Netherlands VWO 6 (eindexamenjaar) History
Chapters: 3
1. Eras 8-10: modern period
Era 8: Citizens and steam engines (1800-1900) · Era 9: World wars (1900-1950) · Era 10: Television and computer (from 1950)
- The Two World Wars Compared: Causes, Costs and the New World Order – World War I (1914–1918) grew out of militarism, rival alliances, imperial competition and nationalism, set off by one assassination in 1914. Its peace settlement, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators led to World War II (1939–1945). Both were total wars that used whole economies and new technology, and WWII killed about four times as many people, more than half of them civilians, including the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. After WWI the League of Nations failed; after WWII the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and decolonisation reshaped 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.
2. Historical context: China 1842-2001
How China lost its position as a regional power (1842-1911) · Road to the People's Republic (1912-1949) · Growth into a major power (1949-2001)
- China 1842-2001: From a Weak Empire to a Major Power – In 1842 China was a large empire that lost the First Opium War and had to sign the first of the unequal treaties. The late Qing government was weak, hit by foreign pressure and by uprisings such as the Taiping rebellion; its self-strengthening reforms (arsenals, shipyards, factories) came too slowly, a defeat by Japan in 1895 and the Boxer uprising of 1900 followed, and the revolution of 1911 ended the empire. The republic that began in 1912 had no strong centre: warlords ruled regions, the May Fourth movement of 1919 brought new ideas, and Nationalists and Communists first cooperated and then fought, while Japan occupied large areas from 1931 and fully invaded in 1937. After the civil war the People's Republic was proclaimed in 1949. One-party rule, state plans for heavy industry with Soviet help, and mass campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution brought both rapid change and great hardship. China's place in the Cold War shifted from alliance with the USSR to a split and contact with the USA. After 1978 Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms and opening up (farm reform, special economic zones, trade and foreign investment) led to fast growth, rising prosperity and, in 2001, membership of the World Trade Organization.
3. Historical context: Germany in Europe 1918-1991
Rise of National Socialism and its effects (1918-1945) · Germany in the early Cold War (1945-1961) · Reunification and integration in Europe (1961-1991)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.