Transcript File - Mr. Sutton`s Class!

Modern Geopolitics
How the World Got This Way
Europe: Pre 1914
Europe’s Empires
Militarism and Arms Races
► Land
= resources
► Resources = wealth
► Wealth = power (military power)
► Military power = more land… and the cycle
repeats itself; giving rise to imperialism through
the build-up of military power (militarism)
► In
order to compete in this imperial game you
have to have bigger, better weapons than your
competitor empires = arms race
► Europe was locked in an imperial arms race
throughout the 19th century and into the 20th
The System of Alliances
► Axis/Central
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Powers
Germany/Prussia
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Italy (briefly)
► Allied
Powers
 Britain
 France
 Russia (soon-to-be Soviet Union… revolution
under way)
How WWI Started:
► Austria-Hungary
is looking to expand their
territory by annexing Serbia… some Serbs
are willing, but most value their sovereignty
(ethnonationalism)
► A-H come up with a plan: they send
Archduke Franz Ferdinand to Sarajevo as a
display of power...
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
The “Black Hand”
► Serbian
Liberation Organization looking to
oppose A-H domination… they’d love to
show this bully-empire who their messin’
with
Gavrillo Princip
► One
of a number of
young, armed
assassins sent by the
Black Hand to
Sarajevo to intercept
and kill Ferdinand.
Ferdinand’s Death Triggers a ChainReaction
► A-H
declares war on Serbia
► Russia defends its ethnic cousins and
declares war on A-H
► Germany declares war on Russia
► Britain and France declare war on the axis
powers in defense of Russia
Europe falls into the nastiest war ever
The Bloody War
Russian Revolution:
(Simultaneous to WWI)
► Russia
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is:
Really big
Really ‘old-school’ (low-tech, agriculture society)
A Huge population (compared to Europe)
A Monarchy (like most of the others)… but
becoming REALLY unpopular with the people
due to lack of development and unfair
treatment.
► Czar
Nicholas II
► Czarina
Alexandra
► The kids
The Romanovs
The Revolution:
► 1905
Revolt… serious revolt (not like the
others) freaked out the Czar… so he gave
the people a few rights. But he later took
those rights away again…
► 1917 Revolt… Czar’s army couldn't stop
them this time… They were led by a group
called the Bolsheviks; originally a prodemocracy group until…
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
► Inspired
by Karl Marx’s Economic
Philosophy: Communism
 Stage 1: Capitalism is evil and the world will
eventually reject it through revolution
 Stage 2: Socialism: strong central government
controls distribution of wealth (force people to
share everything evenly)
 Stage 3: Communism: “perfect world” no cops,
jails, armies, money… everyone takes care of
everyone
Vladimir Lenin
► Rises
through the ranks of the Bolsheviks
and becomes leader… by the time WWI is
over the Russian Revolution is over too…
only the Czar isn’t in charge anymore… the
Bolsheviks and their Red Army is, with Lenin
in the lead.
► Lenin will install the world’s first Communist
(socialist) government/economy.
Results of WWI:
Russians were fighting both a war AND a revolution…
MANY died at the hands of the technologically
superior German Army
► France: sooo many French were killed and maimed by
the German invasion.
► Britain: they too suffered great casualties
► US: had we not shown up when we did the axis
powers would have won and world history would be
VERY different.
► A-H: near collapse at war’s end
► Ottoman Empire: near collapse at war’s end
► Europe: ripped to pieces. Families, economies,
governments… all destroyed in the war… a
competition arises between monarchy, democracy, and
a new popular idea called communism which promises
everybody an equal share in everything.
►
The End of the War:
Treaty of Versailles
► Signed
on June 28th 1919 as an end to the
First World War, The Treaty of Versailles was
supposed to ensure a lasting peace by
punishing Germany and setting up a League
of Nations to solve diplomatic problems.
Instead it left a legacy of political and
geographical difficulties which have often
been blamed, sometime solely, for starting
the Second World War.
The Treaty of Versailles
► Developed
by the “Big Three” Britain,
France, US
► Each wanted something different:
 US wanted security/peace: 14 Points (Wilson)
 France wanted revenge on Germany
 Britain wanted what US wanted but sided with
France due to public outcry for revenge
What Was In The Treaty:
► Germany:
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Forced to take blame for the war
Loses territory (nearly half used to create Poland)
Loses military power
Loses monarchy: Weimar Republic installed
Reparations forced on them
Wilson’s 14 Points
► Woodrow
Wilson brought with him a
“blueprint” for World peace… the 14 Points:
 League of Nations
 Self Determination
 No more alliances
The idea of Self Determination excited the
colonized regions of the world… statehood
seemed within reach for them. They were
about to find out that self determination wasn’t
intended for non-European peoples
Austria-Hungary
► The
Big Three divides the former empire
along ethnic lines… giving rise to the more
familiar Eastern Europe map you know
today (for the most part)… Countries like
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary… are
produced… they get statehood (self
determination)
The Ottoman Empire
► Here’s
where the story gets really sticky… The
Ottoman Empire was vast and multi-ethnic/
multinational. Many of these nations were hopeful
that they too would finally experience
independence like E. Europe… not so.
► The former Ottoman Empire was divided between
Britain and France for each to temporarily hold as
a “Mandate” or temporary custody.
► Why were the various ethnic groups of the
Ottoman Empire not granted autonomy??
 Greed
 Racism
 Politics
The British Mandate
► Almost
immediately, the Brits get out their map
and a ruler and begin cutting up the region into
more-easily governed parts. Places like
Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine are created
without regard to ethnic, religious, or traditional
boundaries already in existence.
► They will soon find that their “more-easily
governed” parts are a real mess. However, the
Brits refuse to admit their mistakes and try to
make it work anyway.
The British Mandate
► Immediately
after receiving their mandate, the
British are approached by two ethnic groups
seeking statehood:
 Jews (found throughout Europe) Were political and
military allies to the Brits during the war.
 Palestinians (living in “Palestine”) Were promised
statehood by the Brits in an earlier negotiation.
*The stage is set for one of the longest, bloodiest,
territorial disputes of all time… one that has global
consequences.
Begin Israeli-Palestinian video.
The Interwar Years
(1919-1939)
► WWI
turned the world upside down; the map of
Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and
Asia have changed.
► Monarchies and Empires have been replaced with
new governments operating in newly-formed
countries. (Germany, former A-H)
► The destruction of the massive war gutted
infrastructure and the working-age demographic
from many European communities
… the stage is set for more conflict.
Italy
►A
devastated economy leads to a revolution
against the monarchy.
► A virtual nobody named Mussolini organizes
thousands of war veterans (the “Black Shirts”) to
oppose the crown and marches on Rome. The king
is deposed! Mussolini sets up a new government
with himself in complete control. The term
‘fascism’ is coined.
► The power goes to his head; Mussolini fancies
himself to be a modern-day Caesar destined to
rebuild the glory of the ancient Roman Empire
Japan
► While
all these changes were going on in
Europe, Japan took advantage of the
distraction.
► The empire invaded northern China and
claimed it as their own, renaming it Manchuria.
► They also brutally seized the Korean Peninsula
… ethnic cleansing is too gentle a term to
described what happened there.
► Many other islands, including the Philippines,
were next.
► The League of Nations did nothing to stop it.
Emperor
Hirohito
USSR
► Lenin
dies soon after WWI leaving a ‘power
vacuum.’ A struggle for control of the new
socialist government ends when a brut
named Joseph Stalin seizes control (by
killing anyone who got in his way).
► Stalin brutally oppresses anyone who stands
in his way, shifting the government into a
totalitarian regime.
Stalin’s “5-Year Plan”
► USSR
was still a back-woods, backwards place. Stalin
was going to change that.
► Comprehensive long-term economic plans were set in
place to develop a soviet:
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Industrial complex (factories and mines)
Agricultural complex
Military complex
Infrastructure (roads, rail, power, dams…)
Brutally strict deadlines and demands were made to quickly
modernize… the result was as many as 12 million dead
Russians, worked to death to meet the goals. However, the
results were impressive.
Germany
► The
German people were furious and bitter
after what happened to them in Versailles.
► Despite that, the Weimar government got off
the ground and was a functioning democracy…
► However, the same economic problems that
were plaguing Italy and the rest of Europe
were even worse for the Germans.
► One of more than a dozen political parties to
form was a pro-Germany nationalist movement
led by thousands of young, angry war
veterans… the NAZI party… Hitler’s real power.
The 3rd Reich
► Soon
after legally coming to power, Hitler began
testing the will of the new League of Nations by
invading Austria… the League barely twitched… so he
moved on to Czechoslovakia… merely a slap on the
wrist.
► Hitler makes an agreement with Stalin: the NonAggression Pact: split Poland and promise to never
attack each other.
► Hitler (even after being warned by the Brits and
French) attacks Poland… The allied powers FINALLY
do something about it and declare war… WWII is
under way.
► Hitler’s war machine will go on to capture much of E.
and N. Europe, then invade and capture France, then
brutally bomb Britain into near submission…
► At the last possible moment, the US saves the day.
WWII
► Terrible
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war… just like WWI in several ways
Germans came close to winning
US entered the war just in time
Italy switched sides part way through
The world’s political and economic structure was
reorganized (again).
Evolution of the “Bipolar
International System” (Cold War)
► The
“Big Three” this time, included a fourth; the
Soviet Union… and they were clearly not like the
others. The first showdown between
Democratic/Capitalist powers and the newlyestablished Communist powers was about to begin.
A war/contest of ideas was about to begin… the
“Cold War” (1945-1991)
► The Cold War was a contest of:
 Territorial dominance
 Economics (who could outproduce the other)
 Politics (who could gather greater international influence)
Shatterbelt Theory
► Saul
Cohen 1950(modified Mackinder’s
Heartland Theory) “pivot area” “inner
crescent” “outer crescent”
► Accurately predicted “shatterbelts”: areas of
highly probable conflict based on
geographic significance
Containment Theory
► George
Kennan (US diplomat)
► US strategic policy for dealing with the Soviet
Union in this new global contest of ideas.
► Marshall Plan: use of US military and economic
force to stop communism’s spread. Worked in
Greece, Iran, Malaysia, W. Germany, Italy, Japan.
Didn’t work in Korea, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Angola, Cuba, Nicaragua
► Domino effect: fear of communist take-over in one
state would lead to the fall of neighboring states
too (Eisenhower)… theory led us into Vietnam War
NATO and the Truman Doctrine
► The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization was
a military alliance grouping all the prodemocratic/capitalist countries together in
defense against Communism
► In order to more specifically draw the
boundaries of American political and
economic power, president Harry Truman
declared that the continental shelf too was
part of our jurisdiction (widening our sphere
of influence). This touched off a widening
debate over maritime law and sovereignty.
UNCLOS I-II-III
► United
Sea
Nations Conference on the Law of the
 The Territorial Sea: 12 nautical miles out
 The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): 200 miles out,
if continental shelf extends further, 350 miles out
The UN and many other supranational organizations
began providing rules and frameworks to govern
how states behave within the community of states
(the world)… the beginning of a process we call
Globalization
Globalization
► Is
it the integration of economic, political, and cultural
systems across the globe? Or is it the dominance of
developed countries in decision-making, at the
expense of poorer, less powerful nations?
► Is globalization a force for economic growth,
prosperity, and democratic freedom? Or is it a force
for environmental devastation, exploitation of the
developing world, and suppression of human rights?
► Does globalization only benefit the rich or can the
poor take advantage of it to improve their well-being?
Globalization
► The
irony of the Cold War is that it pulled the
world together in a weird way… fear of global
destruction from nuclear weapons improved
political negotiations and economic relationships
(especially on the pro democratic/capitalist side)
► When the Cold War ended in 1991 (dismantling of
the Soviet Union) the world left the old “Bipolar
International System” for what was imagined as a
“New World Order”
Soviet Devolution
► Ethnic
Issues: reversing the artificial ethnic
grouping under soviet control (Chechniya)
stateless nation
► Historic Issues: old centers of power
► Cultural Issues: reversing the artificial diffusion
imposed during soviet control
► Economic Issues: reversing the artificial economic
organization under soviet control
► Boundary
issues underlie the majority of the
above. (see pg 258-261 in your text)
Democratization
(sometimes referred to as “westernization”)
► The
adoption and spread of democraticstyled systems of government as
decolonization, devolution, reform, and
revolutions occur in recent decades.
► Advantages
and disadvantages
Problems with the “New World
Order” Concept
► By
the 1990s the world was filled with a number of
regional and global political, economic, social, ethnic,
and religious organizations all pulling for influence or
control (UN, EU, NATO, NAFTA, IMF, World Bank…)
Do they have an impact on a state’s sovereignty??
► Devolution: is it common? (Slovakia, Croatia, Eritrea,
Moldova) not really. So power is not shared/spread so
easily. When major instances of devolution take
place, it may not be a benefit to the “New World
Order” ideal… take the devolution of the Soviet Union
for example:
Problems Caused by Globalization
and Democratization
► Environmental:
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Wildlife
Trade in wildlife
Invasive species
Loss of biodiversity
Ecosystem destruction
Ocean degredation
Desertification
Climate change
Ozone depletion
Pollution
Water supply
Problems: cont.
► Fundamentalism,
► How
Extremism, Terrorism
could the coming together of the world
community cause these problems??