International Contacts and Conflicts, 1914-1999

1. Introduction

In the first half of the twentieth century, global wars and a severe depression resulted in the decline of Western Europe. The second period was defined by the great rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. This period, known as the cold war, led to the creation of alliance systems and economic unions. Each crisis extended the nature of conflict more fully around the globe.

Confidence and Internationalism on the War's Eve

International organization was one of the harbingers of progress. The Geneva Convention of 1864, the establishment of the Red Cross, the Telegraphic and Postal unions all pointed toward greater international cooperation. Scientists and industrialists began to display their accomplishments at great fairs and international gatherings.

Internationalization had two weaknesses: dependence on Western dominance and the emergence of strong nationalist movements. These weaknesses affected political cooperation, in particular. Discussions at the Hague in 1899 did result in international agreements on treatment of war prisoners and banned certain types of warfare, but disarmament was not accepted. A permanent court of arbitration, the World Court, did survive the conference.

2. World War I



1. Introduction

To many contemporary observers, the end of the nineteenth century embodied the concept of human progress. Few believed that international catastrophe was near at hand.

2. The Onset of World War I

To distract citizens from internal problems, European nations used first imperial conquests and then, after 1900, military growth. The two alliance systems that enmeshed the major European nations focused increasingly on the Balkans, where Russia and Austria-Hungary were engaged in an uneasy struggle for dominance. In the Balkans, a variety of small, recently independent nations and Slavic minorities sought advantages by appealing to whichever of the European powers seemed likely to advance their causes.

When the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia immediately mobilized its forces to protect its Balkan ally. Germany, France, and Britain were rapidly drawn into the conflict by terms of the various alliance systems.

3. Patterns of War in Europe

There were three fronts to the war. The first, the western front, was in France, where German armies confronted French and British troops for much of the war. The second front covered a great distance across Poland and Russia. This eastern front was the battleground between German and Russian forces. The Italian front developed after 1915 between Austria-Hungary and Italy. Surface sea battles were uncommon during World War I, but the Germans mounted an intensive submarine campaign against Allied shipping. The western front featured trench warfare, where the new technology of machine guns, barbed wire, poison gas, and massed artillery wreaked havoc on the contending armies. There was little mobility along the western front. The eastern front was more mobile. The lines moved into western Russia. To meet the demands of total war, governments more closely controlled national economies and rationed scarce resources. Censorship and propaganda were common. Sacrifices by combatants and civilians were enormous.

4. The War Outside Europe

Although the war was fought mostly in Europe between European nations, others were drawn into the conflict. The British called on contingents of troops from their Dominions in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The United States was slowly involved in the war. Initially the United States profited from its neutral status, exporting materials and food to the Allies. German submarine warfare eventually affected American ships. In 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies and helped to turn the tide of battle against Germany.

5. Combatants in Africa, Asia and the Middle East

There were minor skirmishes in the German colonies of Africa, and the French used African troops in Europe. Indian contingents served in the British army. Nationalism spread from Europe to the colonies as a result of their participation in World War I. Japan entered the war on the side of the Allies as a justification for seizing German colonies in the Pacific. China also declared war on Germany in 1917, but never actually participated as a combatant.

In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire's decision to join the German alliance spelled the end of the Turks' hold over Arab regions. The British fomented rebellions among Arabs seeking independence from the Ottomans. The British also promised a Middle Eastern homeland to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Overall, the war advanced the prestige and power of the United States and Japan, but diminished Europe's hold over global empires.

6. The War's End

Before the fighting ceased, the Russian Revolution of 1917 took Russia out of World War I. Lenin and the communists signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Germans. German fortunes on the western front were not so good. By 1918, the French, British and American troops pushed the German troops back to the French borders. The military installed a civilian government to take blame for the defeat. The new government sued for peace in 1918.

7. The Peace and the Aftermath

The peace agreed to at Versailles proved satisfactory to no one. France obtained provinces lost in the war, but no security against future German aggression. Japan's claims for compensation were virtually ignored. The American concept of an international body to prevent war was enacted in the League of Nations, but the U.S. Congress refused to join and entered a period of diplomatic isolation. China lost territories to Japan. New nations were carved out of central Europe, but they were small and weak. Germany was forced to pay reparations for the war, which produced internal discontent with the civilian government and economic disaster. Russia, now communist, was not included in the conference. The various discontents led to universal diplomatic insecurity.

8. The War's Devastations and Dislocations

The war was devastating both in terms of manpower and the European psyche. The loss of men reduced available labor forces and produced economic instability. Financial insecurity resulted from the massive amounts of credit extended to combatants during the war. Increased government spending led to inflation. In terms of European imperialism, there was little overt change, but colonies anticipated enactment of President Wilson's announced programs of self- determination.

The Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. It was replaced by a stronger Turkish republic and a group of mandates that divided up the Arab regions between France and Britain. A few monarchies under Arab or Persian rulers also emerged from the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire. The world trade system had been reorganized with Japan and the United States as major forces. The League of Nations, on which so many hopes had been based, proved to be little more than an ineffective discussion group.

3. The Great Depression



1. Introduction

The depression that dominated the 1930s affected the entire world trade system. The Great Depression led to the development of new governmental policies and triggered political extremism.

2. Causes of Economic Instability

There were numerous economic problems in the aftermath of World War I. Germany suffered from massive inflation, which was difficult to control. Britain, dependent on exports, found a global market with much stiffer competition. Agricultural overproduction sent prices for food products plummeting in all nations. In Europe, falling farm prices made it more difficult to repay war loans. Overproduction was a particular problem in dependent countries of the world trade system. The inability of colonies and dependent regions to purchase European manufactured goods weakened demand for Western goods. Nationalism frustrated international attempts to deal with these problems. Tariffs barriers, which further reduced trade, were erected in many nations.

3. Collapse and Crisis

The economic collapse first occurred in the United States in 1929. As American banks closed their doors, Europe, which remained dependent on American credit, was drawn into the crisis. Investment funds were withdrawn when creditors went bankrupt. Without capitalization, industrial production fell and with it the demand for labor. Massive unemployment made it impossible for large numbers of people to consume goods, thus contributing to falling demand. The social devastation of the depression was evident at all levels. Symptoms of the declining economy lasted until 1939.

4. Worldwide Impact

One of the few economies that resisted the general trend to depression belonged to the Soviet Union. Without ties to most of the West, the Soviets were unaffected by the drop in worldwide demand. Colonial nations that depended on exports of raw materials suffered enormously. Japan, industrialized, but heavily dependent on exports, suffered typically high unemployment figures.

The depression increased Japanese paranoia about the West and promoted more aggressive imperialism in Asia. In the West, itself, the depression prompted new, government-led welfare schemes and political radicalism. In part, reactions to the depression helped to create the conditions that led to World War II.

4. World War II



1. Introduction

Military expansion in Germany and Japan led to a series of diplomatic crises during the 1930s. Passive responses from other nations encouraged more aggressive behavior.

2. New Authoritarian Regimes

The depression fragmented Japanese politics and gave rise to various radical, ultranationalist groups. One military faction attempted a coup in 1932. The coup failed, but resulted in the establishment of a moderate military government for four years. Militarism produced a more aggressive foreign policy toward China, still attempting to recover from the 1911 revolution. The Japanese army entered the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. When the League of Nations condemned the aggression, the Japanese withdrew from the organization.

The depression also triggered political radicalism in Germany. In the 1920s, the National Socialist party under Adolf Hitler began to gain popularity as an advocate of stronger central government and aggressive foreign policy. Hitler was able to take power in 1933 legally, but soon abolished parliamentary government and established a totalitarian regime. Hitler removed all political rivals, launched a racist attack on Jews, and built up the German war machine. In Italy, Benito Mussolini had developed a similar fascist government in the 1920s. Hitler's success in Germany galvanized the Italian government.

3. The Steps Toward War

Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations and intentionally broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles by suspending reparations, rearming, and entering the Rhineland. Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935 with impunity. When civil war broke out in Spain, Italy and Germany actively supported the right-wing faction. Only when Germany declared a union with Austria and invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938 did the other European nations demand a conference. At the Munich conference, the leaders of France and Britain acceded to Hitler's demands in return for the hope of continued peace. The policy of appeasement failed, when Hitler's forces swallowed all of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The Soviet Union and Germany signed a peace treaty in the same year. Finally, when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war.

In Asia, Japan's aggression against China spread to the region around Beijing in 1937. The Japanese military rapidly extended their control over much of eastern China, but were unable to suppress resistance entirely. A stalemate set in that lasted until 1945. In 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a formal alliance, the Tripartite Pact. France and Britain were ill-prepared to face renewed conflict after the devastation of World War I. The United States continued to follow a diplomatic course of isolation.

4. The Course of the War: Japan's Advance and Retreat

The first years of the war featured widespread Japanese successes in the Asian theater of war. With no farther advance likely in China, Japan turned to other areas of Asia. French Indochina, British Malaysia, and Burma were all assaulted. The United States, with possessions in the Philippines and Hawaii, attempted to halt the Japanese advance diplomatically. During negotiations, the Japanese attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian islands in 1941. Following the loss of the Philippines, the American forces recovered in the Pacific. Moving from island to island, the American navy and marines approached the Japanese home islands by 1944.

5. Germany Overreaches

In the first stages of the war, German armored columns practicing Blitzkrieg rolled through the poorly defended nations of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France. By 1940, much of continental Europe was under German rule. A collaborationist French regime ruled southern France from Vichy. Britain, led by Winston Churchill, remained as the last Allied bastion in Europe.

With Europe under control, Hitler proceeded to carry out his final solution, the genocidal extermination of the Jewish population. Six million died in concentration camps. With western Europe prostrate, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1940. Despite massive casualties, the Russian forces held back the German armies. The protracted invasion of the Soviet Union critically weakened German forces just as the United States entered the war in 1941.

U.S. and British forces launched an offensive against Germany in northern Africa at the same time as the Soviet Union turned back the last major German offensive. The Soviet Union then began an offensive that reached Berlin in 1945. Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. and Britain invaded Italy, then France, and finally Germany. As the Allies prepared their final assault, Hitler committed suicide rather than face defeat. The war in the Pacific ended shortly afterwards. The American use of atomic bombs to reduce the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima induced the Japanese to give up the war effort.

6. Human Costs

The war was destructive of both combat troops and civilian populations. The Japanese committed atrocities against the Chinese population, and Hitler's genocidal assault on the Jews during the Holocaust killed millions. Both German and Allied air forces targeted civilian populations as targets in bombing raids. The most extreme example of civilian bombing was the use of atomic bombs against Japan at the end of the war. At least 35 million people died during World War II.

7. The Settlement of World War II

In the peace settlement that followed World War II, the United Nations was created. All of the great powers were included (the U.S., Britain, France, China, and the Soviet Union). Internationalism was extended to include Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

In postwar Europe, tensions emerged between the Soviet Union on the one hand and the United States and Britain on the other. In a series of conferences during the end of the war, spheres of influence within postwar Europe were established. Western leaders conceded Soviet control of much of occupied Eastern Europe, but insisted on a Germany divided among the victorious Allies.

The United States occupied Japan, which lost its imperial possessions. Korea, a former Japanese colony, was divided between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Former European colonies in Asia were briefly reestablished prior to successful independence movements.

European colonialism in Africa, the Middle East, and India was also shaken. The Soviet Union rapidly established communist regimes in those Eastern European nations created after World War I. Western Europe was free to reestablish democracy, but under the watchful eye of the United States. Increasingly, a bipolar world dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union emerged.

5. The Cold War and Decolonization, 1945-1989

The United States and Britain attempted to respond vigorously to the expansion of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. In 1947, the U.S. announced the Marshall Plan, a program of economic assistance to Europe. The Soviet Union viewed the plan as a means of extending U.S. influence in Europe. The major point of conflict was Germany. The U.S. intended to reconstruct Germany as a viable political unit and a barrier against further Russian expansion. When the Soviet Union attempted to blockade the free city of Berlin, the U.S. airlifted supplies to keep the city open. A series of alliances developed.

The U.S. created NATO for Western Europe and provided most of the military force for the alliance. The Soviet Union countered with the formation of the Warsaw Pact. Following the Soviet development of an atomic bomb in 1949, the United States and the Soviets entered into a period typified by increasing atomic arsenals in each nation. With Europe stabilized between two major power blocs, tensions rose elsewhere in the world. The Korean War initiated regional conflict. The United States enunciated its intentions of halting the advance of communism anywhere in the world. Although crises emerged, only the Vietnam War resulted in actual conflict.

After the 1950s, the pressures of the cold war began to subside. Soviet leaders initiated negotiations with the United States that limited the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Europe began to chart a more independent economic and diplomatic path. The end of colonialism resulted in the creation of nations that remained outside the bipolar framework of the cold war. Economic internationalism became more prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. The oil crisis of the 1970s produced a ripple effect that disturbed most Western economies, but there were no major depressions. Multinational corporations gained increasing influence. The cold war came to an end, when the Soviet Union could no longer respond to American military spending. When Ronald Reagan sought to establish a more confrontational policy with the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

6. Period III: The 1990s and Beyond

The end of the Cold War and the completion of decolonization set up another 20th-century period in world history, one that may extend well into the 21st century. This period features the dominance of the United States, regional conflicts, the reassertion of regional identities, large trade blocs, and wdespread adoption of policies favoring freer market forces.

7. Conclusion: A Legacy of Uncertainty

The combined effect of two world wars and a depression sapped the vitality of Europe. European weakness led to a bipolar world dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. European colonialism elsewhere in the world came to an end. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the cold war ended, hastening the rebalancing of world power.