CLASS NOTES: The Modern World: Global History since 1760

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My Notes on Massive Open Online Course:

The Modern World: Global History since 1760

Prof. Philip Zelikow, University of Virginia

This is a survey of modern history from a global perspective. It begins with the revolutions of the late 1700s, tracks the transformation of the world during the 1800s, and analyzes the cataclysms of last century, concluding with the new phase of world history we are experiencing today.

Notes on 35 Lectures I Watched in This Course:

1914: Schizophrenic Germany

1914: The Balkan Whirlpool

1914: From Balkan Crisis to War

1914-1916: All War Plans Fail Horribly

The 1916 Missed Opportunity for Peace

WWI Pushes Warring Countries Toward Total States

Why the Allies Won World War One

Post-WWI: Filling the Void of Collapsed Empires

Post-WWI Communism vs. Anti-Communism

Post World War I: The Age of Uncertainty

1910s/1920s: Modern Women

The World of 1930

The 1930s World Crisis

1930s: The Decade of Contingency

America's Entry into World War II

WWII: Strategies for Total War

1945: Hour Zero

Post WWII: Imagining New Countries

Conflicts in Postwar Nation Building

The Two Europes That Emerged After WWII

1947 China: Undesirable Communists vs. Flawed Nationalists

Post WWII: The Age of America

Reasons for the Korean War

How WWIII was Avoided in the Korean War

1950-1952: The Cold War Comes to Main Street

1950-1954: The H-Bomb and the Nuclear Revolution

1950s: Loosening Empires and Building Confederations

The Emergence of the Third World

1958-1962: The World at the Brink

Third World Proxy Wars of the 1950s and 1960s

Managerial States and the Transnational Disruption of 1968

1970s Obstacles to Reducing Cold War Tensions

1970s Democratic Socialism Becomes a Non-Choice

1980s Political Polarization

1980s: Global Capitalism Transformed

36 People I Have Learned About in this Course:

George Marshall (1880-1959)

Chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt famous for his leadership roles during World War II and after

was Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense
hailed as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory
Marshall's name was given to the Marshall Plan

Harry Hopkins (1890-1946)

Franklin Roosevelt's chief diplomatic advisor during WWII

in WWII was key policy maker in the $50 billion Lend-Lease program that sent aid to the Allies
one of the architects of the New Deal program
directed the WPA (Works Progress Administation) which became the largest employer in the country

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

First Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century

in office from 1947-1964
considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation-state: a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)

British economist whose ideas have fundamentally informed the economic policies of governments

overturned older ideas that held that free markets would, in the short to medium term, automatically provide full employment, as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands

Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's Republic of China

his Marxist-Leninist theories, military strategies and political policies are collectively known as Maoism

Sukarno (1901-1967)

The leader of Indonesia's struggle for independence from the Netherlands

spent over a decade under Dutch detention until released by the invading Japanese forces
in office from 1945 to 1967

Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986)

A Soviet politician, diplomat, and Old Bolshevik, leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s into the 1950s

rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin
dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev
was the principal Soviet signatory of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939

Zhou Enlai (1898-1976)

First Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976

served under Mao Zedong
consolidated the control of the Communist Party
formed foreign policy
developed the Chinese economy
met with George Marshall as the Communist representative in 1946

Dean Acheson (1893-1971)

Secretary of State in Truman administration, helped design the Marshall Plan

helped develop Truman Doctrine (support Greece and Turkey) and NATO
convinced Truman to intervene in Korean War in June 1950

George Kennan (1904-2005)

American political scientists, the "father of containment"

his writing inspired the Truman Doctrine
leading authority of the Cold War

Jean Monnet (1888-1979)

French political economist and diplomat, regarded as a chief architect of European unity

never elected to public office
a well-connected pragmatic internationalist

Robert Schuman (1886-1963)

A founder of the European Union, twice Prime Minister of France, Minister of Finance and Foreign Minister

arrested by Nazis, saved by lawyer from being sent to Dachau
joined French Resistance
always argued that European reconciliation that must take place after the end of hostilities

Albert Coady Wedemeyer (1897-1989)

United States Army commander who assumed command of U.S. forces in China during World War II

was also named Chief of Staff to the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
provided the Wedemeyer report which Marshall quashed
was a chief supporter of the Berlin Airlift
as a U.S. officer, he was appointed to the German war college Kriegsakademie in Berlin, 1936-38, and was included in 1938 German maneuvers, which gave him unique insight into German tactical operations

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975)

Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (Taiwan) between 1928 and 1975

took Sun's place as leader of the KMT (Kuomintang) when Sun died in 1925

Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's Republic of China

governed China fro 1949-1976

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925)

Chinese revolutionary, first president and founding father of the Republic of China

in the ROC (Republic of China, Taiwan) he is referred to as Father of the Nation
played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the years leading up to the Double Ten Revolution (Xinhai Revolution of 1911)

Kim Il-sung (1912-1994)

Leader of North Korea from 1948-1994

authorized invasion of South Korean in 1950
established an all-pervasive cult of personality
succeeded by Kim Jong-Il reigned 1994-2011
succeeded by Kim Jong-un in 2011

Syngman Rhee (1875-1965)

First president of South Korea

before WWII, elicited outside help to get the Japanese out of Korea
Harvard, Princeton graduate
anti-Communist and a strongman
led South through the Korean War

Matthew Ridgway (1895-1993)

U.S. Army general credited for turning the Korean War around in favor of the UN side

in 1986 recognized by the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
when MacArthur was relieved by Truman in April 1951, Ridgway assumed command of all United Nations forces in Korea

Peng Dehuai (1898-1974)

Chinese Communist military leader who supported Mao's suggestions to involve China directly in the Korean War

Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959

Josip Tito (1892-1980)

Authoritarian, "benevolent dictator" of Yugoslavia

1943-1980 Supreme commander of Yugoslav army
during World War II he was the leader of the Partisans, often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in occupied Europe

Mohammad Mosaddegh (1882-1967)

Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 until 1953 overthrown by British/Americans

pro nationalization of the Iranian oil industry (under British control since 1913)

Che Guevara (1928-1967)

Argentine Marxist revolutionary against capitalist exploitation of Latin America

traveled throughout South America, saw poverty, involved in Guatemala's social reforms, joined Fidel Castro
played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime
supported international revolution
captured and killed by CIA-supported Bolivian troops in Bolivia

Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1957)

Second president of Egypt after planning 1952 overthrow of monarchy, cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood and ousted president

neutralist policies during the Cold War led to tense relations with Western powers
retaliatory move to nationalize the Suez Canal Company in 1956 was acclaimed within Egypt and the Arab world

Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

Vietnamese Communist revolutionary, president of North Vietnam 1945-1969

died of old age in the middle of the Vietnam War (1955-1975)

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)

Leader of Ghana 1951-1966 nation's independence from British colonization in 1957

winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1963
saw himself as an African Lenin

Gary Powers (1929-1977)

American CIA pilot whose spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident

he ejected, plane crashed almost fully intact
was held in Vladimir Central Prison, 100 miles east of Moscow, developed a good rapport with Russian prisoners there
1962 exchanged on the Glienicke Brücke

Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963)

First president of South Vietnam (1955–1963)

accruing considerable US support due to his staunch anti-communism
in 1955 won 600,000 votes from an electorate of 450,000
a Roman Catholic, Diem's policies toward the Republic's Montagnard natives and its Buddhist majority were met with protests
lost the backing of his US patrons and was assassinated in a coup d'état

Odumegwu Ojukwu (1933-2011)

Nigerian military officer and politician, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970

Nigerian politician from 1983 to 2011
served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966
educated in England
attractive to the west

Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969)

President of the People's Republic of China from 1959 to 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China

fell out of favor in the 1960s because Mao viewed him as a threat to his power
1968 disappeared from public life and was labelled China's premier 'Capitalist-roader' and a traitor
died under harsh treatment in late 1969

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)

Russian novelist, historian who helped to raise global awareness of Soviet Union's forced labor camps

wrote "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"
was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974 but returned to Russia in 1994 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Edward Heath (1916-2005)

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974, bitterly denounced by Thatcher

was going to take on inflation, take on the labor unions
1972 throws up his hands and increased spending and inflation

Enrico Berlinguer (1922-1984)

An Italian politician and national secretary of the Italian Communist Party

broke with the Soviets over the invasion of Afghanistan
came close to taking power in Italy in a free election

Helmut Schmidt (1918-)

West Germany chancellor from 1974-1982, member of the SPD party,

1969-1972: Minister of Defense
1972-1974: Minister of Finance
supported policies which gave led to Germany having one of the most stable currencies and economic positions in the world

Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

American economist, statistician, and writer, the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century

taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades
known for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the complexity of stabilization policy

Yuri Andropov (1914-1984)

Leader of the Soviet Union from 1982-1984

1954: played a key role in crushing the Hungarian Revolution
1967: played key role in crushing of Prague Spring
1979: played dominant role in the decision to invade Afghanistan

9 Vocabulary Words I Learned in this Course:

adjudicate, v. give a judicial decision ⇒ "The realistic path for the superpowers was to adjudicate the conflicts and disputes among themselves."

ambivalent, adj. simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, or motivations ⇒ "The image of Sukarno on the cover of Time Magazine is ambivalent, do you sympathize with this man, or are you afraid of him?"

avuncular, adj. regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance ⇒ "That gentle, avuncular fellow Milton Friedman."

benighted, adj. lacking knowledge or education, unenlightened ⇒ "In the 1920s and well into the 1930s, the American South was regarded as the substantially unreconstructed backward backwater of American society: weaker education, oppression of the Negros, a kind of benighted, colorful place, fit for the fiction of William Faulkner but hardly for imitation in the rest of the country."

collude, v. act together secretly to achieve a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose ⇒ "What happens then is that the British and French secretly collude with the Israelis so that all three countries launch a joint military occupation which will seize the Suez Canal while the Israelis will attack Egypt in Sinai."

firebrand, n. person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt ⇒ "Mao Zedong, the young firebrand."

peonage, n. system by which debtors are bound in servitude to their creditors until their debts are paid ⇒ "During the 1910s and 1920s, Africans in the American South were able to increasingly free themselves from this kind of peonage."

prescient, adj. [PRESS-ee-ahnt] having knowledge of coming events;, foreseeing, conscious beforehand ⇒ "F.A. Hayek's message in the book 'The Road to Serfdom' suggested that visions like those of James Burnham are extremely prescient, and that people need to fight it."

rankle, v. to cause irritation or deep bitterness ⇒ "The Soviets took chunks out of the expanded German Reich and moved the whole country of Poland about 150 miles to the west, which rankled the British and French who had gone to war in 1939 to fight for the security of Poland."

4 Flashcards I Recorded in this Course:

which country owned Angola as a colony?

Portugal

three people who helped create the Marshall plan

Dean Acheson, George Kennan, Will Clayton

who were the two opposing leaders in China at the end of WWII

Chiang Kai-shek (nationalists) and Mao Zedong (communists)

from where to where were the Chinese nationalists trying to move their capital in 1947

from Chongqing to Nanjing