[the Story of the World] Ch.33

Ch.33 Communism in Asia

Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh

- French Indochina War
- The new rebel army, called the ˝Viet Minh,˝ was commanded by Ho Chi Minh. Over ten thousand Vietnamese joined the Viet Minh. They spent the years of World War II fighting a guerrilla war against the Japanese, appearing from the brush of the jungles, attacking, and then melting back into the wilds.
- Finally, in 1954, the French agreed to give up their claim to Vietnam.
- But they would only surrender under certain conditions. They insisted that Ho Chi Minh divide the country in half. The northern part would still be the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, under Ho Chi Minh as president. The south wouldn‘t belong to France, but it wouldn‘t belong to the Democratic Republic either. Instead, it would be a separate country, with its own elections and a different president.
- Ho Chi Minh agreed to these terms. Vietnam was finally free of both France and Japan.
- But the decision to divide the country in two would turn out to be a disaster. Struggles between the north and south of Vietnam would continue for another twenty-one years, and would lead to yet another foreign country-the United States-fighting a war in Vietnam.


The Korean War

- The United States and the Soviet Union decided to divide up the responsibility for slowly giving Korea back its independence. For convenience, they agreed to split the country in two. They drew an imaginary line right at the “38th Parallel” the line of latitude that ran roughly across the middle of the country).
- In June of 1950, ninety thousand North Korean soldiers, given all the most recent and powerful weapons by the Soviets, marched past the 38th Parallel and into South Korea.
- By 1953, more than three million people had died in this pointless fight. Half of them were civilians who had not even been armed. Finally, after the death of Joseph Stalin, everyone involved agreed to a truce so that the Korean War would end. Korea would remain divided into two. The north would stay the People‘s Republic of Korea, and would be a communist nation. The south would still be the Republic of Korea, with an elected president. And the border between the two countries would be exactly where it had been placed the two countries would be exactly where it had been placed at the end of World War Il, almost ten years before-right along the 38th Parallel.

[the Story of the World] Ch.32

Ch.32 Africa and China After World War II

One Country, Two Different Worlds

- National Party laws, called acts, gave every bit of power in Souch Africa to whites. To keep whites “pure”, the acts also separated whites from the rest of South Africa, so that they could lead totally separate lives.
- The Population Registration Act identified every single South African as belonging to one of four groups: white, African, colored (people of mixed white and African descent), and Asian. Only whites had full privileges.
- This separation was called “apartheid”, a word from the Afrikaner language meaning “apartness”.


Two Republics of China

- At last Chiang and his remaining men left China and crossed over to the island of Taiwan. Here on Taiwan, Chi-ang Kai-shek announced, he would re-establish the true Republic of China, a democracy that would have free elections and that would truly preserve the culture and traditions of China- in exile.
- But in China itself, the Chinese Communist Party announced, on October Ist, 1949, that they governed the true Republic of China-the People‘s Republic of China, a communist nation, with Mao as its chairman.

[the Story of the World] Ch.31

Ch.31 Western Bullies and American Money

The Suez Crisis

- Nasser
- The Suez Crisis had two other results. In the United States, President Eisenhower asked the U.S. Congress to pass a new law called the “Eisenhower Doctrine”. This new law said that U.S. soldiers could go and fight on the side of any Middle Eastern country that asked the United States for help against an attacking army. Congress agreed to pass the law.
- And in the Middle East, Nasser became a hero. He had defied the orders of European countries and particularly Great Britain, which had so long ordered Egypt around. Arab leaders all around the world cheered for Nasser, who had shown himself to be strong, decisive, and ready to stand up to bullies.


The Marshall Plan

- The United States would give twenty billion dollars to the countries of Europe so that they could rebuild. This plan became known as the Marshall Plan.
- But while America, France, and England wanted Germany to become a democracy, the Soviet Union wanted to turn it into a communist country. The four countries couldn‘t come to an agreement about Germany‘s government- so they divided Germany in half. England, America, and France got to re-organize the western half of Germany. They helped set up a new German democracy, and used Marshall Plan money to rebuild Germany‘s roads and buildings.
- the Berlin Wall

[the Story of the World] Ch.30

Ch.30 Partitioned Countries

Muslims and Hindus in India

- On August 14th and 15th, 1947, India was declared independent- and the country of Pakistan was born. The new Islamic Republic of Pakistan was divided into two parts, East Pakistan and West Pakistan, separated by India in the middle.
- Independence and partition didn‘t end the violence between Hindus and Muslims. For years, Pakistan and India argued and sometimes fought over a piece of land called Kashmir, just north of India. Both countries wanted to claim it. Finally, they agreed to divide it (although the two countries still argue about where the boundary line between Pakistani Kashmir and Indian Kashmir should lie). In both India and Pakistan, Indians were still killed in riots because of their religion.
- Gandi’s death


The Partitioning of Palestine

- World War II made many Jewish people feel that they must have their own country. They believed Jews would never be safe living in a nation governed by non-Jews, a country that might secretly or not so secretly dislike Jews and Judaism. Many non-Jews around the world, sickened by the events of the Holocaust, understood why the Jews wanted and needed their own country.
- In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two countries an Arab country and a Jewish country.
- The victory made the Israelis proud of themselves, and of their country. Nations around the world now knew that Israel was a strong nation that would protect itself. But this would not be the last conflict between Israelis and Arabs. In fact, it was only the beginning.

[the Story of the World] Ch.29

Ch.29 The End of World War II

The War that Stretched Across the World

- Lighting War, Blitzkrieg
- Dunkirk Evacuation
- Vichy France
- German U-boats
- German air force, Luftwaffe
- D-Day
- Battle in Ardennes Forest
- It was the last German offensive of the war. By April 1945, Soviet troops were marching into Germany‘s capital city of Berlin. The power of the Nazis was broken.
- Over in Italy, anti-Nazi partisans killed Mussolini.
- In Berlin, Hitler was hiding underground, in a reinforced room called a bunker. On April 30th, 1945, Hitler shot himself. A little more than a week later, Germany officially surrendered. May 8th, 1945, became known as V-E Day- “Victory in Europe” day.


The Atom Bomb

- In Europe, World War II had ended on May 8th. But although Germany surrendered, Japan refused to do the same. Fighting in the East went on for three more months.
- German scientist, Albert Einstein, Jewish
- the Manhattan Project
- On August 6th, 1945, one atomic bomb “Little Boy” in Hiroshima
- On August 9th, 1945, a second bomb, “Fat Man” in Nagasaki
- On August 14th, 1945, World War II officially ended all over the world.
- The countries of the United Nations are supposed to join together to defend freedom and democracy. Like the League of Nations, the UN is also supposed to try to prevent war, by helping countries settle their differences. But right after World War II, the most pressing job of the UN was to prevent any more atomic bombs from being dropped. At the very first meeting of the UN General Assembly, in 1946, the UN formed a committee to try to convince the nations of the world to stop developing atomic weapons and to disarm (take apart) the weapons they already had.