The instability of political and economic systems created the conditions for the two world wars and the Great Depression. Most of the world was impacted by the depression, which brought political unrest throughout the world and was an important catalyst for World War II. By the end of this era, colonialism and imperialism were disappearing and Europe was no longer the driver of world political and economic issues.

In this article, you read about the causes and consequences of both world wars, as well as the Great Depression. These catastrophic events explain a lot about the political and economic systems that exist today. Understanding them can help us understand the reasons behind many of the political and economic moves we seeing being made by today’s governments.

Skimming for Gist

The first half of the twentieth century brought two world wars, a global depression, the end of imperial empires, the development of independence movements, and the emergence of two new global powers. This article explores why all of this happened.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are the three big themes that are being used in this article to make sense of the major events that took place during the first half of the twentieth century?
2. What were the four main long-term causes of the First World War?
3. What was the point of political and military alliances?
4. What event launched the First World War?
5. Why was the First World War considered particularly horrific?
6. What was the Dawes Plan and why was it created?
7. What caused the Great Depression?
8. What was the main economic response to the Great Depression?
9. What were some of the populist paths taken following the Great Depression?
10. What are the multiple distinct conflicts that J. R. McNeill and William H. McNeill assert made up the Second World War?
11. What country emerged from World War II as the greatest economic power and why?

Thinking Conceptually

One of the themes of this article was about technological advancements. How did these advancements contribute to the turbulence of this time and how did they help?

In this activity, you’ll critically evaluate some of the causes and consequences of World War I while also paying attention to the methods that historians use to draw conclusions. This helps you understand the war better and it also helps you develop your ability to think like a historian.

Claim testing, causation, reading
You will dig into some of the claims made in an article. In addition to using the support provided in the article to test those claims, you’ll do some research to further corroborate them. You can use your understanding of causal analysis to decide if the author’s method for evaluating the past make sense, or if your approach to causal reasoning works better.

In this activity, you are going to critically examine part of the article “Crisis and Conflict on a Global Stage” to determine if you agree with the assertions that the author makes in this article. In the article, Straussman asserts that there are three things that contributed to the two world wars and the Great Depression. Those are global political order, economics, and technological advancements. Let’s assume that those are, in fact, the three main themes that contributed to the turbulence of the era. However, do you agree with him? Do you think he interpreted his sources correctly? It’s your job to decide whether he did or didn’t.

Your teacher will put you into small groups. One group will be examining global political order, another economics, and the last technological advancements. Each group is going to evaluate “A Not So Great War: Causes and Consequences of the First World War” (the first major section of the article “Crisis and Conflict on the Global Stage”) to determine whether or not they agree with Straussman. Pick two assertions that Straussman made about World War I in relation to your particular theme. So, for example, the economics group might look at an economic cause of World War I and an economic consequence of the war.

Once you have picked your assertions, you should do some research on each and find one external source that either corroborates or opposes what Straussman wrote. In addition, note if any important details were left out of the story. Also, remember to use claim testers to evaluate whether or not your source of information is reliable.

Be prepared to share what you found with the class. Then, think about the following: Do you agree with Straussman’s assertions in the article? What do you think he’s missing? What do you think he got right? Is his thinking consistent with what you saw from other historians? How is it the same or different? Do his methods of drawing conclusions about history make sense? Why or why not?

World War I, which was supposed to be the war that ended all wars, nearly did the opposite. World War I caused massive amounts of destruction and loss of life. Technology was more advanced than warfare, which contributed to the loss and destruction. It also changed people’s perspective on war—it was no longer glorious or noble. Finally, it set up the conditions that allowed the Great Depression to occur.

In this video, you’ll get another perspective on World War I. This should provide you with more context about the war, and also will allow you to see what another historian decided was most important to share about this war. This is just another example of how the same historical event can seem somewhat different when told by a different person.

Preview

World War I, the war that was supposed to end all wars, did arguably the opposite of that. Instead, it set the stage for the world to go to war again a few decades later. However, what it did change was the way people look at the world, and as John Green says, “normalized cynicism and irony” in the world.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. How did World War I start?
2. What were some of the possible ways this war could have been avoided and who is to blame?
3. World War I features combatants from around the world. What were some of these countries?
4. How destructive was WW I and what were the causes of this destruction?
5. What were the conditions like for the soldiers in World War I?
6. What was the Treaty of Versailles and what were some of its impacts?
7. What were the two phases of the Russian Revolution and what happened in each phase?
8. What did John Greene say was lost as part of this war?

Thinking Conceptually

About halfway through the video, John mentions the idea that people make history and are also made by history. What do you think he means by this?

In this activity, you’ll learn about the gross domestic product (GDP) and how it helps gauge the economic health of countries. You’ll use data as a way to make sense of the impact of the Great Depression around the world. Understanding the usefulness of certain kinds of data to answer questions about the past is a very important skill to learn.

The Great Depression had major impacts around the world. The scope and severity of these impacts were unprecedented, and the global economic interdependence that developed as part of the Modern Revolution began to suffer. During this time, nationalism tended to prevail over international cooperation, contributing to the short-term demise of global economic trade. Unemployment rates soared, people lost their housing, and were often unable to feed their families. This severe economic recession also resulted in huge drops in industrial production, failing banks, and the crash of the stock market.

There are many ways to think about how the Great Depression impacted people throughout the world on a personal level, but it’s also important to think about countries as a whole. One way to do this is by looking at a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The GDP is a measure that’s often used to gauge the economic health of a country. It can be a little complicated to calculate, but it’s pretty much figured out by adding a country’s rates of consumption, their investments, and their exports, minus their imports. There is also something called “GDP per capita.” This is the GDP divided by the number of people living in that country—this is a measure that can tell you more about the average standard of living in a country.

In this activity, you’re going to evaluate consequences of the Great Depression based on GDP data from around the world. To do this, you’ll map some data on a graph, and then answer some questions about that data. Make sure you have the Understanding the Consequences of the Global Depression Worksheet. Follow the directions on the worksheet for plotting the data, and then answer the questions that come after the graph. France has already been mapped out on the graph for you as an example of how to plot the data.

After you’ve finished, think about the following and be prepared to discuss these questions with your class: How is using data like this to make sense of historical trends different from using artifacts such as writing, pictures, objects, and even timelines? Is one better than the other? Why or why not?

World War II was a horrific war—over 50 million people died, most of them civilians. Although the Allies were eventually victorious over Germany and Japan, it was only after massive amounts of destruction. This war saw the first use of a nuclear weapon and it also saw a holocaust with targeted extermination of particular groups of people, most notably the Jews. This war still impacts global relations today.

In this video, you learn about World War II. You probably already know a lot about WW II from movies, TV, and the media, but this knowledge is often Eurocentric. Understanding the war outside of Europe (as well as in it) gives a broader perspective on why this was a world war. In addition, the conflicts that occurred during that time still impact relations between some countries today, which can help us understand the tenor of some political relationships around the world.

Preview

As the title says, this video is all about World War II. In it, John Green talks about why the most destructive wars in history happened and why it still matters globally. The causes, consequences, and what occurred during the war are all covered.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

• What are the different events that could be considered the beginning of World War II?
• What was the Rape of Nanking and why does it still matter today?
• What was the blitzkrieg and what were some of its outcomes in World War II?
• The year 1941 was an important one in the war. What were some of the things that happened?
• What happened at the Battle of Stalingrad?
• What was the “beginning of the end” for the Nazis in this war?
• What was the official ending to World War II?
• What was the “hunger plan” and who did it (or who was it intended to) impact?
• What happened to the Jews during World War II?
• What is the different between a death camp and a concentration camp or labor camp?
• What’s faulty with the idea that World War II was about the Allies fighting for democratic ideals against the imperialism of the fascist powers?
• Why does John Green think World War II is so important?
• What are some of the reasons the Holocaust is so horrifying?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of this video, John Green mentions that this war made people question whether Western dominance of this planet should or could be considered progress. What do you think? Was Western dominance progress at that time? How about today?

Note: We have borrowed the materials for this activity with permission from World History for Us All (https://whfua.history.ucla.edu/units/eight/landscape/Era08_landscape5.php).

In this activity, you’ll examine some propaganda from World War II. You’ll learn how different governments viewed the war. You’ll also have the opportunity to analyze primary source material, an important skill for an historian.

Look at the We Can Do It! poster, included with your worksheet. It was created during World War II, and is a very famous poster that we still see around the world today. It was used as propaganda in the United States during World War II. Propaganda can be information, ideas, or rumors that are deliberately shared to convince people of certain things. What do you think the United States was trying to convey when they released this poster?

During World War II, governments used this kind of propaganda regularly to invoke emotional responses. They wanted to persuade people to enlist in the military, buy war bonds, work in factories, and generally accept the sacrifices that they had to make during wartime. Although many people were feeling nationalistic and were ready to rally behind their country’s involvement in the war, others needed to be convinced that their enemies were dangerous and that their country really did need to engage in military actions. The constant use of propaganda resulted in governments becoming experienced in using communication technologies to shape public opinion.

In this activity, you’re going to examine and analyze propaganda posters from WW II. Specifically, you’re going to try to interpret the messages that different governments were trying to convey with the posters.

Pick two posters and answer the following questions about them:

1. What government released the poster?
2. What do you think the poster is trying to convey and why?
3. What about the poster makes you think this? (Consider the images, words, and colors.)
4. What does this poster tell you about that country at the time?
5. How is this poster similar to or different from the other poster that you analyzed?

Be prepared to share your analysis with the class. After looking at these posters and thinking about propaganda, do you think that governments still use propaganda today? If so, what are some examples of that? What else in our world is like propaganda?

The competition between European countries for power and wealth brought devastation to much of the world. After two world wars, a global depression, genocide, and oppression the world powers began to work together to find ways to bring some stability—economic and political—to the world.

At this point in the course you have learned a lot about the early twentieth century and many of the causes and consequences of the two world wars and the Great Depression. This article provides more information on the chaos that occurred during this time. It also provides you with a model of how to use different types of data to understand history.

Skimming forGist

In the early twentieth century, chaos was experienced all over the globe. The population grew and then dropped, the impact of war was felt all over the globe, and countries’ GDPs reflected that impact.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What is the population trend over time that can be seen when looking at the data table?
2. What are some of the things that contributed to population growth?
3. Why didn’t Europe’s population grow as quickly as populations in other parts of the world during this time?
4. What does Straussman assert ultimately led to the two world wars?
5. What do governments and economists use to gauge the health of an economy?
6. What is the general trend of the GDP since 1870 for all of the countries listed in the table and what does this mean for those countries?

Thinking Conceptually

Think about the following questions:

• How did people’s lives change after the world wars?
• How do you think people’s lives might have stayed the same from 1900 to 1950?

In this activity, you’ll gather data from gapminder.org as a way to practice using data to make sense of the past. This activity not only teaches you how to find data, but also how to use it, make sense of it, and draw conclusions based on that information.

In the article “A Bird’s Eye View: Acceleration and Global Chaos in the Early Twentieth Century,” Straussman used three kinds of data to help him make sense of the past. He used population data, impact of war data, and GDP to draw conclusions about the past. Doing this—basing his sense of the past on three sets of data—is fairly difficult to do. In this activity, you’re going to try to do something similar to what Straussman did. But instead of just looking at the first half of the twentieth century, you’re going to see if you can draw conclusions about the world by comparing the same countries in 1914, 1945, 1985, and today.

Make sure you have the Mapping the World: 1914, 1945, 1985, Today Worksheet. This worksheet has directions about how to go to gapminder.org and find different kinds of data. This can be difficult, so be sure to ask questions if you get confused. You’re going to look for three kinds of data or indicators: population, life expectancy, and GDP. Data like this is often called an indicator because it suggests or tells you about something in particular.

After everyone has had a chance to fill out the worksheets, your teacher will have you come together to review the answers as a class. Then, think about and discuss with the class how each of these indicators can tell us about the past and how they can also tell us about today. Looking at the data as a whole can tell us even more.