Source Collection: Global Resistance to Established Power Structures
Introduction to this collection
This collection explores both the context of twentieth-century power structures and the ways that people reacted to them. You will hear from both Martin Luther King Jr. and Osama Bin Laden, from Nelson Mandela and the CIA. As you think about the guiding question below, these documents may help you get a clearer idea of the social and political context during this transformative time.
Guiding question to think about as you read the documents: How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
WHP Primary Source Punctuation Key
When you read through these primary source collections, you might notice some unusual punctuation like this: . . . and [ ] and ( ). Use the table below to help you understand what this punctuation means.
| Punctuation | What it means |
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ELLIPSES words … words |
Something has been removed from the quoted sentences by an editor. |
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BRACKETS [word] or word[s] |
Something has been added or changed by an editor. These edits are to clarify or help readers. |
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PARENTHESES (words) |
The original author of the primary source wanted to clarify, add more detail, or make an additional comment in parentheses. |
Contents
Source 1 – Indian Home Rule, 1909 (0:55)
Source 2 – Spanish popular front’s demand, 1936 (4:30)
Source 3 – Declassified COINTELPRO memos, 1964–1969 (8:35)
Source 4 – Soviet military propaganda poster, 1960s (14:50)
Source 5 – Mandela’s letter to Verwood, 1961 (16:10)
Source 6 – Martin Luther King Jr’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, 1967 (20:50)
Source 7 – Iranian poster, 1980s (25:15)
Source 8 – American anti-Sandinista sabotage pamphlets, 1984 (26:45)
Source 9 – Bin Laden’s declaration of jihad on America, 1996 (31:30)
Source 10 – Flobots “Handlebars”, 2008 (35:40)
Source 11 – Military expenditure data, 2013 (38:30)
Source 12 – Global weapons spending, 2021 (39:45)
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Timestamps are in the source title. To locate a specific source in the audio file:
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Source 1 – Indian Home Rule, 1909 (0:55)
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Title Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule) |
Date and location 1909, India |
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Source type Primary source – book |
Author Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) |
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Description This source is excerpted from Hind Swaraj (“Indian Home Rule”) by Mohandas Gandhi. A key figure in the India movement for independence, he promoted non-violent resistance against British colonial power. Both sides of the dialogue below were written by Gandhi as a way to present his ideas. Gandhi (“EDITOR”) replies to questions from an interviewer (“READER”) on how he would respond to questions regarding non-violent resistance. |
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Key vocabulary passive repugnant conscience repeal breach |
rank extremist soul-force body-force newfangled |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
EDITOR:
Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering; it is the reverse of resistance by arms. When I refuse to do a thing that is repugnant to my conscience, I use soul-force. For instance, the Government of the day has passed a law which is applicable to me. I do not like it. If by using violence I force the Government to repeal the law, I am enjoying what may be termed body-force. If I do not obey the law and accept the penalty for its breach, I use soul-force. It involved sacrifice of self.
Everybody agrees that sacrifice of self is infinitely superior to sacrifice for others. Moreover, if this kind of force is used in a cause that is unjust, only the person using it suffers. He does not make other suffer for his mistakes. …
READER:
You would then disregard laws—this is rank disloyalty. We have always been considered a law-abiding nation. You seem to be going even beyond the extremists. They say that we must obey the laws that have been passed, but that if the laws be bad, we must drive out the law-givers even by force.
EDITOR:
… We simply want to find out what is right and to act accordingly. The real meaning of the statement that we are a law-abiding nation is that we are passive resisters. When we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of law-givers but we suffer and do not submit to the laws. That we should obey laws whether good or bad is a newfangled notion. There was no such thing in former days. The people disregarded the laws they did not like and suffered the penalties for their breach. It is contrary to manhood if we obey laws repugnant to our conscience. Such teaching is opposed to religion and means slavery. …
… If man only realize that it is unmanly to obey laws that are unjust, no man’s tyranny will enslave him. This is the key to self-rule or home-rule.
Citation
Gandhi, M.K. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Translated by Valji Govindji Desai. Gujarat, India: Navajivan Publishing House, 1938.
Source 2 – Spanish popular front’s demand, 1936 (4:30)
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Title After the Victory, a Single Demand: The Power to Govern |
Date and location Feb 18, 1936, Madrid, Spain |
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Source type Primary source – Newspaper article |
Author El Socialista Newspaper |
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Description In the Spanish general election of 1936, the Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties and republicans (those who want the rule of the people and not kings and queens) won the most votes and representatives. The article below was published by the winners of the election demanding that they be given the chance to rule. Their rule did not last long, as Franco and other right wing and fascist leaders started a civil war and won in 1939. |
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Key vocabulary obtained established conclusive mandate demonstrations candor delirium |
provocation concretely conclusively clamor aspirations liberate comrades |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
After the Victory, a Single Demand: The Power to Govern
Victory was obtained on Sunday, and through it the Popular Front has successfully established its claim on the government. No one and nothing can now stand in the way of the conclusive and overpowering mandate of the people. No one—and of this we are sure—will stand in the way. …
At this time it is necessary to show great calm. It is not a question now, as it was on April 14, [1931], of swiftly changing the names of the streets and toppling certain statues. Nor is it a matter of the victory producing only some joyous cries and noisy demonstrations. Let us avoid, first of all, letting candor produce delirium in us again. Let us also avoid allowing people who have an interest in stirring up provocation … to succeed. Nothing would be more damaging to all of our purposes than to reawaken something that was dead. …
February 16 is not April 14. … In April, we leapt over an enemy that was already dead. … February 16 is the victory over a well-prepared enemy. … Between the two dates there were experiences that we Republicans and socialists had to learn at the cost of many sacrifices. … Our victory will make our struggle easier and will give us the certainty of completing it with the absolute defeat of our enemies. And it is to this, concretely and conclusively to this, that we must dedicate all of our efforts. …
It is urgent that the powers of government be handed over to the Popular Front. To the whole clamor of the country, to all the anxiousness that now moves Republicans and socialists to demand that those most fundamental aspirations be fulfilled, we only wish to add one: the handing over of the powers of government. It is the Popular Front that should liberate our prisoners. As of yesterday, the jails have started to be opened, allowing our comrades to go free. The people must now ask for a single thing: the powers of the government. They belong to them. They have conquered them and no one can oppose their falling into their hands. Once the powers of the government are in their hands, they will no longer have to ask for anything.
Citation
Cowans, Jon. Modern Spain: A Documentary History. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
Source 3 – Declassified COINTELPRO memos, 1964–1969 (8:35)
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Title Declassified COINTELPRO memos |
Date and location 1960s, United States of America |
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Source type Primary source – declassified file |
Author FBI employees |
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Description In the 1950s, the FBI began a counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) to disrupt the activities of the Communist Party of the United States. In the 1960s, it expanded to also disrupt the activities of domestic groups. This program continued formally through 1971. The following are excerpts from four previously classified memos describing FBI activity against Black civil rights and revolutionary leaders in the 1960s. These FBI actions were conducted secretly and violated the first, eighth, and fourteenth amendment rights by denying the counterintelligence targets the right to free speech, due process, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Memo 1 is from 1964 and concerns disrupting Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights campaigns. Memo 2 is a letter from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover from 1967 which describes COINTELPRO’s mission against civil rights organizations and Black power groups. Memo 3, written in 1968, suggests planting false information to discredit Black activist Stokely Carmichael. Memo 4 includes a 1969 floor plan of the apartment of Fred Hamptom, a Black Panther Party leader who was assassinated by the FBI in his home. |
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Key vocabulary memorandum confidential misdirect neutralize warrant (verb) intensified |
afforded Negro counterintelligence carbon copy informant |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Memo 1
Date: December 1, 1964 To: Mr. W.C. Sullivan From: J.A. Sizoo
Subject: MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Reference is made to the attached memorandum … concerning … the difficult problem of taking steps to remove King from the national picture. …
It is believed this would give us an opportunity to outline to a group of influential Negro leaders what our record in the enforcement of civil rights has been. It would also give them, on a confidential basis, information concerning King which would convince them of the danger of King to the overall civil rights movement.
Memo 2
August 25, 1967
PERSONAL ATTENTION TO ALL OFFICES
Director, FBI
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM
BLACK NATIONALIST – HATE GROUPS
INTERNAL SECURITY
Offices receiving copies of this letter are instructed to immediately establish a control file, captioned as above, and to assign responsibility for following and coordinating this new counterintelligence program to an experienced and imaginative Special Agent well versed in investigations relating to black nationalist, hate-type organizations. …
The purpose of this new counterintelligence endeavor is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist, hate-type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership, and supporters, and to counter their propensity for violence and civil disorder. The activities of all such groups of intelligence interest to this Bureau must be followed on a continuous basis so we will be in a position to promptly take advantage of all opportunities for counterintelligence and to inspire action in instances where circumstances warrant. …
Intensified attention under this program should be afforded to the activities of such groups as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Revolutionary Action Movement, the Deacons for Defense and Justice, Congress for Racial Equality, and the Nation of Islam. Particular emphasis should be given to extremists who direct the activities and policies of revolutionary or militant groups such as Stokely Carmichael, H. “Rap” brown, Elijah Mohammad, and Maxwell Stanford. …
Memo 3
It is suggested that consideration be given to convey the impression that CARMICHAEL is a CIA informant.
One method of accomplishing the above would be to have a carbon copy of [an] informant report reportedly written by CARMICHAEL to the CIA carefully deposited in the automobile of a close Black Nationalist friend. …
It is hoped that when the informant report is read it will help promote distrust between CARMICHAEL and the Black Community. It is suggested that carbon copy of report be used to indicate that CARMICHAEL turned original copy into CIA and kept carbon copy for himself.
It is also suggested that we inform a certain percentage of reliable criminal and racial informants that “we heard from reliable sources that CARMICHAEL is a CIA agent”. It is hoped that these informants would spread the rumor in various large [Negro] communities across the land.
Memo 4
Citation
“COINTELPRO.” FBI Records: The Vault. Accessed October 19, 2021. https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro.
Notes or additional materials
Students can use the link above to access a great number of declassified documents and expand their research of American counterintelligence and make comparisons.
Source 4 – Soviet military propaganda poster, 1960s (14:50)
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Title We are in solidarity with you, Vietnam |
Date and location 1960s, Soviet Union |
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Source type Primary source – military propaganda poster |
Author Suryaninov Ruben Vasilievich (1930–present) |
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Description This poster is an example of propaganda, meaning it conveys biased or misleading information to gather support for a particular agenda. The poster was created by the Soviet Union to show they supported Vietnam. |
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Key vocabulary solidarity |
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Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Citation
Suryaninov, Ruben V. “We are solidarity with you, Vietnam!” Poster, 1960s. (Photo by Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/soviet-propaganda-poster-from-the-1960s-or-70s-were-in-news-photo/498863757?adppopup=true.
Source 5 – Mandela’s letter to Verwood, 1961 (16:10)
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Title Letter from Nelson Mandela to Hendrik Verwoerd |
Date and location June 26, 1961, South Africa |
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Source type Primary source – letter |
Author Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) |
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Description Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary who later became the President of South Africa. This letter was written when the anti-apartheid movement was starting to take more action through strikes and demonstrations. In the letter, Mandela warned South Africa’s prime minister that more action would come if the government did not stop the system of apartheid. |
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Key vocabulary courtesy sovereign convention imposed suppress detention |
mobilized considerations indicated frightful barbarity |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
I REFER YOU TO MY LETTER of 20 April 1961, to which you do not have the courtesy to reply or acknowledge receipt. In the letter referred to above I informed you of the resolutions passed by the All-In African National Conference in Pietermaritzburg1 on 26 March 1961, demanding the calling by your Government before 31 May 1961 of a multi-racial and sovereign National Convention to draw up a new non-racial and democratic Constitution for South Africa.
The Conference Resolution which was attached to my letter indicated that if your Government did not call this Convention by the specific date, country-wide demonstrations would be staged to mark our protest against the White Republic forcibly imposed on us by a minority. …
As your Government did not respond to our demands, the All-In African National Council … called for a General Strike on the 29th, 30th and 31st of last month. As predicted in my letter of 20 April 1961, your Government sought to suppress the strike by force. You rushed a special law in Parliament authorizing the detention without trial of people connected with the organization of the strike. The army was mobilized and European civilians armed. More than ten thousand innocent Africans were arrested under the pass laws and meetings banned throughout the country.
Long before the factory gates were opened on Monday, 29 May 1961, senior police officers and Nationalist South Africans spread a deliberate falsehood and announced that the strike had failed. All these measures failed to break the strike and our people stood up magnificently and gave us solid and substantial support. …
The Government is guilty of self-deception if they say that non-Europeans did not respond to the call. Considerations of honesty demand of your Government to realize that the African people who constitute four-fifths of the country’s population are against your Republic. …
There are two alternatives before you. Either you accede to our demands and call a National Convention of all South Africans to draw up a democratic Constitution, which will end the frightful policies of racial oppression pursued by your Government. …
Alternatively, you may choose to persist with the present policies which are cruel and dishonest and which are opposed by millions of people here and abroad. For our own part, we wish to make it perfectly clear that we shall never cease to fight against repression and injustice, and we are resuming active opposition against your regime. In taking this decision we must again stress that we have no illusions of the serious implications of our decision.
We know that your Government will once again unleash all its fury and barbarity to persecute the African people. But as the result of the last strike has proved, no power on earth can stop an oppressed people, determined to win their freedom. History punishes those who resort to force and fraud to suppress the claims and legitimate aspirations of the majority of the country’s citizens.
Citation
Mandela, Nelson. Second Letter from Nelson Mandela to Hendrik Verwoerd, June 26, 1961. In Nelson Mandela Foundation and O’Malley The Heart of Hope, edited by Padraig O’Malley. https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01600/05lv01617/06lv01623.htm
1 City in South Africa
Source 6 – Martin Luther King Jr’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, 1967 (20:50)
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Title “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” |
Date and location April 4, 1967, New York, USA |
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Source type Primary source – speech |
Author Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) |
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Description This source is a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr., which he delivered in New York City about four years after his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech, and exactly one year (to the day) before he was assassinated. Here, he speaks about issues that go beyond racism and discrimination in the United States, highlighting American foreign policy issues, poverty, inequality, and wars around the world. He states that we need to look beyond the Vietnam war alone—which dominated headlines at the time—and pay attention to broader patterns. |
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Key vocabulary malady sobering profound privileges materialism |
militarism righteous indignation betterment |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam. …
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Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken—the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
… A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: “This is not just.” It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: “This is not just.” The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
Citation
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Beyond Vietnam.” Speech, New York City, April 4, 1967. Digital History. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=3621
Source 7 – Iranian poster, 1980s (25:15)
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Title Islam is the Only Supporter of the Worker |
Date and location 1980s, Iran |
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Source type Primary source – propaganda poster |
Author Islamic Republican Party of Iran (1979–1987) |
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Description This poster was released by the Islamic Republican Party in Iran in the early 1980s. The image is of a group of factory workers praying together. At the top, there is a quote by one of the twelve Shia Imams, Ja’far al-Sadiq: “He who toils for his family is like the mujahid2 in the way of God.” At the bottom, there is a quote by the Ayatollah Khomeini: “Islam is the only supporter of the worker.” The poster was created to go against Soviet and communist influence on Iranians. |
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Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Citation
“Islam Is the Only Supporter of the Worker.” Islamic Republican Party of Iran, c. 1980. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.MEPOSTERS
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/meposters-0002-024.pdf
2 A person who fights on behalf of their faith
Source 8 – American anti-Sandinista sabotage pamphlets, 1984 (26:45)
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Title The Freedom Fighter’s Manual |
Date and location 1984, Nicaragua |
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Source type Primary source – pamphlet |
Author Central Intelligence Agency of the USA (1947–present) |
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Description This source is what’s called a “sabotage pamphlet.” That means it is a short publication, like a flier, that teaches the reader how to perform sabotage (intentional destruction, usually from within)—often targeting a government. In 1984, the CIA dropped thousands of these pamphlets that told Nicaraguans loyal to the previous government that they should do whatever they can to sabotage the Sandinistas. The left-wing Sandinistas had taken power from a US-supported military dictatorship in 1979, and the US was supporting the right-wing Contras in trying to regain power. The pamphlets had text in English and Spanish. |
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Key vocabulary sabotage pamphlet tyranny schemes imperialist |
oppression incorporating hoard militia |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Citation
United States Central Intelligence Agency. The Freedom Fighter’s Manual. New York: Grove Press, 1985. https://archive.org/details/freedomfightersm00unit/page/n5/mode/2up
Source 9 – Bin Laden’s declaration of jihad on America, 1996 (31:30)
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Title Osama Bin Laden Declares Jihad—Holy War—on America |
Date and location 1996, Afghanistan |
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Source type Primary source – speech |
Author Osama Bin Laden (1957–2011) |
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Description Osama Bin Laden was the leader of Al Qaeda (The Base), a terrorist organization, from 1988. In this speech, Bin Laden, declares war on the United States and Israel, arguing that he is responding to American and Israeli aggression against Muslims. In particular, he is responding to American and Israeli occupation of Saudi Arabia and Palestine, respectively. He addresses the speech to all Muslims, using religious language to express his political goals. |
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Key vocabulary repression |
plundered |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
You are not unaware of the injustice, repression, and aggression that have befallen Muslims through the alliance of Jews, Christians, and their agents, so much so that Muslims’ blood has become the cheapest blood and their money and wealth are plundered by the enemies. …
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The latest aggression was one of the worst catastrophes to befall the Muslims since the death of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and blessings be upon him. It was the occupation of the land of the two holy mosques [Saudi Arabia], the cradle of Islam, the scene of the revelation, the source of the message, and the site of the holy Ka’bah, the qiblah [to which Muslims turn in prayer] of all Muslims, by Christian armies of the Americans and their allies. God is the source of all power.
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Today, from … Afghanistan, we seek to end the injustice which has befallen the [Muslim] nation at the hands of the Jewish-crusade alliance …
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Many princes share the public’s concern and privately voice opposition to what is going on in [Saudi Arabia] in terms of terror, repression, and corruption. The rivalry between princes overseeing their own personal interests has ruined the country and the regime has destroyed its legitimacy with its own hands[.] …
What is necessary in such a case is that everyone should do his best to incite and mobilize the nation against the aggressive enemy and the great heresy prevailing in the country and corrupting religion and life. There is no greater duty after faith than warding off [that enemy], namely the Israeli-American alliance[.] …
Denying these aggressors the huge profits they make from their trade with us would be a very important help in the jihad against them. It would be tantamount to moral support to reflect our anger and hatred toward them. By doing that we will have contributed to ridding our holy sites of the Jews and Christians and forced them to leave our land, defeated, God willing. We expect women in the country of the two holy mosques and elsewhere to play their role by boycotting US goods. If the economic boycott is coupled with the mujahidin’s military strikes, then the enemy’s defeat is imminent, God willing[.] …
Brother Muslims worldwide: Your brothers in the land of the two holy mosques and Palestine seek your help and ask you to participate with them in their jihad against their enemies and yours, the Israelis and the Americans, with everything that would drive them out of the Islamic holy places, defeated, with each of you doing what he can. …
Citation
Bin Laden, Osama. “Bin Ladin Declares Jihad on Americans, 1996.” In Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Report: Compilation of Usama Bin Ladin Statements 1994–January 2004. https://irp.fas.org/world/para/ubl-fbis.pdf
Source 10 – Flobots “Handlebars”, 2008 (35:40)
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Title Handlebars |
Date and location 2008, USA |
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Source type Primary source – song lyrics |
Author Flobots (band) (2000–present) |
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Description “Handlebars” is a song by the American rap/rock band Flobots. It reached number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2008. The song starts by describing the potential of humans, from riding a bike with no handlebars to ending the world in a holocaust. The band put together images of human achievements that can both save and end life, such as the advent of new antibiotics, as well as satellite-guided missiles. |
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Key vocabulary exasperation |
lacerations |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
. . .
Look at me, look at me
Hands in the air like it's good to be
Alive and I'm a famous rapper
Even when the paths are all crookedy
I can show you how to do-si-do
I can show you how to scratch a record
I can take apart the remote control
And I can almost put it back together
. . .
I can make new antibiotics
I can make computers survive aquatic
Conditions, I know how to run a business
And I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers shakers and producers
Me and my friends understand the future
I see the strings that control the system
I can do anything with no assistance
'Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
And I can split the atom of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a molecule
Look at me, look at me
Driving and I won't stop
And it feels so good to be alive and on top
My reach, is global
My tower, secure
My cause, is noble
My power, is pure
I can handout a million vaccinations
Or let 'em all die in exasperation
Have 'em all healed from their lacerations
Or have 'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like 'em
And I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command because
I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
And I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
And I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
. . .
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
Citation
Flobots. “Handlebars.” Flobots Present…Platypus. Flobots Music, LLC, 2005. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/flobots/handlebars.html
Source 11 – Military expenditure data, 2013 (38:30)
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Title The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2012 |
Date and location 2013, Sweden |
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Source type Primary source – table of information |
Author Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1966–present) |
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Description This infographic was created by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 2013. It shows the 15 countries with the highest military expenditure, meaning countries that spend the most on their military. It breaks down the total amount by each country for the year 2012, and compares how spending has changed since 2011. The table also shows military spending as a percentage of each country’s gross domestic product (GDP). |
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Key vocabulary expenditure |
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Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Citation
Perlo-Freeman, Sam, Elisabeth Sköns, Carina Solmirano, and Helén Wilandh. “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2012.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Fact Sheet, April 2013. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/files/FS/SIPRIFS1304.pdf
Source 12 – Global weapons spending, 2021 (39:45)
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Title Global arms transfers and sales |
Date and location Sweden, 2021 |
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Source type Primary source – infographics and tables |
Author Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1966–present) |
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Description The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute release annual reports about military expenditure, weapons transfers and sales, and conflicts around the world. These tables and infographics are from the report on international arms transfers in 2020. They show how the volume of weapons sold has changed over the last 40 years, which countries export weapons, which countries import weapons, and where they come from. Take your time reading those tables, as it’s a lot of information in a small space! |
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Key vocabulary arms exporters |
importers |
Guiding question
How did various states, groups, and individuals respond to existing power structures after 1900 CE?
Excerpt
Table 1. The 25 largest exporters of major arms and their main recipients, 2016-20
Note: Percentages below 10 are rounded to 1 decimal place; percentages over 10 are rounded to whole numbers.
Table 2. The 40 largest importers of major arms and their main suppliers, 2016-20
Note: Percentages below 10 are rounded to 1 decimal place; percentages over 10 are rounded to whole numbers.
Citation
Wezeman, Pieter D., Alexandra Kuimova, and Siemon T. Wezeman. “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2020.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Fact Sheet, March 2021. https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-international-arms-transfers-2020.
Notes or additional materials
Students can examine additional charts produced by SPIRI here: https://www.sipri.org/gallery/gallery-arms-production-graphics
Eman M. Elshaikh
Eman M. Elshaikh is a writer, researcher, and teacher who has taught K-12 and undergraduates in the United States and in the Middle East and written for many different audiences. She teaches writing at the University of Chicago, where she also completed her master’s in social sciences and is currently pursuing her PhD. She was previously a World History Fellow at Khan Academy, where she worked closely with the College Board to develop curriculum for AP World History.
Image credits
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:
Cover: Martin Luther King Jnr (1929-1968) and Malcolm X (Malcolm Little - 1925-1965) waiting for a press conference, 26 March 1964. Photographer: Marion S.Trikoskor. © Universal History Archive/Getty Images.