10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world After world war II

Introduction

• In the aftermath of Second World War a new erabegan.
• It was the beginning of the decline of European
colonial empires and the independence of colonies
in Asia and Africa.
• If the effects of World War I led to the communist
revolution of Russia, the Second World War played
a big part in the communist revolution in China.
• The emergence of the US and the USSR as super
powers resulted in the division of the world into
two antagonistic blocs.
• A cold war situation triggered deadly conflicts in
Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and West Asia. 
• Under the Marshall Plan for reconstruction of the war-
ravaged Europe, the US won the trust of the great powers

in Europe.
• Soviet Russia, by demonstrating solidarity with the
liberation struggles of countries in Asia and Africa, earned
the goodwill of the latter.
• The Non-Aligned Movement played a limited role in
containing the conflict between the two power blocs.
• In a bid to wriggle out of US control, European countries
started the European movement in the form of Council of
Europe.
• This developed into the European Common Market and
finally into what is today the European Union.
• The Cold War period ended with the fall of Berlin Wall.

Chinese Revolution

(a) China in the Pre-War Period

In its long history, Chinese civilization was more advanced than that of Europe.

But by the end of the nineteenth century, its progress had halted.

The Manchus, the ruling dynasty, had governed China since about 1650.

The entire administration system was in the hands of a bureaucracy of scholar-officials

called mandarins who came from the landed gentry.

The mass of peasant population was povertystricken, and suffered from high rents, high

taxes, and shortage of land.

There was very little industry, though some railways and engineering works had been built.

 • Discontent with the political and economic system resulted in a
number of peasant uprisings.
• The Taiping Rebellion (1850–64) was a major rebellion.
• In the two opium wars of 1832 and 1848, China was defeated and
was compelled to open its ports to western powers.
• The opening of China to western imperialism led to economic
exploitation and the impoverishment of the Chinese people.

 

 (b) The Chinese Revolution 1911

• The disintegration of the Manchu dynasty began with the death of the Dowager-
Empress in 1908.

• The new emperor was two-years old and the provincial governors began to assert
their independence.
• In October 1911 the local army mutinied and the revolt spread.
• Provincial governors removed the Manchu garrisons and proclaimed their
independence.
• Already there were a few middle-class leaders.
• Dr. Sun Yat-sen was one among them.
• On hearing the news of the rising in a newspaper in the United States Sun Yat-senarrived in Shanghai and was immediately elected provisional president of the newChinese Republic

 

 (c) Yuan Shih-kai and After

• The unity of China under
Yuan Shih-kai lasted for four
years.
•On his death in 1916 a new
President was appointed for
the next twelve years but
the government was central
only in name.

 • With the Revolution and the breakup of the
old society, Confucian thought was generally
side-lined and after the Russian Revolution
of 1917, the ideas of Marx and Lenin became
popular among intellectuals.
• In 1918 a Society for the Study of Marxism
was formed in Peking University.
• Among the students who attended was Mao
Tse-tung.

 

 Kuomintang and Chiang Kai

Shek

• After the death of Sun Yat Sen the leader of the Kuomintang
was Chiang Kai-shek.
• While the Communist Party was under Mao Tse Tung and
Chou En Lai.
• As an avowed critic of Communists, Chiang removed all of
them from important positions in the party.
• The communists increased their influence among the workers
and peasants and obtained recruits for their army.
• The Kuomintang represented the interests of the landlords
and capitalists.
• In 1928 he was successful in capturing Peking. Once again
there was a central government in China.

 • Mao had understood that the Kuomintang grip on
the towns was very strong.
• So he concentrated his energies on organizing the
peasantry.
• A few hundred Communists led by Mao retreated
into the wild mountains.
• Here they stayed for the next seven years.
• As the army of Mao was gradually growing, the
Kuomintang was unable to penetrate the
mountains.
• The campaign against the communists was
distracted as Chiang Kai-shek had to deal with the
constant threat from Japan and also the attacks
from war lords.

 

 The Long March 1934

• As Chiang Kai-shek had built a circle of fortified posts
around the communist positions, Mao wanted to move out
of Hunan for safer territory.
• By 1933 Mao had gained full control of the Chinese
Communist party.
• In 1934, the Communist army of about 100,000 set out on
the Long March.
• This march has become legendary. Of the 100000 who set
out, only 20,000 finally reached northern Sheni late in
1935, after crossing nearly 6000 miles.
• They were soon joined by other communist armies.
• By 1937 Mao had become the leader of over 10 million
people.

 • With the surrender of the Japanese (1945), both the Kuomintang and the communists
sought to occupy the Japanese areas.
• In this race the Kuomintang was successful.
• The cities and railways soon fell into their hands.
• Even the area around Peking was soon controlled by Chiang Kai-shek’s forces, largely
because of the military aid given by the USA.
• With the massive support provided by the USA Kuomintang government controlled the
administration, ports and communication system.
• But the soldiers, mainly drawn from the peasants, were disillusioned and discontented.
• Mao was keen on obtaining the support of the middle class.
• So he declared that what the communists wanted was the rule of the people, not the
dictatorship of the proletariat; the end of exploitation, not absolute equality.

 

 10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II

 

 • In September 1949, before fighting had ended in
the south of China, the people’s Political
Consultative Conference met in Peking.
• Consisting of over 650 delegates from the
Communist Party and other left-wing
organizations, the conference elected the Central
Governing Council with Mao as its Chairman.
• The establishment of the People’s Republic of
China under the leadership of Mao Tse Tung was
a world-shaking event.
• There were now two mighty Communist powers
in the world —the Soviet Union and People’s
Republic of China.

 

NATO

• The United States and its European allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) to resist Soviet aggression in Europe (1949).
• It was an inter-state military alliance between the countries of North America and
Europe.
• The major member countries included Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
• Later Greece and Turkey joined the organization (1952).
• Germany joined the NATO in 1955.
• The chief objective of NATO was the peace and security in the North Atlantic region.

 • As a counter to the NATO, Soviet Union organized the Soviet-bloc countries
for a united military action, under the Warsaw Pact.
• In December 1954, a conference of eight European nations namely,
Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland,
Romania and Russia took place in Moscow.
• They concluded the treaty on May 14, 1955.
• This is known as the Warsaw pact.
• A joint command of armed forces of the member countries with its
headquarters in Moscow was setup.
• The Warsaw Pact was dissolved in 1991 following the break-up of USSR.

 

 • In April 1961, while landing an army of Cuban exiles on the island of Bay of Pigs, the US
bombed Cuban airfields with the objective of overthrowing Castro’s regime.
• US warships surrounded Cuba.
• The Kennedy government had received intelligence that the USSR was secretly installing
nuclear missiles in Cuba.
• Finally, the Soviet President Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles and thus the
Missile Crisis was defused.
• Eventually the two sides reached an agreement.
• The Soviet Union removed the missiles from Cuba on an understanding that the US
would never invade Cuba again.10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II10th Social Science PPT Tamil medium|Social Science PPT download|The world  After world war II