International Organizations & the Context of Truman’s Foreign Aid Program

Amy Sayward, MTSU

Session Goals

Develop your knowledge of the international organizations that existed before and during the Truman Administration.

Do a primary source activity about the international organizations that developed after World War II, which is tied to Common Core State Standards for Reading in History/Social Studies.

Provide you with a variety of materials and approaches to teach this international context so you can adjust to grade level, interest, and time and differentiate instruction in your classroom.

Introduction to Early International Organizations

• Do what nations can’t do themselves• Control spread of epidemic disease

• Conseil Superieur de Sante de Constantinople—1849• Egypt’s Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Council—

1893• Pan American Sanitary Bureau—1907• Office International d’Hygiene Publique--1908

• Communicate across national borders• International Telecommunications Union—1865• Universal Postal Union--1875

• Gather and study international information to learn from broader patterns• International Penal & Penitentiary Commission—1872• International Institute of Agriculture--1908

• Monitor global weather patterns• International Meteorological Organization—1873

• Settle disputes between countries• Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration--1899

Some Ways to Teach Early International Organizations

Discovery learning within small groups (each assigned the identity of a country and each student with an identity) to play out scenarios about international relations and dilemmas.

Matching exercise between handout with organizations their functions and a different sheet with the key dilemmas facing nations in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Other ideas?

World War I & New International Organizations

• League of Nations--1919• League of Nations Health Organization--1923• International Institute on Intellectual Cooperation--

1922• International Educational Cinematographic Institute--

1928

• International Labor Organization—1919• Permanent Court of International Justice--1920

Great Depression Reveals Weaknesses • Agricultural depression had started shortly

after WWI—lower prices as war-time demand decreases and productivity increases

• Rise of Fascist government in Italy under Mussolini

• Leads countries to try to regain economic health through exclusive trading blocs, currency manipulation, and increasing tariffs

• Economic depression hurts workers and unemployed—rise in malnutrition & disease

• Leads Japan to seek additional resources in Manchuria

• Promotes Hitler’s rise to power, blaming Jews for loss in WWI and banking disaster

Appeasement Reveals Myth of Collective Security• Absence of the United States• Japan’s Invasion of Manchuria--18 September

1931• Mukden Incident & Lytton Commission

• Germany leaves League of Nations—October 1933• April 1935 League censure

• Italo-Ethiopian War begins--3 October 1935• League embargo of war-related goods (except oil)

• Remilitarization of the Rhineland--March 1936• Spanish Civil War begins--18 July 1936

• League call for noninterference

• Anschluss with Austria--13 March 1938• Munich Conference--29 September 1938• Italian Seizure of Albania—April 1939

Exercise on the Problems of World War II & the Proposed International Solutions

Examine the Preambles for the Postwar International Organizations (15 mins.)

• All groups will have a set of 10 preambles of postwar international organizations. If you finish yours quickly, pick up one of the extras in the middle of the table.

• Identify the pre-war and war-time problems that are stated or implied in the preamble(s).

• Identify the proposed postwar solutions to these problems.

• Identify key phrases and words in the preamble (highlighter).

• What tone does the preamble have? What specific word choices help to set this tone?

• When you and your group have finished reading (about 15 mins.), look for the next slide.

Next Steps

• Recorder should raise her/his hand to get sheet for recording what each group member shares about what he/she learned from their preamble(s).

• When everyone has had a chance to share, flip the sheet over and answer the synthesis question on the back.

• You have approximately 15 minutes to complete this exercise.

• The spokesperson should be prepared to share the group’s answer to this last question as well as the specific examples that led to this conclusion.

Common Core College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading in History/Social Studies

Key Idea and Details #1–Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly, to make logical inferences from the text, and to cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Craft and Structure #4–Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning and tone.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas #9–Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity #10--Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Alternative Teaching Approaches to this Material

• Small-group discovery learning—What do the United Nations (the Allies) need to do as the war winds down? Should it keep the League of Nations? Why or why not? What new organizations might be needed?

• Research or web-crawl to locate the preambles for these organizations.

• Summary of international organizations and their missions—match organizations to the problems emerging from the Great Depression and WWII.

• Other ideas?

The U.N., the U.S., and the Emerging Cold War

• Hopes vs. realities and Cold War realities• U.N. Security Council vs. NATO• ECOSOC vs. Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine

• United Nations as Cold War Battleground• USSR withdraws from World Bank & IMF• USSR withdraws from World Health Organization• U.S. withdraws from ILO & UNESCO• Human Rights Commission• Communist China vs. Taiwan

• Not everything was an Cold War issue• Development aid & Non-Alignment• Apartheid• Palestinian refugees• Environment