Unit 4: The Twentieth Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes
Unit Overview: Twentieth Century since 1945-Promises and Paradoxes
This unit spans the years 1945 to the present. Major events/themes covered in this unit:
The Iron Curtain and the Second Red Scare
The Marshall Plan, NATO, and the Containment Policy
The Korean War, Vietnam, and Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
1970's,1980's, and 1990's
The Collapse of the USSR and the Eastern Bloc
The WTO, IMF, and Globalization
9/11 and the War on Terror
The Great Recession and the Arab Spring
Unit Essay: The Iron Curtain
In order to get credit for this project you must write a well-developed essay on the following topic:
The Iron Curtain
From 1945 to 1991, the world was divided into two camps: the democratic and capitalistic West led by the US and the autocratic and communist nations that orbited the Soviet Union. The two camps were culturally, economically, and politically opposed to each other and each waged a 45 year long "Cold War" against the other that occasionally got hot. Using the knowledge gained from your lessons in this unit, write a 5 paragraph essay of 600 or more words comparing and contrasting the two worlds divided by the Iron Curtain.
Helpful links:
Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics
US Victory in the Cold War: Economic Strength, Foreign Policy Triumph, or Both?
Eastern Bloc (in particular, political, economic, and social information)
Post-World War II Economic Boom (especially comparing the boom in Western nations vs economic decline in Soviet and Eastern Bloc nations)
European Union (particular attention to the economic and financial institutions)
Fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989
Unit Videos:
The Century Part 8, The Best Years (45:00)
Cold War Episode 2: The Iron Curtain
Cold War Episode 5: The Korean War
American Experience, Freedom Riders (1:52:00)
Vietnam, a Televised History 1: Roots of a War
Vietnam, a Televised History Part 11 (55:41)
Commanding Heights Episode 1 (1:55:00)
Unit Lectures:
Unit Primary Sources:
World History B Unit 4 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 4 Key Terms:
1. Iron Curtain
2. Marshall Plan
3. Truman Doctrine
4. United Nations
5. Eastern Bloc
6. Chinese Civil War
7. Mohandas Gandhi
8. Mohammed Jinnah
9. Anwar Sadat
10. Decolonization
11. emerging nation
12. globalization
13. solidarity movement
14. perestroika
15. Deng Ziaoping
16. internet
17. green revolution
18. global warming
19. HIV/AIDS
20. War on Terror
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)