This document provides an overview of world history from World War II to modern challenges. It covers major events like the Cold War rivalry between the US and USSR, wars in Korea and Vietnam, decolonization in India and the creation of Israel, the Iranian revolution, and modern issues like terrorism and conflicts in the Middle East. Key topics reviewed include the causes and sides in WWII, the Holocaust, postwar divisions in Europe, US foreign policy responses to the spread of communism, and massacres in Cambodia, Rwanda, and the Balkans. New technologies, human rights reforms, and increased terrorism are also summarized as modern challenges.

1. Units 14-18
Review
World War II, Cold War,
Decolonization, Conflicts in the
Middle East, and Modern
Challenges

2. Unit 14: WWII

3. Great
Depression
Responses
US- FDR's New Deal
Italy- Rise of Fascism
Germany- Rise of Fascism, freeze sending
debts out, put money into military.
Russia- Stalin's 5-year plan and strict
policies

4. Causes of WWII
Treaty of Versailles
and the War Guilt
Clause blaming
Germany for WWI.
Failure of the
League of Nations
Worldwide
economic
depression (after
WWI)
The Rise of Fascist
Dictators
Immediate Cause:
Blitzkrieg,
Germany attacks
Poland

5. Opposing Sides
• Axis Powers: Germany, Italy,
Japan (signed a Defense Pact).
• Allied Powers: Britain, France,
Soviet Union (who will join later),
and the US.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

6. Final
Solution
and the
Holocaust
a systematic genocide of Poles, Slavs, homosexuals,
blacks, Gypsies, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other
“undesirables.”
Step #1: Nuremburg Laws: this step took away Jewish
property, rights, jobs, and their citizenship.
Step #2: Ghettos- segregated Jewish area
Step #3: Concentration Camps (Auschwitz)
Kristallnacht- “Night of Broken Glass.”

8. Monumental
Moments
Rape of Nanking
Pearl Harbor
D-day

9. End of War
• V-E Day
• V-J Day
• What were the effects of Truman's decision to drop the
atomic bombs?
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

11. Unit 15: Cold War

12. Your Rivalry Reasons (US vs. USSR)
Communism vs.
Capitalism.
Dictatorship vs.
Democracy.
Problems
stemming from
World War II:
a. The US delayed
in attacking
Germany in
Europe; and,
b. The atomic
bomb development
was being kept a
secret

13. Territory
and
Responses
“Iron Curtain”: this was a split between Capitalistic
Western Europe and Communistic Eastern Europe.
Satellite Nations
Berlin Wall
Truman Doctrine: a policy that gave money to
countries that were in danger of becoming Communists
(ex. gave $400 million dollars to Greece and Turkey).
Marshall Plan: gave money to all European countries
who needed it. This made capitalism look really good!

14. Responses Continued
NATO-12 nations, including the US, joined a defensive military alliance
called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Warsaw Pact-Soviet defense pact formed after West Germany was
allowed to rearm and join NATO.
Proxy Wars: China, Korea, and Vietnam!
Arms and Space Race

15. Decline and Fall of
the Soviet Union
• Mass spending on Arms and Space Race
• Switching of Leaders( Brezhnev,
Gorbachev, and Yeltsin)
• War in Afghanistan

17. Unit 16 and 17:
Decolonization
& ME

18. India
British Colony for over 200 years with major
restrictions (salt, clothing, etc.)
Sent troops during WWI and WWII, which spread
nationalistic views
Amritsar Massacre
Mohandas Gandhi- Salt March, Clothing, Hunger
Strikes
Govt. Of India Act
Partition-Muslim Pakistan, Hindu India

19. Israel
Diaspora and Zionists(Jews should have
their own country in the area)
Balfour Declaration and Palestine Mandate
Arab-Israeli Wars: began day after they
declared independence
Yom Kippur War: Egypt vs. Israel led by
Anwar Sadat
Palestine Liberation Organization

20. Iran
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was thought to be too
"Westernized"
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini begins movement against
him.
US Hostage Crisis (1979)

22. Unit 18: Modern
Challenges

23. New Technologies
Communication and
Transportation
Technology
New Energy
Technology
Agricultural Technology New Medical
Technology

24. Reform
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1948
Rise of Nationalism seen everywhere
Various Movements: Civil Rights, S. Africa
(Apartheid), Latin America (Liberation
Theology), French W. Africa (Negritude
Movement)

25. Massacres
• Tiananmen Square
• Genocides (Rwanda, Balkans, and Cambodia)
• Rwanda- Was a territory of Belgium, but received their independence in 1962. The
Hutu and Tutsi ethnic tensions led to a civil war. Within the war, Hutu majority targeted
the Tutsi and slaughtered 800,000.
• Balkans(Bosnia)- Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence in 1991. Soon, the
military began targeting Muslim and Croatian civilians for ethnic cleansing. Led to the
death of 100,000 people.
• Cambodia- Taken over by the Khmer Rouge(communist group). From 1975-1979, the
group executed 1.5-3 million people to create a classless agrarian society

27. Terrorism
• Increased military Spending
• Al-Qaeda
• 9/11
• Mass awareness and fight against.
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levan (ISIL/ISIS) S=Syria

30. The End!!!