Generally, what are some external factors that led to change in states after 1900?

Key Takeaways — AP World History Modern Period 4 (1900-Present)

1. Military conflicts are central to understanding the course of the twentieth century and the current system of states and international organizations. The world wars led to rapid advances in technology, including medical technology, which has helped the global population increase to over seven billion. Some current regional conflicts like those in the Middle East are the legacy of the world wars. 
2. Revolutions and nationalist movements played an important role, especially in the period of de- colonization after WWII. Some existing countries experienced revolutions, like China and Russia, while other countries were created through nationalist movements, like Vietnam. Some current regional conflicts are the legacy of these movements, such as the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. 
3. In the second half of the twentieth century into the present, political and economic reforms reshaped interstate relations, and the world economy became more integrated. The fall of the Soviet Union, the opening of Chinese trade with the United States in the 1970s, the formation of the European Union, and the population and industrial growth of states have led to significant structural changes. 
4. Advances in computer technology, especially the growth of the Internet from the 1990s to the present, have changed economic and social structures. While this technology brought about new ways of communication and has fundamentally changed economies in the developed world, it has also led to new types of crime, such as hacking and identity theft. 
5. Over the course of the twentieth century, social structures changed to include more rights for minority groups and women. The decline of traditional social structures has been caused by many factors, such as changes in the workforce, new concepts of human rights in the post-WWII period, and the rapid growth and industrialization of the global south. 
6. Globalization in the economic and cultural spheres also increased, including the advent of mass culture based on new communications technologies like radio, television, and the Internet. This has accelerated changes caused by the other significant events in the period, such as the world wars, the expansion of human rights, and the interconnection of global trade.

AP World History Key Terms: Period 4 (1900-Present)

Remember that the AP World History exam tests you on the depth of your knowledge, not just your ability to recall facts. While we have provided brief definitions here, you will need to know these terms in even more depth for the AP exam, including how terms connect to broader historical themes and understandings.

Origins of World War I

• Alliances: A formal system of treaties binding participant states to mutual military aid in the case of attack by a third party. 
• Militarism: System of national organization that prioritizes military spending and glorifies conflict and military service; examples include the British Empire and the Soviet Union. 
• World War I: Global conflict that began in Europe in 1914 and continued until November 1918, concluding with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

World War I

• Total war: Style of warfare which reorders national economies toward war and includes civilians as targets; movement away from rules of limited engagement in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; common examples are World War I and World War II.
• League of Nations: International organization created after World War I as part of the peace effort; weakened by the absence of the United States, which never joined, and the Soviet Union, which was expelled; precursor to the United Nations; dissolved prior to World War II. 
• Mohandas Gandhi: Leader of the Indian Independence Movement known for a strategy of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience; inspired later leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Dalai Lama.

AP World History Period 4 Practice Question

Well... well... well.  Look at you. You made it!  The FINAL ERA! The era you were born in! 1900-Present.  The 20th Century is full of so much historical stuff that you need to know that I won't bog you down with some long intro.  It basically breaks into three categories: 1. Science and the Environment; 2. Global Conflict; 3. Globalization... This is the Contemporary Era.

Rapid advances in science altered the understanding of the universe and the natural world and led to the development of new technologies. These changes enabled unprecedented population growth, which altered how humans interacted with the environment and threatened delicate ecological balances at local, regional, and global levels.

I. Researchers made rapid advances in science that spread throughout the world, assisted by the development of new technology.

A. New modes of communication and transportation virtually eliminated the problem of geographic distance.

B. The Green Revolution and commercial agriculture increased productivity and sustained the earth's growing population as it spread chemically and genetically modified forms of agriculture.

Genetically Modified Foods from Bill Nye the Science Guy...

C. Medical innovations, such as vaccines and antibiotics increased the ability of humans to survive and live longer lives.

II. As the global population expanded at an unprecedented rate, humans fundamentally changed their relationship with the environment.

III. Disease, scientific innovations, and conflict led to demographic shifts.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a European-dominated global political order existed, which also included the United States, Russia, and Japan. Over the course of the century, peoples and states around the world challenged this order in ways that sought to redistribute power within the existing order and to restructure empires, while those peoples and states in power attempted to maintain the status quo. Other peoples and states sought to overturn the political order itself. These challenges to, and the attempts to maintain, the political order manifested themselves in an unprecedented level of conflict with high human casualties. In the context of these conflicts, many regimes in both older and newer states struggled with maintaining political stability and were challenged by internal and external factors, including ethnic and religious conflicts, secessionist movements, territorial partitions, economic dependency, and the legacies of colonialism.

Before we get going with the major geo-political movements of the CONTEMPORARY PERIOD, I figured we needed to talk about the Soviet Union.  The AP doesn't bring up nations like they did in previous periods (Ex. Persian Empires,  Dutch Maritime Empires).  But, lasting from 1917-1991, the "Evil Empire" is all over this era.  So, here is a page devoted to the Soviet Union;

I. Europe dominated the global political order at the beginning of the twentieth century, but both land-based and transoceanic empires gave way to new forms of transregional political organization by the century’s end.

A.The older land-based Ottoman, Russian, and Qing (SEE THE CRASH COURSE BELOW ON CHINA) empires collapsed due to a combination of internal and external factors (Economic hardship, political and social discontent, technological stagnation, military defeat).

B. Between the two world wars, European imperial states often maintained control over their colonies and in some cases gained additional territories.

C. After the end of WWII, some colonies negotiated their independence...

...while other colonies achieved independence through armed struggle. 

II. Emerging ideologies of anti-imperialism contributed to the dissolution of empires and the restructuring of states.

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C. Transnational movements sought to unite people across national boundaries.

D. The Mexican Revolution arose in opposition to neocolonialism and economic imperialism...

...Movements to redistribute land and resources developed within states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, sometimes advocating communism and socialism.

E. In many parts of the world, religious movements sought to redefine the relationship between the individual and the state.

III. Political changes were accompanied by major demographic and social consequences.

C. The rise of extremist groups in power led to the annihilation of specific populations, notably in the Holocaust during WWII, and to other atrocities, acts of genocide or ethnic violence. (Armenians in Turkey during and after WWI, Cambodia during the late 1970s, Tutsi in Rwanda in the 1990s.)

IV.  Military conflicts occurred on an unprecedented global scale.

A. World War I and World War II were the first “total wars.” Governments used ideologies, including political propaganda, art, media, and intensified forms of nationalism to mobilize populations (both in the home countries and the colonies or former colonies)(Gurkha soldiers in India, ANZAC troops in Australia, Military conscription), for the purpose of waging war and, in the case of totalitarian states, to direct many aspects of daily life during the course of the conflicts and beyond

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B. The sources of global conflict in the first half of the century varied. Required examples of the sources of global conflict:

• Imperialist expansion by European powers and Japan
• Competition for resources
• Ethnic conflict
• Great power rivalries between Great Britain and Germany
• Nationalist ideologies
• The economic crisis engendered by the Great Depression.

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C. The global balance of economic and political power shifted after end of World War II and rapidly evolved into the Cold War. The democracy of the United States and the communist Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, which led to ideological struggles between capitalism and communism throughout the globe. This conflict extended beyond itss basic ideological origins to have profound effects on economic, political, social, and cultural aspects of global events .

D. The Cold War produced new military alliances, including NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and promoted proxy wars in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

E. Expansions in US military spending and technological development, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and economic weakness in communist countries led to the end of the Cold War and the Collapse of the Soviet Union.
 

5. Although conflict dominated much of the twentieth century, many individuals and groups — including states — opposed this trend. Some individuals and groups, however, intensified the conflicts.

A. Groups and individuals challenged the many wars of the century, and some, such as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela promoted the practice of nonviolence as a way to bring about political change.

D. Some movements used violence (IRA, ETA, Al Qaeda)against civilians to achieve political aims.

The twentieth century witnessed a great deal of warfare and the collapse of the global economy in the 1930s. In response to these challenges, the role of state in the domestic economy fluctuated, and new institutions of global governance emerged and continued to develop throughout the century. Scientific breakthroughs, new technologies, increasing levels of integration, changing relationships between humans and the environment, and the frequency of political conflict all contributed to global developments in which people crafted new understandings of society, culture, and historical interpretations. These new understandings often manifested themselves in, and were reinforced by, new forms of cultural production. Institutions of global governance both shaped and adapted to these social conditions. 

I. States responded in a variety of ways to the economic challenges of the twentieth century. 

A. In the Communist states of the Soviet Union and China, governments controlled their national economies often through repressive policies and with negative repercussions for their populations (Five Year Plans, Great Leap Forward). 

B. Following WWI and the onset of the Great Depression, governments began to take a more active role in economic life.  (New Deal, The Fascist Corporatist Economy, Popularist governments of Brazil, Mexico)

E. In the late 20th century, revolutions in information and communications technology led to the growth of knowledge economies in some regions, while industrial production and manufacturing were increasingly situated in developing economies including the Pacific Rim and Latin America. (Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Vietnam)

II. States, communities, and individuals became increasingly interdependent, a process facilitated by the growth of institutions of global governance.

III. People conceptualized society and culture in new ways; rights-based discourses challenged old assumptions about race, class, gender, and religion. In much of the world, access to education, as well as participation in new political and professional roles, became more inclusive in terms of these factors. 

IV. Political and social changes of the 20th century led to changes in the arts and literature. In the second half of the century, popular and consumer culture became more global (Reggae, Bollywood, World Cup Soccer, Olympics)

This is an epic scene from one of the greatest movies of all time, Lagaan. Their village hasn't had any rain lately. So, when clouds show up; it's time for choreographed singing and dancing... (Best Part: At 4:13 a guy is literally doing the Sprinkler dance to greet the rain... this movie is perfect).

United States - Algeria, 2010 FIFA World Cup: Arguably the most dramatic moment in US soccer history, 

The information that follows is not specifically mentioned by the College Board.  However, it will make you a more culturally well-rounded person; so... you're welcome.

1. BALFOUR DECLARATION, 1917, Arthur Balfour, et al (Great Britain)
2. TREATY OF VERSAILLES, 1919, Principal Allied and Associated Powers (Versailles, France)
3. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1948, United Nations General Assembly (Paris France)
4. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1945, Ho Chi Minh (Hanoi, Vietnam)
5. STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS TALKS (SALT), 1969, Nixon-Brezhnev, (Helsinki, Finland)

1. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPONENTIALLY INCREASED THROUGHOUT THE ERA HAVING MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS IN ENERGY, MEDICINE, COMMUNICATION, TRANSPORTATION, FOOD PRODUCTION, WARFARE ETC. ETC. ETC.

2. THIS PERIOD IS DOMINATED BY THE GLOBAL WARS (WWI, WWII, COLD WAR). DON'T GET BOGGED DOWN IN DETAILS AND BATTLES; BUT FOCUS ON CAUSES AND EFFECTS.

3. REMEMBER ALL OF THOSE COLONIES THE EUROPEANS TOOK LAST ERA? A GOOD CHUNK OF THIS ERA DEALS WITH HOW THOSE COLONIES GAINED THEIR INDEPENDENCE.

4. ALTERNATIVE REACTIONS TO ECONOMIC CRISES AND GLOBAL WARS BEYOND WHAT THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE, AND THE USSR ARE DOING. LOOK TO INDIA, JAPAN, EGYPT, PAKISTAN, CHINA, GHANA, SOUTH AFRICA, ETC. 

5. LAST ERA WAS FOCUSED ON THE NATION STATE. THIS ERA LOOKS BEYOND THOSE BORDERS TO A MORE GLOBAL WORLD WITH INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS. (CONGRATS... THAT'S IT. THAT'S EVERYTHING THAT'S EVER HAPPENED... EVER :)

What were the causes and consequences of mass atrocities from 1900 to the present quizlet?

How did the Mexican Revolution 1910 and beyond challenge the existing political and social order in Mexico quizlet?

What new military technology tactics were used during WWII that led to increased levels of wartime casualties?

How did governments use ideologies such as fascism and communism to Mobilise all of their state's resources for war?