Chapter 22pg (1087-1119)

         In the 1900, European colonial empires in Africa and Asia appeared as permanent features of the world's political landscape. the period from the mid 1950s through the mid 1970s was the age of African independence as colony after colony, more than fifty in total emerged into what seen as the bright light of freedom. At the international level, the world wars had weakened Europe, while discrediting any sense of European moral superiority.

Comparing Freedom Struggles
     
        Two of the most extended freedom struggles in India and in South Africa illustrate both the variations and the complexity of the process, which was so central to 20th century world history. India was among the first colonies to achieve independence and provided both a model and an inspiration to others,whereas South Africa, though not formally a colony was among the last to throw off political domination by whites.

The Case of India:Ending British Rule 

        British never assimilated into Indian society because their acute sense of racial and cultural distinctiveness kept them apart. British railroads, telegraph lines, postal services, administrative networks, newspaper, and schools as well. The English language bounded India's many regions and peoples together more firmly and facilitated communications.

CHapter 21(pg 1035-1068)

   Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict
       
      Modern communism found its political and philosophical roots in 19th century European socialism, inspired by the teachings of Karl Marx. By then1970s, almost one-third of the world's population lived in societies governed by communist regimes. Not just Russia was under communist rule. In Vietnam, a much more locally communist movement, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh had a social vision on how the country should be ruled. During the Cold War ( Russia Soviet Union), the Warsaw Pact brought the soviet Union and Eastern Europe communist states together in a military alliance was designed to fight against the NATO alliance ( western capitalist countries).

  China: A Prolonged Revolutionary Struggle
       For 28 years, that small party, with an initial membership of only six people, grew, transformed its tragedy and found a leader that lead wars and won battles. Many Chinese peasants were treated unfairly. The Chinese tried to rise up against their land lords. However years of guerrilla warfare, experiments with land reform in areas under communist control, and the creation of a communist military force to protect liberated areas slowly gained for the CCP a growing measure of respect and support among China's peasants.

  The Soviet Union: The Collapse of Communism and Country 
       Gorbachev was the leader of Russia during the collapse. China's booming economy, the Soviet Union spun into a sharp decline as its planned economy was dismantled before a functioning market-based system. Unlike Chinese peasants, few soviet farmers were willing to risk the jump into private farming, and new foreign investors found the Soviet Union a tempting place to do business. A brief and unsuccessful attempt to restore the old order through a military coup in August 1999 but triggered end of the Soviet Union.

Chapter 20 (pg973-1017)

         The "Great War" was known as the First World War. Europe had assumed an increasingly prominent position on the global stage, driven by its growing military capacity and the marvels of its scientific and industrial revolution. Few could have imagined that is "proud power" of European dominance would lie shattered less than a half century later. The starting point in that unraveling was the First World War. Since the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, a fragile and fluctuating balance of power had generally maintained the peace among Europe's major countries. The war broke out due to archduke's assasination prolonged the conflict. 

Legacies of the Great War

         In the late summer of 1914 was war was suppose to end by Christmas but it lasted for four years. Extended battles lasting months such as those at Verdum and the Somme in France generated causalities of a million or more each, as the Destructive potential of Industrialized warfare made itself  tragically felt. The German state, for example, assumed such control over the economy that its policies became known as "war socialism". Vast propaganda campaigns sought to arouse citizens by depicting a cruel and inhuman enemy who killed innocent children. Labor unions agreed to suspend strikes and accept sacrifices for the common good, while women, replacing the men who had left the factories for the battlefront.

         If World War 1 represented the political collapse of Europe, this catastrophic downturn suggested that Western capitalism was likewise failing. During the 19th century, the economic system had spurred the most substantial economic growth in world history. Much of Europe's worldwide empires had globalized the Great War, its economic linkages globalized the Great Depression. Countries or colonies tied to exporting one or two products were especially hard hit. The Great depression also sharply challenged the governments of industrialized capitalist countries, which generally had believed that the economy would regulate itself through the market. 

         The modern history of Japan parallel that Italy and Germany. All three were newcomers to great  power status, with Japan joining the club of industrilized and empir-building states only in the late 19th century.