Industrial Revolution

Gas attack A deadly chlorine gas was used for the first time in the battle for the Belgium town of Ypres in 1915.
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More than half of the 65 million men who fought in the war were killed or injured and about 6.6 million civilians also died.
TIMELINE OF WORLD WAR I
1914 The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. European countries took sides, and by August the Great War had begun.
1915 The German’s zeppelins made frequent nighttime bombing raids over British cities.
1916 The naval battle of Jutland was the largest fought in history.
1917 The US joined the Allies, angered by the German U-boat attacks on shipping in the Atlantic Ocean.
1918 At 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month (November), an armistice (cease-fire) took place. A peace treaty was later signed.
World War II
The peace treaty signed at the end of World War I (the Treaty of Versailles in 1919) forced Germany to give up much of its land and wealth, and restricted the size of its army. Twenty years later, the Nazi Party in Germany had rebuilt the nation, and its leader, Adolf Hitler, was determined to rule Europe.
Destruction Bombing raids by the Allied and Axis powers caused massive destruction across Europe, USSR, and east Asia. The raids were intended to target strategic buildings, such as airfields, factories, ports, and railroads but often homes were destroyed, killing civilians or forcing them to evacuate (leave the area).
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Born in Austria, Hitler became an influential politician in Germany. After being appointed chancellor in 1933, Hitler created a one-party state and made himself an all-powerful dictator.
▲ GAS MASK Countries feared that gas would be used by the enemy, so many people were issued with gas masks. They were never needed.
FAST FACTS
■ The leaders of Britain (Winston Churchill), the Soviet Union (Josef Stalin), and the US (Franklin D. Roosevelt) met twice during the war to discuss strategies. ■ Resistant groups of people from German-occupied countries helped the Allies by spying and acts of sabotage.
TIMELINE OF WORLD WAR II
1939 On September 1, German forces invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany.
1940 Between June and October 1940, the German air force battled the British air force in the skies above Britain.
1942 In August, the Germans began the six-month-long battle for Stalingrad in the Soviet Union.
1943 In May, the Axis army in North Africa finally surrendered to the Allies.
1944 On June 6 (D-day), Allied forces invaded the beaches of Normandy, France, and began to push back the Axis forces.
1945 In May, Germany surrendered but the war continued in east Asia. Japan surrendered only after atomic bombs were dropped on two cities in August.
Revolution! World history has been marked by episodes when a sudden uprising of people driven by hardship has overthrown those in power. An alternative political system has been established in the hope for a better life.
REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS
■ Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) was leader of the Bolshevik Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party and first head of the Soviet state.
■ Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) is considered the father of India.
■ Mao Zedong (1893–1976) was a Chinese communist leader and the founder of the People’s Republic of China.
■ Fidel Castro (1926–2016) was the world’s longest-serving leader. He became prime minister in 1959, was elected president in 1976, and stepped down in 2008.
The Year of Revolution A wave of unrest spread across many European countries in 1848. With many starving and unemployed, the demonstrators wanted more rights and a greater say in how their countries were governed. Although the revolts fizzled out, they were the sparks for later political reforms.
The French Revolution After the death of Louis XVI, the country became a republic but there was a reign of terror with thousands of people executed at the guillotine. In 1799, the army eventually gained control under the dictatorship of its general, Napoleon Bonaparte.
1848
▼ Napoleon wrote about 33,000 letters.
The storming of the Bastille On July 14, 1789, the starving people of Paris rioted when they heard rumors that King Louis XVI had ordered the army to suppress the commoners and wanted to raise taxes.
▼ LOUIS XVI Executed in 1793
▶ NAPOLEONIC WARS Napoleon crowned himself emperor of the first French empire in 1804 and led successful military campaigns across Europe.
“LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY!” Despite France facing severe food and money shortages, King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie-Antoinette enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle.
“WORKERS OF ALL LANDS, UNITE!” In 1848, a German political writer, Karl Marx, published his thoughts on communism.
HISTORY AND POLITICS
REVOLUTION!
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1914–47
▲ Striking workers and mutinous soldiers marched on the streets of Petrograd.
▲ HAMMER AND SICKLE BADGE In 1922, Russia was renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Their symbol represented the unity of the workers and peasants.
China’s cultural revolution In 1966, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong, launched a campaign to make China a classless society. Millions of educated and privileged people were forced into manual labor to be “reeducated” and many thousands were killed.
India’s peaceful revolution The political figure Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1914. He began a gradual campaign of urging Indians to boycott the British-run courts and schools and resign from government positions. In 1930, Gandhi led a 240-mile (386-km) march protesting against the tax on salt.
Cuban revolution The revolutionary Fidel Castro led a small band of rebels and peasants in their two-year fight against the large army of the dictator Fulgencio Batista. When Castro took power in January 1959, he made many reforms, improving Cubans’ health care and education, but he also took many political prisoners.
The two revolutions Stirred up by the Bolshevik Party, in February 1917 the starving and war-weary Russians demonstrated against the unpopular Tsar (king) Nicholas II, who then abdicated. In October, led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks overthrew the government to form the first communist