Who is Mohandas Gandhi? Gandhi had been practicing civil
disobedience/nonviolence in retaliation of British colonialism in India (foreign influence) Salt March
Helped India gain independence
How well did Muslims and Hindus get along in India?
Disliked each other and were fighting for political power (religious conflict)
Both feared each other being in power and being harsh to the other group
“The only thing the Muslim has in common with the Hindu is his slavery to the British”
How did they solve the problem?
Partition of India Only safe solution Britain saw to prevent
as much conflict as possible The territory is split in two:
India: Hindu Pakistan: Muslim
How well did the migrations to the new territories go?
Caused millions to move to new areas Each religious group began killing each
other as they moved to their new nations 1 million died Gandhi pleaded for the violence to stop but
was killed by a Hindu extremist who thought he was being too nice to the Muslims
Battle for Kashmir 1948-49 Muslims and Hindus fought over the
small region of Kashmir Piece of land between Pakistan and India Hindu ruler but the majority of the
population were Muslim Result: Fighting continued until the
UN arranged a cease fired in 1949 Split up the territory but still fight over it
today (Great Example of continuing RELIGIOUS CONFLICT!!!!!)
Modern India Became the world’s largest democracy!!! Process of becoming democratic has been slow
Issues with overpopulation/ successful in producing enough crops food so far
Caste system outlawed but still impacts daily life through what jobs people can get (Gap between tradition and the law)
Continuing religious conflicts Threat of nuclear conflict w/Pakistan
Both have become nuclear powers Continuing struggle for Kashmir could spark a nuclear
conflict between the bitter enemies
Female Leaders
Indira Gandhi: India Benazir Bhutto: Pakistan
Significance: became important national leaders in nations in which women have not traditionally had equal opportunities
History of Pakistan
1947: Started off as a divided country West P: province of Punjab East P: became known as Bangladesh
West dominated the government of Pakistan even though the east had a larger population West created economic opportunities in
their own territory but not in the east
East Pakistan Breaks Away
East struggled and remained in poverty Was difficult to trade with the west due
to India being in the middle
East announced their independence from Pakistan under the new name of Bangladesh
West Pakistan was furious and attempted to put down the movement
East Pakistan Breaks Away
India took the Bengalis side and helped them to win their independence
Significance: West Pakistan becomes known as Pakistan and acknowledged the existence of the creation of Bangladesh in 1971
Modern Bangladesh
Has struggled with many challenges One of the world’s poorest and most
crowded countries! EX: their population is more than half as
large as the United States but is only the size of Alabama!
Environmental Problems Devastating floods and tropical storms
What is the main point?
Even though Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh gained their Independence from Britain they are still struggling to achieve stability Assassination of leaders Religious conflict Nuclear threat
Impact of WWII
Japan had seized most of southeast Asia from the European nations that had controlled the area for years
Defeat of Japan in the war would cause them to be forced out
Southeast Asian territories refused to go back under European colonial rule and pushed for independence
Independence Achieved Philippines became the first in 1946
Given by the U.S. Make a deal to allow the U.S. to keep
their naval base there (important location due to the cold war)
Burma (Myanmar) gains independence from Britain Ruled by a harsh military government
that refuses to accept the democratic changes the public wants
Malaysia and Singapore
Both have achieved independence and economic prosperity
Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world that has helped them to grow rich. (high standard of living)
Indonesian Independence
Win it from the Dutch (Netherlands) Attempted to build a democratic
nation but were unsuccessful Struggle economically
Harsh military dictatorship emerges Several human rights violations and little
religious freedom Annex East Timor (harsh towards them)
East Timor Poorly treated but never gave up on
their fight for freedom Indonesian soldiers put down an
independence movement slaughtering hundreds and force thousands to flee to West Timor
Result: UN gets involved and brings peace and helped East Timor achieve their independence
Conflicts in the Middle East
Division of Palestine after WWII made the Middle East a hotbed of competing nationalist movements that have caused friction that still exist today.
Israel Becomes a State Palestine holds religious significance to the
Muslims, Christians, and Jews Split into Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip
Jews claimed the land from when they ruled the area of Jerusalem 3,000 years ago
Palestinians (both Muslim and Christian) said it was their land since they drove the Jews out in 135 AD.
Arabs believed it was their land from their conquests in the 7th century
Significance: Creation of the state/country of Israel was a controversial issue
Why did Israel become a state? After being forced out of Palestine in the 2nd century the Jewish
population could not find a place to live and establish their own state Forced to live in numerous countries
Dispersal is known as the Diaspora Began to return to Palestine and demand their own state in
the 19th and 20th century Strongly opposed by the Palestinians creating hostility
between the two End of WWII, UN voted to settle the issue with a partition
creating two separate states Jerusalem would be an international city controlled by neither
state Sympathy for the Jews from the Holocaust played a factor in
the partition
Israel and Arab State Conflict
Day after it became a state, 6 Islamic neighbors invaded Israel!
Significance: a series of wars would result in the creation of Israel and it remains a hotspot still today The state that was suppose to be
Palestine never formed and is controlled by several Arab states
Taking Palestinian Land
Egypt took the Gaza strip Jordan took the West Bank of the
Jordan River Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel
Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal from the British Wanted to gain control of vital resources
Arab-Israeli Wars Continue Continued to fight one another
exchanging control of territories back and forth
Yom Kippur War Egyptian President Anwar Sadat planned a
joint attack by the Arab states on Israel on Yom Kippur (Jewish Holiday)
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir launched a counter attack to regain the territory
Results: both sides eventually came to a truce
PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization Palestinians struggled for recognition
with all the fighting between the Israel and the Arab states
Formed to push for their formation of an independent state
Radicals emerged as the leaders and felt armed struggle was the only way to achieve success
Yasser Arafat Became leader of the
PLO 60s & 70s: PLO carried
out numerous attacks against Israel under his leadership
Some Arab neighbors supported the PLO’s goals and allowed them to operate from their lands
Attempts at Peace 1977: Anwar Sadat (Egyptian President)
shocked the world by extending a hand of peace to Israel In exchange for peace, Israel would recognize
the rights of Palestinians and return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt
Camp David Accords Jimmy Carter guided the peace agreement
between Egypt and Israel Significance: Egypt became the first Arab
state to recognize the state of Israel
Israeli & Palestinian Tensions Increase
PLO and Israelis continued to fight armed conflicts on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (lands controlled by Israel)
Intifada (Uprising): expressed their frustrations through civil disobedience Boycotts, demonstrations, attacks on Israeli
soldiers
Oslo Peace Accords: Israel gave the Palestinians self rule in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
Central Asia Struggles Main Idea:
Lands controlled or influenced by the Soviet Union struggle with the challenges of establishing new nations.
Freedom Brings New Challenges
15 nations gained their independence with the fall of the Soviet Union
Have struggled economically and are some of the poorest countries in the world today!
Depend on the single crop of cotton (white gold) because the soviets changed all of their farmlands into cotton fields
Fighting among various ethnic and religious groups has increased the instability
History of Afghanistan small nation that is mostly desert and
mountainous One of the least developed nations in the world Mostly farmers or herders Strategic land next to the Indian Ocean that the
British and Russians wanted and fought over in the 1800s (Age of Imperialism)
Gained independence in 1919 1964: attempted to make democratic reforms
but they failed to develop
Soviets Invade Afghanistan Afghanistan tried to remain Neutral
during the cold war Received aid from both superpowers Being so close to the Soviets, they could
not hold up against the force of communism
Radical group with strong ties to the soviets seized control of the country
Many disliked the ideas of communism and felt they conflicted with the teachings of Islam
Pushing Out The Soviets Opposition to the soviets formed the
mujahedeen (holy warriors) Took up arms and fought the soviet supported
govt. Forced the Soviet Union to step in and brought in
soldiers and their superior weapons (1979) Outcome: Afghan rebels used the land, guerilla
warfare, and U.S. financial and military aid to force the Soviets out in a bloody 10 year war
Taliban Rebel groups began battling each other for
power Taliban: conservative Islamic group won control World view of the Taliban was positive at first as
it brought order but their extreme following of Islamic law brought problems Women not allowed an education/job Censorship of media Violations of laws brought beatings and executions Role in Terrorism is final blow to their credibility
Fall of Taliban Western leaders accused the Taliban of
allowing terrorist groups to train in their country Provided protection for Bin Laden whose Al-Qaeda
organization is responsible for numerous attacks on the west (9/11)
U.S demanded Taliban turn over Bin Laden Their refusal led to the U.S invading Afghanistan in
2001 and taking down the Taliban Future will be difficult as the region is very diverse
making it difficult to be unified and stable