decade and seriously weakenedthe country’s economy. In 1990, President Ortega agreed to hold free elections, thefirst in the nation’s history. Violeta Chamorro, a reform candidate, defeated him.The Sandinistas were also defeated in elections in 1996 and 2001.

Reconstructing the Postwar World 985

Analyzing MotivesWhy did the

U.S. switch its sup-port from theSandinistas to theContras?

ContrastingWhat differing

U.S. and Sovietaims led to theCuban missile crisis?

Fidel Castro1926–

The son of a wealthy Spanish-Cubanfarmer, Fidel Castro became involvedin politics at the University of Havana.He first tried to overthrow the Cubandictator, Batista, in 1953. He wasimprisoned, but vowed to continuethe struggle for independence:

Personally, I am not interested inpower nor do I envisage assumingit at any time. All that I will do isto make sure that the sacrifices ofso many compatriots should not bein vain.

Despite this declaration, Castro hasruled Cuba as a dictator for morethan 40 years.

INTERNET ACTIVITY Create a time lineof the important events in Castro’s rule of Cuba. Go to classzone.com foryour research.

Confrontations in the Middle EastAs the map on page 984 shows, Cold War confrontations continued to erupt aroundthe globe. The oil-rich Middle East attracted both superpowers.

Religious and Secular Values Clash in Iran Throughout the Middle East, oilindustry wealth fueled a growing clash between traditional Islamic values andmodern Western materialism. In no country was this cultural conflict more dra-matically shown than in Iran (Persia before 1935). After World War II, Iran’s leader,

Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (pah•luh•vee), embracedWestern governments and wealthy Western oil companies.Iranian nationalists resented these foreign alliances and unitedunder Prime Minister Muhammed Mossadeq (moh•sah•DEHK).They nationalized a British-owned oil company and, in 1953,forced the shah to flee. Fearing Iran might turn to the Soviets forsupport, the United States helped restore the shah to power.

The United States Supports Secular Rule With U.S. support, the shah western-ized his country. By the end of the 1950s, Iran’s capital, Tehran, featured gleamingskyscrapers, foreign banks, and modern factories. Millions of Iranians, however,still lived in extreme poverty. The shah tried to weaken the political influence ofIran’s conservative Muslim leaders, known as ayatollahs (eye•uh• TOH•luhz), whoopposed Western influences. The leader of this religious opposition, AyatollahRuholla Khomeini (koh• MAY•nee), was living in exile. Spurred by his tape-recorded messages, Iranians rioted in every major city in late 1978. Faced withoverwhelming opposition, the shah fled Iran in 1979. A triumphant Khomeinireturned to establish an Islamic state and to export Iran’s militant form of Islam.

Khomeini’s Anti-U.S. Policies Strict adherence to Islam ruled Khomeini’s domes-tic policies. But hatred of the United States, because of U.S. support for the shah,was at the heart of his foreign policy. In 1979, with the ayatollah’s blessing, youngIslamic revolutionaries seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They took more than 60Americans hostage and demanded the United States force the shah to face trial.Most hostages remained prisoners for 444 days before being released in 1981.

Khomeini encouraged Muslim radicals elsewhere to overthrow their seculargovernments. Intended to unify Muslims, this policy heightened tensions betweenIran and its neighbor and territorial rival, Iraq. A military leader, Saddam Hussein(hoo•SAYN), governed Iraq as a secular state.

Analyzing MotivesWhy did the

United States support the shah of Iran?

IRAN

AFGHANISTAN

▼ AyatollahKhomeini (inset)supported thetaking of U.S.hostages by Islamicmilitants in Tehranin 1979.

986 Chapter 33

Reconstructing the Postwar World 987

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Third World • nonaligned nations • Fidel Castro • Anastasio Somoza • Daniel Ortega • Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini

USING YOUR NOTES 2. Which confrontation had the

most lasting significance?

MAIN IDEAS3. How was the Cuban Missile

Crisis resolved?

4. What was significant about the1990 elections in Nicaragua?

5. Why did the Soviet Unioninvade Afghanistan?

SECTION ASSESSMENT4

WRITING AN OPINION PAPER

Research the effects of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. Write a two-paragraph opinionpaper on whether it would be in the best interests of the United States to lift that embargo.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. MAKING INFERENCES What advantages and

disadvantages might being nonaligned have offered adeveloping nation during the Cold War?

7. COMPARING What similarities do you see among U.S.actions in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Iran?

8. ANALYZING CAUSES What were the reasons that Islamicfundamentalists took control of Iran?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY For either Cuba,Nicaragua, or Iran, write an annotated time line of eventsdiscussed in this section.

REVOLUTION

CONNECT TO TODAY

Country Conflict

Cuba

Nicaragug aIran

ComparingIn what ways

were U.S. involve-ment in Vietnamand Soviet involve-ment in Afghanistansimilar?

War broke out between Iran and Iraq in 1980. The UnitedStates secretly gave aid to both sides because it did not wantthe balance of power in the region to change. The SovietUnion, on the other hand, had long been a supporter of Iraq.A million Iranians and Iraqis died in the war before the UNnegotiated a ceasefire in 1988.

The Superpowers Face Off in Afghanistan For severalyears following World War II, Afghanistan maintained itsindependence from both the neighboring Soviet Union andthe United States. In the 1950s, however, Soviet influence inthe country began to increase. In the late 1970s, a Muslimrevolt threatened to topple Afghanistan’s Communistregime. This revolt led to a Soviet invasion in 1979.

The Soviets expected to prop up the Afghan Communistsand quickly withdraw. Instead, just like the United States inVietnam, the Soviets found themselves stuck. And like theVietcong in Vietnam, rebel forces outmaneuvered a militarysuperpower. Supplied with American weapons, the Afganrebels, called mujahideen, or holy warriors, fought on.

The United States had armed the rebels because theyconsidered the Soviet invasion a threat to Middle Eastern oilsupplies. President Jimmy Carter warned the Sovietsagainst any attempt to gain control of the Persian Gulf. Toprotest the invasion, he stopped U.S. grain shipments to theSoviet Union and ordered a U.S. boycott of the 1980Moscow Olympics. In the 1980s, a new Soviet president,Mikhail Gorbachev, acknowledged the war’s devastatingcosts. He withdrew all Soviet troops by 1989. By then,internal unrest and economic problems were tearing apartthe Soviet Union itself.

The TalibanIslamic religious students, or taliban,were among the mujahideen rebelswho fought the Soviet occupation ofAfghanistan. Various groups ofstudents loosely organizedthemselves during a civil war amongmujahideen factions that followedthe Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

In 1996, one of these groups,called the Taliban, seized power andestablished an Islamic government.At first, they were popular amongmany Afghans. But they imposed arepressive rule especially harsh onwomen, and failed to improve thelives of the people. They also gavesanctuary to international Islamicterrorists. In 2001, an anti-terroristcoalition led by the United Statesdrove them from power.

Outlining Organize mainideas and details aboutthe Cold War thaw.

TAKING NOTES

I. Soviet Policy inEastern Europe and China

A. B.

II. From Brinkmanshipto Detente

988 Chapter 33

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

EMPIRE BUILDING The ColdWar began to thaw as thesuperpowers entered an era ofuneasy diplomacy.

The United States and thecountries of the former SovietUnion continue to cooperateand maintain a cautious peace.

• NikitaKhrushchev

• Leonid Brezhnev• John F. Kennedy • Lyndon Johnson

• détente• Richard M. Nixon• SALT• Ronald Reagan

5

SETTING THE STAGE In the postwar years, the Soviet Union kept a firm gripon its satellite countries in Eastern Europe. These countries were Poland,Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and East Germany.(Yugoslavia had broken away from Soviet control in 1948, although it remainedCommunist.) The Soviet Union did not allow them to direct and develop theirown economies. Instead, it insisted that they develop industries to meet Sovietneeds. These policies greatly hampered Eastern Europe’s economic recovery.

Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe and ChinaMore moderate Soviet leaders came to power after Stalin’s death. They allowedsatellite countries somewhat more independence, as long as they remained alliedwith the Soviet Union. During the 1950s and 1960s, however, growing protestmovements in Eastern Europe threatened the Soviet grip on the region.Increasing tensions with China also diverted Soviet attention and forces.

Destalinization and Rumblings of Protest After Stalin died in 1953, NikitaKhrushchev became the dominant Soviet leader. In 1956, the shrewd, toughKhrushchev denounced Stalin for jailing and killing loyal Soviet citizens. Hisspeech signaled the start of a policy called destalinization, or purging the coun-try of Stalin’s memory. Workers destroyed monuments of the former dictator.Khrushchev called for “peaceful competition” with capitalist states.

But this new Soviet outlook did not change life in satellite countries. Theirresentment at times turned to active protest. In October 1956, for example, theHungarian army joined protesters to overthrow Hungary’s Soviet-controlled gov-ernment. Storming through the capital, Budapest, mobs waved Hungarian flagswith the Communist hammer-and-sickle emblem cut out. “From the youngestchild to the oldest man,” one protester declared, “no one wants communism.”

A popular and liberal Hungarian Communist leader named Imre Nagy(IHM•ray nahj) formed a new government. Nagy promised free elections anddemanded Soviet troops leave. In response, Soviet tanks and infantry enteredBudapest in November. Thousands of Hungarian freedom fighters armed them-selves with pistols and bottles, but were overwhelmed. A pro-Soviet governmentwas installed, and Nagy was eventually executed.

The Cold War Thaws

Reconstructing the Postwar World 989

The Revolt in Czechoslovakia Despite the show of force in Hungary,Khrushchev lost prestige in his country as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis in1962. In 1964, party leaders voted to remove him from power. His replacement,Leonid Brezhnev, quickly adopted repressive domestic policies. The partyenforced laws to limit such basic human rights as freedom of speech and worship.Government censors controlled what writers could publish. Brezhnev clampeddown on those who dared to protest his policies. For example, the secret policearrested many dissidents, including Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970Nobel Prize for literature. They then expelled him from the Soviet Union.

Brezhnev made clear that he would not tolerate dissent in Eastern Europe either.His policy was put to the test in early 1968. At that time, Czech Communist leaderAlexander Dubc

vek (DOOB•chehk) loosened controls on censorship to offer his

country socialism with “a human face.” This period of reform, whenCzechoslovakia’s capital bloomed with new ideas, became known as PragueSpring. However, it did not survive the summer. On August 20, armed forces fromthe Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia. Brezhnev justified this invasionby claiming the Soviet Union had the right to prevent its satellites from rejectingcommunism, a policy known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.

The Soviet-Chinese Split While many satellite countries resisted Communistrule, China was committed to communism. In fact, to cement the ties betweenCommunist powers, Mao and Stalin had signed a 30-year treaty of friendship in1950. Their spirit of cooperation, however, ran out before the treaty did.

The Soviets assumed the Chinese would follow Soviet leadership in world affairs.As the Chinese grew more confident, however, they resented being in Moscow’sshadow. They began to spread their own brand of communism in Africa and other

Analyzing IssuesWhy was Nikita

Khruschev removedfrom power in1964?

Imre Nagy (1896–1958)Imre Nagy was born into a peasantfamily in Hungary. During World War I,he was captured by the Soviets andrecruited into their army. He thenbecame a Communist.

Nagy held several posts in hiscountry’s Communist government, buthis loyalty remained with the peasants.Because of his independent approach,he fell in and out of favor with the SovietUnion. In October 1956, he led an anti-Soviet revolt. After the Soviets forcefullyput down the uprising, they tried andexecuted him.

In 1989, after Communists lost controlof Hungary’s government, Nagy wasreburied with official honors.

Alexander Dubcvek (1921–1992)

Alexander Dubcvek was the son of aCzech Communist Party member. Hemoved rapidly up through its ranks,becoming party leader in 1968.

Responding to the spirit of change inthe 1960s, Dubcvek instituted broadreforms during the so-called PragueSpring of 1968. The Soviet Union reactedby sending tanks into Prague to suppressa feared revolt. The Soviets expelledDubcvek from the party. He regainedpolitical prominence in 1989, when theCommunists agreed to share power in acoalition government. WhenCzechoslovakia split into two nations in1992, Dubcvek became head of the SocialDemocratic Party in Slovakia.

▲ Czech demonstrators fight Soviettanks in 1968.

parts of Asia. In 1959, Khrushchev punished the Chinese by refusing to sharenuclear secrets. The following year, the Soviets ended technical economic aid. TheSoviet-Chinese split grew so wide that fighting broke out along their common bor-der. After repeated incidents, the two neighbors maintained a fragile peace.

From Brinkmanship to DétenteIn the 1970s, the United States and the Soviet Union finally backed away from theaggressive policies of brinkmanship that they had followed during the early post-war years. The superpowers slowly moved to lower tensions.

Brinkmanship Breaks Down The brinkmanship policy followed during the pres-idencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson led to one terrifying crisis afteranother. Though these crises erupted all over the world, they were united by a com-mon fear. Nuclear war seemed possible.

In 1960, the U-2 incident prevented a meeting between the United States and theSoviet Union to discuss the buildup of arms on both sides. Then, during the admin-istration of John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis made thesuperpowers’ use of nuclear weapons a real possibility. (See page 985.) The crisisended when Soviet ships turned back to avoid a confrontation at sea. “We’re eye-ball to eyeball,” the relieved U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, “and I thinkthe other fellow just blinked.” But Kennedy’s secretary of defense, RobertMcNamara, admitted how close the world had come to disaster:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C E In the face of an air attack [on Cuba] and in the face of the probability of a groundattack, it was certainly possible, and I would say probable, that a Cuban sergeant orSoviet officer in a missile silo, without authority from Moscow, would have launchedone or more of those intermediate-range missiles, equipped with a nuclear warhead,against one or more of the cities on the East Coast of the United States.

ROBERT MCNAMARA, quoted in Inside the Cold War

Tensions remained high. After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, LyndonJohnson assumed the presidency. Committed to stopping the spread of commu-nism, President Johnson escalated U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam.

The United States Turns to Détente Widespread popular protests wracked theUnited States during the Vietnam War. And the turmoil did not end with U.S. with-drawal. As it tried to heal its internal wounds, the United States backed away from

its policy of direct confrontation with the Soviet Union.Détente, a policy of lessening Cold War tensions, replacedbrinkmanship under Richard M. Nixon.

President Nixon’s move toward détente grew out of a phi-losophy known as realpolitik. This term comes from theGerman word meaning “realistic politics.” In practice,realpolitik meant dealing with other nations in a practicaland flexible manner. While the United States continued totry to contain the spread of communism, the two superpow-ers agreed to pursue détente and to reduce tensions.

Nixon Visits Communist Powers Nixon’s new policy rep-resented a personal reversal as well as a political shift for thecountry. His rise in politics in the 1950s was largely due tohis strong anti-Communist position. Twenty years later, hebecame the first U.S. president to visit Communist China.The visit made sense in a world in which three, not just two,

Analyzing PrimarySources

Do you thinkthat RobertMcNamara’s viewof the Soviet threatin Cuba was justi-fied? Explain.

VocabularyDétente is a Frenchword meaning “aloosening.”

▼ U.S. presidentNixon visitsChina in 1972,accompanied byChinese premierZhou Enlai (left).

superpowers eyed each other suspiciously. “We want the Chinese with uswhen we sit down and negotiate with the Russians,” Nixon explained.

Three months after visiting Beijing in February 1972, Nixon visited theSoviet Union. After a series of meetings called the Strategic Arms LimitationTalks (SALT), Nixon and Brezhnev signed the SALT I Treaty. This five-yearagreement, limited to 1972 levels the number of intercontinental ballisticand submarine-launched missiles each country could have. In 1975, 33nations joined the United States and the Soviet Union in signing a commit-ment to détente and cooperation, the Helsinki Accords.

The Collapse of DétenteUnder presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford, the United States improved relations withChina and the Soviet Union. In the late 1970s, however, President Jimmy Carterwas concerned over harsh treatment of protesters in the Soviet Union. This threat-ened to prevent a second round of SALT negotiations. In 1979, Carter andBrezhnev finally signed the SALT II agreement. When the Soviets invadedAfghanistan later that year, however, the U.S. Congress refused to ratify SALT II.Concerns mounted as more nations, including China and India, began buildingnuclear arsenals.

Reagan Takes an Anti-Communist Stance A fiercely anti-Communist U.S. pres-ident, Ronald Reagan, took office in 1981. He continued to move away fromdétente. He increased defense spending, putting both economic and military pres-sure on the Soviets. In 1983, Reagan also announced the Strategic Defense Initiative(SDI), a program to protect against enemy missiles. It was not put into effect butremained a symbol of U.S. anti-Communist sentiment.

Tensions increased as U.S. activities such as arming Nicaragua’s Contras pushedthe United States and Soviet Union further from détente. However, a change in Sovietleadership in 1985 brought a new policy toward the United States and the beginningsof a final thaw in the Cold War. Meanwhile, as you will learn in the next chapter,developing countries continued their own struggles for independence.

Reconstructing the Postwar World 991

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Nikita Khrushchev • Leonid Brezhnev • John F. Kennedy • Lyndon Johnson • détente • Richard M. Nixon • SALT • Ronald Reagan

USING YOUR NOTES2. What do you consider the

most significant reason for the collapse of détente?

MAIN IDEAS3. What effects did destalinization

have on Soviet satellitecountries?

4. What changes did AlexanderDubc

vek seek to make in

Czechoslovakia in 1968, andwhat happened?

5. Why was the policy ofbrinkmanship replaced?

SECTION ASSESSMENT5

WRITING A SUMMARY

Look through a major newspaper or newsmagazine for articles on Eastern Europeancountries. Then, write a brief summary of recent developments there.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING 6. DEVELOPING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In view of Soviet

policies toward Eastern Europe in the postwar era, whatreasons did people in Eastern Europe have for resistance?

7. EVALUATING DECISIONS Do you think it was a wisepolitical move for Nixon to visit Communist China andthe Soviet Union? Why or why not?

8. RECOGNIZING EFFECTS What was the result of Reagan’smove away from détente?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write a short poem orsong lyrics expressing protest against Communist rule bya citizen of a country behind the Iron Curtain.

REVOLUTION

CONNECT TO TODAY

I. Soviet Policy inEastern Europe and China

A. B.

II. From Brinkmanshipto Detente

ContrastingIn what ways

did Nixon’s andReagan’s policiestoward the SovietUnion differ?

▲ Ronald Reagan's1980 politicalbutton highlightsthe strong patriotictheme of hiscampaign.

The Colonies Become New Nations 997

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

POWER AND AUTHORITY Newnations emerged from theBritish colony of India.

India today is the largestdemocracy in the world.

• Congress Party• Muslim League• Muhammad Ali

Jinnah• partition

• JawaharlalNehru

• Indira Gandhi• Benazir

Bhutto

1

SETTING THE STAGE After World War II, dramatic political changes began totake place across the world. This was especially the case with regard to the pol-icy of colonialism. Countries that held colonies began to question the practice.After the world struggle against dictatorship, many leaders argued that no coun-try should control another nation. Others questioned the high cost and commit-ment of holding colonies. Meanwhile, the people of colonized regions continuedto press even harder for their freedom. All of this led to independence for one ofthe largest and most populous colonies in the world: British-held India.

A Movement Toward IndependenceThe British had ruled India for almost two centuries. Indian resistance to Britain,which had existed from the beginning, intensified in 1939, when Britain commit-ted India’s armed forces to World War II without first consulting the colony’selected representatives. The move left Indian nationalists stunned and humiliated.Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi launched a nonviolent campaign of noncoopera-tion with the British. Officials imprisoned numerous nationalists for this action. In1942, the British tried to gain the support of the nationalists by promising govern-mental changes after the war. But the offer did not include Indian independence.

As they intensified their struggle against the British, Indians also struggledwith each other. India has long been home to two main religious groups. In the1940s, India had approximately 350 million Hindus and about 100 millionMuslims. The Indian National Congress, or the Congress Party, was India’snational political party. Most members of the Congress Party were Hindus, butthe party at times had many Muslim members.

In competition with the Congress Party was the Muslim League, an organi-zation founded in 1906 in India to protect Muslim interests. Members of theleague felt that the mainly Hindu Congress Party looked out primarily for Hindu interests. The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah(mu•HAM•ihd ah•LEE JINH•uh), insisted that all Muslims resign from theCongress Party. The Muslim League stated that it would never accept Indianindependence if it meant rule by the Hindu-dominated Congress Party. Jinnahstated, “The only thing the Muslim has in common with the Hindu is his slaveryto the British.”

The Indian Subcontinent Achieves Freedom

Following ChronologicalOrder Create a time lineof prominent Indianprime ministers fromindependence throughthe current day.

TAKING NOTES

first third

second

Freedom Brings TurmoilWhen World War II ended, Britain found itself faced with enormous war debts. Asa result, British leaders began to rethink the expense of maintaining and governingdistant colonies. With India continuing to push for independence, the stage was setfor the British to hand over power. However, a key problem emerged: Who shouldreceive the power—Hindus or Muslims?

Partition and Bloodshed Muslims resisted attempts to include them in an Indiangovernment dominated by Hindus. Rioting between the two groups broke out inseveral Indian cities. In August 1946, four days of clashes in Calcutta left morethan 5,000 people dead and more than 15,000 hurt.

British officials soon became convinced that partition, an idea first proposed byIndia’s Muslims, would be the only way to ensure a safe and secure region.Partition was the term given to the division of India into separate Hindu andMuslim nations. The northwest and eastern regions of India, where most Muslimslived, would become the new nation of Pakistan. (Pakistan, as the map shows, com-prised two separate states in 1947: West Pakistan and East Pakistan.)

The British House of Commons passed an act on July 16, 1947, that granted twonations, India and Pakistan, independence in one month’s time. In that short period,more than 500 independent native princes had to decide which nation they wouldjoin. The administration of the courts, the military, the railways, and the police—thewhole of the civil service—had to be divided down to the last paper clip. Most dif-ficult of all, millions of Indian citizens—Hindus, Muslims, and yet another signifi-cant religious group, the Sikhs—had to decide where to go.

Lahore

New Delhi

KathmanduThimphu

DhakaCalcutta

Hyderabad

Bombay

Madras

Colombo

Karachi

TIBET

KASHMIR

EASTPUNJAB

I N D I A

C H I N A

WESTPAKISTAN

EASTPAKISTAN

AFGHANISTANIRAN

NEPALBHUTAN

BURMA(Br.)

SIKKIM

CEYLON(Br.)

20°N

40°N

80°E

100°E

60°E

ArabianSea

Bay ofBengal

Indu

s R.

Ganges R. BrahmaputraR.

0 500 Miles

0 1,000 Kilometers

Mostly BuddhistMostly HinduMostly MuslimMostly Sikhs

Present dayboundaries are shown.

The Indian Subcontinent, 1947

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER:Interpreting Maps 1. Location Which Muslim country,

divided into two states, borderedIndia on the east and the west?

2. Location Which Buddhist countriesbordered India to the north and the south?

998 Chapter 34

During the summer of 1947, 10 million people were onthe move in the Indian subcontinent. As people scrambled torelocate, violence among the different religious groupserupted. Muslims killed Sikhs who were moving into India.Hindus and Sikhs killed Muslims who were headed intoPakistan. A Muslim woman and doctor, Zahida Amjad Ali,recalled her ordeal of fleeing from Delhi to Pakistan by train:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C EAll passengers were forced into compartments like sheep andgoats. Because of which the heat and suffocating atmospherewas intensified and it was very hard to breathe. In the ladiescompartment women and children were in a terrible condition.Women tried in vain to calm down and comfort their children.If you looked out the window you could see dead bodies lyingin the distance. At many places you could see corpses piled ontop of each other and no one seemed to have any concern. . . .These were the scenes that made your heart bleed andeverybody loudly repented their sins and recited verses askingGod’s forgiveness. Every moment seemed to be the mostterrifying and agonizing.

ZAHIDA AMJAD ALI, quoted in Freedom, Trauma, Continuities

In all, an estimated 1 million died. “What is there to cel-ebrate?” Gandhi mourned. “I see nothing but rivers ofblood.” Gandhi personally went to the Indian capital ofDelhi to plead for fair treatment of Muslim refugees. Whilethere, he himself became a victim of the nation’s violence.A Hindu extremist who thought Gandhi too protective ofMuslims shot and killed him on January 30, 1948.

The Battle for Kashmir As if partition itself didn’t resultin enough bloodshed between India’s Muslims and Hindus,the two groups quickly squared off over the small region ofKashmir. Kashmir lay at the northern point of India next toPakistan. Although its ruler was Hindu, Kashmir had amajority Muslim population. Shortly after independence,India and Pakistan began battling each other for control ofthe region. The fighting continued until the United Nations arranged a cease-firein 1949. The cease-fire left a third of Kashmir under Pakistani control and the restunder Indian control. The two countries continue to fight over the region today.

Modern IndiaWith the granting of its independence on August 15, 1947, India became theworld’s largest democracy. As the long-awaited hour of India’s freedomapproached, Jawaharlal Nehru, the independent nation’s first prime minister,addressed the country’s political leaders:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C ELong years ago, we made a tryst [appointment] with destiny, and now the time comeswhen we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will wake to life andfreedom.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, speech before the Constituent Assembly, August 14, 1947

The Colonies Become New Nations 999

Analyzing CausesWhat was the

cause of the conflictbetween India andPakistan overKashmir?

The Coldest WarNo part of Kashmir is beyond a fightfor India and Pakistan—including thegiant Siachen glacier high above theregion. The dividing line establishedby the 1949 cease-fire did not extendto the glacier because officials figuredneither side would try to occupy sucha barren and frigid strip of land.

They figured wrong. In 1984, bothsides sent troops to take the glacier,and they have been dug in eversince. At altitudes nearing 21,000feet, Indian and Pakistani soldiersshoot at each other from trenches intemperatures that reach 70 degreesbelow zero. While it is believed thatmore soldiers have died from thecold than from enemy bullets, neitherside will budge.

1000 Chapter 34

Nehru Leads India Nehru served as India’s leader for itsfirst 17 years of independence. He had been one of Gandhi’smost devoted followers. Educated in Britain, Nehru wonpopularity among all groups in India. He emphasizeddemocracy, unity, and economic modernization.

Nehru used his leadership to move India forward. He ledother newly independent nations of the world in forming analliance of countries that were neutral in the Cold War con-flicts between the United States and the Soviet Union. Onthe home front, Nehru called for a reorganization of thestates by language. He also pushed for industrialization andsponsored social reforms. He tried to elevate the status ofthe lower castes, or those at the bottom of society, andexpand the rights of women.

Troubled Times Nehru died in 1964. His death left theCongress Party with no leader strong enough to holdtogether the many political factions that had emerged withIndia’s independence. Then, in 1966, Nehru’s daughter,Indira Gandhi, was chosen prime minister. After a shortspell out of office, she was reelected in 1980.

Although she ruled capably, Gandhi faced many chal-lenges, including the growing threat from Sikh extremistswho themselves wanted an independent state. The GoldenTemple at Amritsar stood as the religious center for theSikhs. From there, Sikh nationalists ventured out to attacksymbols of Indian authority. In June 1984, Indian armytroops overran the Golden Temple. They killed about 500Sikhs and destroyed sacred property. In retaliation, Sikhbodyguards assigned to Indira Gandhi gunned her down.This violent act set off another murderous frenzy, causingthe deaths of thousands of Sikhs.

In the wake of the murder of Indira Gandhi, her son,Rajiv (rah•JEEV) Gandhi, took over as prime minister. Hisparty, however, lost its power in 1989 because of accusationsof widespread corruption. In 1991, while campaigning againfor prime minister near the town of Madras, Rajiv was killedby a bomb. Members of a group opposed to his policiesclaimed responsibility.

Twenty-First Century Challenges Since winning election as prime minister in1998, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Hindu nationalist party, has ruled over avibrant but often unstable nation. He faces challenges brought on by an increasingpopulation that is expected to push India past China as the world’s most populousnation by 2035. In addition, the country is racked with social inequality and con-stantly threatened by religious strife.

Even more troubling are India’s tense relations with its neighbor Pakistan, and thefact that both have become nuclear powers. In 1974, India exploded a “peaceful”nuclear device. For the next 24 years, the nation quietly worked on building up itsnuclear capability. In 1998, Indian officials conducted five underground nucleartests. Meanwhile, the Pakistanis had been building their own nuclear program.Shortly after India conducted its nuclear tests, Pakistan demonstrated that it, too,had nuclear weapons. The presence of these weapons in the hands of such bitter

Jawaharlal Nehru1889–1964

Nehru’s father was an influentialattorney, and so the first primeminister of India grew up amid greatwealth. As a young man, he lived andstudied in England. “In my likes anddislikes I was perhaps more anEnglishman than an Indian,” he onceremarked.

Upon returning to India, however,he became moved by the horriblestate in which many of his fellowIndians lived. “A new picture of Indiaseemed to rise before me,” herecalled, “naked, starving, crushed,and utterly miserable.” From then on,he devoted his life to improvingconditions in his country.

RESEARCH LINKS For more onJawaharlal Nehru, go toclasszone.com

enemies and neighbors has become a matter of great international concern, espe-cially in light of their continuing struggle over Kashmir:

P R I M A R Y S O U R C ENow that India and Pakistan have tested nuclear weapons, the dispute over their borderregion of lush valleys and jagged Himalayan peaks has become a matter of urgentconcern. . . . [There is] fear that a remote but savage ethnic and religious conflict coulddeteriorate into a nuclear exchange with global consequences. India and Pakistan mustlearn to talk to each other and move toward a more trusting relationship.

The New York Times, June 28, 1998

Pakistan Copes with FreedomThe history of Pakistan since independence has been no less turbulent than that ofIndia. Pakistan actually began as two separate and divided states, East Pakistan andWest Pakistan. East Pakistan lay to the east of India, West Pakistan to the north-west. These regions were separated by more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory. Inculture, language, history, geography, economics, and ethnic background, the tworegions were very different. Only the Islamic religion united them.

Civil War From the beginning, the two regions of Pakistan experienced strainedrelations. While East Pakistan had the larger population, it was often ignored byWest Pakistan, home to the central government. In 1970, a giant cyclone and tidalwave struck East Pakistan and killed an estimated 266,000 residents. While inter-national aid poured into Pakistan, the government in West Pakistan did not quicklytransfer that aid to East Pakistan. Demonstrations broke out in East Pakistan, andprotesters called for an end to all ties with West Pakistan.

On March 26, 1971, East Pakistan declared itself an independent nation calledBangladesh. A civil war followed between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Eventually,

1948Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi is shot to death by a Hindu

extremist. The assassin opposes

Gandhi’s efforts to achieve equal

treatment for all Indians, including

Muslims.

1977 Ali BhuttoPrime Minister Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is deposed in a coup led by General Zia. Bhutto is later hanged for having ordered the assassination of a political opponent.

1988 General Zia General Zia, president of Pakistan, dies in a mysterious plane crash.

1991Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi is killed by a bomb while

campaigning. The bomb is carried by a woman opposed to

Gandhi’s policies.

1984Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi is

gunned down by two of her Sikh

bodyguards. Her murder is in

retaliation for an attack she

ordered on a Sikh temple.

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Pakistan

India

Indian forces stepped in and sided with Bangladesh. About two weeks after thearrival of Indian troops, Pakistan forces surrendered. More than 1 million peopledied in the war. Pakistan lost about one-seventh of its area and about one-half ofits population to Bangladesh.

A Pattern of Instability Pakistan, however, could ill afford to dwell on its lost ter-ritory, for there were many problems at home. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first gov-ernor-general of Pakistan, died shortly after independence. This left the nationwithout strong leadership. As a result, Pakistan went through a series of militarycoups, the first in 1958. Ali Bhutto took control of the country following the civilwar. A military coup in 1977 led by General Zia removed Bhutto, who was laterexecuted for crimes allegedly committed while in office.

After Zia’s death, Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, was twice elected primeminister. After months of disorder, she was removed from office in 1996. NawazSharif became prime minister after the 1997 elections. In 1999, army leadersousted Sharif in yet another coup and imposed military rule over Pakistan. Thenation continues to struggle with challenges from Muslim militants and ongoingdisputes with India, especially over the territory of Kashmir.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Struggle Meanwhile, the newly created nations of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka struggled withenormous problems of their own in the decades following independence.

Bangladesh Faces Many Problems The war with Pakistan had ruined the econ-omy of Bangladesh and fractured its communications system. Rebuilding the shat-tered country seemed like an overwhelming task. Sheik Mujibur Rahman became thenation’s first prime minister. He appeared more interested in strengthening his ownpower than in rebuilding his nation. He soon took over all authority and declaredBangladesh a one-party state. In August 1975, military leaders assassinated him.

Over the years Bangladesh has attempted with great difficulty to create a moredemocratic form of government. Charges of election fraud and government cor-ruption are common. In recent years, however, the government has become morestable. The latest elections were held in October of 2001, and Begum Khaleda Ziatook over as the nation’s prime minister.

In the years following its independence, Bangladesh also has had to cope withcrippling natural disasters. Bangladesh is a low-lying nation that is subject to manycyclones and tidal waves. Massive storms regularly flood the land, ruin crops and

Comparing How does the

history of Pakistanin 1971 parallel thehistory of India in 1947?

▼ Overcrowdedand poor villagesare a commonsight throughoutBangladesh.

Myanmar

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Philippines

United States

10 20 30 40 50

% of population in poverty

Source: The CIA World Factbook, 2002

25%

25%

35%

35.6%

41%

12.7%

Poverty Levels in Asia, 2002

1002 Chapter 34

The Colonies Become New Nations 1003

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • Congress Party • Muslim League • Muhammad Ali Jinnah • partition • Jawaharlal Nehru • Indira Gandhi • Benazir Bhutto

USING YOUR NOTES2. What tragic connection did

many of the leaders share?

MAIN IDEAS3. Why did British officials

partition India into India andPakistan?

4. In what way did Pakistan alsoundergo a partition?

5. What is the main cause todayof civil strife in Sri Lanka?

SECTION ASSESSMENT1

CREATING A GRAPHIC

Research the current percentages of religions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka.Create a graphic of your choosing to illustrate your findings.

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING6. SYNTHESIZING Why might India’s political and economic

success be so crucial to the future of democracy in Asia?

7. ANALYZING ISSUES How did religious and culturaldifferences create problems for newly emerging nations?

8. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Why has the conflict betweenIndia and Pakistan over Kashmir become such a concernto the world today?

9. WRITING ACTIVITY Write severalparagraphs detailing the problems shared by leaders ofIndia and Pakistan.

POWER AND AUTHORITY

CONNECT TO TODAY

first third

second

▲ This emblem ofthe separatist groupLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamrepresents thestruggle forindependence of the Tamils.

homes, and take lives. A particularly powerfulcyclone hit in 1991 and killed approximately 139,000people. Such catastrophes, along with a rapidlygrowing population, have put much stress on thecountry’s economy. Bangladesh is one of the poorestnations in the world. The per capita income there isabout $360 per year.

Civil Strife Grips Sri Lanka Another newly freedand deeply troubled country on the Indian subconti-nent is Sri Lanka, a small, teardrop-shaped islandnation just off the southeast coast of India. Formerlyknown as Ceylon, Sri Lanka gained its independ-ence from Britain in February of 1948. Two mainethnic groups dominate the nation. Three-quartersof the population are Sinhalese, who are Buddhists.A fifth are Tamils, a Hindu people of southern Indiaand northern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s recent history has also been one ofturmoil. A militant group of Tamils has long foughtan armed struggle for a separate Tamil nation. Since1981, thousands of lives have been lost. In an effortto end the violence, Rajiv Gandhi and the SriLankan president tried to reach an accord in 1987.The agreement called for Indian troops to enter Sri Lanka and help disarm Tamilrebels. This effort was not successful, and the Indian troops left in 1990. A civilwar between Tamils and other Sri Lankans continues today.

As difficult as post-independence has been for the countries of the Indian subcontinent, the same can be said for former colonies elsewhere. As you will readin the next section, a number of formerly held territories in Southeast Asia facedchallenges as they became independent nations.