FULL LECTURE NOTES
by
Western Civilization
II – Major Callahan – Fall 2004
Background
Statebuilding and War (~1715)
· European conflict began somewhat global as it spread
to the colonies
· Peripheral strategy
o
Finance
a continental power
o
Prevent
enemies from using the sea
o
Wage
peripheral campaigns to force nations to spread thin and lose money
o
Rising Ambitions in
· Peter the Great modernized
· Social structure
o
No
middle class: nobles and peasants only
o
Jews
handle the money
·
Son:
o
Seven
Years War
§
The controversial
female ruler defends on all sides and the war ends with peace
§
§
o
o
Completed
Warfare in the Eighteenth Century
·
Armies still not
professional – conscripts, crooks, etc
·
Generals become
conservative as technology improves (more accurate weaponry,
professional officers)
o
Small advantages
sought – supply lines, forts, etc to prevent death
of entire armies (i.e. complete loss)
o
Only fighting for
4-5mo per year
o
Small
conflicts devolve into a monetary battle – whoever runs out loses à
however, still has an army to bargain with
·
Battles cost high
casualties – deep ranks of muskets, charging cavalry, heavy artillery
·
Biggest profits
for
·
Dutch
trade routes challenged and dominated by superior UK Navy
The
Twighlight of Monarchies? The Question
of Enlightened Absolutism (18th
century)
·
o
o
Changes in
Country and City Life
·
The Agricultural
Revolution – huge production increase … Two
major developments:
o
1) intro of new
crops and farming techniques (New crops replenished the soil)
o
2) transformation
of rural land into large farms
·
Manufacturing
Spreads In The Countryside: Cottage Industry
o
Cottage
Industry: entrepreneurs invest in raw materials and sometimes equipment for
families to work with
o
Whole-family
operations; appealed b/c it allowed families to stay in rural locations
·
Collapses
into
American
Colonization
·
Setup
over time by various countries
·
Supports
trade and grows new crops not available in
·
Slavery
much worse in
Scientific Revolution and Englightenment
Laying the Foundations for Enlightenment (p495)
· Scientific revolution spread quickly in the 18th
century
Science Popularized – leads to revolution of action
Skepticism
and Religion (p497)
· With science comes doubt of some religious practices
· France, and others, are not tolerant of dissension and
persecute those who do
· Scientists began to uncover evidence which challenged
church word
· Hume said reason demanded that people live with
“skeptical uncertainty rather than dogmatic faith”
Broadening
Criticism of Authority and Tradition
(p498)
· Writers travel abroad and write about their
experiences
· Gives those at home a new perspective
· Some painted the era as on the “brink of unprecedented
historical achievements” and urged rapid change
· Reactionary – tries to go back to the way
things were
· Conservatism – resistance to change
· Progressivism – want to make changes
· Romanticism – want to change slowly and
appropriately
The
Enlightenment in Full Stride
The Philosophes (p499)
(French thinkers)
·
· Often extended and distributed ideas started by others
· Hobbes – man is natrually evil but they
make the pragmatic decision to band together
· Locke – experiences make you who you
are; man can develop government and ideas without the church
Reforming Society (501)
· Locke wrote about how the government was to serve the
people and how it needed to be limited
· Montesquieu believed limited gov could be secured
through separation of powers and checks and balances
· Rosseau wrote that private property was the root of
trouble and the need for gov – individual remains
important within society
· Reformers did not champion the lower class – most
thought them ignorant; did not advocate democracy
· Slavery denounced as irrational and inhumane
The Culture and Spread of the Enlightenment (506)
· By the last quarter of the 18th century,
even clergy and gov officials spread Enlightenment ideas
· Monarchies passed Enlightenment reforms which led to
more people demanding for revolutionary change
Second Treatise of Government by Locke (Lecture notes
only)
· P134: A common-wealth’s laws are at
society’s consent à only gov that has legitimacy from its
people
· P139: Absolute power must still be
limited by reason – it is not arbitrary à laws must still serve the common good
· Laws are supreme – even the rulers must
abide by them
· Does not discuss how to replace
government once it stops serving the common good
Social Contract by Rousseau (Lecture notes only)
· You gain the equivalent of what you lose
through union
· Natural liberty is limited by the might
of an individual and civil liberty is limited by the general will
· There are certain things you cannot give
up (life, etc.)
· Any modification or violation of social
contract reverts the people back to individuals who can construct a new system
for the common good
· Conclusions
o
Scientific
Revolution – fundamentally changes how man sees the world – go discover the
truth rather than accept tradition
o
Enlightenment
– manifestation of new social and political theory
o
Locke
– government for the people with their consent
Prelude to the American Revolution
· Brits win war, ending French presence in
· American colonists had done well financially from the
subsidies and money made from supplying the Brit forces
· Americans expected to be considered equals for their
support and also lower taxes since war ended
· Brit debt was high (more taxes needed) and many
English were told the Americans were tightfisted and not helpful fighters
· British Colonies
o
Governors
see themselves as British, not Americans
o
Governor
appooints councils
o
Most
legislatures could not make laws, but had control over taxes
·
Mercantalism
– try to import raw materials and improve them, exporting them at a profit
o
Get
materials from colonies and forbid them from exporting them to certain areas
o
Heavily
tax non-UK goods
· Brit army stationed in US to protect colonists from
Indians, French
· Proclamation of 1763 – prohibited whites from going
west (try to avoid Indian conflict and keep them close to the coast)
·
Sugar Act –
halves tax in hopes of reducing smuggling
· US not happy that admiralty, courts tried cases;
thought only they should levy taxes on their country - representation
· US let down for being treated as 2nd class
citizens after being optimistic after war
· Declaratory Act – Parliament says they can tax, etc.
· Stamp Act – took money out of all
o
The fight over
the act showed Americans how they were united and different than the Brits
·
Townsend takes
over and has Parliament tax
·
Customs officials
forced US merchants to pay unfair fines
o
·
US associate with
others being oppressed overseas
·
Resistance
quietened some when Townsend was repealed but was revived
o
Brit schooner run
aground and then burned by
o
Brits send a
commission which sidesteps
·
o
Tea Act was
designed to help a failing Brit monopoly on tea in the colonies
o
Taax
reduced after non-importation on all but tea which is not changed much
·
Coercive
(Intolerable) Acts passed –
o
o
Backfires
massively with Coercive Acts
·
The First
Continental Congress meets and they agree Parliament cannot tax or legislate
the
o
Trade ceased
until the Coercive Acts repealed
o
Authorized
defense strategy of civil disobedience; No plans for revolution
·
Second
Continental Congress met to determine whether or not to call for independence
o
They told the
Brits they did not want independence, but still raised an army and paid it with
their own paper money
o
Brits had no
intention to work peace – they intended to use force
o
Congress declares
independence, saying they are no longer English
·
1/5 of the
population were loyalists in 1775
o
Feared civil war
w/o the Brits overseeing the colonies
o
Never substantial
enough to threaten the Revolution
Conclusions
·
Tyranny
in the
·
Revolution
not wanted by all – started by a radical minority
·
Were
not seeking representation in Parliament
·
Revolution
occurred bedcause of economic conflict and persepectives of injustice
American Revolution
· Remarkable: revolution vs. an imperial power had never
before succeeded
· In 1775, more were neutral than anything else
·
o
He is also from
the South, which helped pull reluctant southerners into the revolution
·
British
Troops – Hessian presence convinces many loyalists to become rebels
·
US
Troops – militia could not be counted on
o
Little
discipline, could not compete in open battle
·
US
Advantages
o
Motivation
(defend our and)
o
Logistics
(did not have to move supplies overseas)
o
Geography
(know the land)
·
US
Strategy – avoid losing
o
Make
o
Another
day is another day for the new nation, a day the
·
British regulars
were well-trained, very highly disciplined, and well-equipped
·
US regulars
started at 16,600 but few joined from there (high discipline required, low
pay); most preferred to be irregulars
o
Made it difficult
for
·
Women followed
both armies around (paid half-rations for cleaning, bathing, treating wounds,
burying the dead)
·
GEN Howe (UK) is
overly cautious (trying to save lives) and ADM is not aggressive (hopes for
reconciliation)
·
Brits alienate
the citizens of NYC (food shortages caused by army) and Hessians alienate the
countryside (rape, pillage, …)
·
UK Army also
angers the MD countryside (loots their crops, etc. en route) and
Disaster for
the British at
·
GEN Burgoyne
marches 9,500 Brits from
·
GEN Gates stops
Burgoyne at
·
·
With
Winding Down
the War in the North (159)
·
Howe replaced;
Brit forces reduced to be dispersed elsewhere to fight
·
Prussian Baron
von Stueben arrives and helps drill the
·
Indians mostly
stay neutral; some join the Brits b/c they tried to prevent colonist expansion
westward
The Struggle
in the South (162)
·
Brits realized
the South was more profitable and closer to the
·
More loyalists in
these areas and farmers would need guns pointed at slaves, not soldiers
The Siege of
·
·
Rebels found
themselves under siege, but prevailed
·
Cornwallis’
error: allowed his troops to mistreat civilians; turned more Americans to the
rebel cause
The World
Turned Upside Down (167)
·
Washington and
French GEN Rochambeua agree to siege
·
Cornwallis
surrenders
·
Treaty of
o
US convinces
Brits to recognize generous borders and independence by offering to weaken ties
to
o
US convince
·
Conclusions
·
·
·
Confederation and Constitution
From
Confederation to Constitution
· Congress realizes a central gov is needed to hold the
nation together
· Articles of Confederation
o
1st
written social contract presented for ratification
o
Little federal
power
o
Told people what not to do
·
Federalism – idea
that you can take a group of states and get them to surrender power in order to
form an effective union
The Jay-Gardoqui Treaty
·
·
Jay agrees to
give up rights to the river for 25 years for trading privileges to US merchants
o
Would help
northern merchants but enraged southerners – felt it was betrayal
Shays’ Rebellion
·
Farmers in MA
were in debt and could not pay their mortgages
o
2,000 farmers
rebel, closing the courts and marching on a federal arsenal before being put
down
Framing a Federal Constitution (192)
·
·
·
Representation
was a big issue (big states for representative congress, small states for equal
rep)
·
Constitution
o
Officers,
officials swear to the Constitution – not people
o
Allows states to
choose how Congressional reps are selected (so US was not a direct democracy)
o
Rights given:
habeas corpus, no nobility
o
Religion: no
religious tests; God not mentioned in the Constitution
The Deadlock Broken (194)
·
Compromise
suggested – senate (equal rep, can’t init money bills) and house
(proportionate)
o
slaves counted as
population (3/5 each)
·
Electoral College
established
·
Executive given
command of the armed forces, ability to conduct diplomatic relations, pick
judges, and veto legislation
·
Separation of
each branch a key idea
·
·
Constitution made
difficult to change
Ratification (196)
·
Anti-Federalists
opposed the Constitution
·
Bill of Rights –
there was none, which
o
·
Thomas Paine
claimed it was simply a matter of common sense that an island could not rule a
continent
·
Former colonies
have won independence since us with regularity
·
Popular
sovereignty has become the accepted path to national success
·
·
“Whig Principles”
– suspicion of centralized power
·
“Americans” –
term used to designate colonists as inferiors to full Brits
·
Civil War was a
direct consequence of the failure to resolve slavery in the Constitution
·
The founders did
not represent a diverse population; they would have languished in obscurity in
·
Factions came
together in common cause to overthrow the reigning regime
Conclusions
·
Constitution is
the first time Enlightenment ideals are put into practice
·
Second try by the
The French Revolution
Trouble
Brewing in
· Middle-class and upper-class clamored for more rights
· Most thought little reason for worry –
Financial
Crisis Weakens the Monarch
·
· Lower debt than
· King Louis is forced to call the Estates General, a
meeting of wealthy people to decide how
Underlying
Causes of the Revolution
·
Nobility had been
seeking more power from the monarchy and refused to help them
·
Middle class also
refused: they wanted rights equal with the nobility –do not believe the gov is
good for the economy
·
After 1780,
economic depressions and low harvests further upset the population, including
the peasants who began to starve
The
·
Cannot decide how
to vote (one vote per estate with tradition [nobles would win] or head count
[lower class would win])
·
Clergy break off
and form the National Assembly and invite all to join
o
All who come
swear an oath (in a tennis court near the meeting place) to keep working until
a constitution was made
·
Rumors circulate
that the King has called for troops – believed to be en route to oppress
Parisians
o
A riot storms
Bastille, occupies it, and parades around with the governor’s head
The End of
the Old Order – what people really
want is food
·
Nobility now in
retreat as well as the King
·
National Assembly
– one night nobles get up and each renounces traditional rights and privileges
o
Assembly declares
an end to serfdom, special taxes, and restricted posts
·
Declaration of
Rights of Man and Citizen – like US Decl. of Independence; explicitly says the
law is the supreme authority
o
Gives liberty and
freedom to all men; does not delineate specific freedoms – high ideals but
without authority
o
Louis refused to
sign these new decrees and is essentially imprisoned in his castle
The
Constitutional Monarchy: Establishing a New Order
·
Only tax-paying
males could vote and hold office à mostly bourgeoisie
·
Passed sweeping
reforms
o
Judicial system
reformed; taken away from the upperclass
o
Old tax system
replaced by uniform taxes on land and profits
o
Debts and new
costs paid off with assignats (new paper money backed up with seized church
assets)
o
Church
reorganized under the gov (have to take an oath to gov and get salary from it)
o
In just two
years,
·
Outside reformers
liked what they saw
·
Many countries
feared revolutions within their borders
o
Nobility and
clergy wanted their old powers restored
War and the
Breakdown of Order
·
Louis convinces
o
Their armies
crush the inexperienced French (most officers had been exiled or deposed:
nobility) and advance on
·
External
problems: many monarchies contribute to the war against the French rebels
(Brit, Dutch,
·
Internal
problems: peasants stirred up by non-oath’ed clergy; major cities rebel; major
port invite in the Brits
The
Revolution Spreads Outside of
·
Sister republics
set up (a result of French success in battle) in
·
National
Convention abolishes slavery (1794)
Conclusions
·
Began as middle
class drive more sensible reforms (not trying to topple the government)
·
No external
memory to unite against so they fought each other
·
External invasion
threat was real but sent the public into hysteria
Napoleon Bonaparte
· Born to a poor but well-known family in
· Graduated from a French military academy at 16 to
become a 2nd LT (started at age 9)
· Liked enlightenment ideas
· Helped suppress a crowd for which he gained
recognition (without aristocrats, talent leads to success)
· Married a well-connected widowed politician
· Napoleon uses his prominence to gain control of a
French army in northern
o
Paints his force
as a liberating force – inspires moral, cooperation
o
Loses in
·
Coup d’etat – The
Directors of France overthrown by internal forces
o
Conspirators put
him as the figurehead; believe he is young, popular, and controllable (on the
last point, they’re wrong)
o
NApolean used the
Army to get rid of all who disagreed – remainder voted in favor of his
consolate
·
Draws up a short,
obscure new constitution which is overwhelmingly approved
·
Makes himself the
first consul (other two will have limited power)
·
Secret police
created to put down political opposition
·
Press censored
·
Approves transfers
of property and removal of feudal privileges (gains favor with the peasants)
·
Approves formal
equality and property rights (gains favor with the middle class)
·
Invites most
exiled nobles back and endorses science (gains favor with the upper class)
·
Creates the
Legion of Honor for particularly loyal and those who do great things
·
Makes peace with
the pope to bring back religion (“excellent stuff for keeping the common people
quiet”)
o
Oath still
required, pay still from the gov, and land not returned, however
Reforming
·
Civil Code of
1804 – Napoleonic Code
·
Legal reforms
(equality); forbid strikes; limited divorces
·
Est. Bank of
·
Est. U of France
and rewarded professionals (chemists, surgeons, mathematicians, etc.)
Creating the
Empire
·
Napoleon goes
across the
·
Declares
o
Made his family
members princes, gave titles to successfully (wealthy too) officers
·
Napoleon’s
weaknesses were his thirst for recognition and hunger for conquest
·
Divorces
Josephine (cannot produce a male child) for Princess of Austria (making his
blood legitimately royal)
War and
Conquest
·
Napoleon defeats
·
French empire
grows quite a bit, and many nations weakened greatly by resisting him
·
Napoleon
prohibits
Decline and
Fall
·
Loses grip
overseas due to Brit naval power and thinly stretched military
·
Napoleon defeats
part of Russian army but chases them across
·
Brits fund
rebellions as he retreats back to
·
Napoleon exiled
after defeat by Brits, Prussians
Conclusions
·
Became powerful
by offering effective leadership
·
Failed because he
resorts to garrisoning troops in
·
Napoleanic Era
was more costly than any other (more deaths in
Liberalism and the Congress of
Congress of
The Concert of
Liberalism: Individual
Freedom and Political Freedom
Romanticism: Freedom,
Instinct, and Spontaneity
A Wave of Revolution and
Reform
The Glory Days in 1948
Political Confession of
Faith by
Metternich
Conclusions
The Early Republic
· US experiencing resistance to unpopular whiskey tax
· Federal government assumes all debt to pay it off
faster and unite the states
· Many wondered if the
· John Adams: against aiding the wealth, not fully
committed to industrialism, and opposed to allying with Brits
1789: A
Social Portrait
·
White population
was doubling about every 20 years
·
Blacks (20% of
population) and Indians had no political voice
·
Most significant
difference was whether one was dependent on commercial economy vs. being semisubsistence
farmers
·
Federalists pass
acts to suppress disloyalty (unpopular)
o
Alien Act – Pres
can deport those suspected of treasonable leanings
o
Naturalization
Act – increases time to become a citizen (and vote) to 14 years (most
immigrants were republican)
o
Sedition Act –
imposed heavy fines for speaking falsely against gov (heavily opposed)
o
Naturalization
Act repealed when republicans gain control; the other two expire quietly before
that
The
·
First transfer of
power was a success – no confusion, bloodshed, or violence
·
In his inaugural
speech, he tried to emphasize some Federalist views too
·
He was committed
to paying down the debt, which he debt by slashing the military and
establishing tariffs
·
Acted
pragmatically and yielded to principles when he needed to
·
·
Napoleon needs
money to fuel his military and offers to sell all of
·
Negotiators agree
on the spot, beyond their power, but
Whites and
Indians on the Frontier
·
Some tried to
adopt white ways, but were unsuccessful in the end
·
White population
grew very quickly, displacing Indian culture and people
The Second
War for
·
·
US offers to stop
trade with one country if the other lifts its hostilities on US ships
·
US goes to war
with Brits, angry about Indians incited by Brits and Brit policy vs US ships
·
War not easy –
o
Brits dedicate
very few troops to US
o
Creek Indians
rise up against US but are put down, permanently killing Indian military power
there
o
Brit makes peace
with
§
Brits defeated on
§
Brits burn DC but
cannot take
§
Brits land in
·
US annexes
·
·
US falls into
tough times with a debate over slavery
Jacksonian
Democracy
·
None got a
<50%; House picked
o
Now candidates
must persuade a large group of people
o
Growth of a
2-party system – an individual cannot get his word out alone
Conclusions
·
·
Geographic
isolation, economic stability, and European wars gave the
The 1st Industrial Revolution and American
Expansionism
In
·
Machines allow
mass production by low skilled worked vice small, inefficient producted by
skilled artisans
·
Steam revolution
– more powerful and efficient
o
Allows for huge
machines
o
Power allows for
creation of metal machines
·
Industrialized in
o
Capital needed to
start factories –
o
Grows faster than
in the rest of
·
Entreprenaurs
benefit the most; working class lose out because of the introduction of wages
·
Wage Labor –
70-90 hours a week to barely survive
o
Strength not an
issue so women and children are hired (compose 2/3 of workers – paid less)
American
Economic Growth
·
World’s cotton
(60%) from the
·
North produces
factories to refine cotton and then ship overseas
·
War of 1812
prevents overseas trade and helps bring the
·
Boat is the most
efficient transportation means (pre-railroad)
·
Steam locomotive
much faster and more efficient – 9000 miles of track built in its first 20
years
·
Immigration is
very high in the early 1800s
US Westward
Expansion
·
People move west
because they can transport goods back
·
People think the
·
·
o
US invades
Nationalism and Sectionalism
o
After Napoleon,
they were like a gang of states
o
o
o
Conservatives put
in charge; Chancellor Bismarck consolidates power by advocating nationalism
bringing conservatives and liberals together
§
Builds railroads,
modern army; attacks
§
o
Kaiser Wilhelm
put out fake reports to incite
§
§
At
§
Some progressive
reforms come out, but important ones remain outside the people’s power
American
Sectionalism
o
1) Abolitionists
o
2) Free soil
argument – People tired of cities can buy land in the west and farm, but rich
plantation owners could farm big plots there with slaves, ruining the local
economy for small farmers
o
3) Free labor
argument – slavery is an unnatural force preventing the
o
South attacks and
o
Three more states
secede over states rights – they feel that states should be able to secede
Conclusions
Civil War
o
Confederacy did
not fight over states rights à its Constitution was identical to US except it protected slavery
o
o
It is a gross misconception
that it is a war between industrial vs. agricultural
o
Confederacy
§
Avoid losing and
buy time
§
Use advantage of
interior communications
§
Attack if a gap
appears to threaten North to attract allies
o
§
Isolate
Confederate economy
§
Maintain state
allegiance and win back split states
§
Divide
Confederacy with deep penetration
o
Initially
composed of volunteer armies and augmented by a draft
o
Leadership
inexperienced with handling such massive forces
o
Professional officers
go mostly south IVMI, citadel are there)
1862
o
Union morale low
o
Emancipation
proclamation – frees Confederate slaves
1863
o
o
Maneuver – tries
to avoid bloodshed and trap the enemy
o
Attrition – seek
to lock the enemy fight
o
Limited –
confines destruction to combat force sand war materials
o
Total War –
attack anything that can help an enemy fight
1864
o
Many Confederates
desert and go home to try to protect their land
§
Utilize guerilla
warfare
o
Brutality and
hostility grow greatly – any blacks which surrender to Confederates are slaughtered
o
As a result, US
regiments become less likely to surrender
o
o
Many could have
gone home (3 year enlistment over)
o
o
A loaf of bread
rockets to $70
o
Union money is
stable, however
o
o
ífinalí1st modern industrialized total war
Conclusions
Reconstruction
o
Tries to gain
support of whites
o
White supremacy –
prevent blacks from having a good standard of living, buying lands or weapons,
having large meetings, or becoming educated
§
Debt Peonage –
sharecropping and tenet farming emerges
·
Sharecropping –
pay in crops; never get enough money to improve their lives or more
·
Tenet Farming –
high rent charged which gets blacks in debt and prevents them from leaving
§
Vagrancy laws
§
Black codes
o
Somewhat fails
due to redemption
§
Republican party
very corrupt at the core
§
Depression of
1873
§
Contested 1876
election led republicans to seek whites approval
o
White Southern
Democrats think reconstruction is meant to put northern carpetbaggers into
office
o
Reconstruction is
successful for the economy
Industrialism and the
Progressive Response
o
Main Theme: Concepts
o
Liberalism:
Nationalist; Civil Liberties; Limited Gov. with Constitution; Secular;
Progressive; Representative Gov.
o
Industrialism:
Prosperous; Urban
o
Judeo-Christian
Values
o
Steel – stronger,
less heavy, flexible
§
Railroads are key
to
§
Allowed
transportation and the railroads being built increase steel demand which give
steel a jumpstart
o
Electricity –
light; very efficient and cleaner than oil
o
Chemical – acid
etching, fertilizer, etc.
o
Professional
management emerges – white-collar class
o
Competition grows
(areas overlapped) – scale of production grows dramatically
o
Scientific
Management – do everything possible to minimize inefficiencies
o
Participation in
and lobbying the government grows
o
75% intended to
make money and go home (about 40% did)
o
Expansion west
could only go so fast
o
Wealthiest 1% own
51% of the land
o
Labor
organizations formed – successful because they are peaceful and do not have a
huge economic impact
§
Drops off during
the depression (those out of work willing to take any job)
§
Violence begins
as strikers try to prevent scabs from working
o
o
Woodrow –
aggressive social reforms instead of regulating big business
Conclusions
European and American
Imperialism
29 September (continued 04 October) 2004 (Lecture #15)
American Imperialism
o
Yellow journalism
– press publishes stories to influence the people
o
§
Teller Amendment
– war is for Cuban sovereignty
o
Spanish fleet
destroyed (
o
US allows
o
US sunk the
Spanish fleet here no losses)
o
o
o
The war brings
the
o
US takes islands
throughout the Pacific (including
Teddy Roosevelt
o
When
o
o
Allows the
Conclusions
Origins of World War I
o
Countries
militarize to have a sense of security and industrialize which stimulates the economy
o
Arms race ensues
– vision of total war in which industry would be destroyed
o
Diplomats feel
o
If a country
mobilizes, its economy’s focus changes, putting it behind other nations unless
they actually go to war
§
Puts pressure on
countries which mobilize to actually to go to war or put themselves at a
disadvantage
o
o
Required a strict
timetable –
o
o
Germans mobilize
because they have to fight before
o
Every nation
joins to defend itself and power balance except
Conclusions
The Great War
06 October (continued 08 October) 2004 (Lecture #17)
o
o
US has manpower
at home concentrated on making goods
1915:
Year of Frustration – war spreads
o
British fleet
cannot break through (too many mines)
o
Amphibious
assault fails (equal number of German forces in better positions)
1916:Year
of Exhaustion
o
No longer
effective (both sides issue gas masks)
o
Cannot overwhelm
the rear trench network; 1M men dead
o
Allies gain eight
miles of territory at a cost of 1.2M men (60k each)
o
Aircraft – brand
new; used for picture taking, dog fighting, and extremely limited bombing
o
Zepplins used to
bomb the
§
Wood frame and
primitive engine – cannot carry much weight
o
Armor – British
develop first and use in small numbers with limited effectiveness
§
Germans develop
in time to meet large tank attacks
o
Chemical Gas –
Germans use well but fail to exploit before both sides get gas masks and
nullify gas effectiveness
1917
o
Decimation – if a
unit flees, 1/10 of its men are shot and the rest must carry a noose (so they
can be hung if they run)
o
o
§
British and
French hold their ground in hopes of
§
US arrives and is
the final touch – Germans fall back to work
§
Allies overrun
weak defenses and Germans sue for peace before the Allies even get to
Conclusions
o
o
US wants to
expand democracy to foster stability
o
o
Arms limitation
on
o
o
“Carthaginian
Peace” (
(Note: short notes because the discussion of WWI ran
into this day; not as much content for this day)
Communism
o
Conflict of
classes can be ended by eliminating private property
o
The word
communism comes from ‘communal property’
o
Not necessarily
totalitarian or bad (
o
Challenges
economic order
o
Requires
totalitarian government
o
Abolishing
private property violates Enlightenment ideals
o
o
Imperial
ambitions overstressed
o
Assassinations
brought liberal reforms
o
Defeated during
the Russo-Japanese War – end liberalization (they turn back the clock)
o
Believed the
Great War was due to capitalism
o
Lenin and
communists take over the Russian government, killing 200,000 opponents
o
White Russians –
supported the tsar or Menshiviks (like Capitalists)
§
Successfully held
off the Red Army; backed by foreign power until the end of WWI
o
Lenin open to
slow change and allows a liberal economy which is very popular
o
Stalin becomes
Secretary of the party; Lenin feels like he can control him
§
Lenin thought
Stalin was evil and ignorant
o
Lenin dies and
Stalin takes power by convincing people with false evidence that he was Lenin’s
friend
o
Stalin tries to
modernize too rapidly – moves farmers into factories, etc.
§
20M starve and
the economy is dies
§
Makes the
government absolute totalitarian – it exiles 4M, executes 1M, and eliminates
20% of officers
Capitalism And The Great
Depression
13 October 2004 (Lecture #20)
o
Foridney-McCumder
Tariff – tax foreign goods à more US sales à higher wages since companies make more $
o
Company unions
used to pre-empt labor unions; keeps wages normal and allows companies to keep
profits
o
Increased
reliance on credit
o
Increased
speculation – banks begin lending more money and pursue risky speculations
o
Overproduction –
too much product and increased competition à low profits
o
Have to get out
of business because banks could not lend anymore (many businesses unable to
repay loans)
o
Stocks sell at
wholesale – people just want to get out of investments with as much as possible
o
Sell-off starts
Black Tuesday; does not ruin the econ, but destroys confidence which in turn
cripples the economy
o
Weak economy:
decreased taxes so consumers can spend more and increased government spending
to produce jobs
o
Strong economy,
increase taxes to pay back debt and reduce consumer’s cash to prevent
overproduction
FDR
o
US businesses forced
to become more efficient
o
A powerful union
movement emerged
o
New Deal programs
set the foundation for the regulation of big business
Conclusions
The Rise Of German Fascism
o
Suppress
individuals and act in favor of the unit
o
In practice,
these governments are nationalistic and totalitarian
Hitler – son of an Austrian bureaucrat; starving artist
before the war
o
Put in jail for a
year (not more because the government did not want to make him a martyr)
US
Dawes Plan – loans $200M to
o
Drives people to
the Nazi party (radical solution)
o
Nazi party gains
28% of the population (biggest of
o
Hindenburg sees
that Hitler is needed or the Nazis in the Reichstag would block any of his
actions
o
Hindenburg has
Hitler made Prime Minister
o
Reichstag burns
and Hitler tells its members that they need to give him their power (they vote
to do so)
o
Forms the SS and
purges the SA; begins to persecute minorities
Conclusions
The Holocaust
o
1933 – boycott
Jews; Star of David
o
1935 –
o
1938 – Jewish
property confiscated; Krystallnacht
o
o
§
90% of Soviet
POWs killed
o
Final Solution –
make
Origins Of WWII in
Nazi Expansionism
o
Militarizes
o
Occupies the
o
Austrian
referendum says no (Hitler agitator makes government unstable; Hitler invades
and annexes it)
o
No retaliation –
Hitler proves Germany is great and can openly defy the Treaty of Versailles
o
France and UK
decide to believe him (meeting in Munich)
o
France and UK
cede half of Czech to Germany
o
Czechs have no
say
o
Shows Hitler that
he could get away with almost anything
o
Gives Hitler the
power to beat France
o
This was the
final chance to stop Hitler
o
Hitler quickly
breaks his promise – invades the rest of Czech
o
Hitler offers to
Russia to split Poland (secret part of a NAP)
o
Stalin agrees
because he believes France and England will not stand up to Germany
o
He thinks this is
best because it puts off what he sees as an upcoming war with Germany
§
He gets half of
Poland and time to prepare
o
Germany invades
Poland three weeks after this
o
France falls in
five weeks
o
Germany fights
and loses it war for air superiority over England though
§
Prevents an
expansion of the invasion to the UK
o
Russian army not
recalled until three hours before the invasion
o
German army
passes trains carrying war supplies into Germany
Conclusions
Japanese Militarism And Expansionism
22 October 2004 (Lecture #24)
o
Show Japanese US
military might and technology
o
Treaty of
Kanagawa – US recognizes Japanese as modern nation
§
In return
Japanese adopt a western legal system and Constitution
o
The Meiji Restoration
– central religious figure (emperor) restored to rally Japan’s various
religions
o
Western powers
largely ignore (yellow men beating up other yellow men)
o
West takes some
notice (Japanese beat old European power)
o
West tries to
negotiate expansion limits
o
Economic impetus
– western depression
o
Ideological
impetus – wouldn’t weaker Asian powers rather have Japanese over them than
white men?
o
Sets up a puppet
state to feed the Japanese economy (boosts it 20%)
o
Conclusions
World War II
o
o
US and
o
Front comes to a
standstill
o
US mobilizes –
§
Overproduces
Japanese 10:1 in capital ships
§
Doolittle badly
hurts Japanese moral; they thought US could not possibly touch their homeland
o
Midway strips
Japanese of sea power
o
o
German subs
thwarted by convoys and because their code is broken
o
o
o
Takes the Allies
years to break through
o
Japanese lose
over 98% killed in most campaigns prior to the summer of 1944
§
When they were
about to lose an island, they would charge in a bonsai attack (essentially
suicide)
§
Stopped in 1944
as the Japanese begin to just hole up (still refuse to surrender)
o
After six weeks,
beachheads secured
o
In the next six
weeks,
o
o
87% of Allied
military deaths belong to the Soviets (14.5M)
o
40-50M killed
total
o
38% of German
casualties due to extermination of German citizens by Hitler
Conclusions
The Atomic Bomb
o
Not successful
because
o
Also, because
once the
o
GEN Grover –
director
o
Dr. Oppenheimmer
– 2nd in Harvard class (graduated in three years); lead scientist
§
Had communist
sympathies – three communist relatives
o
o
Each cost about
$500M
o
Whole project
cost $2B and 250,000 employees
o
Most workers
focused on a small piece and did not know the final goal
Conclusions
Origins Of The Cold War