1. Chapter 19 Section 1 Vocabulary

2. * The postwar decades brought a major turning point in world history. Colonial empires built by western powers during the Age of Imperialism crumbled. In Asia and Africa, people demanded and won freedom. More than 50 new nations emerged in Africa alone. Nationalism and Independence * Nationalist movements had taken root in Africa, Asia, and the Middle east * Nationalist leaders, such as Gandhi, insisted on independence after WWII * War had exhausted military and financial resources, therefore inhibiting Britain, France, and other powers from holding on to their empires

3. Nationalism and Independence * The Cold War undermined imperialism * The US backed the right of colonized people to self- determination * The Soviet Union had long condemned western imperialism * Both sides were seeking allies among emerging nations Different Roads to Freedom * In some regions, especially where whites settled, colonial rulers were reluctant to leave * France fought to hold on to Algeria in North Africa * By contrast, it gave up its vast colonial holdings in West Africa without a struggle

4. Global Impact * 90 new countries emerged during this “great liberation.” * Some large in area and population, some small * New nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, became known as the developing world * Although they greatly differed, they shared common goals * All were determined to pursue modernization, building stable governments and developing their countries economically * They took different paths, but faced similar challenges * Most developing nations joined the United Nations

5. * The new nations emerged into a world dominated and divided by the Cold War * The US and Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, nations strong enough to influence the acts and policies of other nations * They competed for influence by offering economic and military aid to developing nations * Each superpower wanted new countries to adopt its ideology, system of thought or belief * Many new nations favored socialism, partially because their old rulers had been capitalist

6. Nonaligned Nations * Many new nations chose to remain nonaligned, not allied with either side in the Cold War, to avoid superpower rivalry * The goal of the nonaligned movement was to reduce tension and promote economic policies that would benefit developing nations * Giant India was a leader in the nonaligned movement Hot Spots * Through struggles, the superpowers confronted each other indirectly rather than head to head * Contributing to this tension was the Chinese Communist victory in 1949 * The US feared that the “red tide” would sweep around the world * American policies were designed to stop the communist threat

7. Hot Spots * Occasionally, the Cold War did erupt into “shooting wars,” especially in Asia. * The US and the Soviet Union played crucial roles in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts The Cold War Ends * The Cold War ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed * Some tensions eased and some long-standing conflicts were resolved * Many people hoped for a peaceful world * But troubling local, regional, and global problems remained

8. Ethnic and Religious Conflicts * Ethnic and religious groups have sometimes demanded greater independence to protect their cultural and political identity

9. * After new nations won independence, they faced immense problems * The new nations wrote constitutions * Only a few were able to maintain democratic rule * The great majority of people remained poor and cut off from advancement * Despite setbacks, democracy did make some progress in the late 1980s and 1990s * Internal conflicts and lack of experience in representative government upset these fragile experiments in democracy

10. * Since 1945, transportation and communications systems have made the world increasingly interdependent, the dependence of countries on goods, resources, and knowledge from other parts of the world * Political, economic, cultural, and other links have created both problems and opportunities * A number of international organizations deal with issues of global concern The United Nations * The UN was set up at the end of WWII as a forum for settling disputes * Its responsibilities have expanded greatly since 1945 * It has tried to act as a peacekeeper * Some UN interventions have been successful, other have failed because member nations could not agree on goals and methods

11. The United Nations * The World Health Organization helped wipe out smallpox * Today they seek a solution for AIDS * The UN also sponsored global summits, conferences of leaders and experts from around the world, to discuss issues such as the environment, women, and population Other Organizations * Many nations have formed regional groups to promote trade * Global trade has been recognized by a series of international treaties * The General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) * Established fair trade policies * World Trade Organization (WTO) * Establish global rules of trade

12. Other Organizations Cont. * The Group of Eight (G-8) * Promotes economic cooperation * Consists the worlds major industrial democracies: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the US * Leaders meet every year to discuss international economic, political, and security issues * The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays a large role in the world economy by making loans to developing nations

13. * Today, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons that cause huge casualties are call weapons of mass destruction (WMD) Deadly Weapons * In 1968, many nations signed the Nuclear non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), agreeing to stop the spread of nuclear weapons * By the late 1990s India and Pakistan had developed nuclear weapons * 2003, North Korea announced that it had nuclear weapons

14. Human Rights * In 1948, UN members approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights * All people are entitled to basic rights and freedoms “without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, property, birth, or other status.” * Human rights include “the right to life, liberty, and security of person.” * The Helsinki Accords guaranteed such basic rights as freedom of speech, religion, the press, rights to a fair trial, to earn a living, and to live in safety * Human rights abuses, including torture and arbitrary arrest, occur around the world

15. Terrorism * Terrorism has increased around the world since the 1960s * Terrorism is the willful use of violence, especially against civilians, to achieve political goals * Terrorists use bombings, kidnappings, airplane hijackings, and shootings to get attention and force the governments to meet their demands * The United States declared global war on terrorism and enlisted countries around the world to join the fight Intervention * The UN has a mixed number of interventions * Peacekeepers were sent to northern Iraq to protect the Kurds, an ethnic group suffering brutal government persecution * The UN was slow to move when Serbs persecuted Muslims in Bosnia * Later, the Un did not step in when Hutus massacred and estimated one million Tutsis in Rwanda