France Terminale History-Geography
Chapters: 8
1. History 1: 1929–1945
The 1929 crisis · Totalitarian regimes · World War II
- The Great Depression (1929–1939) – The Great Depression was the worst economic slump of the 20th century. It started in the USA with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Share prices fell, banks failed, factories closed and by 1933 about one in four American workers had no job. Countries raised taxes on imports, so world trade shrank by about two-thirds and the crisis spread to Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Governments answered in different ways: the New Deal in the USA, public works and welfare in some democracies, and in Germany and Japan the crisis helped extreme nationalist parties grow, which led towards the Second World War.
- Totalitarianism – A totalitarian regime is a one-party state that tries to control every part of life — politics, the economy, the media, schools and even people's thoughts — using one leader, propaganda and terror. After the First World War and the 1929 depression, such regimes arose in Fascist Italy (1922), Stalin's Soviet Union (late 1920s) and Nazi Germany (1933). Their aims and ideas differed, but their methods were alike, and their rise helped lead to the Second World War.
- World War II (1939–1945) – World War II was the deadliest war in history. Its roots were the anger left by World War I, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan. It began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. The Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) fought the Allies (Britain and its empire, France, the USSR, the USA, China and others). It was a total war and a war of annihilation: about 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and 70–85 million people died. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The war led to the United Nations, the Cold War and the end of empires.
2. History 2: a bipolar world 1945–1970s
End of WWII and a new world order · Bipolarity and the Third World · France’s new place in the world
- The Cold War (1945–1991) – The Cold War was a long contest (1945–1991) between two superpowers: the USA with its Western allies (capitalism, multi-party elections) and the USSR with its Eastern allies (communism, one-party rule). They never fought each other directly. Instead they formed rival alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact), raced to build nuclear weapons and reach space, backed opposite sides in proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan) and came close to nuclear war in Cuba in 1962. Many new nations, led by India and others, stayed non-aligned. Détente eased tension in the 1970s. Reforms in the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the break-up of the USSR (1991) ended it.
- Decolonisation: How Empires Ended and New Nations Were Born – Decolonisation is the process by which colonies became independent states. It happened mostly between 1945 and the 1970s. The Second World War weakened the ruling countries, freedom movements grew strong, and the United Nations backed the right of peoples to rule themselves. Some colonies won freedom through talks and mass movements (India 1947, Ghana 1957); others through long wars (Algeria 1962). New states then faced poverty, one-crop economies, unfair borders and Cold War pressure, and many chose non-alignment.
- The Fifth Republic of France – France today lives under the Fifth Republic, born in 1958 after the weak Fourth Republic and the Algerian crisis. General de Gaulle came back as leader. The new constitution gave the President strong powers, and from 1962 citizens elect the President directly. Deputies are chosen by a two-round majority vote. Power then moved between left and right (alternation), and sometimes the President and Prime Minister came from rival camps (cohabitation).
3. History 3: challenges 1970–1991
Shifts in the world economy and politics · France 1974–1988
- The Making of a Global World – People, goods, ideas and germs have moved across the world for thousands of years: on the silk routes, with food crops like potato and maize, and with diseases like smallpox. Between 1815 and 1914 the world economy grew through three flows: goods, labour and capital, helped by railways, steamships and refrigerated ships. Colonies paid a price: rinderpest in Africa and indentured labour from India. After the First World War came mass production in the USA and then the Great Depression of 1929, which hit India's farmers hard. After 1945, the Bretton Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank rebuilt the world economy.
- Social Change and Social Order in Villages and Cities – Social change means a big, lasting change in how society is organised. It can be slow (evolutionary) or sudden (revolutionary), and it can change structures, ideas or values. It is caused by the environment, technology and the economy, politics and culture. Social order is the other side: the way society keeps itself steady through shared values, domination, authority and law. Order is always challenged by contest, crime and violence. Villages, towns and cities differ in size, density and work, and each changes in its own way.
4. History 4: since the 1990s
New power relations · European integration · The French Republic today
- Conflicts in Today's World: Causes, Costs and the Search for Peace – Since the end of the Cold War in 1989–91, the world has moved from two superpowers to many power centres. Conflicts now include wars between states, civil wars, terrorism and hybrid or cyber attacks. Their causes mix resources, identity, territory, weak states and outside powers. Civilians pay the highest price, so the world uses diplomacy, UN peacekeeping and international courts to limit war and punish the worst crimes.
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
5. Geography 1: seas and oceans
Seas as vectors of globalisation · Appropriation, protection, freedom of navigation
- Seas and Oceans in Globalisation: Ships, Ports, Cables and Sea Law – Oceans cover about 71% of Earth and carry about 80% of world trade by volume. Container ships follow lanes between big ports and squeeze through straits and canals. Cables on the seabed carry almost all data between continents. Under the law of the sea, a coastal state controls a 12 nautical mile territorial sea and uses resources in a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), while ships of all states may sail the high seas. Seas also regulate climate, feed people and need protection.
6. Geography 2: territories in globalisation
Unequal integration · Cooperation and tension
- The Making of a Global World – People, goods, ideas and germs have moved across the world for thousands of years: on the silk routes, with food crops like potato and maize, and with diseases like smallpox. Between 1815 and 1914 the world economy grew through three flows: goods, labour and capital, helped by railways, steamships and refrigerated ships. Colonies paid a price: rinderpest in Africa and indentured labour from India. After the First World War came mass production in the USA and then the Great Depression of 1929, which hit India's farmers hard. After 1945, the Bretton Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank rebuilt the world economy.
7. Geography 3: the EU in globalisation
EU policies: competitiveness and cohesion · The EU and the world
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
8. Geography conclusion: France and its regions
French regions: strengths and change
- Spatial Planning: Sharing Limited Land Fairly – Spatial planning decides what each piece of land is used for and where services go. Land is limited, but homes, farms, nature, water and energy all want space, and some places have far fewer services than others. Planners use tools such as zoning, transport links and new services, weigh everyone's interests, and look ahead with future scenarios.