Chapter 15 – Modern European History

Section NotesWorld War IWorld War IIEurope since 1945

VideoImpact of the European Union

ImagesWorld War IWorld War IICauses and Effects of the Cold WarFall of CommunismPolitical CartoonLosses of the Major Wartime Powers

in World War II, 1939-1945

Quick FactsChapter 15 Visual Summary

MapsEurope, 1900-TodayEuropean Alliances, 1914World War II in Europe, 1941A Divided Europe, 1955Assessment: Europe, 1900-Today

Close-upTrench Warfare

World AlmanacThe European Union

World War I

The Big Idea

World War I and the peace treaty that followed brought tremendous change to Europe.

Main Ideas

• Rivalries in Europe led to the outbreak of World War I.

• After a long, devastating war, the Allies claimed victory.

• The war’s end brought great political and territorial changes to Europe.

Causes of World War INationalism, or devotion and loyalty to a country, increased in the 1800s. People across Europe wanted their countries to become large and powerful.

Main Idea 1:Rivalries in Europe led to the outbreak of

World War I

As countries grew more powerful, rivalries began. Some countries were willing to go to war to prove their superiority over their rivals.

Some countries strengthened their armies and created stockpiles of new weapons to prove their strength.

Countries also began to form alliances, or agreements to protect each other, for added protection from their enemies.

The Spark for War

A series of events in 1914 led to the outbreak of World War I:

• Tensions rose between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, both of which wanted the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• On June 28 a Serbian assassin shot and killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

• Serbia turned to its ally, Russia for help. Serbia’s other allies, Great Britain and France, also joined the war. They were called the Allied Powers.

• Germany joined the war on Austria-Hungary’s side. Together they were known as the Central Powers.

Main Idea 2:After a long, devastating war,

the Allies claimed victory.

• Both sides dug deep ditches along the font lines.

• Trench warfare was dangerous, both from fighting and from hunger and disease as well. Millions of soldiers died, and neither side gained an advantage.

• New weapons, such as machine guns, poison gas, and tanks, were created to fight soldiers in trenches.

The WarBegins

• Germany sent troops into Belgium and France. The Allies stopped them outside Paris.

• Russia attacked the Central Powers from the east, forcing them to fight on two fronts.

TrenchWarfare

• The British navy blocked supplies from reaching Germany.

• German U-boats attacked British ships.

The Warat Sea

The Allies Win

For three years the war was a stalemate. In 1917, however, it began to turn in favor of the Allies:

• German U-boats began to attack American ships. The United States warned Germany to stop, but these warnings were ignored.

• As a result the United States joined the Allied Forces.

• Newly arrived American troops gave the Allies an advantage, though the Russians soon dropped out of the war.

• Germany renewed its attack on the Allies, but that attack was stopped.

• The Central Powers surrendered in the fall of 1918.

Main Idea 3:The war’s end brought great political and

territorial changes to Europe.

Effects of World War I

• More than 8.5 million soldiers killed

• 20 million more soldiers wounded

• Leaders of the Allied countries met at Versailles in France to discuss the terms for peace after the war. Their decisions were recorded in the Treaty of Versailles. According to the treaty, Germany had to:

– Accept blame for starting the war

– Reduce the size of its army and give up its overseas colonies

– Pay billions of dollars for damages caused during the war

Political Changes After World War I

Russia

• World War I caused great hardship for people.

• During the war a revolution forced the czar, or emperor, out of power.

• Vladimir Lenin took over Russia’s government and established Communism in Russia.

• Communism is a political system in which the government owns all property and controls all aspects of life.

Europe

• The German Empire was replaced by a German republic.

• Austria and Hungary became separate countries.

• Poland and Czechoslovakia gained independence.

• Yugoslavia was created.

• Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent.

World War II

The Big Idea

Problems in Europe led to World War II, the deadliest war in history.

Main Ideas

• Economic and political problems troubled Europe in the years after World War I.

• World War II broke out when Germany invaded Poland.

• Nazi Germany targeted the Jews during the Holocaust.

• Allied victories in Europe and Japan brought the end of World War II.

Main Idea 1:Economic and political problems troubled

Europe in the years after World War I.

Economic Problems

• World War I destroyed factories and farmland all over Europe.

• Many European countries borrowed money from U.S. banks.

• In 1929 a U.S. stock market crash began the Great Depression.

• American banks had no money to loan to Europe, so European economies declined.

Political Problems

• Many Europeans blamed weak government for their economic troubles. They wanted strong dictators to run their countries.

• In Russia Vladimir Lenin formed the Communist Soviet Union.

• Benito Mussolini took power in Italy.

• Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany.

Main Idea 2:World War II broke out when

Germany invaded Poland.

Italian and German aggression led to World War II:• 1935

Italy invaded Ethiopia. Italy and Germany formed the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• 1938Germany annexed Austria. Britain and France protested the annexation, but did not try to stop it.

• 1938–1939Germany conquered Czechoslovakia, over the objections of many other countries. Italy invaded Albania.

• 1939Germany invaded Poland, which Great Britain and France had sworn to protect. In response to the invasion, they declared war on Germany. This began World War II.

World War II Begins

fought

The Axis Powers

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan

The Allies

• France

• Great Britain

• Soviet Union

Early in the war the Axis Powers were successful.

• After defeating Poland Germany conquered much of Western Europe, including France.

• The German air force launched attacks against British cities and other targets, hoping to force the British to surrender.

• Germany invaded Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, while Italy invaded North Africa.

• Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Main Idea 3:Nazi Germany targeted the Jews

during the Holocaust.

• The Holocaust was the attempt by the Nazi government during World War II to eliminate Europe’s Jews.

• The Nazis believed that Germans were a superior race, and they tried to destroy people they thought were inferior, especially the Jews. Their efforts began even before World War II.

• During the war the Nazis used mass executions and death camps, such as Auschwitz in Poland, to murder millions of Jews.

• Some Jews resisted the Nazis. Some non-Jews, such as Oskar Schindler of Germany, also tried to save Jews from the Nazis. Few were able to avoid the Holocaust, though.

• By the end of World War II, some 6 million Jews and millions of non-Jews had been killed by the Nazis.

Main Idea 4:Allied victories in Europe and Japan

brought the end of World War II.

• More than 50 million people died.

• The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the war as the world’s strongest countries.

• The United Nations was formed.

End ofthe War

• The United States joined World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• In 1943, American and British troops forced Italy to surrender. Soviet troops forced Germany to retreat.

• The D-Day invasion of 1944 allowed the Allies to advance into German territory.

• In May of 1945 Germany surrendered.

• In August of 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, which then surrendered.

Results ofthe War

Europe Since 1945

The Big Idea

After years of division during the Cold War, today Europe is working toward unity.

Main Ideas

• The Cold War divided Europe between democratic and Communist nations.

• Many Eastern European countries changed boundaries and forms of government at the end of the Cold War.

• European cooperation has brought economic and political change to Europe.

Main Idea 1: The Cold War divided Europe between democratic and Communist nations.

• The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as superpowers, or strong and influential countries. The two soon grew to distrust each other.

• This distrust led to the Cold War, a period of tense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• Much of the hostility between the two countries stemmed from political and economic differences:

– The United States is a democracy with an economy based on free enterprise.

– The Soviet Union was a Communist country in which freedoms were limited. Its leaders exerted strong control over both politics and economics.

Western Europe

• Supported democracy and the United States

• Members of NATO

• Experienced much economic growth after World War II

• Germany was divided between Western and Eastern Europe.- West Germany was part of Western Europe and democratic.- East Germany was part of Eastern Europe and Communist.

• The city of Berlin was also divided into East and West Berlin.

A Divided Europe

Eastern Europe

• Practiced Soviet-style Communism

• Members of Warsaw Pact

• Failed to develop after World War II and suffered many shortages

Main Idea 2:Many Eastern European countries changed boundaries and forms of government at the

end of the Cold War.

The Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s through the efforts of American and Soviet leaders.

American president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev worked to slow the arms race between the two countries. Gorbachev also introduced many reforms in the Soviet Union, including democratic elections.

In part because of these reforms, democratic movements swept through Eastern Europe. Countries threw off Communism, and the Berlin Wall was torn down. In 1991 the Soviet Union broke apart.

Changes in Eastern Europe

• Germany– East and West Germany reunified after 45 years of division. The

Berlin Wall was torn down.

• Soviet Union– Former Soviet republics became independent countries. Among them

were Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus.

• Czechoslovakia

– Czechoslovakia peacefully broke apart into two countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

• Yugoslavia– Ethnic conflicts triggered violence between groups. Several former

republics of Yugoslavia declared their independence, but ethnic groups fought for territory. Years of civil war resulted in thousands of deaths. In the end, Yugoslavia split into five countries.

A European Community

The European Union

• After World War II some leaders thought that working together was the only way to avoid another world war.

• In the 1950s several European countries created a common market, a group of nations that cooperates to make trade easier.

• Over time more countries joined the common market. Today it is known as the European Union or EU and has 25 members.

• Members of the EU work together on issues such as trade, migration, and the environment. By working together, EU members can compete economically with countries like the United States and Japan.

• The EU is helping to unify Europe. Since 1999, for example, many EU members have used a common currency, the euro.

Main Idea 3:European cooperation has brought economic

and political change to Europe.

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