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2021/2022A.Y History Lesson Note for Grade 12

Unit Seven
Major Regional and Global Developments Since the end of the Second
World War
7.1 The Emergence of the Antagonistic Super-Powers: the USA
versus the USSR
 WWII exhausted the leading European powers economically, politically and
militarily. Economic recovery became serious. However, USSR and USA emerged
superpowers after WWII.

 Before the Second World War, USA used to follow the policy of isolationism.
Realizing its involvement in the two wars, USA adopted a policy active engagement
in international politics.

 Hawaii was the only territory of the USA that was affected by the war. USA had been
the supplier of war materials, food and manufactured goods for the Allied forces. Its
industry and agriculture flourished during the war and emerged richer and more
powerful than the pre-war period.

 USSR lost its citizens and many of them were wounded. After the war priority was
given reconstruction and resettlement. But in 1953 the GDP of the two super powers
became close. Both USA and USSR became leaders of group of nations with similar
ideology. Each of them tried to strengthen itself, and spread its ideology at the
expense of the other.

7.2 Division of the World into East and west and the Cold War

All countries in eastern and central Europe which were liberated from Nazi German
and Fascist Italy became socialist (communist) states. They were Poland, Hungary,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Eastern Germany.
Later on, China (Beijing), North Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba etc. joined these states.
The two groups together formed the Eastern Bloc.
The other countries relied on USSR for support and protection. However, later on,
China and Yugoslavia detached themselves from the orbit of the USSR.

On the other hand, the capitalist bloc under the championship of USA was consisted
of U.K, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Canada and Italy
etc. there was a persistent struggle between the two blocks to expand their ideology
and sphere of influence in the immediate post-war period. This relationship of the
powers ushered in the Cold War.
The socialist countries of Europe were all under the rule of communist dictators.
European communist governments shut off their peoples from the rest of the world.
That was why Winston Churchill of Britain commented in 1946 saying that an ‘‘iron
curtain’’ was drawn between the European east and west.

1 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 Malenkov, a notable diplomat and a future prime minister of the USSR, expressed the
foreign policy of USSR with determination that the USSR should be consolidated and
strengthened to get the respect of other countries.
On the other hand, Harry S. Truman made clear that ‘‘unless Russia is faced with an
iron fist and strong language, war is in the making’’. ‘‘It would be’’, Harry S. Truman
adds, ‘‘the policy of the United States to support free people, who are resisting
attempted subjugation (dictatorial rule) by armed minorities or by outside pressure’’.
The Main Features of the Cold War:
 A war of words (strong propaganda)
 Ideological struggle
 Weapons race (competition to build more and more destructive weapons)
 Competition of espionage
 Economic conflicts
 Expansion in Europe and elsewhere by all means, short of armed fighting
 Building military alliances
 Building military bases in different parts of the world

 Harry S. Truman announced the containment policy of USA towards USSR. The
Truman Doctrine was one of the means to implement this policy. Through Truman
Doctrine USA gave financial aid that enabled Turkey and Greece to avert a threat
from communists.

 Another means of containment was the Marshall Plan – the U.S. program to rebuild
Europe after Second World War. On the basis of this program, George C. Marshall
invited all European countries to be a part of this package. However, USSR responded
by isolating itself and communist states in Central and Eastern Europe.

 For the rest countries USA supplied 9 billion dollars between 1948 and 1952. The aid
enabled Western Europe to accelerate its production rates. The soviets took the plan
as a US measure to strengthen non-communist countries in Europe against the Soviet
Union and the communist camp.

 One of the manifestations of the Cold War was the formation of hostile military
alliances. The western bloc took the initiative in this regard. It was precipitated by the
crises in Czechoslovakia, where the communists took power, and the Berlin blockade
(1948-49).

 The latter was related to the fact that Germany along with Berlin was divided up
among the four powers. But the city was situated deep inside the Soviet zone of
Germany. Stalin cut off all lands and water routes leading to the sectors of Berlin
under western allies. The people of West Berlin suffered from shortage supplies that
necessitated the western assistance. Later, soviet lifted the blockade.

 The western bloc responded by forming NATO(Northern Atlantic Treaty

Organization) that took Belgium, Britain, Canada , Denmark , France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxemburg , the Netherlands, Norway and USA.

 Greece and Turkey joined it later on. The eastern bloc reacted by forming the Warsaw
Pact that USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic (GDR
or East Germany), Poland , Rumania , and Czechoslovakia. Member of each alliance
system agreed that an attack on one of them would be considered as an attack on all.

2 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 This and other hostilities aggravated the arms race between the two super powers. The
bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki accelerated the arms race. USSR tested its
first atomic bomb in 1949.

 In the two countries scientists and engineers were preoccupied with building long
range rocket-powered missiles. USSR took the lead by sending sputnik I into orbit
around the earth on 4, October 1957. USA also did the same on January 31, 1958.

 In addition to this there was the problem of release of a deadly radioactive material.
The super powers had to spend huge sums of money on weapons and complex
defence systems. Another danger with nuclear weapons was lack of guarantee to stop
their proliferation.
 On economic sphere, western European states, which were France, Italy, Luxemburg,
Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Belgium and Holland, formed
European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957. Later on, Britain and other west
European nations joined it. It was built to enable its member-states to compete better
in world economic activities and relations.

 Earlier the communists formed an economic organization called the Council of

Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) earlier in 1949. Its intention was
strengthening economic ties among them.

 To get out of this stalemate condition the USSR under Nikita Khrushchev adopted the
policy of peaceful co-existence- competing with the west by avoiding war. Its
equivalent in the west was détente. Irrespective of their mutual desire to relax the
tension there was little progress in arms limitation talks until the 1970s.

 The first move was the conclusion of the Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968. By the end
of 1971 the veto-powered countries had already owned nuclear. Although the treaty
did not prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons, it promoted renewed efforts to limit
the armaments of the super powers .in November, 1969 a disarmament negotiation
known as Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) was opened.
 SALT inspired the hope of minimizing further building up of nuclear weapons. The
peak of détente was the opening of negotiation on SALT in 1972. However, the
tension continued until the two meetings between Ronald Regan and Mikhail
Gorbachev (1986-87). The disintegration of USSR and the fall of communism marked
the end of Cold War.

7.3 The Indian Independence Movement

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 to lead the struggle for
national independence. As the Indians waged struggle for independence, Britain
reacted by sowing a seed of differences between Muslims and Hindus. In order to
stand for the rights of Muslims the Muslim League had split away from INC in 1906.
Britain used a violent action in the Armistrar Massacre of 1919.
The INC carried out non-violent forms of struggle in the inter-war period. Mahatma
Gandhi organized peaceful disobedience campaigns. The British tried to make half-
hearted reforms.
As Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, leaders of INC, were arrested during
WWII, the struggle for independence became weak.
The Simla Conference was held in order to make reform and introduce self-rule based
on the existing religious communities. Gandhi, Nehru, V. Patel and Mohammed Ali
Jinah rejected the British proposal. The latter represented the Muslim League.

3 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 In 1946 Indians were allowed, though under the British rule, to form a provisional
government and a Legislative Assembly. It was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru. The
Muslim League called for independent Muslim state. Lord Louis Mountbatten, the
last British viceroy to India, and the British government agreed the split of India into
Muslim and Hindu states.
India became independent with the premiership of Jawaharlal Nehru on January 26,
1947. Mohammed Ali Jinah became the first president of independent Pakistan. The
conflicts between Muslims and Hindus created chaos, property destruction, beatings
and killings of people. Seeing the condition, Mahatma Gandhi advised tolerance for
religious communities. However, he was killed by a young Hindu fanatic on Jan. 30,
1948 in New Delhi.
As separate independent states, while India and Bangladesh have been good
neighbours, relations between Pakistan and India became hostile.
The split of the British colony of India is related with colonial legacy that prevented
tolerance and open dialogue among different national groups, the separate national
identities of the three groups of people.

7.4 Indonesia: from the Dutch Colony to an Independent Nation

 The struggle for independence became hot in the pre-war Indonesia. The formation of
a parliament called Volksraad (People’s Council) did not satisfy the nationalists. They
formed the National Party was formed under Sukarno in 1931. The movement was
interrupted by the Japanese occupation during the Second World War.
 Before the arrival of Britain to the island, Indonesians had already liberated their
country from the Japanese occupation. While Indonesians were enjoying a new
republic, the British army came to disarm the Japanese.
 The Dutch followed Britain with the hope of restoring their rule. This condition
fuelled the Indonesian nationalism and it caused the beginning of armed struggle that
lasted until 1950 that formed a transitional government called ‘‘Netherlands-
Indonesian Union’’.
 It was responsible for administering the country which was leading to independence.
The union government was dissolved and Indonesia achieved its independence in
1956.
 Sukarno became the first president of Indonesia. His government was pro- USSR and
along with Egypt, India, Yugoslavia became a vanguard proponent of the Non-
Aligned Movement.

7.5 The Arab-Israeli conflicts

 With the conclusion of WWI, Palestine was transferred from Ottoman Turkey to
Britain as a mandate territory. It had both Arab, which was majority, and Jew
communities. Zionism encouraged the migration of Jews and their settlement in
Palestine. It was founded by Theodore Herzel.
 By the Belfour Declaration Britain promised to give Palestine to the Jews. When the
number of Jews became considerable, a conflict arose between the Arabs and Jews.
The conflict was beyond the capacity of the British mandate government. The cause
was rivalry between Arab and Jew nationalism and the strategic importance of the
Middle East and its oil resource.
 Soon after WWII, Zionism won international sympathy due to the Holocaust. The
inability of the British administration to curb the immigration and the objective of
Zionism intensified the hostility. Both of them resorted to terrorism and the Jews
attacked British administrative officials and soldiers. This act revealed the inability of
British administration to maintain peace and order.

4 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 In 1947 the British government passed the problem of Palestine to the UN. On the
basis of the UN Commission report, the Security Council voted for the partition of
Palestine into Arab and Jews states. But Jerusalem was to be an international city
under UN supervision.
 Zionists accepted the plan but the Arab world opposed it demanding the right to self-
determination for Palestinian Arabs. On May 14, 1948 withdrew from Palestine and
the Jews immediately declared the establishment of independent Jewish republic with
its capital at Tel-Aviv.
 Since then, the Arab states which did not recognize Israel fought it four times. None
of them recognize the statehood of Israel until 1977.
 Soon after it declared its independence, Israel faced an attack from Egypt, Iraq,
Lebanon, Syria and Trans-Jordan. This war was concluded by the victory of Israel in
1949. From this war Israel gained half of Jerusalem (the old quarter) and the north-
western coastal strip along the Mediterranean Sea.
 The only successful Arab state was Trans-Jordan (later Jordan) that took the hill
country of central Palestine (West Bank of the Jordan River). Through the UN
mediation a cease fire was made and Jerusalem was divided into two halves.

 The war displaced about 750,000 Palestinians who settled in the neighbouring
countries. In order to regain their homeland the Palestinian refugees fought under
traditional leaders (mufti) and, later on, they turned into a guerrilla group like Al
Fatah and terrorist organizations such as Black September.

 Then all Palestinian militant groups merged together and formed the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) in that carried on a guerrilla war against Israel. A long
time leader of PLO was Yasir Arafat.

 Using the Arab League that gave priority to the Palestinian issue, Israel’s Arab
neighbours actively continued their struggle against the Zionist state. From 1954
onwards, Gamal Abdal Nasser became the champion of the Arab cause. In 1956
Britain withdrew its troops from Egypt.

 Using this opportunity, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company. His action
antagonized the two shareholders of the company- Britain and France- and it was a
threat to Israel. The Second Arab-Israeli War (Suez War) was started when Israel
attacked Egypt. Britain and France joined Israel. The war ended with the pressure of
USA, USSR and UN on Britain and France.

 President Eisenhower was not happy about the situation as it might invite the
interference of USSR in the Middle East. It actually happened so. At the end of the
war Israel took the Egyptian territory of Sinai. Israel was also persuaded to surrender
its conquered territories. A UN peace-keeping separated Israel and Egypt.
 The Third Arab-Israel war or Six Days War was started by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and
Syria in 1967. In May 1967 a large Egyptian army was deployed in Sinai. Nasser also
closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping. Besides, he made a demand to U Thant,
a UN Secretary General, to pull out the UN peace force.
 Syria shelled Israeli settlements from the Golan Heights. Minor clashes took place
along the Israeli- Syrian border. Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defence,
decided to start a pre-emptive strike. Though they did not directly involve in the war,
USA, Britain and Western Germany assisted Israel.
 On the other hand, the Arabs were assisted by USSR. Destroying the Egyptian air
force, Israeli troops reached the Suez Canal. On June 10, 1967 Syria and Egypt
accepted a cease-fire. Israel reopened the Gulf of Aqaba. At the end of the war Israel

5 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 took respectively the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and the
West Bank from Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Israel made all these territories buffer
zones.

 Israeli athletes were attacked by the PLO agents in the Munich Olympic.

 The Fourth Arab Israeli War (Yom Kippur) broke out when Egypt and Syria attacked
Israel. The Arabs made a surprise attack on a Jewish holiday. The war was concluded
with the victory of Israel and the Arab states made a cease fire.
 In 1978 Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Mennachem Begin of Israel signed the Camp
David Agreement and the former recognized the statehood of Israel. But he lost his
life for his peace initiative and the Palestinians kept on intifada (revolt)

7.6 The Vietnam War

 Vietnam, a part of the French colony of Indo-China, was occupied by Japan during
WWII. The Vietnamese formed a fighting force called the Vietminh under the
leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Following the Japanese surrender and the formation of the
independent republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, a socialist and communist, the
British and the Kuomintang forces came to Vietnam to drive out the Japanese.
Irrespective of the condition, they helped the return of France to re-colonize the
region in 1946.

 The French insisted on the formation of the three self-governing states of Indo-China
under French colonial control. Though France intended to put Vietnam under the rule
of Emperor Bao Dai, the Vietminh preferred total independence.
 The failure of negotiation caused the war between the Vietminh and France in 1946
and it lasted until 1954. French citizens who opposed the war called it the ‘‘Dirty
War’’. The Vietminh got the support of communist China and USSR.

 On the other hand, France got a tremendous support from USA who relied on the
former to prevent the takeover of Vietnam by communists as the Americans feared
the communists would pose a threat on the economic and political interest of the US.

 France lost a tremendous man power and faced a defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
in May 1954. A month later an international conference that was attended by Britain,
USA, USSR and Communist China was held in Geneva. France accepted the end of
its rule throughout Indo-China.

 Though the independence of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam was recognized, the latter
was to be divided on temporary basis into two parts along the 17th parallel. The
division created a communist South Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh and a pro-west
North Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem. It was decided the country would be united
after a national election.

 The leaders of South Vietnam and Americans refused to sign the Geneva Conference.
The latter had suspicion about the possibility of united communist Vietnam. The
Vietminh planned to use communist guerrilla forces that started operation throughout
South Vietnam.

 In 1960 groups of South Vietnamese communists, known as the Vietcongs, had set up
a united guerrilla movement. This marked the beginning of civil war between the
North Vietnam-backed Vietcongs and the South Vietnam government.

6 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 The USA increased its financial and military aid to North Vietnam and went to the
extent of making direct involvement in the war in 1962. On the other hand, North
Vietnam and the Vietcongs were assisted by the USSR. When 40 per cent of the land
of South Vietnam fell under the Vietcongs, the American congress voted for Lyndon
Johnson’s request for ‘‘all necessary steps, including the use of armed forces’’
against Ho Chi Minh and north Vietnam.

 The number of US soldiers grew and America began aerial bombing. America got the
support of Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The US government did not
want to accept defeat. The more effort the USA made, the harder it was to withdraw,
though this was what the USA had to do at the end.

 The Vietnamese successfully resisted every effort of the US forces to get their
submission by using modern weapons of post-WWII production.

 The more the war became prolonged; the US government faced strong opposition at
home. Many Americans were disturbed by the atrocities of their country on
Vietnamese civilians. Losing many Americans in Vietnam caused the conception of
Vietnamization by President Richard Nixon.

 Reducing its army step by step, America was forced to withdraw from the soil of
Vietnam. The evacuation was made after the mediation Henry Kissinger, the US
secretary of state. In 1974 the government of South Vietnam was overthrown and the
two Vietnams were united and formed a single communist country.

7.7 The Chinese Socialist Revolution

Manchu was the last Chinese dynasty that ruled the empire between 1644 and 1911.
Following its overthrow, china entered a civil war of warlords. The war was
terminated when the Kuomintang (Nationalists), under Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in alliance in 1926. On the death of Sun
Yat-sen the KMT and its republican government leadership was taken by Chiang Kai-
Shek. The CCP was founded in 1921.
However, Chiang Kai-Shek dissolved the alliance and started attacking the
communists. This condition forced the communists to make the Long March to the
province of Yenan. It took the lives of many communists. It was in this period Mao
Zedong became a leader of CCP.

The Japanese aggression that was started in 1931 evolved into the Sino-Japanese war
since 1937. The KMT and CCP formed a loose alliance against their common enemy.
During WWII Chinese territories were held by these three powers.

Following the Japanese withdrawal CCP and KMT went to war to take power over the
whole of China. The massive attack of KMT against the strongholds of CCP in
Northern China was a cause for the beginning of the civil war. Thus, KMT took all
major cities in the region and made the CCP retreat to rural areas.
The KMT got an upper hand as result of high man power at the beginning, the
American assistance and the recognition it got from USSR. The CCP won the support
of peasants who benefited from the communist land reform policies.
The victory of KMT was short lived because of bad economic conditions, including
inflation, in KMT-held territories. Its government faced corruption and lacked

7 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

 military strategy. In January 1959 the communists captured Beijing and Chiang Kai-
Shek fled to Taiwan (Formosa) where he formed a nationalist government.

The new government gained popular support in mainland China and got the
recognition of the USSR and its satellites. China and UUSR signed a treaty of
friendship, alliance and mutual assistance in 1950. They signed other economic
agreements.

Between 1953 and 957 China carried out its First Five-Year Plan- ‘‘a transition to
socialism’’- that emphasized on heavy industry and collectivization of agriculture in
accordance with socialist principles. The government nationalized banking
enterprises, industry and commerce.
In 1958 Second Five-Year Plan was launched and the ‘‘Great Leap Forward’’ that
was intended to take China to the second stage of communism. According to the plan,
large farms were organized into rural cooperatives called communes whose members
were organized into production brigades.
Despite communist efforts, the commune system failed to meet its immediate goals
due to food shortage, mismanagement and peasant resistance to the commune. Hence
the second phase of ‘‘Great Leap Forward’’. In fact the ‘‘Great Leap Forward’’ was
responsible for a terrible famine during 1958-62. The peasant communes proved
failures. Although there was disaster in agriculture, China made significant progress
in industrialization.

Though it scored success, the Chinese government faced many serious problems.
There was power struggle within the communist party and opposition from the rural
areas. But all political opponents were jailed or killed.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that was started in 1966 led to economic
and political disruption.

In its foreign policy, Communist China intervened in the Korean War and invaded
Tibet in 1950. In 1959 the revolt of the Tibetans was crushed. It went to war with
India in 1962. The de-Stalinization policy of USSR, that denounced the personal cult
of Stalin, created hostility with China. Mao believed that the CPSU had turned away
from socialism and called Khrushchev revisionist. He regarded China as a role model
for international communism. In the 1960s the two countries were engaged in war of
words.

In 1966 the attack against USSR became a part of the campaign of the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution. In March 1969, Chinese and Soviet forces clashed
over a disputed territory along their border.

China successfully tested the first atomic bomb in 1964. Moreover, China revised its
policy towards America and improved its relations with the USA.

Glossary
Buffer Zone: a neutral area that lies between hostile forces and reduces the risk of conflict
between them
Cold War: a conflict over ideological differences carried on by methods short of sustained
overt military action and usu. without breaking off diplomatic relations; the ideological
conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the second half of the 20th century
Iron curtain: the militarized border between the communist bloc and Western Europe during
the Cold War. The Iron Curtain existed from WWII until the fall of Eastern European
Communist governments between 1989 and 1991.
8 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12

Marshall Plan: a programme of loans and other economic assistance by the U.S. government
between 1947 and 1952 to help western European nations rebuild after WWII.
Truman Doctrine: policy first set forth by United States President Harry S. Truman in 1947.
The immediate objective of the policy was to send U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in
Greece and Turkey, but it was later expanded to justify support for any nation that the United
States government believed was threatened by Communism during the Cold War period.
Warsaw Pact: (formally the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual
Assistance), military alliance of eight European Communist nations, enacted to counter the
rearmament of West Germany, officially called the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and
its admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Zionism: a worldwide movement, originating in the 19th century that sought to establish and
develop a Jewish nation in Palestine. Since 1948 its function has been to support the state of
Israel.

9 “ፈጣሪ የተወደዱ ልጆቻችንን፣ሀገራችንን እና ህዝባችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

History Lesson Note for Grade 12