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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96079/overview
|
Concepts of Biology, OpenStax
Fast Facts About the Microbiome
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/1543/the-plant-microbiome-and-its-importance-for-plant-and-human-health
https://www.ibiology.org/microbiology/human-microbiome/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/microcosm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5954204/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107516/
https://www.sefaria.org/Avot_D'Rabbi_Natan.31.3?lang=bi&with=Kisse%20Rahamim&lang2=en
https://www.sefaria.org/Duties_of_the_Heart%2C_Second_Treatise_on_Examination.4?lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed%2C_Part_1.72?lang=bi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzPD009qTN4
Lecture by Dr. Matrin Blaser describing his book Missing Microbes
Link to abstract of paper on Womens Health and the Microbiome
Link to MIT online course The Microbiome and Drug Delivery: Cross-species Communication in Health and Disease
Maturation of the Infant Microbiome Community Structure and Function Across Multiple Body Sites and in Relation to Mode of Delivery
Micriobiome and Asthma
Microbiome interplay and control
NIH Human Microbiome Project
OpenStax Microbiology
The Hologenome Concept of Evolution: Medical Implications
The Human Microbiome: Its Impact on Our Lives & Health. Slide presentation by Robert Rountree, MD
The Human Microbiome Project
Overview
This resource is a collection of articles, book chapters, and videos about the Human Microbiome.
The Microbiome is loosely defined as microorganisms, such as bacteria, that are found throughout the human body. It plays an important role in our understanding of our interactions with microorganisms and can help better understand which microorganisms are associated with clinical conditions and can help to improve the overall state of human health. The Human Microbiome provides some background information on microorganisms in general.
There is a lot of Microbiome information provided. Some in the form of informative video content, some in the form of an online course at MIT and links to papers and online books and other important websites that inform a lot about the microbiome. Finally, since this is intended to be a resource for Lander College for Women, a Womens Jewish College, there is also information about the impact of the human microbiome on women's health, as well as information regarding a parallel concept in Jewish Philosophy, that a human being is a microcosm of a world.
-Neil Normand, Touro University, 2021
About
The Microbiome is loosely defined as microorganisms, such as bacteria, that are found throughout the human body. It plays an important role in our understanding of our interactions with microorganisms and can help better understand which microorganisms are associated with clinical conditions and can help to improve the overall state of human health. The Human Microbiome provides some background information on microorganisms in general.
There is a lot of Microbiome information provided. Some in the form of informative video content, some in the form of an online course at MIT and links to papers and online books and other important websites that inform a lot about the microbiome. Finally, since this is intended to be a resource for Touro University's Lander College for Women, a Womens Jewish College, there is also information about the impact of the human microbiome on women's health, as well as information regarding a parallel concept in Jewish Philosophy, that a human being is a microcosm of a world.
-Neil Normand, Touro University, 2021
License: Creative Commons Attribution
Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash
Microbiology. Chapter 4 for introduction. What is a microorganism?
Microbiology, OpenStax
https://openstax.org/books/microbiology/pages/4-introduction
Ecosystem- Look at Chapters 19 and 20 for a detailed discussion
The Microbiome is a concept that the Human Being is its own ecosystem with many microorganisms that dwell in it. Therefore the concept of ecosystem is relevant and helpful in understanding the microbiome.
Please look at the chapters on ecology (19 and 20) to help get familiarized with the more traditional definition of ecosystem.
Concepts of Biology, OpenStax:
https://www.oercommons.org/courses/concepts-of-biology-2/view
Prokaryotic Diversity
Nagpal R, Wang S, Ahmadi S, Hayes J, Gagliano J, Subashchandrabose S, Kitzman DW, Becton T, Read R, Yadav H. Human-origin probiotic cocktail increases short-chain fatty acid production via modulation of mice and human gut microbiome. Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 23;8(1):12649. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30114-4. PMID: 30139941; PMCID: PMC6107516.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107516/
McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, Morton JT, Gonzalez A, Ackermann G, Aksenov AA, Behsaz B, Brennan C, Chen Y, DeRight Goldasich L, Dorrestein PC, Dunn RR, Fahimipour AK, Gaffney J, Gilbert JA, Gogul G, Green JL, Hugenholtz P, Humphrey G, Huttenhower C, Jackson MA, Janssen S, Jeste DV, Jiang L, Kelley ST, Knights D, Kosciolek T, Ladau J, Leach J, Marotz C, Meleshko D, Melnik AV, Metcalf JL, Mohimani H, Montassier E, Navas-Molina J, Nguyen TT, Peddada S, Pevzner P, Pollard KS, Rahnavard G, Robbins-Pianka A, Sangwan N, Shorenstein J, Smarr L, Song SJ, Spector T, Swafford AD, Thackray VG, Thompson LR, Tripathi A, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Vrbanac A, Wischmeyer P, Wolfe E, Zhu Q; American Gut Consortium, Knight R. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018 May 15;3(3):e00031-18. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00031-18. PMID: 29795809; PMCID: PMC5954204.
MIT online course The Microbiome and Drug Delivery: Cross-species Communication in Health and Disease
Link to MIT online course The Microbiome and Drug Delivery: Cross-species Communication in Health and Disease
Three videos that discuss the Microbiome
NIH Human Microbiome Project
NIH Human Microbiome Project:
The plant microbiome and its importance for plant and human health
The plant microbiome and its importance for plant and human health.
Link to Ebook: Frontiers in Microbiology- Microbiome interplay and control
Frontiers in Microbiology- Microbiome interplay and control
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/3616/microbiome-interplay-and-control
Link to slide presentation- The Human Microbiome: Its Impact on Our Lives & Health by Robert Rountree, MD
Hologenome- link to paper
The Hologenome is a concept that is closely associated with the Microbiome. Developed by Professor Eugene Rosenberg, it posits that organisms should be seen as a holoboint, the host organism at its associatesd microorganisms.
The Hologenome Concept of Evolution: Medical Implications
Rosenberg E, Zilber-Rosenberg I. The Hologenome Concept of Evolution: Medical Implications. Rambam Maimonides Med J. 2019 Jan 28;10(1):e0005. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10359. PMID: 30720424; PMCID: PMC6363370.
Parallel Concept in Judaism - Olam Katan
The Concept that Man is a Olam Katan, or a miniature world onto his or her own has a parallel to the microbiome in that just as a human being is composed of various interactions between the host organisms and the microorganisms that inhabit it, so too Man is a Olam Katan a world onto his or her own, with interactions between the host and the many other aspects that inhabit it. Here is a list of Jewish sources that discuss this concept.
(Rambam) Maimonides Moreh Nevuchim. Book 1 Chapter 72.
Below is a link to a hebrew and English translation of the guide to the perplexed.
https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed%2C_Part_1.72?lang=bi
It is also mentioned by R. Bechaya Ibn Pekuda in Chovot Halevavot. Shaar Habechina
https://www.sefaria.org/Duties_of_the_Heart%2C_Second_Treatise_on_Examination.4?lang=bi
This is an additional source from Avot D'Rabbi Natan
https://www.sefaria.org/Avot_D'Rabbi_Natan.31.3?lang=bi&with=Kisse%20Rahamim&lang2=en
Here is a third source that has additional resources
Micriobiome and Women's Health
Link to abstract of paper on Womens Health and the Microbiome
Maturation of the Infant Microbiome Community Structure and Function Across Multiple Body Sites and in Relation to Mode of Delivery - The suggestion is that there is an association with a higher prevelance of allergic conditions such as asthma found among individuals born by Cesarian Section as opposed to natural delivery. Perhaps the reason for this is when a baby is born natrually as he or she travels through the birth canal the baby is inuculated with the Micriobiome from the mother and then those microorganisms begin to grow in the baby. However for babies born through cesarain they do not get this benefit and their microbiome does not grow as quickly and perhaps they are more suceptible to these allergic conditions.
Video about the book Missing Microbes by Dr. Martin Blaser
Lecture by Dr. Matrin Blaser describing his book Missing Microbes.
Dr. Blaser makes the argument that losing bacteria can have a negative effect and we should be trying to repopulate the microbiome.
Fast Facts about the Microbiome
Below is a link from the University of Washington.
https://depts.washington.edu/ceeh/downloads/FF_Microbiome.pdf
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.012833
|
Kirk Snyder
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96079/overview",
"title": "The Human Microbiome Project",
"author": "Module"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96671/overview
|
Fennel stem p000087
Overview
Fennel. Cross section stem. 8X
Image and content credit: Fernando Agudelo-Silva.
Micrograph
Light background with green ring.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.029698
|
Forestry and Agriculture
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96671/overview",
"title": "Fennel stem p000087",
"author": "Botany"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96663/overview
|
Fern p000079
Overview
Golden back fern. Back of pinnae.
Image credit: Fernando Agudelo-Silva
Micrograph
Golden lobes of fern around dark stem
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.046140
|
Emily Fox
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96663/overview",
"title": "Fern p000079",
"author": "Diagram/Illustration"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96672/overview
|
p000088 fen2
Fennel stem p000088
Overview
Fennel stem. 17X
Image and content credit: Fernando Agudelo-Silva
Micrograph
Light background with green ring filled with white circles.
Micrograph
Light background with green ring filled with white circles.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.064483
|
Forestry and Agriculture
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96672/overview",
"title": "Fennel stem p000088",
"author": "Botany"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/124287/overview
|
ELC 117 Full Course
ELC 117 Mid-Term Exam
ELC 117 Quiz Questions and Answers
ELC-117 Motors and Controls
Overview
This course introduces the fundamental concepts of motors and motor controls. Topics include
ladder diagrams, pilot devices, contactors, motor starters, motors, and other control devices. Upon completion, students should be able to properly select, connect, and troubleshoot motors and control circuits.
ELC-117 Motors and Controls
This course introduces the fundamental concepts of motors and motor controls. Topics include
ladder diagrams, pilot devices, contactors, motor starters, motors, and other control devices. Upon completion, students should be able to properly select, connect, and troubleshoot motors and control circuits.
This course includes a full outline, links to instructional materials, and assessments and exams.
DOL: Disclaimer: This product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.084414
|
01/30/2025
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/124287/overview",
"title": "ELC-117 Motors and Controls",
"author": "Bo Bunn"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/64666/overview
|
Using FRED Data to Understand Business Cycles
Overview
An in class exercise using economic data to better understand business cycles.
This exercise helps students understand business cycles through use of the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). It is recommended for in class use, in order to engage in discussion and conversation.
First, direct students to the FRED website: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
In the search bar, type: Real GDP per capita.
Select the option for Real GDP per capita quarterly, 2012 dollars.
Students should now see a graph of GDP data. You can have them edit it in a variety of ways. Try something simple to start: use the date range boxes at the top right to change the start date to 1995 and end date to 2019 in order to focus on the two recessions in 2001 and 2007.
Another interesting option is to have them click on "Edit Graph," then change the Units to "Percent Change from Year Ago."
Now you can guide them through a discussion and analysis of what business cycles, especially recessions, look like. Using the data can also help with an understanding of the ways in which recessions are identified.
Suggested topics of discussion: What are the highest and lowest growth rates on the graph? Why is growth important? What is a peak and a trough, a recession and an expansion? During the recession of 2007-09, how could you tell that a recession had started? What stands out about that recession compared to the one before?
Graph in header taken from the FRED website: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Real gross domestic product per capita [A939RX0Q048SBEA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA, March 29, 2020.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.099857
|
Homework/Assignment
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/64666/overview",
"title": "Using FRED Data to Understand Business Cycles",
"author": "Assessment"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/121397/overview
|
Ethics & Innovation
https://scratch.mit.edu/
Information Technology Notes
Information Technology
Overview
Module Description
This educational module provides an engaging introduction to two pivotal topics within the field of information technology: Machine Learning and Data Science. Designed for students, the module emphasizes the practical applications, processes, and ethical considerations of these technologies while equipping learners with the foundational knowledge necessary to understand their roles in today’s data-driven world. By exploring both machine learning and data science, students will gain insights into how these fields work together to drive innovation across various industries.
Section 1: Machine Learning
Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables systems to learn from data and make predictions without being explicitly programmed. This section will highlight its transformative impact on industries such as healthcare, finance, and entertainment, demonstrating the increasing relevance of machine learning in everyday applications.
Section 2: Data Science
Data science is an interdisciplinary field that combines statistics, computer science, and domain expertise to derive insights from data. This section will explain how data science underpins machine learning by ensuring that data is collected, cleaned, and analyzed effectively.
Understanding Machine Learning
Introduction to Machine Learning
Machine learning (ML) is a fascinating subset of artificial intelligence that empowers computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without explicit programming. This means that rather than relying solely on predefined rules, machines can adapt and improve based on the information they receive. Machine learning is transforming numerous industries, including healthcare, finance, and entertainment, by enabling smarter applications that enhance efficiency and user experiences. For instance, it allows doctors to diagnose diseases more accurately, helps banks detect fraud, and enables streaming services to recommend shows tailored to individual tastes.
How Does Machine Learning Work?
At the heart of machine learning are algorithms, which require data to learn. This data can take many forms—numbers, words, images, and more. During the training process, these algorithms analyze the data for patterns to make informed predictions. Think of it like teaching a dog tricks: just as a dog learns through practice and rewards, machine learning algorithms improve their accuracy by recognizing patterns in the data over time.
Once trained, the algorithms create models, which are representations of the knowledge they've gained. For example, a spam filter in your email inbox is a model that has learned to identify unwanted messages based on previous data.
Types of Machine Learning
There are three primary types of machine learning:
Supervised Learning: This approach uses labeled data to train models. For instance, an algorithm might predict house prices based on features like size and location, learning from historical data where the prices are already known.
Unsupervised Learning: In this case, the algorithm works with unlabeled data to uncover hidden patterns. For example, it might group similar customer behaviors together without prior knowledge of what those behaviors entail.
Reinforcement Learning: Here, agents learn by interacting with their environment. A common analogy is teaching a robot to navigate a maze, where it receives feedback (rewards or penalties) based on its actions to improve its performance over time.
Real-World Applications of ML
Machine learning has a wide array of real-world applications:
Healthcare: In the medical field, machine learning assists in diagnosing diseases by analyzing medical images, allowing for faster and more accurate assessments.
Finance: Banks utilize machine learning to detect fraudulent transactions by identifying unusual patterns in transaction data that might indicate fraud.
Entertainment: Streaming services like Netflix use machine learning algorithms to recommend movies or shows based on users' viewing habits, enhancing the overall user experience.
Ethical Considerations of ML
As with any powerful technology, machine learning comes with ethical considerations. One critical issue is bias in data; algorithms trained on biased datasets can produce unfair outcomes. Ensuring data diversity and fairness is vital for responsible machine learning applications. Additionally, privacy concerns arise from data collection practices, emphasizing the need for ethical guidelines that protect personal information and ensure transparency in how data is used.
Applications of Machine Learning
For those interested in exploring machine learning, several kid-friendly platforms can help, such as Scratch or Google’s Teachable Machine. These resources provide hands-on experiences that make learning fun and engaging. Students are encouraged to experiment with simple projects, such as creating a basic model to recognize images or classify different types of data, fostering a deeper understanding of how machine learning works.
The Future of Machine Learning
As we look to the future, machine learning holds immense potential for innovation across various fields. It’s crucial to nurture curiosity about this technology and encourage students to consider how they might apply machine learning to solve real-world problems. By exploring further learning opportunities, they can become the next generation of innovators, using machine learning to shape a better tomorrow.
This module serves as an introduction to the exciting world of machine learning, highlighting its mechanisms, applications, and the ethical considerations necessary for responsible use.
Exploring Data Science
What is Data Science?
Data science is an interdisciplinary field that merges statistics, computer science, and domain expertise to extract valuable insights and knowledge from data. This field plays a critical role in machine learning, as the effectiveness of machine learning models hinges on high-quality data analysis. By leveraging data science techniques, we can ensure that models are built on accurate and relevant information, enhancing their predictive capabilities.
The Data Science Process
The data science process involves several key steps:
Data Collection: Gathering data is the first step and can be done through various methods, such as surveys, sensors, and online platforms. The goal is to obtain comprehensive and relevant datasets to analyze.
Data Cleaning: Once data is collected, it must be cleaned to remove errors and inconsistencies. This step is crucial for ensuring the quality of the analysis, as poor-quality data can lead to inaccurate insights.
Data Exploration: After cleaning, data exploration techniques—such as visualizations and statistical summaries—help in understanding underlying patterns and trends within the data. This exploratory phase is essential for identifying areas of interest and potential relationships.
Model Building: With clean and explored data, the next step is model building. This involves selecting appropriate machine learning algorithms and training them using the cleaned data to create predictive models.
Evaluation and Interpretation: Finally, assessing model performance using various metrics is critical. This evaluation helps interpret results and make informed, data-driven decisions based on the model's predictions.
Tools and Technologies in Data Science
Data science employs various tools and technologies:
Programming Languages: Python and R are two of the most popular programming languages in data science. They come with robust libraries, such as Pandas and NumPy, that facilitate data manipulation and analysis.
Data Visualization Tools: Tools like Tableau and Matplotlib enable data scientists to present data insights in clear and understandable formats, making it easier to communicate findings to stakeholders.
Big Data Technologies: For handling large datasets, technologies like Hadoop and Spark are essential. These tools allow data scientists to process and analyze massive amounts of data efficiently.
Applications of Data Science
Data science has a wide range of applications across various fields:
Healthcare: In the medical sector, data science is utilized for predictive analytics, helping in patient care by optimizing treatment plans and managing healthcare resources effectively.
Marketing: Businesses analyze customer data to tailor marketing strategies, improving customer engagement and targeting efforts more precisely.
Sports: Sports teams leverage data analytics to enhance performance by analyzing player statistics and strategizing game plans based on data-driven insights.
Ethical Considerations in Data Science
As data science evolves, ethical considerations become increasingly important:
Data Privacy: Protecting individual privacy in data collection and analysis is crucial, especially in sensitive areas like healthcare. Data scientists must adhere to ethical guidelines to safeguard personal information.
Bias and Fairness: Biased data can lead to skewed results and reinforce inequalities. Striving for fairness in data-driven decisions is essential to ensure that all individuals are treated equitably.
Getting Started in Data Science
For those interested in diving into data science, numerous resources are available:
Learning Resources: Platforms like Codecademy, Khan Academy, and Coursera offer beginner-friendly courses to help learners grasp data science concepts and methodologies.
Hands-On Projects: Students are encouraged to take on small projects, such as analyzing a dataset or creating visualizations, to apply what they've learned and gain practical experience.
The Future of Data Science
As we look ahead, the potential of data science to drive innovation and impact various industries is immense.This comprehensive overview of data science emphasizes its processes, applications, and ethical considerations, enhancing students' understanding of the critical role it plays alongside machine learning in today’s data-driven world.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.129706
|
10/26/2024
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/121397/overview",
"title": "Information Technology",
"author": "Lillian Baptist"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/112850/overview
|
Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron Procedure
Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron
Overview
This is Experiment #2 in the Analytical Chemistry Lab sequence at MSU Denver. In this experiment, students will use spectroscopy to determine the concentration of iron in an unknown samples. Analytical techniques are covered including standard addition and how to accurately create standards.
Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron
This is Experiment #2 in the Analytical Chemistry Lab sequence at MSU Denver. In this experiment, students will use spectroscopy to determine the concentration of iron in an unknown samples. Analytical techniques are covered including standard addition and how to accurately create standards.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.147749
|
Alycia Palmer
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/112850/overview",
"title": "Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron",
"author": "Homework/Assignment"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/114648/overview
|
My OER journey _ A personal story
Overview
OER Fellows are invited to remix this OER Storytelling Template to share their stories of impact with Open Educational Resources (OER).
My OER journey _ A personal story
Hello everyone. My name is An Duy Duong. I'm teaching microbiology and managing the lab preparation for microbiology at Arizona Western College. Below is my video taken from my current office.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.165065
|
03/27/2024
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/114648/overview",
"title": "My OER journey _ A personal story",
"author": "An Duy Duong"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/115919/overview
|
HIST 0700: World History - Dr. Warsh 2014
Overview
This course approaches the idea and practice of World History through the lens of commodities and consumption. Over the course of the semester it will consider the last 1000 years of world history by examining the global production, circulation, and consumption of goods. In addition to its focus on the role of commodities in shaping local and global histories, the class will focus on several central themes: mass migrations of people; colonialism and imperialism; the global formation of capitalist economies and industrialization; the emergence of modern states; nationalism; and the rise of consumer societies.
Attachments
The attachment for this resource is a sample syllabus for a world history course that was taught in 2014.
About This Resource
This resource was contributed by Dr. Molly Warsh, Associate Professor, Department of History, Associate Director of the World History Center and Head of Educational Outreach, the University of Pittsburgh.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.183211
|
Alliance for Learning in World History
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/115919/overview",
"title": "HIST 0700: World History - Dr. Warsh 2014",
"author": "Syllabus"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/86061/overview
|
ION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY
Overview
The topic of illstration is Ion Exchange Chromatography which contain two application of it one is softening hardness of water and other is determination of organic acid from cosmetics. The illustration is made in "Miro" app.
ION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY
Application of Ion Exchange Chromatography:
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.196023
|
09/21/2021
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/86061/overview",
"title": "ION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY",
"author": "Bhagyashri Kowarkar"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/66607/overview
|
Future Value of an Annuity Lab
PMT Formula Lab
Present Value Lab
Present Value of an Annuity Lab
Time Value of Money
Overview
This lesson covers the topic of Time Value of Money and prepares students for lessons on simple interest loans (operating notes and lines of credit) and amortized loans. It introduces the ideas of present and future values, compounding and discounting, payements and time periods. It uses Microsoft Excel extensively as an aid for problem calculations.
Time Value of Money
Time Value of Money
When it comes to money, the bottom line is that a dollar today is preferred to a dollar in the future. Why you ask? Here are four reasons:
- If that dollar is spent on consumption, we would prefer to receive that enjoyment now. That is simply human nature. I don’t want to buy new clothes next month or next year, I want them now.
- That dollar could be invested with someone that needs that dollar now, where it would then earn interest. While I may not need to spend the money now, either for business or for consumption, someone else does, and they are willing to pay you rent on your money. So by delaying your satisfaction of spending that dollar, you are actually receiving a benefit in earning interest when you are paid back.
- Risk is a factor, in that unforeseen circumstances could prevent us from receiving the dollar in the future. Risk here is many places. As grim as it seems, you may be unable to spend the money in the future due to death or injury. Or it could come from investing the money with someone else, yes you are entitled to an interest payment, but that only happens if they are able to pay you back.
- Inflation may diminish the value of that dollar over time. The definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few assets. When this occurs, the dollar is the same, it simply purchases less stuff as a result. So inflation doesn’t change the dollar (it is still worth $1) as much as it changes the values of everything that dollar buys.
There are two types of values that we look at when examining the time value of money. The first is Present Value (PV) (I will always abbreviate teems with the syntax that Excel uses) which is simply the number of dollars available or invested at the current time or the current value of some amount to be received in the future. The second is Future Value (FV) which is the amount to be received at some point in the future or the amount a present value will be worth at some future date when invested at a given interest rate.
Other terms that are important to know and understand are as follows:
Payment (PMT) – The number of dollars to be paid or received in a time period.
Interest Rate (rate) – The interest rate used to find present and future values. It is quoted in percent and represents the value of return for renting your money out to someone else, or what you have to pay to rent money from someone else. Often when we are finding present values of a future income the interest rate is refereed to as a discount rate.
Time Periods (nper) – The number of time periods used to compute present and future values.
Annuity – A term used to describe a series of periodic payments.
A quick note about interest rates. The interest rate is a return on the amount of money, but it has to have a time period associated with it. You cannot have a 5% interest rate, unless you state how long you expect it to take to return to you 5% of the original value. In other words, an interest rate, always needs to have a time component to it. For this section, we will always assume the rates are APR – annual percentage rates (unless you are explicitly told otherwise). Meaning that a 5% APR, will return 5% of its initial value at the end of exactly 1 year:
- A woman loans her neighbor $1000 at an APR of 5%. She is expecting to receive the $1000 she initially loaned her, plus 5% of the value back at the end of the year. 5% * $1000 = $50. So she intends to receive the $50 interest payment as well as the original $1000 back at the end of the year.
- Rates can also me be monthly rates. If the woman in the previous example wanted to loan $1000 at an MPR (monthly percentage rate) of 5%, then she expects to receive the $50 interest payment and the $1000 original amount back at the end of 1 month. A 5% MPR Is equivalent to a 60% APR, since 5% MPR * 12 months = 60% APR (we even use unit cancelling in finance!).
- Rates can also be weekly rates, daily rates, or any variation of the calendar that you can think of. The key is always this – the rate and the time always need to be in the same unit. In other words, if the time period is in years, the rate must be in years. If the rate is in days, the time period must be in days.
It is also important to understand that the direction we are heading from a present value to a future value or from a future value to a present value dictates whether we are compounding or discounting. In short, when we are moving from a present value (what we have today) to a future value (what it will be worth in a year) we are compounding the present value to arrive at the future value. When we know what we will have in the future and want to know what it is worth today, we are discounting back to the present. The image below helps to explain:
Future Value
Future Value Calculations
The image below represents the visual of what it means to go from a PV to an FV. Over time, because of the time value of money, the present value grows into a larger future value. In the section that follows you will learn the math, as well as tools that can be used to do these calculations.
When we work on FV problems, we know what the present value is. Essentially, we know what we have today, what we need to calculate is what that present amount will be worth in the future. Imagine we currently have $1000 and we want to know what that $1000 will be worth if it were to earn 8% APR for 1 year, 2 years and 3 years? There are actually multiple methods for answering these, so we will go through each one individually.
Table:
First we can create a table that calculates the interest earned each year – year by year. It is somewhat tedious and time consuming, but it is important to understand what is going on before learning to use the tools that easier and faster. The key here is that every year is just a simple interest problem. Simple interest means that you are only calculating the interest earned for 1 time period. In this case 1 year. See the table below:
| Year | Value at beginning of year ($) | Interest rate (%) | Interest earned ($) | Value at end of year ($) |
| 1 | 1000.00 | 8 | 80.00 | 1080.00 |
| 2 | 1080.00 | 8 | 86.40 | 1166.40 |
| 3 | 1166.40 | 8 | 93.31 | 1259.71 |
If we break down the table above, you will se that it is pretty simple math. In year 1 we start with $1000 and it earns 8% APR interest. Since this is a simple interest problem, you only need to take $1000 * 8% = $80. That is why the interest earned is $80. So at the end of the 1st year, the value is now $1080, since the original $1000 + $80 (interest earned) = $1080. Since $1080 is the value at the end of the 1st year, it stands to reason that $1080 will be the value at the start of the 2nd year, so the process starts all over again, only this time the formula for interest earned in year 2 is $1080 * 8% = $86.40. That interest earned is added to the value that you started with of $1080 + $86.40 = $1166.40.
That right there is what is known as compound interest. Compound interest is the act of earning interest on an investment and then having the interest earned start earning interest itself. We only ever invested $1000, but since we left the original $80 of interest earned in the investment, the next year we start earning even more interest. If we would have taken the initial interest payment out (in other words pocketed the $80 interest payment, in year 2 we would have only had $1000 earning 8% interest.
The tables are good, and they are important to understand for the remainder of the section on finance, however, for most cases of determining the future values and present values, they are lengthy, cumbersome and take too much time. Lucky for us, there are 2 other ways that are easier to use and much faster.
Formula:
The mathematical formula for computing the future value of an investment is as follows:
FV = PV (1 + i)ⁿ
where FV = future value, PV = present value, i = interest rate and n = time periods or nper
To calculate our problem from earlier, e plug in our information into the formula to get:
FV = $1000 (1 + 0.08)3 => FV = $1000 (1.08)3 => FV = $1000 * 1.25971
FV = $1259.71
As you can see, we get the same answer for the final year three future value in the table as we do when use the mathematical formula. And lets be honest, given the calcualtors that we have available today, working math problems to powers is not that difficult. The problem above is easily calculated on a simple calculator on your computer by using the xy button on your calculator. First you type in the value for x, in our case 1.08, then you hit the xy button on your calculator and then finally hit the number of years, in our case 3. Once you get your answer of 1.257912 (to be exact) multiply that by the present value which was $1000.
Excel:
The last and simplest method for calculating the future value of an investment, is to use excel, which is essentially a really powerful calculator that also organizes data as well as whole host of other things! Utilizing excel is quite simple, but you do have to familiarize yourself with what it is and does. In this class, you have already done several tasks within excel and have utilized it to help answer other problems. The key is to create a table and LABEL things as you type them in. Essentially what we will be doing is creating a calculator, but it is important to label what you are entering and what you are calculating. The screenshots below will walk you through the process:
In the screenshot above, I have entered all of the information into an excel table, also notice that I labeled what type of an interest rate I am working with, as well as labeled what unit time was in. This is an important part that oftentimes people forget. Remember that the unit of time must be the same for the rate as it is for the time period. That is why it is good to get into the habit of checking through labeling. The only part left is to enter a formula to do the calculating for us:
Once you select the “Financial” drop down menu scroll down until you find the FV formula and select it:
I prefer to utilize cell referencing when creating these calculators. This means rather than typing in the information that I want use as the input data, I will link the input to existing cells:
For the rate instead of entering 8%, I referenced cell B3 which contains 8%. For the Nper instead of entering 3 years, I referenced cell B4 which contains 3. We will use this same formula for calculating annuities, but we are not there yet, so as a result we leave the Pmt section empty and ignore it. For Pv it is important to understand a simple concept here, I actually entered cell -B2. That is right I actually entered the negative symbol first, then the cell. The reason for this is another learning moment. In order to make money by investing it or loaning it to someone else, I must give the money away for a time. It is a necessary part of investing. You must allow someone else to use your money in exchange for a “promise” to repay. You do NOT have to enter the Pv as a negative, however, notice that in the screenshot above the answer is given in the “Function Arguments” box, I have it circled in red = 1259.712. Notice what happens when I do NOT enter the Pv as a negative:
The answer is returned in the negative. Excel is very literal in how it calculates. In this case it assumes that you received $1000, and will now have to pay someone $1259.71. It is not a big deal, but it can cause issues if you use the answer to calculate further problems. The end result of the FV formula:
The reason this method of calculating future value problems is generally preferred once students get the hang of using excel is that it can easily be manipulated. Say you want to know how much the FV would be worth if you invested the $1000 today for 10 years at 5%. All you need to do is adjust the Rate and the NPER:
For a quick practice calculate the following Future Value Problems:
- PV = $2500, I = 5.05%, n = 10 years
- PV = $20,550, I = 4.45%, n = 15 years
- PV = $40,000, I = 3.23%, n = 4 years
- PV = $10,223, I = 2.5%, n = 12 years
Future Value of an Annuity
Future Value of an Annuity
Annuities are a popular method of investing. The essential idea is that you pay a lump sum amount of money today, and receive a series of payments over time, great for retirement lifestyle. Or you make a stream of payments (say $500 per month) over time and receive a lump-sum payment in the future. The latter is an example of a future value of an annuity problem. The idea is that we will save a certain amount every time period (can be weeks, months or years), that investment will earn interest, as well as continue to grow as we continue to add additional dollars to the investment each time period. The streams of investment are known as payments (PMT) which we skipped over in the Future Value section when learning how to work these problems on excel. Below is a visual representation of a FV of an annuity:
When we work on FV of annuity problems, we know what the PMT is. What we are wanting to know is, at a given interest rate and a set series of payments, how much will the investment be worth at a certain time in the future? Imagine we have decided to start saving $1000 annually at 8% APR. We want to know what it will be worth at the end of 3 years. Again, there are multiple methods for solving these problems, and we will go through each one individually. One last note before we go and start calculating the answers to these problems, we skipped over another item on the excel problems in the previous unit – type. The type is looking at when the compounding takes place – the beginning of the time period or the end. Typically, the compounding takes place at the end of the time period. Which makes sense. If you are the one paying an interest for the use of someone else’s money, you wouldn’t want to pay them until the end of the period. Most of the problems will be assumed to have the compounding take place at the end, which is why on excel, we left that section blank (see screenshot below):
Notice on the function arguments when you are in the “Type” section, the definition shows up below:
Type is a value representing the timing of payment; payment at the beginning of the period = 1; payment at the end of the period = 0 or omitted.
Since most often, the payment occurs at the end of the period, the default is if you leave that section blank it assumes that the payment and thus the compounding occurs at the end. Bottom-line, assume that the payment occurs at the end of the period, unless you are specifically told that it occurs at the beginning.
Table
Just like a Future Value problem, we can calculate the answer by using a table format going on a year by year basis. It is still time consuming and tedious, but it is also a good way to learn what is actually going on during the compounding. See the table below:
| Year | Value at beginning of the year | Interest rate (%) | Interest earned ($) | Payment ($) | Value at end of year ($) |
| 1 | $0 | 8 | 0.00 | 1000.00 | 1000.00 |
| 2 | $1000 | 8 | 80.00 | 1000.00 | 2080.00 |
| 3 | $2080 | 8 | 166.40 | 1000.00 | 3246.40 |
The table illustrates how the money grows as we add it to the investment. There isn’t any interest earned in the first time period since the payment is not made until the end of year.
Formula:
The mathematical formula for computing the future value of an investment is as follows:
FV = PMT x
where FV = future value, PMT = payment, i = interest rate and n = time periods or nper
To calculate our problem from earlier, e plug in our information into the formula to get:
FV = $1000 x => FV = $1000 x => FV = $1000 x => FV = $1000 x 3.2464
FV = $3246.40
Let’s be honest. That is not a fun equation to have to work through every time. So I highly recommend learning how to use excel in the following section!
Excel:
The formula for the FV of an annuity is the same as the FV. Remember how we ignored the PMT section in the formula before? That is what we will be using now:
Once again, we entered the PMT as a negative since we must give up $1000 each year, in order to get back the $3246.40 at the end of year 3. If we would have entered the PMT as a positive we would get this for the answer:
This is NOT the end of the world, but it does cause some issues when using the answers in further problems. That is why I always recommend entering all of the input data so that it shows up as a positive answer.
For a quick practice calculate the following Future Value Problems:
- PMT = $15,000, I = 5.65%, n = 10 years
- PMT = $500, I = 4.45%, n = 25 years
- PMT = $1000, I = 3.23%, n = 4 years
- PMT = $1000, I = 2.5%, n = 15 years
It is possible to make a lump-sum payment (a PV) today and then continue to contribute with periodic installments or payments. In that case, you would enter both a PV and a PMT, all other fields remain the same:
Assume you save $25,000 today from an inheritance, and then continue to invest $2500 at the end of each year for the next 30 years at 5% APR. What will be the FV?
What if the payment was made at the beginning of the period?
Present Value
Present Value Calculations
Present value refers to the value today of a sum of money to be received or paid in the future. Present values are found by discounting. And the interest rate is referred to as a discount rate. The image below represents the visual of what it means to go from a FV to an PV. The goal in these problems is to figure out what a certain amount of money that you know you will have, or want to have in the future is worth right now, given the current discount rate. In the section that follows you will learn the math, as well as tools that can be used to do these calculations.
When we work on PV problems, we know what the future value is. This is sometimes a little bit difficult for people to grasp. How do we NOT know what something is worth today? Think of this in two different ways. We are either going to receive a set amount of money at some time in the future and we want to know what it is worth today, or we want to have a certain amount of money saved up by a date later in the future and we want to know how much we need to save today in order to get that amount saved up. Tables are difficult and cumbersome to use when discounting and so are formulas, there is essentially one way to calculate PV problems, excel (that isn’t necessarily true, but now that you have a good grasp on how to use excel, it is pointless to work through the other methods!).
Formula:
We are NOT going to work through the formula, but I did want to at the very least show it to you:
Excel
As in the previous units, labeling is very important. Assume we are trying to find out what $8000 to be paid out at the end of 3 years is worth today given an 11% discount rate?
For this problem, we will use the PV formula:
Just as in the FV problems, we leave the PMT field blank, and since you are NOT told anything about when the discounting will occur (beginning or the end of the period) the default is that it will occur at the end of the time period, thus we leave the Type field blank as well (or enter 0). Again to make things simple and not end up with a negative answer, we also enter the Fv field as a negative.
For a quick practice calculate the following Present Value Problems:
- FV = $2500, I = 5.05%, n = 10 years
- FV = $20,550, I = 4.45%, n = 15 years
- FV = $40,000, I = 3.23%, n = 4 years
- FV = $10,223, I = 2.5%, n = 12 years
Present Value of an Annuity
Present Value of an Annuity
When we look at the present value of an annuity, we are now looking at how much money we will need to invest today, in order to guarantee a certain level of payments in the future. This is a classic question for a retiree, or someone nearing retirement. In retirement, you do not have a job, which means no stream of income (except for social security). So many retirees will take their savings and retirement accounts, take the lump sum and place them into an annuity that makes a periodic payment for a certain amount of time. How much money is placed into the annuity is dependent on how much they have access to, as well as what the periodic payment needs to be. In this section, we will again jump right to the use of excel for calculating these problems for simplicity. We will also add in another issue that we often run into, when the rate and the time period do not match (i.e. the rate is an APR, but the pmts are made monthly). The image below is an illustration of what the PV of an annuity looks like:
Formula:
We are NOT going to work through the formula, but I did want to at the very least show it to you:
PV = PMT x
Excel
As in the previous units, labeling is very important. Assume we are trying to find out what annual payments of $1000 to be paid out at the end of each year, for the next 3 years is worth today given an 8% discount rate?
In other words, if I want to receive payments of $1000 at the end of each year, for the next three years, given a discount rate of 8%, I would need to place $2577.10 into an annuity today. Again, there isn’t much difference in the present value problems and the present value of an annuity, with the exception that we are entering the Pmt and not the Fv. Also, again notice that we enter the Pmt in as a negative so that answer is returned to us as a positive. Technically though, in order to receive the $1000 payments at the end of each year for the next three years, you would need to give up $2577.10 today.
Rate and nper not in the same unit
I mentioned earlier, that sometimes the rate and the time period aren’t in the same units. I also mentioned at the beginning of the Time Value of Money unit, that the two must be in the same unit of time in order to work the calculations. This really isn’t a problem; we just need to make an adjustment at some point. Take the following example:
You are planning on retiring and would like to place some of your life savings into an annuity that makes monthly payments over the next 20 years. There are 12 months in a year, so you would be looking at 20 years * 12 months/year = 240 months or 240 payments. Assuming an APR of 5%, how much money would you need to invest in the annuity today in order to receive a monthly payment of $2000 at the end of each month?
The problem here is that the pmt and the nper are in monthly units, but the rate is in annual units. We must do a calculation to the rate. Since there will be a total of 240 pmts, the nper must be in months, and since the nper must be in months, so to does the rate. To adjust an APR to a MPR (monthly percentage rate) you simply take the APR and divide it by 12 - %5/12 = 0.417% MPR. This is a lot easier to do in excel, than with a computer:
This problem is incorrect, because the rate and the nper are in different units of time. We need to convert the rate into an MPR, to do this simply enter the following formula in the rate cell:
Notice that I started with an “=” in cell C3, that tells excel that you want it to do a mathematical equation. I also adjust the label to an MPR so that I know that I have made the adjustment. The final answer looks like:
Again, since the payment is made at the end of the time period, we leave the Type field blank. On occasion you will be told that the payment is made at the beginning of the time period, at that point you will need to enter a “1” into the Type field.
For a quick practice calculate the following Present Value Problems:
- PMT = $15,000, I = 5.65%, n = 120 months
- PMT = $500, I = 4.45%, n = 25 years
- PMT = $1000, I = 3.23%, n = 48 months
- PMT = $1000, I = 0.5% MPR, n = 15 years
In problem #1 since the Nper is in months, that means that the payment will be made every month and therefore the rate needs to be converted to an MPR (divide the APR by 12). The same occurs in #3 but notice I did NOT change my label to MPR. That is why it is so important to label things and make sure you adjust your labels! In problem #4, since the payment is made annually, the rate needs to be adjusted from an MPR to an APR. In order to accomplish this simply multiply the MPR of 0.50% * 12 months/year = 6.00% APR.
One last note on adjusting rates. When you do it, just use excel to make the adjustment. Here is why:
If you use your calculator to adjust 5% APR to an MPR you will get this:
When you type your answer into the excel sheet you will most likely just type in 0.42%, which in fairness is what would show up:
The problem is that when you dig deeper in excel and expand the decimal:
We are working with this as the rate: And Notice the difference in the answer:
Granted the difference is small, but it is a difference, nonetheless. I cannot urge you enough to stop using your calculator or your phone to do these calculations and start using excel for all of them!
PMT Formula
The PMT Function
This last section covers the idea of the payment or PMT. It is handy when you have a sum of money that you are looking at investing into some type of an annuity to use the PMT formula in excel so that you will know how much your payment will be. Or when you know how much money you want to have in the future, how much your periodic payment will need to be.
The PMT formula can also be used to calculate loan payments for vehicles, houses, etc. when loans are taken out. We will be using that function more in the upcoming units – simple interest loans and amortized loans.
The classic example of this is if you were in a car accident caused by the other driver. Their insurance company might offer to settle with you over the claim. Oftentimes they will offer you a structured settlement. Which is a fancy way of saying that they are going to make periodic payments to you, each time period for a set amount of time – a payment! How much will that payment be? Again, that depends on the present or future value, the rate, the time period and the type (payment made at the ending or the beginning of the time period).
For example, you are in a car accident. The insurance company for the other driver offers you a settlement of $65,000 received today, or you can receive the payment in a structured settlement (an annuity). If they will pay out over the next five years making monthly payments at a 4.5% APR interest rate, making the payments at the end of the period, how much will the monthly payment be for?
Excel is the simplest method to solve this problem. You will again enter the following information:
Present value = $65,000, nper = 60 months, rate = 4.5%/12, type = 0 or omit
Select the PMT formula from the Formula ribbon > Financial > PMT
In other words, if I took the settlement offer from the insurance company in the form of a structured settlement, rather than receiving $65,000 today, I would instead receive $1211.80 at the end of each month for the next 5 years. Again a couple key points; we adjusted the APR of 4.5% to an MPR of 0.38% and we did the calculation in excel by entering =4.5%/12 directly into cell B3 (this eliminates any rounding errors, and we entered the time period as 5 years * 12 months/year = 60 months. One thing to note is that since the option was to take the $65,000 today, the $65,000 is a PV. There is also a place to enter the FV in the PMT function which we will look at next.
Assume you would like to have $1,000,000 saved up in a retirement account by the time you turn 65. You are currently 20 years old and you want to know how much you would need to save each month in order to have $1,000,000 by the time you turn 65 given a compounding rate of 3% APR. The information for excel looks like this:
We must modify the rate like this: We must modify the nper like this:
First, we have to determine how many years we will be saving for, then multiply those years by 12 to get the correct number of months.
Loan Payment Calculations
The PMT function can also be used to calculate the payment amount on an Equal Total Payments (ETP) loan (we will learn more about those in the Amortized Loans Unit). Imagine that you borrow $45,000 from the bank to purchase a new truck. The bank quotes you a 5% APR, making annual payments at the end of the year for 5 years. What will be your annual payment?
Enter the following information into excel:
PV = $45,000, rate = 5.00% APR, nper = 5 years:
In other words, you will make 5 annual payments at the end of each year for $10,393.87. One huge advantage to knowing how to do these calculations is the ease of changing the terms of the loan. Say another bank offer the same loan but at a 4% APR, you can quickly check the result by simply changing the rate:
A 1% reduction in the rate lowers the annual payment by $285.65. Using excel allows for simplicity in recalculating loan payments given different loan terms.
For a quick practice calculate the following PMT Problems:
- PV = $85,000, I = 5.65% APR, n = 5 years – structured settlement
- FV = $500,000, I = 4.45%, n = 25 years - savings calculator
- PV = $40,000, I = 3.23% APR, n = 48 months – car loan
- FV = $10,000, I = 0.4% MPR, n = 60 months - savings calculator
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oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.253984
|
Activity/Lab
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/66607/overview",
"title": "Time Value of Money",
"author": "Functions"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/97338/overview
|
Critical thinking listening sheet
How to get along with others
Overview
This lesson plan is adopted from the website
https://dohadebates.com/course/better-conversations/#01-prepare and the video of Dr. Clayton
The writer has added some ideas and stages but Dr. Clayton is the original author of the ideas and the video. He has inspired the author and made her choose the plan to teach the theme.
The lesson is designed to teach Civil communication, discussion skills at college, students will be able to use essential skills to have better conversations.
It is made up of five different classroom stages with various activities for teachers to run with pupils, with detailed notes for the staff member delivering the activities.
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oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.275232
|
09/20/2022
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/97338/overview",
"title": "How to get along with others",
"author": "Dung Lê Thị Kim"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/90538/overview
|
assessments-games1
Why Alternative Assessments are NICE!
Overview
Shares why diverse assessments are nice for students!
Why Alternative Assessments are NICE
This shares some reasons why diverse assessments are nice!
CC-BY Licensing
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oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.292564
|
03/01/2022
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/90538/overview",
"title": "Why Alternative Assessments are NICE!",
"author": "Andrea Bearman"
}
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/116066/overview
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ADVOCACY GUIDE: Self-Advocacy and Challenging Inequities
Overview
It is important to know you are not alone; barriers to equity have long histories and one person cannot dismantle them. Challenging oppression means building relationships that heal and equipping people with the tools and understandings needed to take a stance about who they are in collaboration with others.
Reading
Please see attached PDF from The Practice Space
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oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.309510
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05/15/2024
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/116066/overview",
"title": "ADVOCACY GUIDE: Self-Advocacy and Challenging Inequities",
"author": "Aujalee Moore"
}
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/92595/overview
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The Other Fifty Weeks: An Open Education Podcast [Episode 6]
Overview
The sixth episode of 'The Other Fifty Weeks: An Open Education Podcast", discussing initiatives at the University of Hawai'i Manoa with Billy Meinke.
The Other Fifty Weeks: An Open Education Podcast [Episode 6]
Episode 6 - University of Hawai’i Manoa [Billy Meinke]
Originally published on June 21st, 2017
In this episode I am joined by Billy Meinke (OER Technologist at the University of Hawai'i Manoa) to discuss faculty perceptions of OER, open textbook grants, approaching faculty to engage with OEP, and whether the terminology of openness actually matters.
The resources referred to in this episode are:
..and some material on the recent Open Education Week celebrations and presentations.
Hosts: Adrian Stagg & Billy Meinke
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.332111
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05/09/2022
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/92595/overview",
"title": "The Other Fifty Weeks: An Open Education Podcast [Episode 6]",
"author": "Adrian Stagg"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96283/overview
|
OFAR Module
Overview
Textbooks & Other Resource Links Finnegan, Lisa. 2020. Medical Terminology in a Flash: A Multiple Learning Styles Approach (4 th Edition).
Publisher FA Davis 2020
ISBN 9780803689534
OFAR Module
Module 1- Learning Styles
Visual-Auditory-Verbal-Kinesthetic
Learning style theory suggests that individuals learn information in different ways according to their unique abilities and traits. Therefore, although all humans are similar, the ways in which you best perceive, understand, and remember information may be somewhat different from the ways other people learn.
In truth, all people possess a combination of styles. You may be especially strong in one style and less so in others. You may be strong in two or three areas or may be equally strong in all areas. As you learn about the styles described in this chapter, you may begin to recognize your preferences and will then be able to modify your study activities accordingly. Try using multiple learning styles as you study rather than choosing one in particular. This will help you make the most of your valuable time, enhance your learning, and support you in doing your very best in future classes.
Sensory Learning Styles
Experts have identified numerous learning styles and have given them various names. Some are described in an abstract and complex manner, whereas others are relatively simple and easy to grasp. For ease of understanding, this book uses the learning styles associated with your senses. You use your senses to see and hear information. You use touch and manipulation or your sense of taste or smell. You may find it useful to think aloud as you discuss new information with someone else. Because the senses are so often involved in the acquisition of new information, many learning styles are named accordingly: visual, auditory, verbal, and kinesthetic (hands-on or tactile).
In this chapter you will learn about the different learning styles and will also be able to determine what learning style or combination of styles are you.
Mrs. Bravo
Action Plan
The OFAR Action Plan consists of the following interventions.
- Review different nursing OER Resources for Medical Terminology
- Evaluate the content of OER Resources is appropriated and aligns to curriculum, SLO’s and Course Objectives.
- Present to Faculty for better feedback.
- Propose OER resources to curriculum committee and nursing faculty
- Integrate an antiracism classroom Module 1 section providing a survey to students to help identify high risk students and to better serve student population.
- Ensure class content delivers in different learning styles.
- Integrate action plan to syllabus and curriculum.
- Review all material and OER resources for appropriateness
- Test the course environment with other faculty and possibly student volunteers for feedback and constructive critique.
- Implement Action Plan and Anti-Racism Classroom into canvas.
Course Description
Course of study is designed to develop competency in the accurate use of medical vocabulary to include anatomy, physiology, diseases, and descriptive terms to prepare students for entry-level positions as medical transcribers, clinical editors, health insurance processors, patient administration specialists
OFAR Module
1. Identify Anti-racism in the classroom
2. Complete The VARK Questionnaire
The assessment consists of 16 questions related to your learning strengths and weaknesses.
The following is the direct link to go to the VARK ASSESSMENT (Links to an external site.)
Objectives
After completing the questionnaire you will be able to identify your learning styles and preferences.
The results will provide you with tools and suggestions to facilitate your learning.
Assignment
Submit a your results to the assignment tab.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.352088
|
08/09/2022
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/96283/overview",
"title": "OFAR Module",
"author": "Carmen Bravo"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93464/overview
|
Instructor's Manual
Parent Seminar Session 1
Parent Seminar Session 2
Participant's Manual
Participant's Manual Translated to Chinese
Parent Seminar: Supporting International Students during the Transition to University
Overview
This is a seminar that I created as part of the requirements for completing my M.S. in Education through Cairn University. It contains the professional paper that I wrote about the research and process underlying the seminar, two PowerPoint presentations for the two sessions of the seminar, an instructor's manual with slide-by-slide breakdowns of each of the PowerPoint presentations, a participant's manual for the seminar's participants to take notes and provide feedback, and the participant's manual translated to Chinese. Please note that the PowerPoint presentations have been designed with Master Slides templates to ensure correct reading order for screen readers. Video has captions in both English and Chinese.
Supporting Stressed Students: Educating the Parents of Asian International Students
This is a professional paper that I wrote as part of the requirements for completing my M.S. in Education through Cairn University. It describes both the background research that I did and the process that I went through to create a parent seminar about supporting Asian international students during their transition to Western universities.
Parent Seminar, Session 1
This is the first of two PowerPoint presentations that I put together for this parent seminar about supporting Asian international students during their transition to Western universities. It includes the following topics: international student adjustment, strong parent-child relationships, and three stressors that Asian international students can face during their transition to university. Interactive discussion questions are interspersed throughout the presentation.
Parent Seminar, Session 2 PPT
This is the second of two PowerPoint presentations that I put together for this parent seminar about supporting Asian international students during their transition to Western universities. It includes the following topics: two stressors that Asian international students can face during their transition to university, social support networks, and a summary of parental support strategies. Interactive discussion questions are interspersed throughout the presentation.
Instructor's Manual
This instructor's manual goes along with the Parent Seminar Session 1 and Session 2 PowerPoint presentations. It describes the purpose of the seminar, the learning objectives for the participants, the materials and equipment necessary for presenting the seminar, and slide-by-slide breakdowns of each of the PowerPoint presentations.
Participant's Manual
This participant's manual goes along with the Parent Seminar Session 1 and Session 2 PowerPoint presentations, and it is intended for use by the parents attending the seminar. It provides a written introduction to the seminar, gives background information, and defines important terminology. It also has space for note-taking for each of the seminar's topics and discussion questions. The last page of the participant's manual is an evaluation form that can be turned back in to the presenter with feedback about the seminar.
Participant's Manual Translated to Chinese
This translated participant's manual goes along with the Parent Seminar Session 1 and Session 2 PowerPoint presentations. It contains all the same information as the English-language version of the participant's manual, but translated to Chinese (simplified characters).
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.377317
|
World Cultures
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93464/overview",
"title": "Parent Seminar: Supporting International Students during the Transition to University",
"author": "Languages"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/100325/overview
|
Course Syllabus
Overview
The attached file is our syllabus for the Introductory Statistics course that we are teaching as an OER course. The summary of the syllabus is as follows.
- This course uses MyOpenMath for testing students' knkowledge via homework and quiz assessments. MyOpenMath is an open platform for students to use without any additional access fees like the one for our other statistics courses which charge an extra fee to use a different online platform.
- This course uses MS Excel as the statistical tool. We have created templates for students to use to evaluate statistics for a given data. Students have access to all Microsoft products via their college account without any extra charge. Using Excel also eliminates the need for buying a calculator.
- A big part of the course is the project, which is based on real world data. Students are provided with data in a spreadsheet by the instructor. Data is mined from public domains. Students are to submit their input using MS Word and MS Excel.
- We are also using MS Teams to record additional video resources on using Excel for statistics.
Syllabus
The attached file is our syllabus for the Introductory Statistics course that we are teaching as an OER course. The summary of the syllabus is as follows.
- This course uses MyOpenMath for testing students' knkowledge via homework and quiz assessments. MyOpenMath is an open platform for students to use without any additional access fees like the one for our other statistics courses which charge an extra fee to use a different online platform.
- This course uses MS Excel as the statistical tool. We have created templates for students to use to evaluate statistics for a given data. Students have access to all Microsoft products via their college account without any extra charge. Using Excel also eliminates the need for buying a calculator.
- A big part of the course is the project, which is based on real world data. Students are provided with data in a spreadsheet by the instructor. Data is mined from public domains. Students are to submit their input using MS Word and MS Excel.
- We are also using MS Teams to record additional video resources on using Excel for statistics.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.394964
|
01/30/2023
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/100325/overview",
"title": "Course Syllabus",
"author": "Hersh Patel"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/83318/overview
|
CM2_LearningStyles&SensoryModalities
CM3_Cognitive&Physical
CM4_Spiritual&Social
CM5_Materials&Environment
CM6_All_Together
CM7_Evaluation
CM_Syllabus
Children's Ministries - Alaska Christian College
Overview
A series of modules for Alaska Christian College's seminars on Children's Ministries. Includes scans of powerpoint print-outs.
Syllabus & Intro Materials
The attached resource is the syllabus & introductory materials, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 1 Introduction
The attached resource is Session 1 Introduction, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 2 Learning Styles & Sensory Modalities
The attached resource is Session 2 Learning Styles & Sensory Modalities, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 3 Cognitive & Physical Development
The attached resource is Session 3 Cognitive & Physical Development, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 4 Spiritual & Social Development
The attached resource is Session 4 Spiritual & Social Development, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 5 Materials & Environment
The attached resource is Session 5 Materials & Environment, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 6 Putting It All Together
The attached resource is Session 6 Putting It All Together, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
Session 7 Evaluation & Assessment
The attached resource is Session 7 Evaluation & Assessment, with images of powerpoint slides and text.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.425017
|
07/08/2021
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/83318/overview",
"title": "Children's Ministries - Alaska Christian College",
"author": "Elizabeth Sandell"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/71802/overview
|
Image of homeless female
Overview
This is an image of a homeless female from Wikipedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homeless_female_holding_up_sign,_Los_Angeles_California_2012.jpg
This is an image of a homeless female from Wikipedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homeless_female_holding_up_sign,_Los_Angeles_California_2012.jpg
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.440228
|
Visual Arts
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/71802/overview",
"title": "Image of homeless female",
"author": "Sociology"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/74361/overview
|
Cubing Strategy/Writing a Thesis
Overview
This activity is very effective when students are working on writing a thesis for a Term Paper or Essay. It also helps students explore other parts of their paper and other discplines. It is one of my favorite actvities to use because it helps students think deeply about any subject.
This activity is very effective when students are working on writing a thesis for a Term Paper or Essay. It also helps students explore other parts of their paper and other discplines. It is one of my favorite actvities to use because it helps students think deeply about any subject.
Cubing Strategy/Writing a Thesis
Need to Write a Thesis for your Term Paper or Essay?
What is Cubing? Why is it important?
- This in depth technique helps to look at any subject (In this case your Thesis) from six different perspectives. It helps gather information and ideas before writing starts. It helps the writer understand introspection. It is possible to analyze any topic or subject matter.
- It is a technique that applies ideas from Bloom’s Taxonomy and Differentiated Instruction
- What are the Six Sides of the Cube?
- Describe, Compare,Associate,Analyze,Apply and Argue
- Students must use all six sides of the Cube and not spend more than five minutes on each
- What Does Each Side Do?
- Describe: Use the Five Senses of Touch, Smell, Sight, etc.
- Compare: Compare Contrast
- Associate: List ideas or Memories
- Analyze: Break the subject or idea down into parts
- Apply : State how the subject or idea can be used or applied
- Argue : Argue for or against subject or topic
- What to do when done with Cubing?
- Reflect on ideas or material
- If possible, discuss with others
- Have Fun!
Woman on a computer public domain image from Pixabay is licensed under Public Domain
Materials for this handout were adapted from:
Image, Video and Audio Resources" 2019 by user Denise Dejonghe
under license"Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike"
"The Cubing Technique" by Johnie H. Scott, M.A., M.F.A: , California State University, Northridge
"DIFFERENTIATED STRATEGY 101: CUBING A LESSON" by Barbara Ewing Cockroft, M.Ed. NBCT, Presentation PowerPoint
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.458743
|
11/05/2020
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/74361/overview",
"title": "Cubing Strategy/Writing a Thesis",
"author": "Tania Azevedo"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87542/overview
|
GenderMag Twitter
GenderMag YouTube
Activity: Cognitive Styles Reflection (Team/Project)
Overview
What cognitive styles do you use to interact with technology? PRE-REQ: https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87536 LAST UPDATE: Changed title
Pre-Requisites
Reflection: Which cognitive styles and personas do you identify with?
1. For each of the five facets, where on the spectrum is your facet value?
2. How are you like Abi? (1+ sentence)
3. How are you like Tim? (1+ sentence)
4. Which personas do you most identify with?
5. Give a specific example of when you have switched to being more like a different persona. (1+ sentence)
6. How might your cognitive styles affect how you interact in a team? (1+ sentence)
7. How might your cognitive styles affect how you manage a project? (1+ sentence)
Learn More
Additional resources below.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.481789
|
Psychology
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87542/overview",
"title": "Activity: Cognitive Styles Reflection (Team/Project)",
"author": "Information Science"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/78933/overview
|
Catalase Test ppt interactive
Overview
This powerpoint is a short approx. 5 min interactive that demonstrates the purpose and use of the catalase test. I like to share the short and simple powerpoint interactves in addition to videos that demonstrate the process with the students prior to performing the test in the laboratory setting.
Microbiology Catalase test
Attached is a simple powerpoint execise that demonstrates the purpose and experimental steps of the catalase test. The powerpoint should be in slide share mode to interact with the content.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.499138
|
04/04/2021
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/78933/overview",
"title": "Catalase Test ppt interactive",
"author": "Tyra McCray"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/110088/overview
|
https://lifecaremag.com/how-to-keep-a-green-environment/
https://rryshke.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/ecocide-earth1.jpg
https://www.un.org/en/actnow/ten-actions
Climate Change Mitigation: Poster
Overview
This poster is about Climate Change: A Call to Action. This material can be used in mitigating Climate Change around the world.
|
oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.518055
|
Vanessa Pamisaran
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/110088/overview",
"title": "Climate Change Mitigation: Poster",
"author": "Reading"
}
|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/77603/overview
|
Space Exploration Open Access 3D Models
Overview
All models digitized by the Smithsonian Museum. 3D Models are downloadable in several formats for use in various 3D Modeling programs. The model viewer on the Smithsonian 3D Digitization page allows for embedding the used model viewer.
Space Exploration Open Access 3D Models
Bell X-1 (3D Model)
Object Details
- Physical Description
- Single engine, single seat, mid-wing rocket plane with international orange paint scheme.
- Summary
- On October 14, 1947, the Bell X-1 became the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound. Piloted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, the X-1 reached a speed of 1,127 kilometers (700 miles) per hour, Mach 1.06, at an altitude of 13,000 meters (43,000 feet). Yeager named the airplane "Glamorous Glennis" in tribute to his wife.
- Air-launched at an altitude of 7,000 meters (23,000 feet) from the bomb bay of a Boeing B-29, the X-1 used its rocket engine to climb to its test altitude. It flew a total of 78 times, and on March 26, 1948, with Yeager at the controls, it attained a speed of 1,540 kilometers (957 miles) per hour, Mach 1.45, at an altitude of 21,900 meters (71,900 feet). This was the highest velocity and altitude reached by a manned airplane up to that time.
- Long Description
- On October 14, 1947, flying the Bell XS-1 #1, Capt. Charles 'Chuck’ Yeager, USAF, became the first pilot to fly faster than sound. The XS-1, later designated X-l, reached Mach 1.06, 700 mph, at an altitude of 43,000 feet, over the Mojave Desert near Muroc Dry Lake, California. The flight demonstrated that aircraft could be designed to fly faster than sound, and the concept of a ‘sound barrier" crumbled into myth.
- The XS-1 was developed as part of a cooperative program initiated in 1944 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the U.S. Army Air Forces (later the U.S. Air Force) to develop special manned transonic and supersonic research aircraft. On March 16, 1945, the Army Air Technical Service Command awarded the Bell Aircraft Corporation of Buffalo, New York, a contract to develop three transonic and supersonic research aircraft under project designation MX-653. The Army assigned the designation XS-1 for Experimental Sonic-i. Bell Aircraft built three rocket-powered XS-1 aircraft.
- The National Air and Space Museum now owns the XS-1 #1, serial 46-062, named Glamorous Glennis by Captain Yeager in honor of his wife. The XS-1 #2 (46-063) was flight-tested by NACA and later was modified as the X-1 "Mach 24" research airplane. (The X-1 E is currently on exhibit outside the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.) The X-1 #3 (46-064) had a turbopump-driven, low-pressure fuel feed system. This aircraft, known popularly as the X-1-3 Queenie, was lost in a 1951 explosion on the ground that injured its pilot. Three additional X-1 aircraft, the X-1A, X-1B, and X-1D, were constructed and test-flown. Two of these. the X-1A and X-1D, were also lost, as a result of propulsion system explosions.
- The two XS-1 aircraft were constructed from high-strength aluminum, with propellant tanks fabricated from steel. The first two XS-1 aircraft did not utilize turbopumps for fuel feed to the rocket engine, relying instead on direct nitrogen pressurization of the fuel-feed system. The smooth contours of the XS-1, patterned on the lines of a .50-caliber machine gun bullet, masked an extremely crowded fuselage containing two propellant tanks, twelve nitrogen spheres for fuel and cabin pressurization, the pilot’s pressurized cockpit, three pressure regulators, a retractable landing gear, the wing carry-through structure, a Reaction Motors, Inc., 6.000-pound-thrust rocket engine, and more than five hundred pounds of special flight-test instrumentation.
- Though originally designed for conventional ground takeoffs, all X-1 aircraft were air-launched from Boeing B-29 or B-50 Superfortress aircraft. The performance penalties and safety hazards associated with operating rocket-propelled aircraft from the ground caused mission planners to resort to air-launching instead. Nevertheless, on January 5,1949, the X-1 #1 Glamorous Glennis successfully completed a ground takeoff from Muroc Dry Lake, piloted by Chuck Yeager. The maximum speed attained by the X-1 #1 was Mach 1.45 at 40,130 feet, approximately 957 mph, during a flight by Yeager on March 26, 1948. On August 8,1949, Maj. Frank K. Everest, Jr., USAF, reached an altitude of 71,902 feet, the highest flight made by the little rocket airplane. It continued flight test operations until mid-1950, by which time it had completed a total of nineteen contractor demonstration flights and fifty-nine Air Force test flights.
- On August 26, 1950, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg presented the X-1 #1 to Alexander Wetmore, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The X-1, General Vandenberg stated, "marked the end of the first great period of the air age, and the beginning of the second. In a few moments the subsonic period became history and the supersonic period was born." Earlier, Bell Aircraft President Lawrence D. Bell, NACA scientist John Stack, and Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager had received the 1947 Robert J. Collier Trophy for their roles in first exceeding the speed of sound and opening the pathway to practical supersonic flight.
- Alternate Name
- Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis
- Key Accomplishment(s)
- Broke the Sound Barrier
- Impact or Innovation
- The X-1 proved an aircraft could travel faster than sound and gathered transonic flight data that is still valuable.
- Brief Description
- On October 14, 1947, the Bell X-1 became the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound. It was piloted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager who named the aircraft Glamorous Glennis in tribute to his wife.
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
- Exhibition
- Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall
- Date
- 1946
- Inventory Number
- A19510007000
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the Department of the Air Force
- Manufacturer
- Bell Aircraft Corp.
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- Materials
- Overall: Aluminum, radium paint
- Dimensions
- Other: 10 ft. 8 1/2 in. × 30 ft. 9 in. × 28 ft., 2780.5kg (326.4 × 937.3 × 853.4cm, 6130lb.)
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- CRAFT-Aircraft
- Record ID
- nasm_A19510007000
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
Hatch, Crew, Apollo 11 (3D Model)
Object Details
- Summary
- This hatch was the main crew hatch on "Columbia" (CM-107), the Command Module flown on the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. The Apollo hatch had to provide a perfect seal for proper cabin pressurization, thermal protection during re-entry, and water-tight conditions during splashdown and recovery. An example of the "unified hatch" designed following the fatal Apollo 204 fire in January 1967, the Apollo 11 hatch covered the side opening in both the pressurized cabin and the external heat shield that covered the spacecraft.
- The hatch was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution by the NASA Johnson Space Center in 1970.
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Inventory Number
- A19791810000
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the NASA-Johnson Space Center
- Manufacturer
- Rockwell International Corporation
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- Title
- Hatch, Crew, Apollo 11
- Materials
- Metal, glass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 2 ft. 5 1/2 in. × 3 ft. 3 3/8 in. × 10 5/8 in., 129.7kg (75 × 100 × 27cm, 286lb.)
- Other (Window): 10 5/8in. (27cm)
- Support (Display stand (2017)): 25.9kg (57lb.)
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply [cc0 present on resource page]
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Manned-Parts & Structural Components
- Record ID
- nasm_A19791810000
- Metadata Usage
- Not determined
Command Module, Apollo 11, Interior (3D Model)
Object Details
- Summary
- The Apollo 11 Command Module, "Columbia," was the living quarters for the three-person crew during most of the first crewed lunar landing mission in July 1969. On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins were launched from Cape Kennedy atop a Saturn V rocket. This Command Module, no. 107, manufactured by North American Rockwell, was one of three parts of the complete Apollo spacecraft. The other two parts were the Service Module and the Lunar Module, nicknamed "Eagle." The Service Module contained the main spacecraft propulsion system and consumables while the Lunar Module was the two-person craft used by Armstrong and Aldrin to descend to the Moon's surface on July 20. The Command Module is the only portion of the spacecraft to return to Earth.
- It was physically transferred to the Smithsonian in 1971 following a NASA-sponsored tour of American cities. The Apollo CM Columbia has been designated a "Milestone of Flight" by the Museum.
- Alternate Name
- Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia
- Key Accomplishment(s)
- First Lunar Landing Mission
- Brief Description
- The Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon and back on the first lunar landing mission in July, 1969.
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Hangar
- Boeing Aviation Hangar
- Inventory Number
- A19700102000
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Astronaut
- Buzz Aldrin
- Michael Collins
- Neil A. Armstrong, 1930 - 2012
- Manufacturer
- North American Rockwell
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- Title
- Command Module, Apollo 11
- Materials
- Primary Materials: Aluminum alloy, Stainless steel, Titanium
- Dimensions
- Overall: 8 ft. 11 in. × 12 ft. 10 in., 9130lb. (271.8 × 391.2cm, 4141.3kg)
- Other: 1 ft. 10 in. (55.9cm)
- Support (at base width): 12 ft. 10 in. (391.2cm) Overall capsule on stand height: 10'9"
- Support (Stand): 2035.7kg (4488lb.)
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Manned
- Record ID
- nasm_A19700102000
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
Command Module, Apollo 11 (3D Model)
Object Details
- Summary
- The Apollo 11 Command Module, "Columbia," was the living quarters for the three-person crew during most of the first crewed lunar landing mission in July 1969. On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins were launched from Cape Kennedy atop a Saturn V rocket. This Command Module, no. 107, manufactured by North American Rockwell, was one of three parts of the complete Apollo spacecraft. The other two parts were the Service Module and the Lunar Module, nicknamed "Eagle." The Service Module contained the main spacecraft propulsion system and consumables while the Lunar Module was the two-person craft used by Armstrong and Aldrin to descend to the Moon's surface on July 20. The Command Module is the only portion of the spacecraft to return to Earth.
- It was physically transferred to the Smithsonian in 1971 following a NASA-sponsored tour of American cities. The Apollo CM Columbia has been designated a "Milestone of Flight" by the Museum.
- Alternate Name
- Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia
- Key Accomplishment(s)
- First Lunar Landing Mission
- Brief Description
- The Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon and back on the first lunar landing mission in July, 1969.
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Hangar
- Boeing Aviation Hangar
- Inventory Number
- A19700102000
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Astronaut
- Buzz Aldrin
- Michael Collins
- Neil A. Armstrong, 1930 - 2012
- Manufacturer
- North American Rockwell
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- Title
- Command Module, Apollo 11
- Materials
- Primary Materials: Aluminum alloy, Stainless steel, Titanium
- Dimensions
- Overall: 8 ft. 11 in. × 12 ft. 10 in., 9130lb. (271.8 × 391.2cm, 4141.3kg)
- Other: 1 ft. 10 in. (55.9cm)
- Support (at base width): 12 ft. 10 in. (391.2cm) Overall capsule on stand height: 10'9"
- Support (Stand): 2035.7kg (4488lb.)
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Manned
- Record ID
- nasm_A19700102000
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
Orbiter, Space Shuttle, OV-103, Discovery (3D Model)
- Summary
- Discovery was the third Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle to fly in space. It entered service in 1984 and retired from spaceflight as the oldest and most accomplished orbiter, the champion of the shuttle fleet. Discovery flew on 39 Earth-orbital missions, spent a total of 365 days in space, and traveled almost 240 million kilometers (150 million miles)--more than the other orbiters. It shuttled 184 men and women into space and back, many of whom flew more than once, for a record-setting total crew count of 251.
- Because Discovery flew every kind of mission the Space Shuttle was meant to fly, it embodies well the 30-year history of U.S. human spaceflight from 1981 to 2011. Named for renowned sailing ships of exploration, Discovery is preserved as intact as possible as it last flew in 2011 on the 133rd Space Shuttle mission.
- NASA transferred Discovery to the Smithsonian in April 2012 after a delivery flight over the nation's capital.
- Alternate Name
- Space Shuttle Discovery
- Key Accomplishment(s)
- Champion of the Shuttle Fleet
- Brief Description
- Discovery was the third Space Shuttle orbiter to fly in space. From 1984 to 2012, Discovery flew 39 Earth-orbital missions, spent a total of 365 days in space, and traveled almost 240 million km (150 million mi) —more than the other orbiters.
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Hangar
- James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
- Inventory Number
- A20120325000
- Credit Line
- Transferred from National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Manufacturer
- Rockwell International Corporation
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- Materials
- Airframe: aluminum alloys, titanium
- Surface: silica tiles, reinforced carbon carbon RCC nose cap and wing leading edges
- Interior: many materials (aluminum, fabric, beta cloth, velcro, etc.)
- Dimensions
- Overall: 24.314m x 17.768m x 38.03m, 73176.5kg (78 ft. x 57 ft. x 122 ft., 161325lb.)
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Manned
- Record ID
- nasm_A20120325000
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.556507
|
Engineering
|
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"title": "Space Exploration Open Access 3D Models",
"author": "Electronic Technology"
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87031/overview
|
Rubric (20pts)-Discussion Board Posts & Replies
Overview
20 point Rubric for Discussion Board Posts/Replies with sections on Submission, Content, Grammar, Collegiality.
Rubric (20pts)-Discussion Board Posts & Replies
Discussion posts will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Criteria | 5 | 3 | 0 | Points |
Submission The student… | Follows instructions to Create a Thread. Writes thread as a well-developed paragraph. Replies to 2 other student posts. Replies with a minimum of 2 sentences. Submits all parts of the assignment by the due date. | Follows instructions to Create Thread. Writes thread shorter than a well-developed paragraph. Replies to fewer than 2 other student posts. Replies with less than 2 sentences. Submits the assignment after the due date. | Does not submit the assignment |
|
Content The thread and replies… | Respond to all parts of the prompt. Connect to readings or videos assigned. Include examples for support. | Respond to some of the prompt. Do not connect to readings or videos assigned. Do not include examples for support. | Does not submit the assignment |
|
Grammar The thread and replies have… | Correct spelling. Correct punctuation. Correct capitalization. Correct word forms. Complete sentences. | Incorrect spelling. Incorrect punctuation. Incorrect capitalization. Correct word forms. Incomplete sentences. | Does not submit the assignment |
|
Collegiality The thread and replies… | Use academic voice Respect the views of others in the discussion. Honor the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion
| Use non-academic voice Do not respect the views of others in the discussion. Do not honor the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion
| Does not submit the assignment |
|
|
|
|
| /20 |
Dicussion Board Rubric
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.597500
|
10/25/2021
|
{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87031/overview",
"title": "Rubric (20pts)-Discussion Board Posts & Replies",
"author": "Amy Betti"
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|
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93396/overview
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Micrograph Coccus Gram stain 1000x p000031
Overview
This micrograph was taken at 1000X total magnifcation on a brightfield microscope. The subject is unidentified coccus cells from a contaminant colony grown on nutrient agar at 30 degrees Celsius. The cells were heat-fixed to a slide and Gram stained prior to visualization.
Image credit: Emily Fox
micrograph
Hundreds of dark purple, round cells on a light background.
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.614017
|
Diagram/Illustration
|
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93396/overview",
"title": "Micrograph Coccus Gram stain 1000x p000031",
"author": "Health, Medicine and Nursing"
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11780/overview
|
Introduction to Deviance, Crime, and Social Control
Twenty-three states in the United States have passed measures legalizing marijuana in some form; the majority of these states approve only medical use of marijuana, but fourteen states have decriminalized marijuana use, and four states approve recreational use as well. Washington state legalized recreational use in 2012, and in the 2014 midterm elections, voters in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington DC supported ballot measures to allow recreational use in their states as well (Governing 2014). Florida’s 2014 medical marijuana proposal fell just short of the 60 percent needed to pass (CBS News 2014).
The Pew Research Center found that a majority of people in the United States (52 percent) now favor legalizing marijuana. This 2013 finding was the first time that a majority of survey respondents supported making marijuana legal. A question about marijuana’s legal status was first asked in a 1969 Gallup poll, and only 12 percent of U.S. adults favored legalization at that time. Pew also found that 76 percent of those surveyed currently do not favor jail time for individuals convicted of minor possession of marijuana (Motel 2014).
Even though many people favor legalization, 45 percent do not agree (Motel 2014). Legalization of marijuana in any form remains controversial and is actively opposed; Citizen’s Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM) is one of the largest political action committees (PACs) working to prevent or repeal legalization measures. As in many aspects of sociology, there are no absolute answers about deviance. What people agree is deviant differs in various societies and subcultures, and it may change over time.
Tattoos, vegan lifestyles, single parenthood, breast implants, and even jogging were once considered deviant but are now widely accepted. The change process usually takes some time and may be accompanied by significant disagreement, especially for social norms that are viewed as essential. For example, divorce affects the social institution of family, and so divorce carried a deviant and stigmatized status at one time. Marijuana use was once seen as deviant and criminal, but U.S. social norms on this issue are changing.
References
CBS News. 2014. “Marijuana Advocates Eye New Targets After Election Wins.” Associated Press, November 5. Retrieved November 5, 2014 (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-activists-eye-new-targets-after-election-wins/).
Governing. 2014. “Governing Data: State Marijuana Laws Map.” Governing: The States and Localities, November 5. Retrieved November 5, 2014 (http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html).
Pew Research Center. 2013. “Partisans Disagree on Legalization of Marijuana, but Agree on Law Enforcement Policies.” Pew Research Center, April 30. Retrieved November 2, 2014 (http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/partisans-disagree-on-legalization-of-marijuana-but-agree-on-law-enforcement-policies/).
Motel, Seth. 2014. “6 Facts About Marijuana.” Pew Research Center: FactTank: News in the Numbers, November 5. Retrieved (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/05/6-facts-about-marijuana/).
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.629195
| null |
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"title": "Introduction to Sociology 2e, Deviance, Crime, and Social Control",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11781/overview
|
Deviance and Control
Overview
- Define deviance, and explain the nature of deviant behavior
- Differentiate between methods of social control
What, exactly, is deviance? And what is the relationship between deviance and crime? According to sociologist William Graham Sumner, deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law (1906). It can be as minor as picking your nose in public or as major as committing murder. Although the word “deviance” has a negative connotation in everyday language, sociologists recognize that deviance is not necessarily bad (Schoepflin 2011). In fact, from a structural functionalist perspective, one of the positive contributions of deviance is that it fosters social change. For example, during the U.S. civil rights movement, Rosa Parks violated social norms when she refused to move to the “black section” of the bus, and the Little Rock Nine broke customs of segregation to attend an Arkansas public school.
“What is deviant behavior?” cannot be answered in a straightforward manner. Whether an act is labeled deviant or not depends on many factors, including location, audience, and the individual committing the act (Becker 1963). Listening to your iPod on the way to class is considered acceptable behavior. Listening to your iPod during your 2 p.m. sociology lecture is considered rude. Listening to your iPod when on the witness stand before a judge may cause you to be held in contempt of court and consequently fined or jailed.
As norms vary across culture and time, it makes sense that notions of deviance change also. Fifty years ago, public schools in the United States had strict dress codes that, among other stipulations, often banned women from wearing pants to class. Today, it’s socially acceptable for women to wear pants, but less so for men to wear skirts. In a time of war, acts usually considered morally reprehensible, such as taking the life of another, may actually be rewarded. Whether an act is deviant or not depends on society’s response to that act.
Why I Drive a Hearse
When sociologist Todd Schoepflin ran into his childhood friend Bill, he was shocked to see him driving a hearse instead of an ordinary car. A professionally trained researcher, Schoepflin wondered what effect driving a hearse had on his friend and what effect it might have on others on the road. Would using such a vehicle for everyday errands be considered deviant by most people?
Schoepflin interviewed Bill, curious first to know why he drove such an unconventional car. Bill had simply been on the lookout for a reliable winter car; on a tight budget, he searched used car ads and stumbled upon one for the hearse. The car ran well, and the price was right, so he bought it.
Bill admitted that others’ reactions to the car had been mixed. His parents were appalled, and he received odd stares from his coworkers. A mechanic once refused to work on it, and stated that it was “a dead person machine.” On the whole, however, Bill received mostly positive reactions. Strangers gave him a thumbs-up on the highway and stopped him in parking lots to chat about his car. His girlfriend loved it, his friends wanted to take it tailgating, and people offered to buy it. Could it be that driving a hearse isn’t really so deviant after all?
Schoepflin theorized that, although viewed as outside conventional norms, driving a hearse is such a mild form of deviance that it actually becomes a mark of distinction. Conformists find the choice of vehicle intriguing or appealing, while nonconformists see a fellow oddball to whom they can relate. As one of Bill’s friends remarked, “Every guy wants to own a unique car like this, and you can certainly pull it off.” Such anecdotes remind us that although deviance is often viewed as a violation of norms, it’s not always viewed in a negative light (Schoepflin 2011).
Social Control
When a person violates a social norm, what happens? A driver caught speeding can receive a speeding ticket. A student who wears a bathrobe to class gets a warning from a professor. An adult belching loudly is avoided. All societies practice social control, the regulation and enforcement of norms. The underlying goal of social control is to maintainsocial order, an arrangement of practices and behaviors on which society’s members base their daily lives. Think of social order as an employee handbook and social control as a manager. When a worker violates a workplace guideline, the manager steps in to enforce the rules; when an employee is doing an exceptionally good job at following the rules, the manager may praise or promote the employee.
The means of enforcing rules are known as sanctions. Sanctions can be positive as well as negative.Positive sanctions are rewards given for conforming to norms. A promotion at work is a positive sanction for working hard.Negative sanctions are punishments for violating norms. Being arrested is a punishment for shoplifting. Both types of sanctions play a role in social control.
Sociologists also classify sanctions as formal or informal. Although shoplifting, a form of social deviance, may be illegal, there are no laws dictating the proper way to scratch your nose. That doesn’t mean picking your nose in public won’t be punished; instead, you will encounter informal sanctions. Informal sanctions emerge in face-to-face social interactions. For example, wearing flip-flops to an opera or swearing loudly in church may draw disapproving looks or even verbal reprimands, whereas behavior that is seen as positive—such as helping an old man carry grocery bags across the street—may receive positive informal reactions, such as a smile or pat on the back.
Formal sanctions, on the other hand, are ways to officially recognize and enforce norm violations. If a student violates her college’s code of conduct, for example, she might be expelled. Someone who speaks inappropriately to the boss could be fired. Someone who commits a crime may be arrested or imprisoned. On the positive side, a soldier who saves a life may receive an official commendation.
The table below shows the relationship between different types of sanctions.
| Informal | Formal | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | An expression of thanks | A promotion at work |
| Negative | An angry comment | A parking fine |
Summary
Deviance is a violation of norms. Whether or not something is deviant depends on contextual definitions, the situation, and people’s response to the behavior. Society seeks to limit deviance through the use of sanctions that help maintain a system of social control.
Section Quiz
Which of the following best describes how deviance is defined?
- Deviance is defined by federal, state, and local laws.
- Deviance’s definition is determined by one’s religion.
- Deviance occurs whenever someone else is harmed by an action.
- Deviance is socially defined.
Hint:
D
During the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks and other black protestors spoke out against segregation by refusing to sit at the back of the bus. This is an example of ________.
- An act of social control
- An act of deviance
- A social norm
- Criminal mores
Hint:
B
A student has a habit of talking on her cell phone during class. One day, the professor stops his lecture and asks her to respect the other students in the class by turning off her phone. In this situation, the professor used __________ to maintain social control.
- Informal negative sanctions
- Informal positive sanctions
- Formal negative sanctions
- Formal positive sanctions
Hint:
A
Societies practice social control to maintain ________.
- formal sanctions
- social order
- cultural deviance
- sanction labeling
Hint:
B
One day, you decide to wear pajamas to the grocery store. While you shop, you notice people giving you strange looks and whispering to others. In this case, the grocery store patrons are demonstrating _______.
- deviance
- formal sanctions
- informal sanctions
- positive sanctions
Hint:
C
Short Answer
If given the choice, would you purchase an unusual car such as a hearse for everyday use? How would your friends, family, or significant other react? Since deviance is culturally defined, most of the decisions we make are dependent on the reactions of others. Is there anything the people in your life encourage you to do that you don’t? Why don’t you?
Think of a recent time when you used informal negative sanctions. To what act of deviance were you responding? How did your actions affect the deviant person or persons? How did your reaction help maintain social control?
Further Research
Although we rarely think of it in this way, deviance can have a positive effect on society. Check out the Positive Deviance Initiative, a program initiated by Tufts University to promote social movements around the world that strive to improve people’s lives, at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Positive_Deviance.
References
Becker, Howard. 1963. Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press.
Schoepflin, Todd. 2011. “Deviant While Driving?” Everyday Sociology Blog, January 28. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/2011/01/deviant-while-driving.html).
Sumner, William Graham. 1955 [1906]. Folkways. New York, NY: Dover.
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oercommons
|
2025-03-18T00:36:48.657655
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11782/overview
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Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance
Overview
- Describe the functionalist view of deviance in society through four sociologist’s theories
- Explain how conflict theory understands deviance and crime in society
- Describe the symbolic interactionist approach to deviance, including labeling and other theories
Why does deviance occur? How does it affect a society? Since the early days of sociology, scholars have developed theories that attempt to explain what deviance and crime mean to society. These theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms: functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory.
Functionalism
Sociologists who follow the functionalist approach are concerned with the way the different elements of a society contribute to the whole. They view deviance as a key component of a functioning society. Strain theory, social disorganization theory, and cultural deviance theory represent three functionalist perspectives on deviance in society.
Émile Durkheim: The Essential Nature of Deviance
Émile Durkheim believed that deviance is a necessary part of a successful society. One way deviance is functional, he argued, is that it challenges people’s present views (1893). For instance, when black students across the United States participated in sit-ins during the civil rights movement, they challenged society’s notions of segregation. Moreover, Durkheim noted, when deviance is punished, it reaffirms currently held social norms, which also contributes to society (1893). Seeing a student given detention for skipping class reminds other high schoolers that playing hooky isn’t allowed and that they, too, could get detention.
Robert Merton: Strain Theory
Sociologist Robert Merton agreed that deviance is an inherent part of a functioning society, but he expanded on Durkheim’s ideas by developing strain theory, which notes that access to socially acceptable goals plays a part in determining whether a person conforms or deviates. From birth, we’re encouraged to achieve the “American Dream” of financial success. A woman who attends business school, receives her MBA, and goes on to make a million-dollar income as CEO of a company is said to be a success. However, not everyone in our society stands on equal footing. A person may have the socially acceptable goal of financial success but lack a socially acceptable way to reach that goal. According to Merton’s theory, an entrepreneur who can’t afford to launch his own company may be tempted to embezzle from his employer for start-up funds.
Merton defined five ways people respond to this gap between having a socially accepted goal and having no socially accepted way to pursue it.
- Conformity: Those who conform choose not to deviate. They pursue their goals to the extent that they can through socially accepted means.
- Innovation: Those who innovate pursue goals they cannot reach through legitimate means by instead using criminal or deviant means.
- Ritualism: People who ritualize lower their goals until they can reach them through socially acceptable ways. These members of society focus on conformity rather than attaining a distant dream.
- Retreatism: Others retreat and reject society’s goals and means. Some beggars and street people have withdrawn from society’s goal of financial success.
- Rebellion: A handful of people rebel and replace a society’s goals and means with their own. Terrorists or freedom fighters look to overthrow a society’s goals through socially unacceptable means.
Social Disorganization Theory
Developed by researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s, social disorganization theory asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control. An individual who grows up in a poor neighborhood with high rates of drug use, violence, teenage delinquency, and deprived parenting is more likely to become a criminal than an individual from a wealthy neighborhood with a good school system and families who are involved positively in the community.
Social disorganization theory points to broad social factors as the cause of deviance. A person isn’t born a criminal but becomes one over time, often based on factors in his or her social environment. Research into social disorganization theory can greatly influence public policy. For instance, studies have found that children from disadvantaged communities who attend preschool programs that teach basic social skills are significantly less likely to engage in criminal activity.
Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay: Cultural Deviance Theory
Cultural deviance theory suggests that conformity to the prevailing cultural norms of lower-class society causes crime. Researchers Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay (1942) studied crime patterns in Chicago in the early 1900s. They found that violence and crime were at their worst in the middle of the city and gradually decreased the farther someone traveled from the urban center toward the suburbs. Shaw and McKay noticed that this pattern matched the migration patterns of Chicago citizens. New immigrants, many of them poor and lacking knowledge of the English language, lived in neighborhoods inside the city. As the urban population expanded, wealthier people moved to the suburbs and left behind the less privileged.
Shaw and McKay concluded that socioeconomic status correlated to race and ethnicity resulted in a higher crime rate. The mix of cultures and values created a smaller society with different ideas of deviance, and those values and ideas were transferred from generation to generation.
The theory of Shaw and McKay has been further tested and expounded upon by Robert Sampson and Byron Groves (1989). They found that poverty, ethnic diversity, and family disruption in given localities had a strong positive correlation with social disorganization. They also determined that social disorganization was, in turn, associated with high rates of crime and delinquency—or deviance. Recent studies Sampson conducted with Lydia Bean (2006) revealed similar findings. High rates of poverty and single-parent homes correlated with high rates of juvenile violence.
Conflict Theory
Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. Unlike functionalists, conflict theorists don’t see these factors as positive functions of society. They see them as evidence of inequality in the system. They also challenge social disorganization theory and control theory and argue that both ignore racial and socioeconomic issues and oversimplify social trends (Akers 1991). Conflict theorists also look for answers to the correlation of gender and race with wealth and crime.
Karl Marx: An Unequal System
Conflict theory was greatly influenced by the work of German philosopher, economist, and social scientist Karl Marx. Marx believed that the general population was divided into two groups. He labeled the wealthy, who controlled the means of production and business, the bourgeois. He labeled the workers who depended on the bourgeois for employment and survival the proletariat. Marx believed that the bourgeois centralized their power and influence through government, laws, and other authority agencies in order to maintain and expand their positions of power in society. Though Marx spoke little of deviance, his ideas created the foundation for conflict theorists who study the intersection of deviance and crime with wealth and power.
C. Wright Mills: The Power Elite
In his book The Power Elite (1956), sociologist C. Wright Mills described the existence of what he dubbed thepower elite, a small group of wealthy and influential people at the top of society who hold the power and resources. Wealthy executives, politicians, celebrities, and military leaders often have access to national and international power, and in some cases, their decisions affect everyone in society. Because of this, the rules of society are stacked in favor of a privileged few who manipulate them to stay on top. It is these people who decide what is criminal and what is not, and the effects are often felt most by those who have little power. Mills’ theories explain why celebrities such as Chris Brown and Paris Hilton, or once-powerful politicians such as Eliot Spitzer and Tom DeLay, can commit crimes and suffer little or no legal retribution.
Crime and Social Class
While crime is often associated with the underprivileged, crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful remain an under-punished and costly problem within society. The FBI reported that victims of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft lost a total of $15.3 billion dollars in 2009 (FB1 2010). In comparison, when former advisor and financier Bernie Madoff was arrested in 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported that the estimated losses of his financial Ponzi scheme fraud were close to $50 billion (SEC 2009).
This imbalance based on class power is also found within U.S. criminal law. In the 1980s, the use of crack cocaine (cocaine in its purest form) quickly became an epidemic that swept the country’s poorest urban communities. Its pricier counterpart, cocaine, was associated with upscale users and was a drug of choice for the wealthy. The legal implications of being caught by authorities with crack versus cocaine were starkly different. In 1986, federal law mandated that being caught in possession of 50 grams of crack was punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. An equivalent prison sentence for cocaine possession, however, required possession of 5,000 grams. In other words, the sentencing disparity was 1 to 100 (New York Times Editorial Staff 2011). This inequality in the severity of punishment for crack versus cocaine paralleled the unequal social class of respective users. A conflict theorist would note that those in society who hold the power are also the ones who make the laws concerning crime. In doing so, they make laws that will benefit them, while the powerless classes who lack the resources to make such decisions suffer the consequences. The crack-cocaine punishment disparity remained until 2010, when President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which decreased the disparity to 1 to 18 (The Sentencing Project 2010).
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach that can be used to explain how societies and/or social groups come to view behaviors as deviant or conventional. Labeling theory, differential association, social disorganization theory, and control theory fall within the realm of symbolic interactionism.
Labeling Theory
Although all of us violate norms from time to time, few people would consider themselves deviant. Those who do, however, have often been labeled “deviant” by society and have gradually come to believe it themselves. Labeling theory examines the ascribing of a deviant behavior to another person by members of society. Thus, what is considered deviant is determined not so much by the behaviors themselves or the people who commit them, but by the reactions of others to these behaviors. As a result, what is considered deviant changes over time and can vary significantly across cultures.
Sociologist Edwin Lemert expanded on the concepts of labeling theory and identified two types of deviance that affect identity formation. Primary deviance is a violation of norms that does not result in any long-term effects on the individual’s self-image or interactions with others. Speeding is a deviant act, but receiving a speeding ticket generally does not make others view you as a bad person, nor does it alter your own self-concept. Individuals who engage in primary deviance still maintain a feeling of belonging in society and are likely to continue to conform to norms in the future.
Sometimes, in more extreme cases, primary deviance can morph into secondary deviance. Secondary deviance occurs when a person’s self-concept and behavior begin to change after his or her actions are labeled as deviant by members of society. The person may begin to take on and fulfill the role of a “deviant” as an act of rebellion against the society that has labeled that individual as such. For example, consider a high school student who often cuts class and gets into fights. The student is reprimanded frequently by teachers and school staff, and soon enough, he develops a reputation as a “troublemaker.” As a result, the student starts acting out even more and breaking more rules; he has adopted the “troublemaker” label and embraced this deviant identity. Secondary deviance can be so strong that it bestows amaster status on an individual. A master status is a label that describes the chief characteristic of an individual. Some people see themselves primarily as doctors, artists, or grandfathers. Others see themselves as beggars, convicts, or addicts.
The Right to Vote
Before she lost her job as an administrative assistant, Leola Strickland postdated and mailed a handful of checks for amounts ranging from $90 to $500. By the time she was able to find a new job, the checks had bounced, and she was convicted of fraud under Mississippi law. Strickland pleaded guilty to a felony charge and repaid her debts; in return, she was spared from serving prison time.
Strickland appeared in court in 2001. More than ten years later, she is still feeling the sting of her sentencing. Why? Because Mississippi is one of twelve states in the United States that bans convicted felons from voting (ProCon 2011).
To Strickland, who said she had always voted, the news came as a great shock. She isn’t alone. Some 5.3 million people in the United States are currently barred from voting because of felony convictions (ProCon 2009). These individuals include inmates, parolees, probationers, and even people who have never been jailed, such as Leola Strickland.
Under the Fourteenth Amendment, states are allowed to deny voting privileges to individuals who have participated in “rebellion or other crime” (Krajick 2004). Although there are no federally mandated laws on the matter, most states practice at least one form of felony disenfranchisement. At present, it’s estimated that approximately 2.4 percent of the possible voting population is disfranchised, that is, lacking the right to vote (ProCon 2011).
Is it fair to prevent citizens from participating in such an important process? Proponents of disfranchisement laws argue that felons have a debt to pay to society. Being stripped of their right to vote is part of the punishment for criminal deeds. Such proponents point out that voting isn’t the only instance in which ex-felons are denied rights; state laws also ban released criminals from holding public office, obtaining professional licenses, and sometimes even inheriting property (Lott and Jones 2008).
Opponents of felony disfranchisement in the United States argue that voting is a basic human right and should be available to all citizens regardless of past deeds. Many point out that felony disfranchisement has its roots in the 1800s, when it was used primarily to block black citizens from voting. Even nowadays, these laws disproportionately target poor minority members, denying them a chance to participate in a system that, as a social conflict theorist would point out, is already constructed to their disadvantage (Holding 2006). Those who cite labeling theory worry that denying deviants the right to vote will only further encourage deviant behavior. If ex-criminals are disenfranchised from voting, are they being disenfranchised from society?
Edwin Sutherland: Differential Association
In the early 1900s, sociologist Edwin Sutherland sought to understand how deviant behavior developed among people. Since criminology was a young field, he drew on other aspects of sociology including social interactions and group learning (Laub 2006). His conclusions established differential association theory, which suggested that individuals learn deviant behavior from those close to them who provide models of and opportunities for deviance. According to Sutherland, deviance is less a personal choice and more a result of differential socialization processes. A tween whose friends are sexually active is more likely to view sexual activity as acceptable.
Sutherland’s theory may explain why crime is multigenerational. A longitudinal study beginning in the 1960s found that the best predictor of antisocial and criminal behavior in children was whether their parents had been convicted of a crime (Todd and Jury 1996). Children who were younger than ten years old when their parents were convicted were more likely than other children to engage in spousal abuse and criminal behavior by their early thirties. Even when taking socioeconomic factors such as dangerous neighborhoods, poor school systems, and overcrowded housing into consideration, researchers found that parents were the main influence on the behavior of their offspring (Todd and Jury 1996).
Travis Hirschi: Control Theory
Continuing with an examination of large social factors, control theory states that social control is directly affected by the strength of social bonds and that deviance results from a feeling of disconnection from society. Individuals who believe they are a part of society are less likely to commit crimes against it.
Travis Hirschi (1969) identified four types of social bonds that connect people to society:
- Attachment measures our connections to others. When we are closely attached to people, we worry about their opinions of us. People conform to society’s norms in order to gain approval (and prevent disapproval) from family, friends, and romantic partners.
- Commitment refers to the investments we make in the community. A well-respected local businesswoman who volunteers at her synagogue and is a member of the neighborhood block organization has more to lose from committing a crime than a woman who doesn’t have a career or ties to the community.
- Similarly, levels of involvement, or participation in socially legitimate activities, lessen a person’s likelihood of deviance. Children who are members of little league baseball teams have fewer family crises.
- The final bond, belief, is an agreement on common values in society. If a person views social values as beliefs, he or she will conform to them. An environmentalist is more likely to pick up trash in a park, because a clean environment is a social value to him (Hirschi 1969).
| Functionalism | Associated Theorist | Deviance arises from: |
| Strain Theory | Robert Merton | A lack of ways to reach socially accepted goals by accepted methods |
| Social Disorganization Theory | University of Chicago researchers | Weak social ties and a lack of social control; society has lost the ability to enforce norms with some groups |
| Cultural Deviance Theory | Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay | Conformity to the cultural norms of lower-class society |
| Conflict Theory | Associated Theorist | Deviance arises from: |
| Unequal System | Karl Marx | Inequalities in wealth and power that arise from the economic system |
| Power Elite | C. Wright Mills | Ability of those in power to define deviance in ways that maintain the status quo |
| Symbolic Interactionism | Associated Theorist | Deviance arises from: |
| Labeling Theory | Edwin Lemert | The reactions of others, particularly those in power who are able to determine labels |
| Differential Association Theory | Edwin Sutherlin | Learning and modeling deviant behavior seen in other people close to the individual |
| Control Theory | Travis Hirschi | Feelings of disconnection from society |
Summary
The three major sociological paradigms offer different explanations for the motivation behind deviance and crime. Functionalists point out that deviance is a social necessity since it reinforces norms by reminding people of the consequences of violating them. Violating norms can open society’s eyes to injustice in the system. Conflict theorists argue that crime stems from a system of inequality that keeps those with power at the top and those without power at the bottom. Symbolic interactionists focus attention on the socially constructed nature of the labels related to deviance. Crime and deviance are learned from the environment and enforced or discouraged by those around us.
Section Quiz
A student wakes up late and realizes her sociology exam starts in five minutes. She jumps into her car and speeds down the road, where she is pulled over by a police officer. The student explains that she is running late, and the officer lets her off with a warning. The student’s actions are an example of _________.
- primary deviance
- positive deviance
- secondary deviance
- master deviance
Hint:
A
According to C. Wright Mills, which of the following people is most likely to be a member of the power elite?
- A war veteran
- A senator
- A professor
- A mechanic
Hint:
B
According to social disorganization theory, crime is most likely to occur where?
- A community where neighbors don’t know each other very well
- A neighborhood with mostly elderly citizens
- A city with a large minority population
- A college campus with students who are very competitive
Hint:
A
Shaw and McKay found that crime is linked primarily to ________.
- power
- master status
- family values
- wealth
Hint:
D
According to the concept of the power elite, why would a celebrity such as Charlie Sheen commit a crime?
- Because his parents committed similar crimes
- Because his fame protects him from retribution
- Because his fame disconnects him from society
- Because he is challenging socially accepted norms
Hint:
B
A convicted sexual offender is released on parole and arrested two weeks later for repeated sexual crimes. How would labeling theory explain this?
- The offender has been labeled deviant by society and has accepted a new master status.
- The offender has returned to his old neighborhood and so reestablished his former habits.
- The offender has lost the social bonds he made in prison and feels disconnected from society.
- The offender is poor and responding to the different cultural values that exist in his community.
Hint:
A
______ deviance is a violation of norms that ______result in a person being labeled a deviant.
- Secondary; does not
- Negative; does
- Primary; does not
- Primary; may or may not
Hint:
C
Short Answer
Pick a famous politician, business leader, or celebrity who has been arrested recently. What crime did he or she allegedly commit? Who was the victim? Explain his or her actions from the point of view of one of the major sociological paradigms. What factors best explain how this person might be punished if convicted of the crime?
If we assume that the power elite’s status is always passed down from generation to generation, how would Edwin Sutherland explain these patterns of power through differential association theory? What crimes do these elite few get away with?
Further Research
The Skull and Bones Society made news in 2004 when it was revealed that then-President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, had both been members at Yale University. In the years since, conspiracy theorists have linked the secret society to numerous world events, arguing that many of the nation’s most powerful people are former Bonesmen. Although such ideas may raise a lot of skepticism, many influential people of the past century have been Skull and Bones Society members, and the society is sometimes described as a college version of the power elite. Journalist Rebecca Leung discusses the roots of the club and the impact its ties between decision-makers can have later in life. Read about it at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Skull_and_Bones.
References
Akers, Ronald L. 1991. “Self-control as a General Theory of Crime.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology:201–11.
Cantor, D. and Lynch, J. 2000. Self-Report Surveys as Measures of Crime and Criminal Victimization. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (https://www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol_4/04c.pdf).
Durkheim, Emile. 1997 [1893]. The Division of Labor in Society New York, NY: Free Press.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2010. “Crime in the United States, 2009.” Retrieved January 6, 2012 (http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/property_crime/index.html).
Hirschi, Travis. 1969. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Holding, Reynolds. 2006. “Why Can’t Felons Vote?” Time, November 21. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1553510,00.html).
Krajick, Kevin. 2004. “Why Can’t Ex-Felons Vote?” The Washington Post, August 18, p. A19. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9785-2004Aug17.html).
Laub, John H. 2006. “Edwin H. Sutherland and the Michael-Adler Report: Searching for the Soul of Criminology Seventy Years Later.” Criminology 44:235–57.
Lott, John R. Jr. and Sonya D. Jones. 2008. “How Felons Who Vote Can Tip an Election.” Fox News, October 20. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,441030,00.html).
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.
New York Times Editorial Staff. 2011. “Reducing Unjust Cocaine Sentences.” New York Times, June 29. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/opinion/30thu3.html).
ProCon.org. 2009. “Disenfranchised Totals by State.” April 13. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000287).
ProCon.org. 2011. “State Felon Voting Laws.” April 8. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000286).
Sampson, Robert J. and Lydia Bean. 2006. "Cultural Mechanisms and Killing Fields: A Revised Theory of Community-Level Racial Inequality." The Many Colors of Crime: Inequalities of Race, Ethnicity and Crime in America, edited by R. Peterson, L. Krivo and J. Hagan. New York: New York University Press.
Sampson, Robert J. and W. Byron Graves. 1989. “Community Structure and Crimes: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory.” American Journal of Sociology 94:774-802.
Shaw, Clifford R. and Henry McKay. 1942. Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2009. “SEC Charges Bernard L. Madoff for Multi-Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme.” Washington, DC: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved January 6, 2012 (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-293.htm).
The Sentencing Project. 2010. “Federal Crack Cocaine Sentencing.” The Sentencing Project: Research and Advocacy Reform. Retrieved February 12, 2012 (http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/dp_CrackBriefingSheet.pdf).
Shaw, Clifford R. and Henry H. McKay. 1942. Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Todd, Roger and Louise Jury. 1996. “Children Follow Convicted Parents into Crime.” The Independent, February 27. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/children-follow-convicted-parents-into-crime-1321272.html).
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"title": "Introduction to Sociology 2e, Deviance, Crime, and Social Control",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11783/overview
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Crime and the Law
Overview
- Identify and differentiate between different types of crimes
- Evaluate U.S. crime statistics
- Understand the three branches of the U.S. criminal justice system
Although deviance is a violation of social norms, it’s not always punishable, and it’s not necessarily bad. Crime, on the other hand, is a behavior that violates official law and is punishable through formal sanctions. Walking to class backward is a deviant behavior. Driving with a blood alcohol percentage over the state’s limit is a crime. Like other forms of deviance, however, ambiguity exists concerning what constitutes a crime and whether all crimes are, in fact, “bad” and deserve punishment. For example, during the 1960s, civil rights activists often violated laws intentionally as part of their effort to bring about racial equality. In hindsight, we recognize that the laws that deemed many of their actions crimes—for instance, Rosa Parks taking a seat in the “whites only” section of the bus—were inconsistent with social equality.
As you have learned, all societies have informal and formal ways of maintaining social control. Within these systems of norms, societies have legal codes that maintain formal social control through laws, which are rules adopted and enforced by a political authority. Those who violate these rules incur negative formal sanctions. Normally, punishments are relative to the degree of the crime and the importance to society of the value underlying the law. As we will see, however, there are other factors that influence criminal sentencing.
Types of Crimes
Not all crimes are given equal weight. Society generally socializes its members to view certain crimes as more severe than others. For example, most people would consider murdering someone to be far worse than stealing a wallet and would expect a murderer to be punished more severely than a thief. In modern U.S. society, crimes are classified as one of two types based on their severity. Violent crimes (also known as “crimes against a person”) are based on the use of force or the threat of force. Rape, murder, and armed robbery fall under this category.Nonviolent crimes involve the destruction or theft of property but do not use force or the threat of force. Because of this, they are also sometimes called “property crimes.” Larceny, car theft, and vandalism are all types of nonviolent crimes. If you use a crowbar to break into a car, you are committing a nonviolent crime; if you mug someone with the crowbar, you are committing a violent crime.
When we think of crime, we often picture street crime, or offenses committed by ordinary people against other people or organizations, usually in public spaces. An often-overlooked category iscorporate crime, or crime committed by white-collar workers in a business environment. Embezzlement, insider trading, and identity theft are all types of corporate crime. Although these types of offenses rarely receive the same amount of media coverage as street crimes, they can be far more damaging.
An often-debated third type of crime is victimless crime. Crimes are called victimless when the perpetrator is not explicitly harming another person. As opposed to battery or theft, which clearly have a victim, a crime like drinking a beer when someone is twenty years old or selling a sexual act do not result in injury to anyone other than the individual who engages in them, although they are illegal. While some claim acts like these are victimless, others argue that they actually do harm society. Prostitution may foster abuse toward women by clients or pimps. Drug use may increase the likelihood of employee absences. Such debates highlight how the deviant and criminal nature of actions develops through ongoing public discussion.
Hate Crimes
On the evening of October 3, 2010, a seventeen-year-old boy from the Bronx was abducted by a group of young men from his neighborhood and taken to an abandoned row house. After being beaten, the boy admitted he was gay. His attackers seized his partner and beat him as well. Both victims were drugged, sodomized, and forced to burn one another with cigarettes. When questioned by police, the ringleader of the crime explained that the victims were gay and “looked like [they] liked it” (Wilson and Baker 2010).
Attacks based on a person’s race, religion, or other characteristics are known as hate crimes. Hate crimes in the United States evolved from the time of early European settlers and their violence toward Native Americans. Such crimes weren’t investigated until the early 1900s, when the Ku Klux Klan began to draw national attention for its activities against blacks and other groups. The term “hate crime,” however, didn’t become official until the1980s (Federal Bureau of Investigations 2011).
An average of 195,000 Americans fall victim to hate crimes each year, but fewer than five percent ever report the crime (FBI 2010). The majority of hate crimes are racially motivated, but many are based on religious (especially anti-Semitic) prejudice (FBI 2010). After incidents like the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming in 1998 and the tragic suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi in 2010, there has been a growing awareness of hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
Crime Statistics
The FBI gathers data from approximately 17,000 law enforcement agencies, and the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is the annual publication of this data (FBI 2011). The UCR has comprehensive information from police reports but fails to account for the many crimes that go unreported, often due to victims’ fear, shame, or distrust of the police. The quality of this data is also inconsistent because of differences in approaches to gathering victim data; important details are not always asked for or reported (Cantor and Lynch 2000).
Due to these issues, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes a separate self-report study known as the National Crime Victimization Report (NCVR). A self-report study is a collection of data gathered using voluntary response methods, such as questionnaires or telephone interviews. Self-report data are gathered each year, asking approximately 160,000 people in the United States about the frequency and types of crime they’ve experienced in their daily lives (BJS 2013). The NCVR reports a higher rate of crime than the UCR, likely picking up information on crimes that were experienced but never reported to the police. Age, race, gender, location, and income-level demographics are also analyzed (National Archive of Criminal Justice Data 2010).
The NCVR survey format allows people to more openly discuss their experiences and also provides a more-detailed examination of crimes, which may include information about consequences, relationship between victim and criminal, and substance abuse involved. One disadvantage is that the NCVR misses some groups of people, such as those who don't have telephones and those who move frequently. The quality of information may also be reduced by inaccurate victim recall of the crime (Cantor and Lynch 2000).
Public Perception of Crime
Neither the NCVR nor the UCS accounts for all crime in the United States, but general trends can be determined. Crime rates, particularly for violent and gun-related crimes, have been on the decline since peaking in the early 1990s (Cohn, Taylor, Lopez, Gallagher, Parker, and Maass 2013). However, the public believes crime rates are still high, or even worsening. Recent surveys (Saad 2011; Pew Research Center 2013, cited in Overburg and Hoyer 2013) have found U.S. adults believe crime is worse now than it was twenty years ago.
Inaccurate public perception of crime may be heightened by popular crime shows such as CSI,Criminal Minds andLaw & Order (Warr 2008) and by extensive and repeated media coverage of crime. Many researchers have found that people who closely follow media reports of crime are likely to estimate the crime rate as inaccurately high and more likely to feel fearful about the chances of experiencing crime (Chiricos, Padgett, and Gertz 2000). Recent research has also found that people who reported watching news coverage of 9/11 or the Boston Marathon Bombing for more than an hour daily became more fearful of future terrorism (Holman, Garfin, and Silver 2014).
The U.S. Criminal Justice System
A criminal justice system is an organization that exists to enforce a legal code. There are three branches of the U.S. criminal justice system: the police, the courts, and the corrections system.
Police
Police are a civil force in charge of enforcing laws and public order at a federal, state, or community level. No unified national police force exists in the United States, although there are federal law enforcement officers. Federal officers operate under specific government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Federal officers can only deal with matters that are explicitly within the power of the federal government, and their field of expertise is usually narrow. A county police officer may spend time responding to emergency calls, working at the local jail, or patrolling areas as needed, whereas a federal officer would be more likely to investigate suspects in firearms trafficking or provide security for government officials.
State police have the authority to enforce statewide laws, including regulating traffic on highways. Local or county police, on the other hand, have a limited jurisdiction with authority only in the town or county in which they serve.
Courts
Once a crime has been committed and a violator has been identified by the police, the case goes to court. A court is a system that has the authority to make decisions based on law. The U.S. judicial system is divided into federal courts and state courts. As the name implies, federal courts (including the U.S. Supreme Court) deal with federal matters, including trade disputes, military justice, and government lawsuits. Judges who preside over federal courts are selected by the president with the consent of Congress.
State courts vary in their structure but generally include three levels: trial courts, appellate courts, and state supreme courts. In contrast to the large courtroom trials in TV shows, most noncriminal cases are decided by a judge without a jury present. Traffic court and small claims court are both types of trial courts that handle specific civil matters.
Criminal cases are heard by trial courts with general jurisdictions. Usually, a judge and jury are both present. It is the jury’s responsibility to determine guilt and the judge’s responsibility to determine the penalty, though in some states the jury may also decide the penalty. Unless a defendant is found “not guilty,” any member of the prosecution or defense (whichever is the losing side) can appeal the case to a higher court. In some states, the case then goes to a special appellate court; in others it goes to the highest state court, often known as the state supreme court.
Corrections
The corrections system, more commonly known as the prison system, is charged with supervising individuals who have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for a criminal offense. At the end of 2010, approximately seven million U.S. men and women were behind bars (BJS 2011d).
The U.S. incarceration rate has grown considerably in the last hundred years. In 2008, more than 1 in 100 U.S. adults were in jail or prison, the highest benchmark in our nation’s history. And while the United States accounts for 5 percent of the global population, we have 25 percent of the world’s inmates, the largest number of prisoners in the world (Liptak 2008b).
Prison is different from jail. A jail provides temporary confinement, usually while an individual awaits trial or parole. Prisons are facilities built for individuals serving sentences of more than a year. Whereas jails are small and local, prisons are large and run by either the state or the federal government.
Parole refers to a temporary release from prison or jail that requires supervision and the consent of officials. Parole is different from probation, which is supervised time used as an alternative to prison. Probation and parole can both follow a period of incarceration in prison, especially if the prison sentence is shortened.
Summary
Crime is established by legal codes and upheld by the criminal justice system. In the United States, there are three branches of the justice system: police, courts, and corrections. Although crime rates increased throughout most of the twentieth century, they are now dropping.
Section Quiz
Which of the following is an example of corporate crime?
- Embezzlement
- Larceny
- Assault
- Burglary
Hint:
A
Spousal abuse is an example of a ________.
- street crime
- corporate crime
- violent crime
- nonviolent crime
Hint:
C
Which of the following situations best describes crime trends in the United States?
- Rates of violent and nonviolent crimes are decreasing.
- Rates of violent crimes are decreasing, but there are more nonviolent crimes now than ever before.
- Crime rates have skyrocketed since the 1970s due to lax corrections laws.
- Rates of street crime have gone up, but corporate crime has gone down.
Hint:
A
What is a disadvantage of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?
- The NCVS doesn’t include demographic data, such as age or gender.
- The NCVS may be unable to reach important groups, such as those without phones.
- The NCVS doesn’t address the relationship between the criminal and the victim.
- The NCVS only includes information collected by police officers.
Hint:
B
Short Answer
Recall the crime statistics presented in this section. Do they surprise you? Are these statistics represented accurately in the media? Why, or why not?
Further Research
Is the U.S. criminal justice system confusing? You’re not alone. Check out this handy flowchart from the Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/US_Criminal_Justice_BJS
How is crime data collected in the United States? Read about the methods of data collection and take the National Crime Victimization Survey. Visit http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Victimization_Survey
References
Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2013. “Data Collection: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).” Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245)
Cantor, D. and Lynch, J. 2000. Self-Report Surveys as Measures of Crime and Criminal Victimization. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (https://www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol_4/04c.pdf).
Chiricos, Ted; Padgett, Kathy; and Gertz, Mark. 2000. “Fear, TV News, and The Reality of Crime.” Criminology, 38, 3. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00905.x/abstract)
Cohn, D’Verta; Taylor, Paul; Lopez, Mark Hugo; Gallagher, Catherine A.; Parker, Kim; and Maass, Kevin T. 2013. “Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak: Public Unaware; Pace of Decline Slows in Past Decade.” Pew Research Social & Demographic Trends, May 7. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware/)
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2010. “Latest Hate Crime Statistics.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2010/november/hate_112210/hate_112210).
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2011. “Uniform Crime Reports.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr).
Holman, E. Allison; Garfin, Dana; and Silver, Roxane (2013). “Media’s Role in Broadcasting Acute Stress Following the Boston Marathon Bombings.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, November 14. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://www.danarosegarfin.com/uploads/3/0/8/5/30858187/holman_et_al_pnas_2014.pdf)
Langton, Lynn and Michael Planty. 2011. “Hate Crime, 2003–2009.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1760).
Liptak, Adam. 2008a. “1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says.” New York Times, February 28. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html).
Liptak, Adam. 2008b. “Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’.” New York Times, April 23. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/us/23prison.html?ref=adamliptak).
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. 2010. “National Crime Victimization Survey Resource Guide.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/NCVS/).
Overburg, Paul and Hoyer, Meghan. 2013. “Study: Despite Drop in Gun Crime, 56% Think It’s Worse.” USA Today, December, 3. Retrieved November 2, 2014 (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/07/gun-crime-drops-but-americans-think-its-worse/2139421/)
Saad, Lydia. 2011. “Most Americans Believe Crime in U.S. is Worsening: Slight Majority Rate U.S. Crime Problem as Highly Serious; 11% Say This about Local Crime.” Gallup: Well-Being, October 31. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://www.gallup.com/poll/150464/americans-believe-crime-worsening.aspx)
Warr, Mark. 2008. “Crime on the Rise? Public Perception of Crime Remains Out of Sync with Reality.” The University of Texas at Austin: Features, November, 10. Retrieved November 1, 2014 (http://www.utexas.edu/features/2008/11/10/crime/)
Wilson, Michael and Al Baker. 2010. “Lured into a Trap, Then Tortured for Being Gay.” New York Times, October 8. Retrieved from February 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/09/nyregion/09bias.html?pagewanted=1).
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2025-03-18T00:36:48.736054
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Introduction to Groups and Organizations
Over the past decade, a grassroots effort to raise awareness of certain political issues has gained in popularity. As a result, Tea Party groups have popped up in nearly every community across the country. The followers of the Tea Party have charged themselves with calling “awareness to any issue which challenges the security, sovereignty, or domestic tranquility of our beloved nation, the United States of America” (Tea Party, Inc. 2014). The group takes its name from the famous so-called Tea Party that occurred in Boston Harbor in 1773. Its membership includes people from all walks of life who are taking a stand to protect their values and beliefs. Their beliefs tend to be anti-tax, anti-big government, pro-gun, and generally politically conservative.
Their political stance is supported by what they refer to as their “15 Non-Negotiable Core Beliefs.”
- Illegal aliens are here illegally.
- Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
- A strong military is essential.
- Special interests must be eliminated.
- Gun ownership is sacred.
- Government must be downsized.
- The national budget must be balanced.
- Deficit spending must end.
- Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
- Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
- Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
- Political office must be available to average citizens.
- Intrusive government must be stopped.
- English as our core language is required.
- Traditional family values are encouraged.
Tea Party politicians have been elected to several offices at the national, state, and local levels. In fact, Alabama, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas all had pro-Tea Party members win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. On the national stage, Tea Partiers are actively seeking the impeachment of President Barrack Obama for what they refer to “flagrant violations,” including forcing national healthcare (Obamacare) on the country, gun grabbing, and failing to protect victims of the terror attack on U.S. diplomatic offices in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012.
At the local level, Tea Party supporters have taken roles as mayors, county commissioners, city council members, and the like. In a small, rural, Midwestern county with a population of roughly 160,000, the three county commissioners who oversee the operation and administration of county government were two Republicans and a Democrat for years. During the 2012 election, the Democrat lost his seat to an outspoken Tea Party Republican who campaigned as pro-gun and fiscally conservative. He vowed to reduce government spending and shrink the size of county government.
Groups like political parties are prevalent in our lives and provide a significant way we understand and define ourselves—both groups we feel a connection to and those we don’t. Groups also play an important role in society. As enduring social units, they help foster shared value systems and are key to the structure of society as we know it. There are three primary sociological perspectives for studying groups: Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist. We can look at the Tea Party movement through the lenses of these methods to better understand the roles and challenges that groups offer.
The Functionalist perspective is a big-picture, macro-level view that looks at how different aspects of society are intertwined. This perspective is based on the idea that society is a well-balanced system with all parts necessary to the whole, and it studies the roles these parts play in relation to the whole. In the case of the Tea Party Movement, a Functionalist might look at what macro-level needs the movement serves. For example, a Structural Functionalist might ask how the party forces people to pay attention to the economy.
The Conflict perspective is another macroanalytical view, one that focuses on the genesis and growth of inequality. A conflict theorist studying the Tea Party Movement might look at how business interests have manipulated the system over the last 30 years, leading to the gross inequality we see today. Or this perspective might explore how the massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the upper class could lead to a two-class system reminiscent of Marxist ideas.
A third perspective is the Symbolic Interaction or Interactionist perspective. This method of analyzing groups takes a micro-level view. Instead of studying the big picture, these researchers look at the day-to-day interactions of groups. Studying these details, the Interactionist looks at issues like leadership style and group dynamics. In the case of the Tea Party Movement, Interactionists might ask, “How does the group dynamic in New York differ from that in Atlanta?” Or, “What dictates who becomes the de facto leader in different cities—geography, social dynamics, economic circumstances?”
References
Cabrel, Javier. 2011. “NOFX - Occupy LA.” LAWeekly.com, November 28. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ().
Tea Party, Inc. 2014. "Tea Party." Retrieved December 11, 2014 (http://www.teaparty.org).
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Types of Groups
Overview
- Understand primary and secondary groups as the two sociological groups
- Recognize in-groups and out-groups as subtypes of primary and secondary groups
- Define reference groups
Most of us feel comfortable using the word “group” without giving it much thought. In everyday use, it can be a generic term, although it carries important clinical and scientific meanings. Moreover, the concept of a group is central to much of how we think about society and human interaction. Often, we might mean different things by using that word. We might say that a group of kids all saw the dog, and it could mean 250 students in a lecture hall or four siblings playing on a front lawn. In everyday conversation, there isn’t a clear distinguishing use. So how can we hone the meaning more precisely for sociological purposes?
Defining a Group
The term group is an amorphous one and can refer to a wide variety of gatherings, from just two people (think about a “group project” in school when you partner with another student), a club, a regular gathering of friends, or people who work together or share a hobby. In short, the term refers to any collection of at least two people who interact with some frequency and who share a sense that their identity is somehow aligned with the group. Of course, every time people are gathered it is not necessarily a group. A rally is usually a one-time event, for instance, and belonging to a political party doesn’t imply interaction with others. People who exist in the same place at the same time but who do not interact or share a sense of identity—such as a bunch of people standing in line at Starbucks—are considered anaggregate, or a crowd. Another example of a nongroup is people who share similar characteristics but are not tied to one another in any way. These people are considered acategory, and as an example all children born from approximately 1980–2000 are referred to as “Millennials.” Why are Millennials a category and not a group? Because while some of them may share a sense of identity, they do not, as a whole, interact frequently with each other.
Interestingly, people within an aggregate or category can become a group. During disasters, people in a neighborhood (an aggregate) who did not know each other might become friendly and depend on each other at the local shelter. After the disaster ends and the people go back to simply living near each other, the feeling of cohesiveness may last since they have all shared an experience. They might remain a group, practicing emergency readiness, coordinating supplies for next time, or taking turns caring for neighbors who need extra help. Similarly, there may be many groups within a single category. Consider teachers, for example. Within this category, groups may exist like teachers’ unions, teachers who coach, or staff members who are involved with the PTA.
Types of Groups
Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) suggested that groups can broadly be divided into two categories: primary groups andsecondary groups (Cooley 1909). According to Cooley, primary groups play the most critical role in our lives. The primary group is usually fairly small and is made up of individuals who generally engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways. This group serves emotional needs:expressive functions rather than pragmatic ones. The primary group is usually made up of significant others, those individuals who have the most impact on our socialization. The best example of a primary group is the family.
Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal. They may also be task-focused and time-limited. These groups serve an instrumental function rather than an expressive one, meaning that their role is more goal- or task-oriented than emotional. A classroom or office can be an example of a secondary group. Neither primary nor secondary groups are bound by strict definitions or set limits. In fact, people can move from one group to another. A graduate seminar, for example, can start as a secondary group focused on the class at hand, but as the students work together throughout their program, they may find common interests and strong ties that transform them into a primary group.
Best Friends She’s Never Met
Writer Allison Levy worked alone. While she liked the freedom and flexibility of working from home, she sometimes missed having a community of coworkers, both for the practical purpose of brainstorming and the more social “water cooler” aspect. Levy did what many do in the Internet age: she found a group of other writers online through a web forum. Over time, a group of approximately twenty writers, who all wrote for a similar audience, broke off from the larger forum and started a private invitation-only forum. While writers in general represent all genders, ages, and interests, it ended up being a collection of twenty- and thirty-something women who comprised the new forum; they all wrote fiction for children and young adults.
At first, the writers’ forum was clearly a secondary group united by the members’ professions and work situations. As Levy explained, “On the Internet, you can be present or absent as often as you want. No one is expecting you to show up.” It was a useful place to research information about different publishers and about who had recently sold what and to track industry trends. But as time passed, Levy found it served a different purpose. Since the group shared other characteristics beyond their writing (such as age and gender), the online conversation naturally turned to matters such as child-rearing, aging parents, health, and exercise. Levy found it was a sympathetic place to talk about any number of subjects, not just writing. Further, when people didn’t post for several days, others expressed concern, asking whether anyone had heard from the missing writers. It reached a point where most members would tell the group if they were traveling or needed to be offline for awhile.
The group continued to share. One member on the site who was going through a difficult family illness wrote, “I don’t know where I’d be without you women. It is so great to have a place to vent that I know isn’t hurting anyone.” Others shared similar sentiments.
So is this a primary group? Most of these people have never met each other. They live in Hawaii, Australia, Minnesota, and across the world. They may never meet. Levy wrote recently to the group, saying, “Most of my ‘real-life’ friends and even my husband don’t really get the writing thing. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Despite the distance and the lack of physical contact, the group clearly fills an expressive need.
In-Groups and Out-Groups
One of the ways that groups can be powerful is through inclusion, and its inverse, exclusion. The feeling that we belong in an elite or select group is a heady one, while the feeling of not being allowed in, or of being in competition with a group, can be motivating in a different way. Sociologist William Sumner (1840–1910) developed the concepts of in-group andout-group to explain this phenomenon (Sumner 1906). In short, an in-group is the group that an individual feels she belongs to, and she believes it to be an integral part of who she is. An out-group, conversely, is a group someone doesn’t belong to; often we may feel disdain or competition in relationship to an out-group. Sports teams, unions, and sororities are examples of in-groups and out-groups; people may belong to, or be an outsider to, any of these. Primary groups consist of both in-groups and out-groups, as do secondary groups.
While group affiliations can be neutral or even positive, such as the case of a team sport competition, the concept of in-groups and out-groups can also explain some negative human behavior, such as white supremacist movements like the Ku Klux Klan, or the bullying of gay or lesbian students. By defining others as “not like us” and inferior, in-groups can end up practicing ethnocentrism, racism, sexism, ageism, and heterosexism—manners of judging others negatively based on their culture, race, sex, age, or sexuality. Often, in-groups can form within a secondary group. For instance, a workplace can have cliques of people, from senior executives who play golf together, to engineers who write code together, to young singles who socialize after hours. While these in-groups might show favoritism and affinity for other in-group members, the overall organization may be unable or unwilling to acknowledge it. Therefore, it pays to be wary of the politics of in-groups, since members may exclude others as a form of gaining status within the group.
Bullying and Cyberbullying: How Technology Has Changed the Game
Most of us know that the old rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is inaccurate. Words can hurt, and never is that more apparent than in instances of bullying. Bullying has always existed and has often reached extreme levels of cruelty in children and young adults. People at these stages of life are especially vulnerable to others’ opinions of them, and they’re deeply invested in their peer groups. Today, technology has ushered in a new era of this dynamic. Cyberbullying is the use of interactive media by one person to torment another, and it is on the rise. Cyberbullying can mean sending threatening texts, harassing someone in a public forum (such as Facebook), hacking someone’s account and pretending to be him or her, posting embarrassing images online, and so on. A study by the Cyberbullying Research Center found that 20 percent of middle school students admitted to “seriously thinking about committing suicide” as a result of online bullying (Hinduja and Patchin 2010). Whereas bullying face-to-face requires willingness to interact with your victim, cyberbullying allows bullies to harass others from the privacy of their homes without witnessing the damage firsthand. This form of bullying is particularly dangerous because it’s widely accessible and therefore easier to accomplish.
Cyberbullying, and bullying in general, made international headlines in 2010 when a fifteen-year-old girl, Phoebe Prince, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied by girls at her school. In the aftermath of her death, the bullies were prosecuted in the legal system and the state passed anti-bullying legislation. This marked a significant change in how bullying, including cyberbullying, is viewed in the United States. Now there are numerous resources for schools, families, and communities to provide education and prevention on this issue. The White House hosted a Bullying Prevention summit in March 2011, and President and First Lady Obama have used Facebook and other social media sites to discuss the importance of the issue.
According to a report released in 2013 by the National Center for Educational Statistics, close to 1 in every 3 (27.8 percent) students report being bullied by their school peers. Seventeen percent of students reported being the victims of cyberbullying.
Will legislation change the behavior of would-be cyberbullies? That remains to be seen. But we can hope communities will work to protect victims before they feel they must resort to extreme measures.
Reference Groups
A reference group is a group that people compare themselves to—it provides a standard of measurement. In U.S. society, peer groups are common reference groups. Kids and adults pay attention to what their peers wear, what music they like, what they do with their free time—and they compare themselves to what they see. Most people have more than one reference group, so a middle school boy might look not just at his classmates but also at his older brother’s friends and see a different set of norms. And he might observe the antics of his favorite athletes for yet another set of behaviors.
Some other examples of reference groups can be one’s cultural center, workplace, family gathering, and even parents. Often, reference groups convey competing messages. For instance, on television and in movies, young adults often have wonderful apartments and cars and lively social lives despite not holding a job. In music videos, young women might dance and sing in a sexually aggressive way that suggests experience beyond their years. At all ages, we use reference groups to help guide our behavior and show us social norms. So how important is it to surround yourself with positive reference groups? You may not recognize a reference group, but it still influences the way you act. Identifying your reference groups can help you understand the source of the social identities you aspire to or want to distance yourself from.
College: A World of In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Reference Groups
For a student entering college, the sociological study of groups takes on an immediate and practical meaning. After all, when we arrive someplace new, most of us glance around to see how well we fit in or stand out in the ways we want. This is a natural response to a reference group, and on a large campus, there can be many competing groups. Say you are a strong athlete who wants to play intramural sports, and your favorite musicians are a local punk band. You may find yourself engaged with two very different reference groups.
These reference groups can also become your in-groups or out-groups. For instance, different groups on campus might solicit you to join. Are there fraternities and sororities at your school? If so, chances are they will try to convince students—that is, students they deem worthy—to join them. And if you love playing soccer and want to play on a campus team, but you’re wearing shredded jeans, combat boots, and a local band T-shirt, you might have a hard time convincing the soccer team to give you a chance. While most campus groups refrain from insulting competing groups, there is a definite sense of an in-group versus an out-group. “Them?” a member might say. “They’re all right, but their parties are nowhere near as cool as ours.” Or, “Only serious engineering geeks join that group.” This immediate categorization into in-groups and out-groups means that students must choose carefully, since whatever group they associate with won’t just define their friends—it may also define their enemies.
Summary
Groups largely define how we think of ourselves. There are two main types of groups: primary and secondary. As the names suggest, the primary group is the long-term, complex one. People use groups as standards of comparison to define themselves—both who they are and who they are not. Sometimes groups can be used to exclude people or as a tool that strengthens prejudice.
Section Quiz
What does a Functionalist consider when studying a phenomenon like the Occupy Wall Street movement?
- The minute functions that every person at the protests plays in the whole
- The internal conflicts that play out within such a diverse and leaderless group
- How the movement contributes to the stability of society by offering the discontented a safe, controlled outlet for dissension
- The factions and divisions that form within the movement
What is the largest difference between the Functionalist and Conflict perspectives and the Interactionist perspective?
- The former two consider long-term repercussions of the group or situation, while the latter focuses on the present.
- The first two are the more common sociological perspective, while the latter is a newer sociological model.
- The first two focus on hierarchical roles within an organization, while the last takes a more holistic view.
- The first two perspectives address large-scale issues facing groups, while the last examines more detailed aspects.
What role do secondary groups play in society?
- They are transactional, task-based, and short-term, filling practical needs.
- They provide a social network that allows people to compare themselves to others.
- The members give and receive emotional support.
- They allow individuals to challenge their beliefs and prejudices.
When a high school student gets teased by her basketball team for receiving an academic award, she is dealing with competing ______________.
- primary groups
- out-groups
- reference groups
- secondary groups
Which of the following is not an example of an in-group?
- The Ku Klux Klan
- A fraternity
- A synagogue
- A high school
What is a group whose values, norms, and beliefs come to serve as a standard for one's own behavior?
- Secondary group
- Formal organization
- Reference group
- Primary group
A parent who is worrying over her teenager’s dangerous and self-destructive behavior and low self-esteem may wish to look at her child’s:
- reference group
- in-group
- out-group
- All of the above
Hint:
(1:C, 2:D, 3:A, 4:C, 5:D, 6:C, 7:D)
Short Answer
How has technology changed your primary groups and secondary groups? Do you have more (and separate) primary groups due to online connectivity? Do you believe that someone, like Levy, can have a true primary group made up of people she has never met? Why, or why not?
Compare and contrast two different political groups or organizations, such as the Occupy and Tea Party movements, or one of the Arab Spring uprisings. How do the groups differ in terms of leadership, membership, and activities? How do the group’s goals influence participants? Are any of them in-groups (and have they created out-groups)? Explain your answer.
The concept of hate crimes has been linked to in-groups and out-groups. Can you think of an example where people have been excluded or tormented due to this kind of group dynamic?
Further Research
For more information about cyberbullying causes and statistics, check out this website: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Cyberbullying
References
Cooley, Charles Horton.1963 [1909]. Social Organizations: A Study of the Larger Mind. New York: Shocken.
Cyberbullying Research Center. n.d. Retrieved November 30, 2011 (http://www.cyberbullying.us).
Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin.2010. “Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide.”Archives of Suicide Research 14(3): 206–221.
Khandaroo, Stacy T. 2010. “Phoebe Prince Case a ‘Watershed’ in Fight Against School Bullying.” Christian Science Monitor, April 1. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0401/Phoebe-Prince-case-a-watershed-in-fight-against-school-bullying).
Leibowitz, B. Matt. 2011. “On Facebook, Obamas Denounce Cyberbullying.” http://msnbc.com, March 9. Retrieved February 13, 2012 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41995126/ns/technology_and_science-security/t/facebook-obamas-denounce-cyberbullying/#.TtjrVUqY07A).
Occupy Wall Street. Retrieved November 27, 2011. (http://occupywallst.org/about/).
Schwartz, Mattathias. 2011. “Pre-Occupied: The Origins and Future of Occupy Wall St.” New Yorker Magazine, November 28.
Sumner, William. 1959 [1906]. Folkways. New York: Dover.
“Times Topics: Occupy Wall Street.” New York Times. 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=occupy%20wall%20street&st=cse).
We Are the 99 Percent. Retrieved November 28, 2011 (http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/page/2).
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Group Size and Structure
Overview
- How size influences group dynamics
- Different styles of leadership
- How conformity is impacted by groups
Dyads, Triads, and Large Groups
A small group is typically one where the collection of people is small enough that all members of the group know each other and share simultaneous interaction, such as a nuclear family, a dyad, or a triad. Georg Simmel (1858–1915) wrote extensively about the difference between a dyad, or two-member group, and atriad, which is a three-member group (Simmel 1902). In the former, if one person withdraws, the group can no longer exist. We can think of a divorce, which effectively ends the “group” of the married couple or of two best friends never speaking again. In a triad, however, the dynamic is quite different. If one person withdraws, the group lives on. A triad has a different set of relationships. If there are three in the group, two-against-one dynamics can develop, and there exists the potential for a majority opinion on any issue. Small groups generally have strong internal cohesiveness and a sense of connection. The challenge, however, is for small groups to achieve large goals. They can struggle to be heard or to be a force for change if they are pushing against larger groups. In short, they are easier to ignore.
It is difficult to define exactly when a small group becomes a large group. Perhaps it occurs when there are too many people to join in a simultaneous discussion. Or perhaps a group joins with other groups as part of a movement that unites them. These larger groups may share a geographic space, such as a fraternity or sorority on the same campus, or they might be spread out around the globe. The larger the group, the more attention it can garner, and the more pressure members can put toward whatever goal they wish to achieve. At the same time, the larger the group becomes, the more the risk grows for division and lack of cohesion.
Group Leadership
Often, larger groups require some kind of leadership. In small, primary groups, leadership tends to be informal. After all, most families don’t take a vote on who will rule the group, nor do most groups of friends. This is not to say that de facto leaders don’t emerge, but formal leadership is rare. In secondary groups, leadership is usually more overt. There are often clearly outlined roles and responsibilities, with a chain of command to follow. Some secondary groups, like the military, have highly structured and clearly understood chains of command, and many lives depend on those. After all, how well could soldiers function in a battle if they had no idea whom to listen to or if different people were calling out orders? Other secondary groups, like a workplace or a classroom, also have formal leaders, but the styles and functions of leadership can vary significantly.
Leadership function refers to the main focus or goal of the leader. Aninstrumental leader is one who is goal-oriented and largely concerned with accomplishing set tasks. We can imagine that an army general or a Fortune 500 CEO would be an instrumental leader. In contrast,expressive leaders are more concerned with promoting emotional strength and health, and ensuring that people feel supported. Social and religious leaders—rabbis, priests, imams, directors of youth homes and social service programs—are often perceived as expressive leaders. There is a longstanding stereotype that men are more instrumental leaders, and women are more expressive leaders. And although gender roles have changed, even today many women and men who exhibit the opposite-gender manner can be seen as deviants and can encounter resistance. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's experiences provide an example of the way society reacts to a high-profile woman who is an instrumental leader. Despite the stereotype, Boatwright and Forrest (2000) have found that both men and women prefer leaders who use a combination of expressive and instrumental leadership.
In addition to these leadership functions, there are three different leadership styles.Democratic leaders encourage group participation in all decision making. They work hard to build consensus before choosing a course of action and moving forward. This type of leader is particularly common, for example, in a club where the members vote on which activities or projects to pursue. Democratic leaders can be well liked, but there is often a danger that they will proceed slowly since consensus building is time-consuming. A further risk is that group members might pick sides and entrench themselves into opposing factions rather than reaching a solution. In contrast, alaissez-faire leader (French for “leave it alone”) is hands-off, allowing group members to self-manage and make their own decisions. An example of this kind of leader might be an art teacher who opens the art cupboard, leaves materials on the shelves, and tells students to help themselves and make some art. While this style can work well with highly motivated and mature participants who have clear goals and guidelines, it risks group dissolution and a lack of progress. As the name suggests,authoritarian leaders issue orders and assigns tasks. These leaders are clear instrumental leaders with a strong focus on meeting goals. Often, entrepreneurs fall into this mold, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Not surprisingly, the authoritarian leader risks alienating the workers. There are times, however, when this style of leadership can be required. In different circumstances, each of these leadership styles can be effective and successful. Consider what leadership style you prefer. Why? Do you like the same style in different areas of your life, such as a classroom, a workplace, and a sports team?
Women Leaders and the Hillary Clinton/Sarah Palin Phenomenon
The 2008 presidential election marked a dynamic change when two female politicians entered the race. Of the 200 people who have run for president during the country’s history, fewer than thirty have been women. Democratic presidential candidate and former First Lady Hillary Clinton was both famously polarizing and popular. She had almost as many passionate supporters as she did people who reviled her.
On the other side of the aisle was Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The former governor of Alaska, Palin was, to some, the perfect example of the modern woman. She juggled her political career with raising a growing family and relied heavily on the use of social media to spread her message.
So what light did these candidates’ campaigns shed on the possibilities of a female presidency? According to some political analysts, women candidates face a paradox: They must be as tough as their male opponents on issues such as foreign policy, or they risk appearing weak. However, the stereotypical expectation of women as expressive leaders is still prevalent. Consider that Hillary Clinton’s popularity surged in her 2008 campaign after she cried on the campaign trail. It was enough for the New York Times to publish an editorial, “Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?” (Dowd 2008). Harsh, but her approval ratings soared afterward. In fact, many compared it to how politically likable she was in the aftermath of President Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky scandal. Sarah Palin’s expressive qualities were promoted to a greater degree. While she has benefited from the efforts of feminists before her, she self-identified as a traditional woman with traditional values, a point she illustrated by frequently bringing her young children up on stage with her.
So what does this mean for women who would be president, and for those who would vote for them? On the positive side, a recent study of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-old women that asked whether female candidates in the 2008 election made them believe a woman would be president during their lifetime found that the majority thought they would (Weeks 2011). And the more that young women demand female candidates, the more commonplace female contenders will become. Women as presidential candidates may no longer be a novelty with the focus of their campaign, no matter how obliquely, on their gender. Some, however, remain skeptical. As one political analyst said bluntly, “Women don’t succeed in politics––or other professions––unless they act like men. The standard for running for national office remains distinctly male” (Weeks 2011).
Conformity
We all like to fit in to some degree. Likewise, when we want to stand out, we want to choose how we stand out and for what reasons. For example, a woman who loves cutting-edge fashion and wants to dress in thought-provoking new styles likely wants to be noticed, but most likely she will want to be noticed within a framework of high fashion. She wouldn’t want people to think she was too poor to find proper clothes. Conformity is the extent to which an individual complies with group norms or expectations. As you might recall, we use reference groups to assess and understand how to act, to dress, and to behave. Not surprisingly, young people are particularly aware of who conforms and who does not. A high school boy whose mother makes him wear ironed button-down shirts might protest that he will look stupid––that everyone else wears T-shirts. Another high school boy might like wearing those shirts as a way of standing out. How much do you enjoy being noticed? Do you consciously prefer to conform to group norms so as not to be singled out? Are there people in your class who immediately come to mind when you think about those who don’t want to conform?
Psychologist Solomon Asch (1907–1996) conducted experiments that illustrated how great the pressure to conform is, specifically within a small group (1956). After reading about his work in the Sociological Research feature, ask yourself what you would do in Asch’s experiment. Would you speak up? What would help you speak up and what would discourage it?
Conforming to Expectations
In 1951, psychologist Solomon Asch sat a small group of about eight people around a table. Only one of the people sitting there was the true subject; the rest were associates of the experimenter. However, the subject was led to believe that the others were all, like him, people brought in for an experiment in visual judgments. The group was shown two cards, the first card with a single vertical line, and the second card with three vertical lines differing in length. The experimenter polled the group and asked each participant one at a time which line on the second card matched up with the line on the first card.
However, this was not really a test of visual judgment. Rather, it was Asch’s study on the pressures of conformity. He was curious to see what the effect of multiple wrong answers would be on the subject, who presumably was able to tell which lines matched. In order to test this, Asch had each planted respondent answer in a specific way. The subject was seated in such a way that he had to hear almost everyone else’s answers before it was his turn. Sometimes the nonsubject members would unanimously choose an answer that was clearly wrong.
So what was the conclusion? Asch found that thirty-seven out of fifty test subjects responded with an “obviously erroneous” answer at least once. When faced by a unanimous wrong answer from the rest of the group, the subject conformed to a mean of four of the staged answers. Asch revised the study and repeated it, wherein the subject still heard the staged wrong answers, but was allowed to write down his answer rather than speak it aloud. In this version, the number of examples of conformity––giving an incorrect answer so as not to contradict the group––fell by two thirds. He also found that group size had an impact on how much pressure the subject felt to conform.
The results showed that speaking up when only one other person gave an erroneous answer was far more common than when five or six people defended the incorrect position. Finally, Asch discovered that people were far more likely to give the correct answer in the face of near-unanimous consent if they had a single ally. If even one person in the group also dissented, the subject conformed only a quarter as often. Clearly, it was easier to be a minority of two than a minority of one.
Asch concluded that there are two main causes for conformity: people want to be liked by the group or they believe the group is better informed than they are. He found his study results disturbing. To him, they revealed that intelligent, well-educated people would, with very little coaxing, go along with an untruth. He believed this result highlighted real problems with the education system and values in our society (Asch 1956).
Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, had similar results in his experiment that is now known simply as the Milgram Experiment. In 1962, Milgram found that research subjects were overwhelmingly willing to perform acts that directly conflicted with their consciences when directed by a person of authority. In the experiment, subjects were willing to administer painful, even supposedly deadly, shocks to others who answered questions incorrectly.
To learn more about similar research, visit http://www.prisonexp.org/ and read an account of Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment conducted at Stanford University in 1971.
Summary
The size and dynamic of a group greatly affects how members act. Primary groups rarely have formal leaders, although there can be informal leadership. Groups generally are considered large when there are too many members for a simultaneous discussion. In secondary groups there are two types of leadership functions, with expressive leaders focused on emotional health and wellness, and instrumental leaders more focused on results. Further, there are different leadership styles: democratic leaders, authoritarian leaders, and laissez-faire leaders.
Within a group, conformity is the extent to which people want to go along with the norm. A number of experiments have illustrated how strong the drive to conform can be. It is worth considering real-life examples of how conformity and obedience can lead people to ethically and morally suspect acts.
Section Quiz
Two people who have just had a baby have turned from a _______ to a _________.
- primary group; secondary group
- dyad; triad
- couple; family
- de facto group; nuclear family
Who is more likely to be an expressive leader?
- The sales manager of a fast-growing cosmetics company
- A high school teacher at a reform school
- The director of a summer camp for chronically ill children
- A manager at a fast-food restaurant
Which of the following is not an appropriate group for democratic leadership?
- A fire station
- A college classroom
- A high school prom committee
- A homeless shelter
In Asch’s study on conformity, what contributed to the ability of subjects to resist conforming?
- A very small group of witnesses
- The presence of an ally
- The ability to keep one’s answer private
- All of the above
Which type of group leadership has a communication pattern that flows from the top down?
- Authoritarian
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
- Expressive
Hint:
(1:B, 2:C, 3:A, 4:D, 5:A)
Short Answer
Think of a scenario where an authoritarian leadership style would be beneficial. Explain. What are the reasons it would work well? What are the risks?
Describe a time you were led by a leader using, in your opinion, a leadership style that didn’t suit the situation. When and where was it? What could she or he have done better?
Imagine you are in Asch’s study. Would you find it difficult to give the correct answer in that scenario? Why or why not? How would you change the study now to improve it?
What kind of leader do you tend to be? Do you embrace different leadership styles and functions as the situation changes? Give an example of a time you were in a position of leadership and what function and style you expressed.
Further Research
What is your leadership style? The website http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Leadership offers a quiz to help you find out!
Explore other experiments on conformity at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Stanford-Prison
References
Asch, Solomon. 1956. “Studies of Independence and Conformity: A Minority of One Against a Unanimous Majority.” Psychological Monographs 70(9, Whole No. 416).
Boatwright, K.J., and L. Forrest. 2000. “Leadership Preferences: The Influence of Gender and Needs for Connection on Workers’ Ideal Preferences for Leadership Behaviors.” The Journal of Leadership Studies 7(2): 18–34.
Cox, Ana Marie. 2006. “How Americans View Hillary: Popular but Polarizing.” Time, August 19. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1229053,00.html).
Dowd, Maureen. 2008. “Can Hillary Cry Her Way to the White House?” New York Times, January 9. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/08dowd.html?pagewanted=all).
Kurtieben, Danielle. 2010. “Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Women in Politics.” US News and World Report, September 30. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/09/30/sarah-palin-hillary-clinton-michelle-obama-and-women-in-politics).
Milgram, Stanley. 1963. “Behavioral Study of Obedience.” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 67: 371–378.
Simmel, Georg. 1950. The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Weeks, Linton. 2011. “The Feminine Effect on Politics.” National Public Radio (NPR), June 9. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137056376/the-feminine-effect-on-presidential-politics).
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Formal Organizations
Overview
- Understand the different types of formal organizations
- Recognize the characteristics of bureaucracies
- Identify the concepts of the McJob and the McDonaldization of society
A complaint of modern life is that society is dominated by large and impersonal secondary organizations. From schools to businesses to healthcare to government, these organizations, referred to as formal organizations, are highly bureaucratized. Indeed, all formal organizations are, or likely will become,bureaucracies. A bureaucracy is an ideal type of formal organization. Ideal doesn’t mean “best” in its sociological usage; it refers to a general model that describes a collection of characteristics, or a type that could describe most examples of the item under discussion. For example, if your professor were to tell the class to picture a car in their minds, most students will picture a car that shares a set of characteristics: four wheels, a windshield, and so on. Everyone’s car will be somewhat different, however. Some might picture a two-door sports car while others picture an SUV. The general idea of the car that everyone shares is the ideal type. We will discuss bureaucracies as an ideal type of organization.
Types of Formal Organizations
Sociologist Amitai Etzioni (1975) posited that formal organizations fall into three categories. Normative organizations, also calledvoluntary organizations, are based on shared interests. As the name suggests, joining them is voluntary and typically done because people find membership rewarding in an intangible way. The Audubon Society and a ski club are examples of normative organizations.Coercive organizations are groups that we must be coerced, or pushed, to join. These may include prison or a rehabilitation center. Symbolic interactionist Erving Goffman states that most coercive organizations aretotal institutions (1961). A total institution is one in which inmates or military soldiers live a controlled lifestyle and in which total resocialization takes place. The third type isutilitarian organizations, which, as the name suggests, are joined because of the need for a specific material reward. High school and the workplace fall into this category—one joined in pursuit of a diploma, the other in order to make money.
| Normative or Voluntary | Coercive | Utilitarian | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefit of Membership | Intangible benefit | Corrective benefit | Tangible benefit |
| Type of Membership | Volunteer basis | Required | Contractual basis |
| Feeling of Connectedness | Shared affinity | No affinity | Some affinity |
Bureaucracies
Bureaucracies are an ideal type of formal organization. Pioneer sociologist Max Weber popularly characterized a bureaucracy as having a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules, and impersonality (1922). People often complain about bureaucracies––declaring them slow, rule-bound, difficult to navigate, and unfriendly. Let’s take a look at terms that define a bureaucracy to understand what they mean.
Hierarchy of authority refers to the aspect of bureaucracy that places one individual or office in charge of another, who in turn must answer to her own superiors. For example, as an employee at Walmart, your shift manager assigns you tasks. Your shift manager answers to his store manager, who must answer to her regional manager, and so on in a chain of command, up to the CEO who must answer to the board members, who in turn answer to the stockholders. Everyone in this bureaucracy follows the chain of command.
A clear division of labor refers to the fact that within a bureaucracy, each individual has a specialized task to perform. For example, psychology professors teach psychology, but they do not attempt to provide students with financial aid forms. In this case, it is a clear and commonsense division. But what about in a restaurant where food is backed up in the kitchen and a hostess is standing nearby texting on her phone? Her job is to seat customers, not to deliver food. Is this a smart division of labor?
The existence of explicit rules refers to the way in which rules are outlined, written down, and standardized. For example, at your college or university, the student guidelines are contained within the Student Handbook. As technology changes and campuses encounter new concerns like cyberbullying, identity theft, and other hot-button issues, organizations are scrambling to ensure their explicit rules cover these emerging topics.
Finally, bureaucracies are also characterized by impersonality, which takes personal feelings out of professional situations. This characteristic grew, to some extent, out of a desire to protect organizations from nepotism, backroom deals, and other types of favoritism, simultaneously protecting customers and others served by the organization. Impersonality is an attempt by large formal organizations to protect their members. Large business organizations like Walmart often situate themselves as bureaucracies. This allows them to effectively and efficiently serve volumes of customers quickly and with affordable products. This results in an impersonal organization. Customers frequently complain that stores like Walmart care little about individuals, other businesses, and the community at large.
Bureaucracies are, in theory at least, meritocracies, meaning that hiring and promotion is based on proven and documented skills, rather than on nepotism or random choice. In order to get into a prestigious college, you need to perform well on the SAT and have an impressive transcript. In order to become a lawyer and represent clients, you must graduate law school and pass the state bar exam. Of course, there are many well-documented examples of success by those who did not proceed through traditional meritocracies. Think about technology companies with founders who dropped out of college, or performers who became famous after a YouTube video went viral. How well do you think established meritocracies identify talent? Wealthy families hire tutors, interview coaches, test-prep services, and consultants to help their kids get into the best schools. This starts as early as kindergarten in New York City, where competition for the most highly-regarded schools is especially fierce. Are these schools, many of which have copious scholarship funds that are intended to make the school more democratic, really offering all applicants a fair shake?
There are several positive aspects of bureaucracies. They are intended to improve efficiency, ensure equal opportunities, and ensure that most people can be served. And there are times when rigid hierarchies are needed. But remember that many of our bureaucracies grew large at the same time that our school model was developed––during the Industrial Revolution. Young workers were trained, and organizations were built for mass production, assembly line work, and factory jobs. In these scenarios, a clear chain of command was critical. Now, in the information age, this kind of rigid training and adherence to protocol can actually decrease both productivity and efficiency.
Today’s workplace requires a faster pace, more problem solving, and a flexible approach to work. Too much adherence to explicit rules and a division of labor can leave an organization behind. And unfortunately, once established, bureaucracies can take on a life of their own. Maybe you have heard the expression “trying to turn a tanker around mid-ocean,” which refers to the difficulties of changing direction with something large and set in its ways. State governments and current budget crises are examples of this challenge. It is almost impossible to make quick changes, leading states to continue, year after year, with increasingly unbalanced budgets. Finally, bureaucracies, as mentioned, grew as institutions at a time when privileged white males held all the power. While ostensibly based on meritocracy, bureaucracies can perpetuate the existing balance of power by only recognizing the merit in traditionally male and privileged paths.
Michels (1911) suggested that all large organizations are characterized by the Iron Rule of Oligarchy, wherein an entire organization is ruled by a few elites. Do you think this is true? Can a large organization be collaborative?
The McDonaldization of Society
The McDonaldization of Society (Ritzer 1993) refers to the increasing presence of the fast food business model in common social institutions. This business model includes efficiency (the division of labor), predictability, calculability, and control (monitoring). For example, in your average chain grocery store, people at the register check out customers while stockers keep the shelves full of goods and deli workers slice meats and cheese to order (efficiency). Whenever you enter a store within that grocery chain, you receive the same type of goods, see the same store organization, and find the same brands at the same prices (predictability). You will find that goods are sold by the pound, so that you can weigh your fruit and vegetable purchase rather than simply guessing at the price for that bag of onions, while the employees use a timecard to calculate their hours and receive overtime pay (calculability). Finally, you will notice that all store employees are wearing a uniform (and usually a name tag) so that they can be easily identified. There are security cameras to monitor the store, and some parts of the store, such as the stockroom, are generally considered off-limits to customers (control). While McDonaldization has resulted in improved profits and an increased availability of various goods and services to more people worldwide, it has also reduced the variety of goods available in the marketplace while rendering available products uniform, generic, and bland. Think of the difference between a mass-produced shoe and one made by a local cobbler, between a chicken from a family-owned farm and a corporate grower, or between a cup of coffee from the local diner and one from Starbucks.
Secrets of the McJob
We often talk about bureaucracies disparagingly, and no organization takes more heat than fast food restaurants. Several books and movies, such as Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schossler, paint an ugly picture of what goes in, what goes on, and what comes out of fast food chains. From their environmental impact to their role in the U.S. obesity epidemic, fast food chains are connected to numerous societal ills. Furthermore, working at a fast food restaurant is often disparaged, and even referred to dismissively, as having a McJob rather than a real job.
But business school professor Jerry Newman went undercover and worked behind the counter at seven fast food restaurants to discover what really goes on there. His book, My Secret Life on the McJob, documents his experience. Unlike Schossler, Newman found that these restaurants offer much good alongside the bad. Specifically, he asserted that the employees were honest and hardworking, that management was often impressive, and that the jobs required a lot more skill and effort than most people imagined. In the book, Newman cites a pharmaceutical executive who says a fast-food service job on an applicant’s résumé is a plus because it indicates the employee is reliable and can handle pressure.
Businesses like Chipotle, Panera, and Costco attempt to combat many of the effects of McDonaldization. In fact, Costco is known for paying its employees an average of $20 per hour, or slightly more than $40,000.00 per year. Nearly 90% of their employees receive health insurance from Costco, a number that is unheard of in the retail sector.
While Chipotle is not known for high wages of its employees, it is known for attempting to sell high-quality foods from responsibly sourced providers. This is a different approach from what Schossler describes among burger chains like McDonalds.
So what do you think? Are these McJobs and the organizations that offer them still serving a role in the economy and people’s careers? Or are they dead-end jobs that typify all that is negative about large bureaucracies? Have you ever worked in one? Would you?
Summary
Large organizations fall into three main categories: normative/voluntary, coercive, and utilitarian. We live in a time of contradiction: while the pace of change and technology are requiring people to be more nimble and less bureaucratic in their thinking, large bureaucracies like hospitals, schools, and governments are more hampered than ever by their organizational format. At the same time, the past few decades have seen the development of a trend to bureaucratize and conventionalize local institutions. Increasingly, Main Streets across the country resemble each other; instead of a Bob’s Coffee Shop and Jane’s Hair Salon there is a Dunkin Donuts and a Supercuts. This trend has been referred to as the McDonaldization of society.
Section Quiz
Which is not an example of a normative organization?
- A book club
- A church youth group
- A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protest group
- A study hall
Which of these is an example of a total institution?
- Jail
- High school
- Political party
- A gym
Why do people join utilitarian organizations?
- Because they feel an affinity with others there
- Because they receive a tangible benefit from joining
- Because they have no choice
- Because they feel pressured to do so
Which of the following is not a characteristic of bureaucracies?
- Coercion to join
- Hierarchy of authority
- Explicit rules
- Division of labor
What are some of the intended positive aspects of bureaucracies?
- Increased productivity
- Increased efficiency
- Equal treatment for all
- All of the above
What is an advantage of the McDonaldization of society?
- There is more variety of goods.
- There is less theft.
- There is more worldwide availability of goods.
- There is more opportunity for businesses.
What is a disadvantage of the McDonaldization of society?
- There is less variety of goods.
- There is an increased need for employees with postgraduate degrees.
- There is less competition so prices are higher.
- There are fewer jobs so unemployment increases.
Hint:
(1:D, 2:A, 3:B, 4:A, 5:D, 6:C, 7:A)
Short Answer
What do you think about the recent spotlight on fast food restaurants? Do you think they contribute to society’s ills? Do you believe they provide a needed service? Have you ever worked a job like this? What did you learn?
Do you consider today’s large companies like General Motors, Amazon, or Facebook to be bureaucracies? Why, or why not? Which of the main characteristics of bureaucracies do you see in them? Which are absent?
Where do you prefer to shop, eat out, or grab a cup of coffee? Large chains like Walmart or smaller retailers? Starbucks or a local restaurant? What do you base your decisions on? Does this section change how you think about these choices? Why, or why not?
Further Research
As mentioned above, the concept of McDonaldization is a growing one. The following link discusses this phenomenon further: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/McDonaldization
References
Di Meglio, Francesca. 2007. “Learning on the McJob.” Bloomberg Businessweek, March 22. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-03-22/learning-on-the-mcjobbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice).
Etzioni, Amitai. 1975. A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations: On Power, Involvement, and Their Correlates. New York: Free Press.
Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
Michels, Robert. 1949 [1911]. Political Parties. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Newman, Jerry. 2007. My Secret Life on the McJob. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ritzer, George. 1993. The McDonaldization of Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
Schlosser, Eric. 2001. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010–2011 Edition. Retrieved February 10, 2012 (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos162.htm).
Weber, Max. 1968 [1922]. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretative Sociology. New York: Bedminster.
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11794/overview
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Introduction to Global Inequality
The April 24, 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people, was the deadliest garment factory accident in history, and it was preventable (International Labour Organization, Department of Communication 2014).
In addition to garment factories employing about 5,000 people, the building contained a bank, apartments, childcare facilities, and a variety of shops. Many of these closed the day before the collapse when cracks were discovered in the building walls. When some of the garment workers refused to enter the building, they were threatened with the loss of a month’s pay. Most were young women, aged twenty or younger. They typically worked over thirteen hours a day, with two days off each month. For this work, they took home between twelve and twenty-two cents an hour, or $10.56 to $12.48 a week. Without that pay, most would have been unable to feed their children. In contrast, the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and workers receive wages at time-and-a-half rates for work in excess of forty hours a week.
Did you buy clothes from Walmart in 2012? What about at The Children’s Place? Did you ever think about where those clothes came from? Of the outsourced garments made in the garment factories, thirty-two were intended for U.S, Canadian, and European stores. In the aftermath of the collapse, it was revealed that Walmart jeans were made in the Ether Tex garment factory on the fifth floor of the Rana Plaza building, while 120,000 pounds of clothing for The Children’s Place were produced in the New Wave Style Factory, also located in the building. Afterward, Walmart and The Children’s Place pledged $1 million and $450,000 (respectively) to the Rana Plaza Trust Fund, but fifteen other companies with clothing made in the building have contributed nothing, including U.S. companies Cato and J.C. Penney (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights 2014).
While you read this chapter, think about the global system that allows U.S. companies to outsource their manufacturing to peripheral nations, where many women and children work in conditions that some characterize as slave labor. Do people in the United States have a responsibility to foreign workers? Should U.S. corporations be held accountable for what happens to garment factory workers who make their clothing? What can you do as a consumer to help such workers?
References
Butler, Sarah. 2013. “Bangladeshi Factory Deaths Spark Action among High-Street Clothing Chains.” The Guardian. Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/23/rana-plaza-factory-disaster-bangladesh-primark).
Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. 2014. "Rana Plaza: A Look Back and Forward." Global Labour Rights. Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.globallabourrights.org/campaigns/factory-collapse-in-bangladesh).
International Labour Organization, Department of Communication. 2014. "Post Rana Plaza: A Vision for the Future." Working Conditions: International Labour Organization. Retreived November 7, 2014 (http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/who-we-are/ilo-director-general/statements-and-speeches/WCMS_240382/lang--en/index.htm).
Korzeniewicz, Robert, and Timothy Patrick Moran. 2009. Unveiling Inequality: A World Historical Perspective. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11795/overview
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Global Stratification and Classification
Overview
- Describe global stratification
- Understand how different classification systems have developed
- Use terminology from Wallerstein’s world systems approach
- Explain the World Bank’s classification of economies
Just as the United States' wealth is increasingly concentrated among its richest citizens while the middle class slowly disappears, global inequality is concentrating resources in certain nations and is significantly affecting the opportunities of individuals in poorer and less powerful countries. In fact, a recent Oxfam (2014) report that suggested the richest eighty-five people in the world are worth more than the poorest 3.5 billion combined. TheGINI coefficient measures income inequality between countries using a 100-point scale on which 1 represents complete equality and 100 represents the highest possible inequality. In 2007, the global GINI coefficient that measured the wealth gap between the core nations in the northern part of the world and the mostly peripheral nations in the southern part of the world was 75.5 percent (Korseniewicz and Moran 2009). But before we delve into the complexities of global inequality, let’s consider how the three major sociological perspectives might contribute to our understanding of it.
The functionalist perspective is a macroanalytical view that focuses on the way that all aspects of society are integral to the continued health and viability of the whole. A functionalist might focus on why we have global inequality and what social purposes it serves. This view might assert, for example, that we have global inequality because some nations are better than others at adapting to new technologies and profiting from a globalized economy, and that when core nation companies locate in peripheral nations, they expand the local economy and benefit the workers.
Conflict theory focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. A conflict theorist would likely address the systematic inequality created when core nations exploit the resources of peripheral nations. For example, how many U.S. companies take advantage of overseas workers who lack the constitutional protection and guaranteed minimum wages that exist in the United States? Doing so allows them to maximize profits, but at what cost?
The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-to-day impact of global inequality, the meanings individuals attach to global stratification, and the subjective nature of poverty. Someone applying this view to global inequality would probably focus on understanding the difference between what someone living in a core nation defines as poverty (relative poverty, defined as being unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country) and what someone living in a peripheral nation defines as poverty (absolute poverty, defined as being barely able, or unable, to afford basic necessities, such as food).
Global Stratification
While stratification in the United States refers to the unequal distribution of resources among individuals, global stratification refers to this unequal distribution among nations. There are two dimensions to this stratification: gaps between nations and gaps within nations. When it comes to global inequality, both economic inequality and social inequality may concentrate the burden of poverty among certain segments of the earth’s population (Myrdal 1970). As the chart below illustrates, people’s life expectancy depends heavily on where they happen to be born.
| Country | Infant Mortality Rate | Life Expectancy |
|---|---|---|
| Norway | 2.48 deaths per 1000 live births | 81 years |
| The United States | 6.17 deaths per 1000 live births | 79 years |
| North Korea | 24.50 deaths per 1000 live births | 70 years |
| Afghanistan | 117.3 deaths per 1000 live births | 50 years |
Most of us are accustomed to thinking of global stratification as economic inequality. For example, we can compare the United States’ average worker’s wage to America’s average wage. Social inequality, however, is just as harmful as economic discrepancies. Prejudice and discrimination—whether against a certain race, ethnicity, religion, or the like—can create and aggravate conditions of economic equality, both within and between nations. Think about the inequity that existed for decades within the nation of South Africa. Apartheid, one of the most extreme cases of institutionalized and legal racism, created a social inequality that earned it the world’s condemnation.
Gender inequity is another global concern. Consider the controversy surrounding female genital mutilation. Nations that practice this female circumcision procedure defend it as a longstanding cultural tradition in certain tribes and argue that the West shouldn’t interfere. Western nations, however, decry the practice and are working to stop it.
Inequalities based on sexual orientation and gender identity exist around the globe. According to Amnesty International, a number of crimes are committed against individuals who do not conform to traditional gender roles or sexual orientations (however those are culturally defined). From culturally sanctioned rape to state-sanctioned executions, the abuses are serious. These legalized and culturally accepted forms of prejudice and discrimination exist everywhere—from the United States to Somalia to Tibet—restricting the freedom of individuals and often putting their lives at risk (Amnesty International 2012).
Global Classification
A major concern when discussing global inequality is how to avoid an ethnocentric bias implying that less-developed nations want to be like those who’ve attained post-industrial global power. Terms such as developing (nonindustrialized) and developed (industrialized) imply that unindustrialized countries are somehow inferior, and must improve to participate successfully in the global economy, a label indicating that all aspects of the economy cross national borders. We must take care how we delineate different countries. Over time, terminology has shifted to make way for a more inclusive view of the world.
Cold War Terminology
Cold War terminology was developed during the Cold War era (1945–1980). Familiar and still used by many, it classifies countries into first world, second world, and third world nations based on their respective economic development and standards of living. When this nomenclature was developed, capitalistic democracies such as the United States and Japan were considered part of the first world. The poorest, most undeveloped countries were referred to as thethird world and included most of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Thesecond world was the in-between category: nations not as limited in development as the third world, but not as well off as the first world, having moderate economies and standard of living, such as China or Cuba. Later, sociologist Manual Castells (1998) added the termfourth world to refer to stigmatized minority groups that were denied a political voice all over the globe (indigenous minority populations, prisoners, and the homeless, for example).
Also during the Cold War, global inequality was described in terms of economic development. Along with developing and developed nations, the terms less-developed nation and underdeveloped nation were used. This was the era when the idea of noblesse oblige (first-world responsibility) took root, suggesting that the so-termed developed nations should provide foreign aid to the less-developed and underdeveloped nations in order to raise their standard of living.
Immanuel Wallerstein: World Systems Approach
Immanuel Wallerstein’s (1979) world systems approach uses an economic basis to understand global inequality. Wallerstein conceived of the global economy as a complex system that supports an economic hierarchy that placed some nations in positions of power with numerous resources and other nations in a state of economic subordination. Those that were in a state of subordination faced significant obstacles to mobilization.
Core nations are dominant capitalist countries, highly industrialized, technological, and urbanized. For example, Wallerstein contends that the United States is an economic powerhouse that can support or deny support to important economic legislation with far-reaching implications, thus exerting control over every aspect of the global economy and exploiting both semi-peripheral and peripheral nations. We can look at free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as an example of how a core nation is able to leverage its power to gain the most advantageous position in the matter of global trade.
Peripheral nations have very little industrialization; what they do have often represents the outdated castoffs of core nations or the factories and means of production owned by core nations. They typically have unstable governments, inadequate social programs, and are economically dependent on core nations for jobs and aid. There are abundant examples of countries in this category, such as Vietnam and Cuba. We can be sure the workers in a Cuban cigar factory, for example, which are owned or leased by global core nation companies, are not enjoying the same privileges and rights as U.S. workers.
Semi-peripheral nations are in-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but nevertheless acting as a major source for raw material and an expanding middle-class marketplace for core nations, while also exploiting peripheral nations. Mexico is an example, providing abundant cheap agricultural labor to the U.S., and supplying goods to the United States market at a rate dictated by the U.S. without the constitutional protections offered to United States workers.
World Bank Economic Classification by Income
While the World Bank is often criticized, both for its policies and its method of calculating data, it is still a common source for global economic data. Along with tracking the economy, the World Bank tracks demographics and environmental health to provide a complete picture of whether a nation is high income, middle income, or low income.
High-Income Nations
The World Bank defines high-income nations as having a gross national income of at least $12,746 per capita. The OECD (Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development) countries make up a group of thirty-four nations whose governments work together to promote economic growth and sustainability. According to the World Bank (2014b), in 2013, the average gross national income (GNI) per capita, or the mean income of the people in a nation, found by dividing total GNI by the total population, of a high-income nation belonging to the OECD was $43,903 per capita and the total population was over one billion (1.045 billion); on average, 81 percent of the population in these nations was urban. Some of these countries include the United States, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom (World Bank 2014b).
High-income countries face two major issues: capital flight and deindustrialization. Capital flight refers to the movement (flight) of capital from one nation to another, as when General Motors automotive company closed U.S. factories in Michigan and opened factories in Mexico.Deindustrialization, a related issue, occurs as a consequence of capital flight, as no new companies open to replace jobs lost to foreign nations. As expected, global companies move their industrial processes to the places where they can get the most production with the least cost, including the building of infrastructure, training of workers, shipping of goods, and, of course, paying employee wages. This means that as emerging economies create their own industrial zones, global companies see the opportunity for existing infrastructure and much lower costs. Those opportunities lead to businesses closing the factories that provide jobs to the middle class within core nations and moving their industrial production to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations.
Capital Flight, Outsourcing, and Jobs in the United States
Capital flight describes jobs and infrastructure moving from one nation to another. Look at the U.S. automobile industry. In the early twentieth century, the cars driven in the United States were made here, employing thousands of workers in Detroit and in the companies that produced everything that made building cars possible. However, once the fuel crisis of the 1970s hit and people in the United States increasingly looked to imported cars with better gas mileage, U.S. auto manufacturing began to decline. During the 2007–2009 recession, the U.S. government bailed out the three main auto companies, underscoring their vulnerability. At the same time, Japanese-owned Toyota and Honda and South Korean Kia maintained stable sales levels.
Capital flight also occurs when services (as opposed to manufacturing) are relocated. Chances are if you have called the tech support line for your cell phone or Internet provider, you’ve spoken to someone halfway across the globe. This professional might tell you her name is Susan or Joan, but her accent makes it clear that her real name might be Parvati or Indira. It might be the middle of the night in that country, yet these service providers pick up the line saying, “Good morning,” as though they are in the next town over. They know everything about your phone or your modem, often using a remote server to log in to your home computer to accomplish what is needed. These are the workers of the twenty-first century. They are not on factory floors or in traditional sweatshops; they are educated, speak at least two languages, and usually have significant technology skills. They are skilled workers, but they are paid a fraction of what similar workers are paid in the United States. For U.S. and multinational companies, the equation makes sense. India and other semi-peripheral countries have emerging infrastructures and education systems to fill their needs, without core nation costs.
As services are relocated, so are jobs. In the United States, unemployment is high. Many college-educated people are unable to find work, and those with only a high school diploma are in even worse shape. We have, as a country, outsourced ourselves out of jobs, and not just menial jobs, but white-collar work as well. But before we complain too bitterly, we must look at the culture of consumerism that we embrace. A flat screen television that might have cost $1,000 a few years ago is now $350. That cost savings has to come from somewhere. When consumers seek the lowest possible price, shop at big box stores for the biggest discount they can get, and generally ignore other factors in exchange for low cost, they are building the market for outsourcing. And as the demand is built, the market will ensure it is met, even at the expense of the people who wanted it in the first place.
Middle-Income Nations
The World Bank defines middle-income economies areas those with a GNI per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $12,746. According to the World Bank (2014), in 2013, the average GNI per capita of an upper middle income nation was $7,594 per capita with a total population of 2.049 billion, of which 62 percent was urban. Thailand, China, and Namibia are examples of middle-income nations (World Bank 2014a).
Perhaps the most pressing issue for middle-income nations is the problem of debt accumulation. As the name suggests, debt accumulation is the buildup of external debt, wherein countries borrow money from other nations to fund their expansion or growth goals. As the uncertainties of the global economy make repaying these debts, or even paying the interest on them, more challenging, nations can find themselves in trouble. Once global markets have reduced the value of a country’s goods, it can be very difficult to ever manage the debt burden. Such issues have plagued middle-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as East Asian and Pacific nations (Dogruel and Dogruel 2007). By way of example, even in the European Union, which is composed of more core nations than semi-peripheral nations, the semi-peripheral nations of Italy and Greece face increasing debt burdens. The economic downturns in both Greece and Italy still threaten the economy of the entire European Union.
Low-Income Nations
The World Bank defines low-income countries as nations whose per capita GNI was $1,045 per capita or less in 2013. According to the World Bank (2014a), in 2013, the average per capita GNI of a low-income nation was $528 per capita and the total population was 796,261,360, with 28 percent located in urban areas. For example, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Somalia are considered low-income countries. Low-income economies are primarily found in Asia and Africa (World Bank 2014a), where most of the world’s population lives. There are two major challenges that these countries face: women are disproportionately affected by poverty (in a trend toward a global feminization of poverty) and much of the population lives in absolute poverty.
Summary
Stratification refers to the gaps in resources both between nations and within nations. While economic equality is of great concern, so is social equality, like the discrimination stemming from race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and/or sexual orientation. While global inequality is nothing new, several factors make it more relevant than ever, like the global marketplace and the pace of information sharing. Researchers try to understand global inequality by classifying it according to factors such as how industrialized a nation is, whether a country serves as a means of production or as an owner, and what income a nation produces.
Section Quiz
A sociologist who focuses on the way that multinational corporations headquartered in core nations exploit the local workers in their peripheral nation factories is using a _________ perspective to understand the global economy.
- functional
- conflict theory
- feminist
- symbolic interactionist
Hint:
B
A ____________ perspective theorist might find it particularly noteworthy that wealthy corporations improve the quality of life in peripheral nations by providing workers with jobs, pumping money into the local economy, and improving transportation infrastructure.
- functional
- conflict
- feminist
- symbolic interactionist
Hint:
A
A sociologist working from a symbolic interaction perspective would:
- study how inequality is created and reproduced
- study how corporations can improve the lives of their low-income workers
- try to understand how companies provide an advantage to high-income nations compared to low-income nations
- want to interview women working in factories to understand how they manage the expectations of their supervisors, make ends meet, and support their households on a day-to-day basis
Hint:
D
France might be classified as which kind of nation?
- Global
- Core
- Semi-peripheral
- Peripheral
Hint:
B
In the past, the United States manufactured clothes. Many clothing corporations have shut down their U.S. factories and relocated to China. This is an example of:
- conflict theory
- OECD
- global inequality
- capital flight
Hint:
D
Short Answer
Consider the matter of rock-bottom prices at Walmart. What would a functionalist think of Walmart's model of squeezing vendors to get the absolute lowest prices so it can pass them along to core nation consumers?
Why do you think some scholars find Cold War terminology (“first world” and so on) objectionable?
Give an example of the feminization of poverty in core nations. How is it the same or different in peripheral nations?
Pretend you are a sociologist studying global inequality by looking at child labor manufacturing Barbie dolls in China. What do you focus on? How will you find this information? What theoretical perspective might you use?
Further Research
To learn more about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, look here: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/UN_development_goals
To learn more about the existence and impact of global poverty, peruse the data here: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/poverty_data
References
Amnesty International. 2012. “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” Retrieved January 3, 2012 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity).
Castells, Manuel. 1998. End of Millennium. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Central Intelligence Agency. 2012. “The World Factbook.” Retrieved January 5, 2012 (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_noa.html).
Central Intelligence Agency. 2014. “Country Comparison: Infant Mortality Rate.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/rankorder/2091rank.html?countryname=Canada&countrycode=ca®ionCode=noa&rank=182#ca).
Dogruel, Fatma, and A. Suut Dogruel. 2007. “Foreign Debt Dynamics in Middle Income Countries.” Paper presented January 4, 2007 at Middle East Economic Association Meeting, Allied Social Science Associations, Chicago, IL.
Moghadam, Valentine M. 2005. “The Feminization of Poverty and Women’s Human Rights.” Gender Equality and Development Section UNESCO, July. Paris, France.
Myrdal, Gunnar. 1970. The Challenge of World Poverty: A World Anti-Poverty Program in Outline. New York: Pantheon.
Oxfam. 2014. “Working for the Few: Political Capture and Economic Inequality.” Oxfam.org. Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/bp-working-for-few-political-capture-economic-inequality-200114-summ-en.pdf).
United Nations. 2013. "Millennium Development Goals." Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml).
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1979. The Capitalist World Economy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge World Press.
World Bank. 2014a. “Gender Overview.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/overview#1).
World Bank. 2014b. “High Income: OECD: Data.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://data.worldbank.org/income-level/OEC).
World Bank. 2014c. “Low Income: Data.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://data.worldbank.org/income-level/LIC).
World Bank. 2014d. “Upper Middle Income: Data.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://data.worldbank.org/income-level/UMC).
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11795/overview",
"title": "Introduction to Sociology 2e, Global Inequality",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11796/overview
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Global Wealth and Poverty
Overview
- Understand the differences between relative, absolute, and subjective poverty
- Describe the economic situation of some of the world’s most impoverished areas
- Explain the cyclical impact of the consequences of poverty
What does it mean to be poor? Does it mean being a single mother with two kids in New York City, waiting for the next paycheck in order to buy groceries? Does it mean living with almost no furniture in your apartment because your income doesn’t allow for extras like beds or chairs? Or does it mean having to live with the distended bellies of the chronically malnourished throughout the peripheral nations of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia? Poverty has a thousand faces and a thousand gradations; there is no single definition that pulls together every part of the spectrum. You might feel you are poor if you can’t afford cable television or buy your own car. Every time you see a fellow student with a new laptop and smartphone you might feel that you, with your ten-year-old desktop computer, are barely keeping up. However, someone else might look at the clothes you wear and the calories you consume and consider you rich.
Types of Poverty
Social scientists define global poverty in different ways and take into account the complexities and the issues of relativism described above. Relative poverty is a state of living where people can afford necessities but are unable to meet their society’s average standard of living. People often disparage “keeping up with the Joneses”—the idea that you must keep up with the neighbors’ standard of living to not feel deprived. But it is true that you might feel ”poor” if you are living without a car to drive to and from work, without any money for a safety net should a family member fall ill, and without any “extras” beyond just making ends meet.
Contrary to relative poverty, people who live in absolute poverty lack even the basic necessities, which typically include adequate food, clean water, safe housing, and access to healthcare. Absolute poverty is defined by the World Bank (2014a) as when someone lives on less than $1.25 a day. According to the most recent estimates, in 2011, about 17 percent of people in the developing world lived at or below $1.25 a day, a decrease of 26 percent compared to ten years ago, and an overall decrease of 35 percent compared to twenty years ago. A shocking number of people––88 million––live in absolute poverty, and close to 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day (Shah 2011). If you were forced to live on $2.50 a day, how would you do it? What would you deem worthy of spending money on, and what could you do without? How would you manage the necessities—and how would you make up the gap between what you need to live and what you can afford?
Subjective poverty describes poverty that is composed of many dimensions; it is subjectively present when your actual income does not meet your expectations and perceptions. With the concept of subjective poverty, the poor themselves have a greater say in recognizing when it is present. In short, subjective poverty has more to do with how a person or a family defines themselves. This means that a family subsisting on a few dollars a day in Nepal might think of themselves as doing well, within their perception of normal. However, a westerner traveling to Nepal might visit the same family and see extreme need.
The Underground Economy Around the World
What do the driver of an unlicensed hack cab in New York, a piecework seamstress working from her home in Mumbai, and a street tortilla vendor in Mexico City have in common? They are all members of the underground economy, a loosely defined unregulated market unhindered by taxes, government permits, or human protections. Official statistics before the worldwide recession posit that the underground economy accounted for over 50 percent of nonagricultural work in Latin America; the figure went as high as 80 percent in parts of Asia and Africa (Chen 2001). A recent article in theWall Street Journal discusses the challenges, parameters, and surprising benefits of this informal marketplace. The wages earned in most underground economy jobs, especially in peripheral nations, are a pittance––a few rupees for a handmade bracelet at a market, or maybe 250 rupees ($5 U.S.) for a day’s worth of fruit and vegetable sales (Barta 2009). But these tiny sums mark the difference between survival and extinction for the world’s poor.
The underground economy has never been viewed very positively by global economists. After all, its members don’t pay taxes, don’t take out loans to grow their businesses, and rarely earn enough to put money back into the economy in the form of consumer spending. But according to the International Labor Organization (an agency of the United Nations), some 52 million people worldwide will lose their jobs due to the ongoing worldwide recession. And while those in core nations know that high unemployment rates and limited government safety nets can be frightening, their situation is nothing compared to the loss of a job for those barely eking out an existence. Once that job disappears, the chance of staying afloat is very slim.
Within the context of this recession, some see the underground economy as a key player in keeping people alive. Indeed, an economist at the World Bank credits jobs created by the informal economy as a primary reason why peripheral nations are not in worse shape during this recession. Women in particular benefit from the informal sector. The majority of economically active women in peripheral nations are engaged in the informal sector, which is somewhat buffered from the economic downturn. The flip side, of course, is that it is equally buffered from the possibility of economic growth.
Even in the United States, the informal economy exists, although not on the same scale as in peripheral and semi-peripheral nations. It might include under-the-table nannies, gardeners, and housecleaners, as well as unlicensed street vendors and taxi drivers. There are also those who run informal businesses, like daycares or salons, from their houses. Analysts estimate that this type of labor may make up 10 percent of the overall U.S. economy, a number that will likely grow as companies reduce head counts, leaving more workers to seek other options. In the end, the article suggests that, whether selling medicinal wines in Thailand or woven bracelets in India, the workers of the underground economy at least have what most people want most of all: a chance to stay afloat (Barta 2009).
Who Are the Impoverished?
Who are the impoverished? Who is living in absolute poverty? The truth that most of us would guess that the richest countries are often those with the least people. Compare the United States, which possesses a relatively small slice of the population pie and owns by far the largest slice of the wealth pie, with India. These disparities have the expected consequence. The poorest people in the world are women and those in peripheral and semi-peripheral nations. For women, the rate of poverty is particularly worsened by the pressure on their time. In general, time is one of the few luxuries the very poor have, but study after study has shown that women in poverty, who are responsible for all family comforts as well as any earnings they can make, have less of it. The result is that while men and women may have the same rate of economic poverty, women are suffering more in terms of overall wellbeing (Buvinic 1997). It is harder for females to get credit to expand businesses, to take the time to learn a new skill, or to spend extra hours improving their craft so as to be able to earn at a higher rate.
Global Feminization of Poverty
In some ways, the phrase "global feminization of poverty" says it all: around the world, women are bearing a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty. This means more women live in poor conditions, receive inadequate healthcare, bear the brunt of malnutrition and inadequate drinking water, and so on. Throughout the 1990s, data indicated that while overall poverty rates were rising, especially in peripheral nations, the rates of impoverishment increased for women nearly 20 percent more than for men (Mogadham 2005).
Why is this happening? While myriad variables affect women's poverty, research specializing in this issue identifies three causes (Mogadham 2005):
- The expansion in the number of female-headed households
- The persistence and consequences of intra-household inequalities and biases against women
- The implementation of neoliberal economic policies around the world
While women are living longer and healthier lives today compared to ten years ago, around the world many women are denied basic rights, particularly in the workplace. In peripheral nations, they accumulate fewer assets, farm less land, make less money, and face restricted civil rights and liberties. Women can stimulate the economic growth of peripheral nations, but they are often undereducated and lack access to credit needed to start small businesses.
In 2013, the United Nations assessed its progress toward achieving its Millennium Development Goals. Goal 3 was to promote gender equality and empower women, and there were encouraging advances in this area. While women’s employment outside the agricultural sector remains under 20 percent in Western Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Asia, worldwide it increased from 35–40 percent over the twenty-year period ending in 2010 (United Nations 2013).
Africa
The majority of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa. That is not to say there is not diversity within the countries of that continent; countries like South Africa and Egypt have much lower rates of poverty than Angola and Ethiopia, for instance. Overall, African income levels have been dropping relative to the rest of the world, meaning that Africa as a whole is getting relatively poorer. Making the problem worse, 2014 saw an outbreak of the Ebola virus in western Africa, leading to a public health crisis and an economic downturn due to loss of workers and tourist dollars.
Why is Africa in such dire straits? Much of the continent’s poverty can be traced to the availability of land, especially arable land (land that can be farmed). Centuries of struggle over land ownership have meant that much useable land has been ruined or left unfarmed, while many countries with inadequate rainfall have never set up an infrastructure to irrigate. Many of Africa’s natural resources were long ago taken by colonial forces, leaving little agricultural and mineral wealth on the continent.
Further, African poverty is worsened by civil wars and inadequate governance that are the result of a continent re-imagined with artificial colonial borders and leaders. Consider the example of Rwanda. There, two ethnic groups cohabitated with their own system of hierarchy and management until Belgians took control of the country in 1915 and rigidly confined members of the population into two unequal ethnic groups. While, historically, members of the Tutsi group held positions of power, the involvement of Belgians led to the Hutu’s seizing power during a 1960s revolt. This ultimately led to a repressive government and genocide against Tutsis that left hundreds of thousands of Rwandans dead or living in diaspora (U.S. Department of State 2011c). The painful rebirth of a self-ruled Africa has meant many countries bear ongoing scars as they try to see their way towards the future (World Poverty 2012a).
Asia
While the majority of the world’s poorest countries are in Africa, the majority of the world’s poorest people are in Asia. As in Africa, Asia finds itself with disparity in the distribution of poverty, with Japan and South Korea holding much more wealth than India and Cambodia. In fact, most poverty is concentrated in South Asia. One of the most pressing causes of poverty in Asia is simply the pressure that the size of the population puts on its resources. In fact, many believe that China’s success in recent times has much to do with its draconian population control rules. According to the U.S. State department, China’s market-oriented reforms have contributed to its significant reduction of poverty and the speed at which it has experienced an increase in income levels (U.S. Department of State 2011b). However, every part of Asia is feeling the current global recession, from the poorest countries whose aid packages will be hit, to the more industrialized ones whose own industries are slowing down. These factors make the poverty on the ground unlikely to improve any time soon (World Poverty 2012b).
MENA
The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) includes oil-rich countries in the Gulf, such as Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait, but also countries that are relatively resource-poor in relationship to their populations, such as Morocco and Yemen. These countries are predominately Islamic. For the last quarter-century, economic growth was slower in MENA than in other developing economies, and almost a quarter of the 300 million people who make up the population live on less than $2.00 a day (World Bank 2013).
The International Labour Organization tracks the way income inequality influences social unrest. The two regions with the highest risk of social unrest are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East-North Africa region (International Labour Organization 2012). Increasing unemployment and high socioeconomic inequality in MENA were major factors in the Arab Spring, which—beginning in 2010—toppled dictatorships throughout the Middle East in favor of democratically elected government; unemployment and income inequalities are still being blamed on immigrants, foreign nationals, and ethnic/religious minorities.
Sweatshops and Student Protests: Who’s Making Your Team Spirit?
Most of us don’t pay too much attention to where our favorite products are made. And certainly when you’re shopping for a college sweatshirt or ball cap to wear to a school football game, you probably don’t turn over the label, check who produced the item, and then research whether or not the company has fair labor practices. But for the members of USAS––United Students Against Sweatshops––that’s exactly what they do. The organization, which was founded in 1997, has waged countless battles against both apparel makers and other multinational corporations that do not meet what USAS considers fair working conditions and wages (USAS 2009).
Sometimes their demonstrations take on a sensationalist tone, as in 2006 when twenty Penn State students protested while naked or nearly naked, in order to draw attention to the issue of sweatshop labor. The school is actually already a member of an independent monitoring organization called Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) that monitors working conditions and works to assist colleges and universities with maintaining compliance with their labor code. But the students were protesting in order to have the same code of conduct applied to the factories that provide materials for the goods, not just where the final product is assembled (Chronicle of Higher Education 2006).
The USAS organization has chapters on over 250 campuses in the United States and Canada and has waged countless campaigns against companies like Nike and Forever 21 apparel, Taco Bell restaurants, and Sodexo food service. In 2000, members of USAS helped to create the WRC. Schools that affiliate with WRC pay annual fees that help offset the organization’s costs. Over 180 schools are affiliated with the organization. Yet, USAS still sees signs of inequality everywhere. And its members feel that, as current and future workers, they are responsible for ensuring that workers of the world are treated fairly. For them, at least, the global inequality we see everywhere should not be ignored for a team spirit sweatshirt.
Consequences of Poverty
Not surprisingly, the consequences of poverty are often also causes. The poor often experience inadequate healthcare, limited education, and the inaccessibility of birth control. But those born into these conditions are incredibly challenged in their efforts to break out since these consequences of poverty are also causes of poverty, perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage.
According to sociologists Neckerman and Torche (2007) in their analysis of global inequality studies, the consequences of poverty are many. Neckerman and Torche have divided them into three areas. The first, termed “the sedimentation of global inequality,” relates to the fact that once poverty becomes entrenched in an area, it is typically very difficult to reverse. As mentioned above, poverty exists in a cycle where the consequences and causes are intertwined. The second consequence of poverty is its effect on physical and mental health. Poor people face physical health challenges, including malnutrition and high infant mortality rates. Mental health is also detrimentally affected by the emotional stresses of poverty, with relative deprivation carrying the most robust effect. Again, as with the ongoing inequality, the effects of poverty on mental and physical health become more entrenched as time goes on. Neckerman and Torche’s third consequence of poverty is the prevalence of crime. Cross-nationally, crime rates are higher, particularly for violent crime, in countries with higher levels of income inequality (Fajnzylber, Lederman, and Loayza 2002).
Slavery
While most of us are accustomed to thinking of slavery in terms of the antebellum South, modern day slavery goes hand-in-hand with global inequality. In short, slavery refers to any situation in which people are sold, treated as property, or forced to work for little or no pay. Just as in the pre-Civil War United States, these humans are at the mercy of their employers. Chattel slavery, the form of slavery once practiced in the American South, occurs when one person owns another as property. Child slavery, which may include child prostitution, is a form of chattel slavery. Indebt bondage, or bonded labor, the poor pledge themselves as servants in exchange for the cost of basic necessities like transportation, room, and board. In this scenario, people are paid less than they are charged for room and board. When travel is required, they can arrive in debt for their travel expenses and be unable to work their way free, since their wages do not allow them to ever get ahead.
The global watchdog group Anti-Slavery International recognizes other forms of slavery: human trafficking (in which people are moved away from their communities and forced to work against their will), child domestic work and child labor, and certain forms of servile marriage, in which women are little more than chattel slaves (Anti-Slavery International 2012).
Summary
When looking at the world’s poor, we first have to define the difference between relative poverty, absolute poverty, and subjective poverty. While those in relative poverty might not have enough to live at their country’s standard of living, those in absolute poverty do not have, or barely have, basic necessities such as food. Subjective poverty has more to do with one’s perception of one’s situation. North America and Europe are home to fewer of the world’s poor than Africa, which has most poor countries, or Asia, which has the most people living in poverty. Poverty has numerous negative consequences, from increased crime rates to a detrimental impact on physical and mental health.
Section Quiz
Slavery in the pre-Civil War U.S. South most closely resembled
- chattel slavery
- debt bondage
- relative poverty
- peonage
Hint:
A
Maya is a twelve-year-old girl living in Thailand. She is homeless, and often does not know where she will sleep or when she will eat. We might say that Maya lives in _________ poverty.
- subjective
- absolute
- relative
- global
Hint:
B
Mike, a college student, rents a studio apartment. He cannot afford a television and lives on cheap groceries like dried beans and ramen noodles. Since he does not have a regular job, he does not own a car. Mike is living in:
- global poverty
- absolute poverty
- subjective poverty
- relative poverty
Hint:
D
Faith has a full-time job and two children. She has enough money for the basics and can pay her rent each month, but she feels that, with her education and experience, her income should be enough for her family to live much better than they do. Faith is experiencing:
- global poverty
- subjective poverty
- absolute poverty
- relative poverty
Hint:
B
In a U.S. town, a mining company owns all the stores and most of the houses. It sells goods to the workers at inflated prices, offers house rentals for twice what a mortgage would be, and makes sure to always pay the workers less than needed to cover food and rent. Once the workers are in debt, they have no choice but to continue working for the company, since their skills will not transfer to a new position. This situation most closely resembles:
- child slavery
- chattel slavery
- debt slavery
- servile marriage
Hint:
C
Short Answer
Consider the concept of subjective poverty. Does it make sense that poverty is in the eye of the beholder? When you see a homeless person, is your reaction different if he or she is seemingly content versus begging? Why?
Think of people among your family, your friends, or your classmates who are relatively unequal in terms of wealth. What is their relationship like? What factors come into play?
Go to your campus bookstore or visit its web site. Find out who manufactures apparel and novelty items with your school’s insignias. In what countries are these produced? Conduct some research to determine how well your school adheres to the principles advocated by USAS.
Further Research
Students often think that the United States is immune to the atrocity of human trafficking. Check out the following link to learn more about trafficking in the United States: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/human_trafficking_in_US
For more information about the ongoing practices of slavery in the modern world click here: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/anti-slavery
References
Anti-Slavery International. 2012. “What Is Modern Slavery?” Retrieved January 1, 2012 (http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/what_is_modern_slavery.aspx).
Barta, Patrick. 2009. “The Rise of the Underground.” Wall Street Journal, March 14. Retrieved January 1, 2012 (ttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123698646833925567.html).
Buvinić, M. 1997. “Women in Poverty: A New Global Underclass.” Foreign Policy, Fall (108):1–7.
Chen, Martha. 2001. “Women in the Informal Sector: A Global Picture, the Global Movement.” The SAIS Review 21:71–82
Chronicle of Higher Education. 2006. “Nearly Nude Penn State Students Protest Sweatshop Labor.” March 26. Retrieved January 4, 2012 (http://chronicle.com/article/Nearly-Nude-Penn-Staters/36772).
Fajnzylber, Pablo, Daniel Lederman, and Norman Loayza. 2002. “Inequality and Violent Crime.” Journal of Law and Economics 45:1–40.
International Labour Organization. 2012. “High Unemployment and Growing Inequality Fuel Social Unrest around the World.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/comment-analysis/WCMS_179430/lang--en/index.htm).
Neckerman, Kathryn, and Florencia Torche. 2007. “Inequality: Causes and Consequences.” Annual Review of Sociology 33:335–357.
Shah, Anup. 2011. “Poverty around the World.” Global Issues. Retrieved January 17, 2012 (http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/4).
U.S. Department of State. 2011a. “Background Note: Argentina.” Retrieved January 3, 2012 (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26516.htm).
U.S. Department of State. 2011b. “Background Note: China.” Retrieved January 3, 2012 (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm#econ).
U.S. Department of State. 2011c. “Background Note: Rwanda.” Retrieved January 3, 2012 (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm#econ).
USAS. 2009. “Mission, Vision and Organizing Philosophy.” August. Retrieved January 2, 2012 (http://usas.org).
World Bank. 2013. “Middle East and North Africa." Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/0,,menuPK:247619~pagePK:146748~piPK:146812~theSitePK:256299,00.html).
World Bank. 2014e. “Poverty Overview.” Retrieved November 7, 2014 (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview).
World Poverty. 2012a. “Poverty in Africa, Famine and Disease.” Retrieved January 2, 2012 (http://world-poverty.org/povertyinafrica.aspx).
World Poverty. 2012b “Poverty in Asia, Caste and Progress.” Retrieved January 2, 2012 (http://world-poverty.org/povertyinasia.aspx).
World Poverty. 2012c. “Poverty in Latin America, Foreign Aid Debt Burdens.” Retrieved January 2, 2012 (http://world-poverty.org/povertyinlatinamerica.aspx).
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Theoretical Perspectives on Global Stratification
Overview
- Describe the modernization and dependency theory perspectives on global stratification
As with any social issue, global or otherwise, scholars have developed a variety of theories to study global stratification. The two most widely applied perspectives are modernization theory and dependency theory.
Modernization Theory
According to modernization theory, low-income countries are affected by their lack of industrialization and can improve their global economic standing through (Armer and Katsillis 2010):
- an adjustment of cultural values and attitudes to work
- industrialization and other forms of economic growth
Critics point out the inherent ethnocentric bias of this theory. It supposes all countries have the same resources and are capable of following the same path. In addition, it assumes that the goal of all countries is to be as “developed” as possible. There is no room within this theory for the possibility that industrialization and technology are not the best goals.
There is, of course, some basis for this assumption. Data show that core nations tend to have lower maternal and child mortality rates, longer life spans, and less absolute poverty. It is also true that in the poorest countries, millions of people die from the lack of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, which are benefits most of us take for granted. At the same time, the issue is more complex than the numbers might suggest. Cultural equality, history, community, and local traditions are all at risk as modernization pushes into peripheral countries. The challenge, then, is to allow the benefits of modernization while maintaining a cultural sensitivity to what already exists.
Dependency Theory
Dependency theory was created in part as a response to the Western-centric mindset of modernization theory. It states that global inequality is primarily caused by core nations (or high-income nations) exploiting semi-peripheral and peripheral nations (or middle-income and low-income nations), which creates a cycle of dependence (Hendricks 2010). As long as peripheral nations are dependent on core nations for economic stimulus and access to a larger piece of the global economy, they will never achieve stable and consistent economic growth. Further, the theory states that since core nations, as well as the World Bank, choose which countries to make loans to, and for what they will loan funds, they are creating highly segmented labor markets that are built to benefit the dominant market countries.
At first glance, it seems this theory ignores the formerly low-income nations that are now considered middle-income nations and are on their way to becoming high-income nations and major players in the global economy, such as China. But some dependency theorists would state that it is in the best interests of core nations to ensure the long-term usefulness of their peripheral and semi-peripheral partners. Following that theory, sociologists have found that entities are more likely to outsource a significant portion of a company’s work if they are the dominant player in the equation; in other words, companies want to see their partner countries healthy enough to provide work, but not so healthy as to establish a threat (Caniels and Roeleveld 2009).
Factory Girls
We’ve examined functionalist and conflict theorist perspectives on global inequality, as well as modernization and dependency theories. How might a symbolic interactionist approach this topic?
The book Factory Girls: From Village to City in Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang, provides this opportunity. Chang follows two young women (Min and Chunming) employed at a handbag plant. They help manufacture coveted purses and bags for the global market. As part of the growing population of young people who are leaving behind the homesteads and farms of rural China, these female factory workers are ready to enter the urban fray and pursue an ambitious income.
Although Chang’s study is based in a town many have never heard of (Dongguan), this city produces one-third of all shoes on the planet (Nike and Reebok are major manufacturers here) and 30 percent of the world’s computer disk drives, in addition to an abundance of apparel (Chang 2008).
But Chang’s focus is centered less on this global phenomenon on a large scale, than on how it affects these two women. As a symbolic interactionist would do, Chang examines the daily lives and interactions of Min and Chunming—their workplace friendships, family relationships, gadgets and goods—in this evolving global space where young women can leave tradition behind and fashion their own futures. Their story is one that all people, not just scholars, can learn from as we contemplate sociological issues like global economies, cultural traditions and innovations, and opportunities for women in the workforce.
Summary
Modernization theory and dependency theory are two of the most common lenses sociologists use when looking at the issues of global inequality. Modernization theory posits that countries go through evolutionary stages and that industrialization and improved technology are the keys to forward movement. Dependency theory, on the other hand, sees modernization theory as Eurocentric and patronizing. With this theory, global inequality is the result of core nations creating a cycle of dependence by exploiting resources and labor in peripheral and semi-peripheral countries.
Section Quiz
One flaw in dependency theory is the unwillingness to recognize _______.
- that previously low-income nations such as China have successfully developed their economies and can no longer be classified as dependent on core nations
- that previously high-income nations such as China have been economically overpowered by low-income nations entering the global marketplace
- that countries such as China are growing more dependent on core nations
- that countries such as China do not necessarily want to be more like core nations
Hint:
A
One flaw in modernization theory is the unwillingness to recognize _________.
- that semi-peripheral nations are incapable of industrializing
- that peripheral nations prevent semi-peripheral nations from entering the global market
- its inherent ethnocentric bias
- the importance of semi-peripheral nations industrializing
Hint:
C
If a sociologist says that nations evolve toward more advanced technology and more complex industry as their citizens learn cultural values that celebrate hard work and success, she is using _______ theory to study the global economy.
- modernization theory
- dependency theory
- modern dependency theory
- evolutionary dependency theory
Hint:
A
If a sociologist points out that core nations dominate the global economy, in part by creating global interest rates and international tariffs that will inevitably favor high-income nations over low-income nations, he is a:
- functionalist
- dependency theorist
- modernization theorist
- symbolic interactionist
Hint:
B
Dependency theorists explain global inequality and global stratification by focusing on the way that:
- core nations and peripheral nations exploit semi-peripheral nations
- semi-peripheral nations exploit core nations
- peripheral nations exploit core nations
- core nations exploit peripheral nations
Hint:
D
Short Answer
There is much criticism that modernization theory is Eurocentric. Do you think dependency theory is also biased? Why, or why not?
Compare and contrast modernization theory and dependency theory. Which do you think is more useful for explaining global inequality? Explain, using examples.
Further Research
For more information about economic modernization, check out the Hudson Institute at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Hudson_Institute
Learn more about economic dependency at the University of Texas Inequality Project: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Texas_inequality_project
References
Armer, J. Michael, and John Katsillis. 2010. “Modernization Theory.” Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by E. F. Borgatta. Retrieved January 5, 2012 (http://edu.learnsoc.org/Chapters/3%20theories%20of%20sociology/11%20modernization%20theory.htm).
Caniels, Marjolein, C.J. Roeleveld, and Adriaan Roeleveld. 2009. “Power and Dependence Perspectives on Outsourcing Decisions.” European Management Journal 27:402–417. Retrieved January 4, 2012 (http://ou-nl.academia.edu/MarjoleinCaniels/Papers/645947/Power_and_dependence_perspectives_on_outsourcing_decisions).
Chang, Leslie T. 2008. Factory Girls: From Village to City in Changing China. New York: Random House.
Hendricks, John. 2010. “Dependency Theory.” Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by E.F. Borgatta. Retrieved January 5, 2012 (http://edu.learnsoc.org/Chapters/3%20theories%20of%20sociology/5%20dependency%20theory.htm).
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Introduction to Socialization
In the summer of 2005, police detective Mark Holste followed an investigator from the Department of Children and Families to a home in Plant City, Florida. They were there to look into a statement from the neighbor concerning a shabby house on Old Sydney Road. A small girl was reported peering from one of its broken windows. This seemed odd because no one in the neighborhood had seen a young child in or around the home, which had been inhabited for the past three years by a woman, her boyfriend, and two adult sons.
Who was the mystery girl in the window?
Entering the house, Detective Holste and his team were shocked. It was the worst mess they’d ever seen, infested with cockroaches, smeared with feces and urine from both people and pets, and filled with dilapidated furniture and ragged window coverings.
Detective Holste headed down a hallway and entered a small room. That’s where he found the little girl, with big, vacant eyes, staring into the darkness. A newspaper report later described the detective’s first encounter with the child: “She lay on a torn, moldy mattress on the floor. She was curled on her side . . . her ribs and collarbone jutted out . . . her black hair was matted, crawling with lice. Insect bites, rashes and sores pocked her skin . . . She was naked—except for a swollen diaper. … Her name, her mother said, was Danielle. She was almost seven years old” (DeGregory 2008).
Detective Holste immediately carried Danielle out of the home. She was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and evaluation. Through extensive testing, doctors determined that, although she was severely malnourished, Danielle was able to see, hear, and vocalize normally. Still, she wouldn’t look anyone in the eyes, didn’t know how to chew or swallow solid food, didn’t cry, didn’t respond to stimuli that would typically cause pain, and didn’t know how to communicate either with words or simple gestures such as nodding “yes” or “no.” Likewise, although tests showed she had no chronic diseases or genetic abnormalities, the only way she could stand was with someone holding onto her hands, and she “walked sideways on her toes, like a crab” (DeGregory 2008).
What had happened to Danielle? Put simply: beyond the basic requirements for survival, she had been neglected. Based on their investigation, social workers concluded that she had been left almost entirely alone in rooms like the one where she was found. Without regular interaction—the holding, hugging, talking, the explanations and demonstrations given to most young children—she had not learned to walk or to speak, to eat or to interact, to play or even to understand the world around her. From a sociological point of view, Danielle had not been socialized.
Socialization is the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society. It describes the ways that people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values.Socialization is not the same assocializing (interacting with others, like family, friends, and coworkers); to be precise, it is a sociological process that occurs through socializing. As Danielle’s story illustrates, even the most basic of human activities are learned. You may be surprised to know that even physical tasks like sitting, standing, and walking had not automatically developed for Danielle as she grew. And without socialization, Danielle hadn’t learned about the material culture of her society (the tangible objects a culture uses): for example, she couldn’t hold a spoon, bounce a ball, or use a chair for sitting. She also hadn’t learned its nonmaterial culture, such as its beliefs, values, and norms. She had no understanding of the concept of “family,” didn’t know cultural expectations for using a bathroom for elimination, and had no sense of modesty. Most importantly, she hadn’t learned to use the symbols that make up language—through which we learn about who we are, how we fit with other people, and the natural and social worlds in which we live.
Sociologists have long been fascinated by circumstances like Danielle’s—in which a child receives sufficient human support to survive, but virtually no social interaction—because they highlight how much we depend on social interaction to provide the information and skills that we need to be part of society or even to develop a “self.”
The necessity for early social contact was demonstrated by the research of Harry and Margaret Harlow. From 1957 to 1963, the Harlows conducted a series of experiments studying how rhesus monkeys, which behave a lot like people, are affected by isolation as babies. They studied monkeys raised under two types of “substitute” mothering circumstances: a mesh and wire sculpture, or a soft terrycloth “mother.” The monkeys systematically preferred the company of a soft, terrycloth substitute mother (closely resembling a rhesus monkey) that was unable to feed them, to a mesh and wire mother that provided sustenance via a feeding tube. This demonstrated that while food was important, social comfort was of greater value (Harlow and Harlow 1962; Harlow 1971). Later experiments testing more severe isolation revealed that such deprivation of social contact led to significant developmental and social challenges later in life.
In the following sections, we will examine the importance of the complex process of socialization and how it takes place through interaction with many individuals, groups, and social institutions. We will explore how socialization is not only critical to children as they develop but how it is also a lifelong process through which we become prepared for new social environments and expectations in every stage of our lives. But first, we will turn to scholarship about self-development, the process of coming to recognize a sense of self, a “self” that is then able to be socialized.
References
DeGregory, Lane. 2008. “The Girl in the Window.” St. Petersburg Times, July 31. Retrieved January 31, 2012 (http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece).
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Theories of Self-Development
Overview
- Understand the difference between psychological and sociological theories of self-development
- Explain the process of moral development
When we are born, we have a genetic makeup and biological traits. However, who we are as human beings develops through social interaction. Many scholars, both in the fields of psychology and in sociology, have described the process of self-development as a precursor to understanding how that “self” becomes socialized.
Psychological Perspectives on Self-Development
Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was one of the most influential modern scientists to put forth a theory about how people develop a sense of self. He believed that personality and sexual development were closely linked, and he divided the maturation process into psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. He posited that people’s self-development is closely linked to early stages of development, like breastfeeding, toilet training, and sexual awareness (Freud 1905).
According to Freud, failure to properly engage in or disengage from a specific stage results in emotional and psychological consequences throughout adulthood. An adult with an oral fixation may indulge in overeating or binge drinking. An anal fixation may produce a neat freak (hence the term “anal retentive”), while a person stuck in the phallic stage may be promiscuous or emotionally immature. Although no solid empirical evidence supports Freud’s theory, his ideas continue to contribute to the work of scholars in a variety of disciplines.
Sociology or Psychology: What’s the Difference?
You might be wondering: if sociologists and psychologists are both interested in people and their behavior, how are these two disciplines different? What do they agree on, and where do their ideas diverge? The answers are complicated, but the distinction is important to scholars in both fields.
As a general difference, we might say that while both disciplines are interested in human behavior, psychologists are focused on how the mind influences that behavior, while sociologists study the role of society in shaping behavior. Psychologists are interested in people’s mental development and how their minds process their world. Sociologists are more likely to focus on how different aspects of society contribute to an individual’s relationship with his world. Another way to think of the difference is that psychologists tend to look inward (mental health, emotional processes), while sociologists tend to look outward (social institutions, cultural norms, interactions with others) to understand human behavior.
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) was the first to make this distinction in research, when he attributed differences in suicide rates among people to social causes (religious differences) rather than to psychological causes (like their mental wellbeing) (Durkheim 1897). Today, we see this same distinction. For example, a sociologist studying how a couple gets to the point of their first kiss on a date might focus her research on cultural norms for dating, social patterns of sexual activity over time, or how this process is different for seniors than for teens. A psychologist would more likely be interested in the person’s earliest sexual awareness or the mental processing of sexual desire.
Sometimes sociologists and psychologists have collaborated to increase knowledge. In recent decades, however, their fields have become more clearly separated as sociologists increasingly focus on large societal issues and patterns, while psychologists remain honed in on the human mind. Both disciplines make valuable contributions through different approaches that provide us with different types of useful insights.
Psychologist Erik Erikson (1902–1994) created a theory of personality development based, in part, on the work of Freud. However, Erikson believed the personality continued to change over time and was never truly finished. His theory includes eight stages of development, beginning with birth and ending with death. According to Erikson, people move through these stages throughout their lives. In contrast to Freud’s focus on psychosexual stages and basic human urges, Erikson’s view of self-development gave credit to more social aspects, like the way we negotiate between our own base desires and what is socially accepted (Erikson 1982).
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) was a psychologist who specialized in child development who focused specifically on the role of social interactions in their development. He recognized that the development of self evolved through a negotiation between the world as it exists in one’s mind and the world that exists as it is experienced socially (Piaget 1954). All three of these thinkers have contributed to our modern understanding of self-development.
Sociological Theories of Self-Development
One of the pioneering contributors to sociological perspectives was Charles Cooley (1864–1929). He asserted that people’s self understanding is constructed, in part, by their perception of how others view them—a process termed “the looking glass self” (Cooley 1902).
Later, George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) studied the self, a person’s distinct identity that is developed through social interaction. In order to engage in this process of “self,” an individual has to be able to view him or herself through the eyes of others. That’s not an ability that we are born with (Mead 1934). Through socialization we learn to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and look at the world through their perspective. This assists us in becoming self-aware, as we look at ourselves from the perspective of the "other." The case of Danielle, for example, illustrates what happens when social interaction is absent from early experience: Danielle had no ability to see herself as others would see her. From Mead’s point of view, she had no “self.”
How do we go from being newborns to being humans with “selves?” Mead believed that there is a specific path of development that all people go through. During the preparatory stage, children are only capable of imitation: they have no ability to imagine how others see things. They copy the actions of people with whom they regularly interact, such as their mothers and fathers. This is followed by the play stage, during which children begin to take on the role that one other person might have. Thus, children might try on a parent’s point of view by acting out “grownup” behavior, like playing “dress up” and acting out the “mom” role, or talking on a toy telephone the way they see their father do.
During the game stage, children learn to consider several roles at the same time and how those roles interact with each other. They learn to understand interactions involving different people with a variety of purposes. For example, a child at this stage is likely to be aware of the different responsibilities of people in a restaurant who together make for a smooth dining experience (someone seats you, another takes your order, someone else cooks the food, while yet another clears away dirty dishes).
Finally, children develop, understand, and learn the idea of the generalized other, the common behavioral expectations of general society. By this stage of development, an individual is able to imagine how he or she is viewed by one or many others—and thus, from a sociological perspective, to have a “self” (Mead 1934; Mead 1964).
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Moral development is an important part of the socialization process. The term refers to the way people learn what society considered to be “good” and “bad,” which is important for a smoothly functioning society. Moral development prevents people from acting on unchecked urges, instead considering what is right for society and good for others. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) was interested in how people learn to decide what is right and what is wrong. To understand this topic, he developed a theory of moral development that includes three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.
In the preconventional stage, young children, who lack a higher level of cognitive ability, experience the world around them only through their senses. It isn’t until the teen years that the conventional theory develops, when youngsters become increasingly aware of others’ feelings and take those into consideration when determining what’s “good” and “bad.” The final stage, called postconventional, is when people begin to think of morality in abstract terms, such as Americans believing that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. At this stage, people also recognize that legality and morality do not always match up evenly (Kohlberg 1981). When hundreds of thousands of Egyptians turned out in 2011 to protest government corruption, they were using postconventional morality. They understood that although their government was legal, it was not morally correct.
Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development and Gender
Another sociologist, Carol Gilligan (1936–), recognized that Kohlberg’s theory might show gender bias since his research was only conducted on male subjects. Would females study subjects have responded differently? Would a female social scientist notice different patterns when analyzing the research? To answer the first question, she set out to study differences between how boys and girls developed morality. Gilligan’s research demonstrated that boys and girls do, in fact, have different understandings of morality. Boys tend to have a justice perspective, by placing emphasis on rules and laws. Girls, on the other hand, have a care and responsibility perspective; they consider people’s reasons behind behavior that seems morally wrong.
Gilligan also recognized that Kohlberg’s theory rested on the assumption that the justice perspective was the right, or better, perspective. Gilligan, in contrast, theorized that neither perspective was “better”: the two norms of justice served different purposes. Ultimately, she explained that boys are socialized for a work environment where rules make operations run smoothly, while girls are socialized for a home environment where flexibility allows for harmony in caretaking and nurturing (Gilligan 1982; Gilligan 1990).
What a Pretty Little Lady!
“What a cute dress!” “I like the ribbons in your hair.” “Wow, you look so pretty today.”
According to Lisa Bloom, author of Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed Down World, most of us use pleasantries like these when we first meet little girls. “So what?” you might ask.
Bloom asserts that we are too focused on the appearance of young girls, and as a result, our society is socializing them to believe that how they look is of vital importance. And Bloom may be on to something. How often do you tell a little boy how attractive his outfit is, how nice looking his shoes are, or how handsome he looks today? To support her assertions, Bloom cites, as one example, that about 50 percent of girls ages three to six worry about being fat (Bloom 2011). We’re talking about kindergarteners who are concerned about their body image. Sociologists are acutely interested in of this type of gender socialization, by which societal expectations of how boys and girls should be—how they should behave, what toys and colors they should like, and how important their attire is—are reinforced.
One solution to this type of gender socialization is being experimented with at the Egalia preschool in Sweden, where children develop in a genderless environment. All the children at Egalia are referred to with neutral terms like “friend” instead of “he” or “she.” Play areas and toys are consciously set up to eliminate any reinforcement of gender expectations (Haney 2011). Egalia strives to eliminate all societal gender norms from these children’s preschool world.
Extreme? Perhaps. So what is the middle ground? Bloom suggests that we start with simple steps: when introduced to a young girl, ask about her favorite book or what she likes. In short, engage with her mind … not her outward appearance (Bloom 2011).
Summary
Psychological theories of self-development have been broadened by sociologists who explicitly study the role of society and social interaction in self-development. Charles Cooley and George Mead both contributed significantly to the sociological understanding of the development of self. Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan developed their ideas further and researched how our sense of morality develops. Gilligan added the dimension of gender differences to Kohlberg’s theory.
Section Quiz
Socialization, as a sociological term, describes:
- how people interact during social situations
- how people learn societal norms, beliefs, and values
- a person’s internal mental state when in a group setting
- the difference between introverts and extroverts
Hint:
B
The Harlows’ study on rhesus monkeys showed that:
- rhesus monkeys raised by other primate species are poorly socialized
- monkeys can be adequately socialized by imitating humans
- food is more important than social comfort
- social comfort is more important than food
Hint:
D
What occurs in Lawrence Kohlberg’s conventional level?
- Children develop the ability to have abstract thoughts.
- Morality is developed by pain and pleasure.
- Children begin to consider what society considers moral and immoral.
- Parental beliefs have no influence on children’s morality.
Hint:
C
What did Carol Gilligan believe earlier researchers into morality had overlooked?
- The justice perspective
- Sympathetic reactions to moral situations
- The perspective of females
- How social environment affects how morality develops
Hint:
C
What is one way to distinguish between psychology and sociology?
- Psychology focuses on the mind, while sociology focuses on society.
- Psychologists are interested in mental health, while sociologists are interested in societal functions.
- Psychologists look inward to understand behavior while sociologists look outward.
- All of the above
Hint:
D
How did nearly complete isolation as a child affect Danielle’s verbal abilities?
- She could not communicate at all.
- She never learned words, but she did learn signs.
- She could not understand much, but she could use gestures.
- She could understand and use basic language like “yes” and “no.”
Hint:
A
Short Answer
Think of a current issue or pattern that a sociologist might study. What types of questions would the sociologist ask, and what research methods might he employ? Now consider the questions and methods a psychologist might use to study the same issue. Comment on their different approaches.
Explain why it’s important to conduct research using both male and female participants. What sociological topics might show gender differences? Provide some examples to illustrate your ideas.
Further Research
Lawrence Kohlberg was most famous for his research using moral dilemmas. He presented dilemmas to boys and asked them how they would judge the situations. Visit http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Dilemma to read about Kohlberg’s most famous moral dilemma, known as the Heinz dilemma.
References
Cooley, Charles Horton. 1902. “The Looking Glass Self.” Pp. 179–185 in Human Nature and Social Order. New York: Scribner’s.
Bloom, Lisa. 2011. “How to Talk to Little Girls.” Huffington Post, June 22. Retrieved January 12, 2012 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html).
Erikson, Erik. 1982. The Lifecycle Completed: A Review. New York: Norton.
Durkheim, Émile. 2011 [1897]. Suicide. London: Routledge.
Freud, Sigmund. 2000 [1904]. Three Essays on Theories of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books.
Gilligan, Carol. 1982. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gilligan, Carol. 1990. Making Connections: The Relational Worlds of Adolescent Girls at Emma Willard School. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Haney, Phil. 2011. “Genderless Preschool in Sweden.” Baby & Kids, June 28. Retrieved January 12, 2012 (http://www.neatorama.com/2011/06/28/genderless-preschool-in-sweden/).
Harlow, Harry F. 1971. Learning to Love. New York: Ballantine.
Harlow, Harry F., and Margaret Kuenne Harlow. 1962. “Social Deprivation in Monkeys.” Scientific American November:137–46.
Kohlberg, Lawrence. 1981. The Psychology of Moral Development: The Nature and Validity of Moral Stages. New York: Harper and Row.
Mead, George H. 1934. Mind, Self and Society, edited by C. W. Morris. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mead, George H. 1964. On Social Psychology, edited by A. Strauss. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Piaget, Jean. 1954. The Construction of Reality in the Child. New York: Basic Books.
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Why Socialization Matters
Overview
- Understand the importance of socialization both for individuals and society
- Explain the nature versus nurture debate
Socialization is critical both to individuals and to the societies in which they live. It illustrates how completely intertwined human beings and their social worlds are. First, it is through teaching culture to new members that a society perpetuates itself. If new generations of a society don’t learn its way of life, it ceases to exist. Whatever is distinctive about a culture must be transmitted to those who join it in order for a society to survive. For U.S. culture to continue, for example, children in the United States must learn about cultural values related to democracy: they have to learn the norms of voting, as well as how to use material objects such as voting machines. Of course, some would argue that it’s just as important in U.S. culture for the younger generation to learn the etiquette of eating in a restaurant or the rituals of tailgate parties at football games. In fact, there are many ideas and objects that people in the United States teach children about in hopes of keeping the society’s way of life going through another generation.
Socialization is just as essential to us as individuals. Social interaction provides the means via which we gradually become able to see ourselves through the eyes of others, and how we learn who we are and how we fit into the world around us. In addition, to function successfully in society, we have to learn the basics of both material and nonmaterial culture, everything from how to dress ourselves to what’s suitable attire for a specific occasion; from when we sleep to what we sleep on; and from what’s considered appropriate to eat for dinner to how to use the stove to prepare it. Most importantly, we have to learn language—whether it’s the dominant language or one common in a subculture, whether it’s verbal or through signs—in order to communicate and to think. As we saw with Danielle, without socialization we literally have no self.
Nature versus Nurture
Some experts assert that who we are is a result of nurture—the relationships and caring that surround us. Others argue that who we are is based entirely in genetics. According to this belief, our temperaments, interests, and talents are set before birth. From this perspective, then, who we are depends onnature.
One way researchers attempt to measure the impact of nature is by studying twins. Some studies have followed identical twins who were raised separately. The pairs shared the same genetics but in some cases were socialized in different ways. Instances of this type of situation are rare, but studying the degree to which identical twins raised apart are the same and different can give researchers insight into the way our temperaments, preferences, and abilities are shaped by our genetic makeup versus our social environment.
For example, in 1968, twin girls born to a mentally ill mother were put up for adoption, separated from each other, and raised in different households. The adoptive parents, and certainly the babies, did not realize the girls were one of five pairs of twins who were made subjects of a scientific study (Flam 2007).
In 2003, the two women, then age thirty-five, were reunited. Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein sat together in awe, feeling like they were looking into a mirror. Not only did they look alike but they also behaved alike, using the same hand gestures and facial expressions (Spratling 2007). Studies like these point to the genetic roots of our temperament and behavior.
Though genetics and hormones play an important role in human behavior, sociology’s larger concern is the effect society has on human behavior, the “nurture” side of the nature versus nurture debate. What race were the twins? From what social class were their parents? What about gender? Religion? All these factors affected the lives of the twins as much as their genetic makeup and are critical to consider as we look at life through the sociological lens.
The Life of Chris Langan, the Smartest Man You’ve Never Heard Of
Bouncer. Firefighter. Factory worker. Cowboy. Chris Langan spent the majority of his adult life just getting by with jobs like these. He had no college degree, few resources, and a past filled with much disappointment. Chris Langan also had an IQ of over 195, nearly 100 points higher than the average person (Brabham 2001). So why didn’t Chris become a neurosurgeon, professor, or aeronautical engineer? According to Macolm Gladwell (2008) in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Chris didn’t possess the set of social skills necessary to succeed on such a high level—skills that aren’t innate but learned.
Gladwell looked to a recent study conducted by sociologist Annette Lareau in which she closely shadowed 12 families from various economic backgrounds and examined their parenting techniques. Parents from lower income families followed a strategy of “accomplishment of natural growth,” which is to say they let their children develop on their own with a large amount of independence; parents from higher-income families, however, “actively fostered and accessed a child’s talents, opinions, and skills” (Gladwell 2008). These parents were more likely to engage in analytical conversation, encourage active questioning of the establishment, and foster development of negotiation skills. The parents were also able to introduce their children to a wide range of activities, from sports to music to accelerated academic programs. When one middle-class child was denied entry to a gifted and talented program, the mother petitioned the school and arranged additional testing until her daughter was admitted. Lower-income parents, however, were more likely to unquestioningly obey authorities such as school boards. Their children were not being socialized to comfortably confront the system and speak up (Gladwell 2008).
What does this have to do with Chris Langan, deemed by some the smartest man in the world (Brabham 2001)? Chris was born in severe poverty, moving across the country with an abusive and alcoholic stepfather. His genius went largely unnoticed. After accepting a full scholarship to Reed College, he lost his funding after his mother failed to fill out necessary paperwork. Unable to successfully make his case to the administration, Chris, who had received straight A’s the previous semester, was given F’s on his transcript and forced to drop out. After he enrolled in Montana State, an administrator’s refusal to rearrange his class schedule left him unable to find the means necessary to travel the 16 miles to attend classes. What Chris had in brilliance, he lacked in practical intelligence, or what psychologist Robert Sternberg defines as “knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect” (Sternberg et al. 2000). Such knowledge was never part of his socialization.
Chris gave up on school and began working an array of blue-collar jobs, pursuing his intellectual interests on the side. Though he’s recently garnered attention for his “Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe,” he remains weary of and resistant to the educational system.
As Gladwell concluded, “He’d had to make his way alone, and no one—not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses—ever makes it alone” (2008).
Sociologists all recognize the importance of socialization for healthy individual and societal development. But how do scholars working in the three major theoretical paradigms approach this topic? Structural functionalists would say that socialization is essential to society, both because it trains members to operate successfully within it and because it perpetuates culture by transmitting it to new generations. Without socialization, a society’s culture would perish as members died off. A conflict theorist might argue that socialization reproduces inequality from generation to generation by conveying different expectations and norms to those with different social characteristics. For example, individuals are socialized differently by gender, social class, and race. As in Chris Langan's case, this creates different (unequal) opportunities. An interactionist studying socialization is concerned with face-to-face exchanges and symbolic communication. For example, dressing baby boys in blue and baby girls in pink is one small way we convey messages about differences in gender roles.
Summary
Socialization is important because it helps uphold societies and cultures; it is also a key part of individual development. Research demonstrates that who we are is affected by both nature (our genetic and hormonal makeup) and nurture (the social environment in which we are raised). Sociology is most concerned with the way that society’s influence affects our behavior patterns, made clear by the way behavior varies across class and gender.
Section Quiz
Why do sociologists need to be careful when drawing conclusions from twin studies?
- The results do not apply to singletons.
- The twins were often raised in different ways.
- The twins may turn out to actually be fraternal.
- The sample sizes are often small.
Hint:
D
From a sociological perspective, which factor does not greatly influence a person’s socialization?
- Gender
- Class
- Blood type
- Race
Hint:
C
Chris Langan’s story illustrates that:
- children raised in one-parent households tend to have higher IQs.
- intelligence is more important than socialization.
- socialization can be more important than intelligence.
- neither socialization nor intelligence affects college admissions.
Hint:
C
Short Answer
Why are twin studies an important way to learn about the relative effects of genetics and socialization on children? What questions about human development do you believe twin studies are best for answering? For what types of questions would twin studies not be as helpful?
Why do you think that people like Chris Langan continue to have difficulty even after they are helped through societal systems? What is it they’ve missed that prevents them from functioning successfully in the social world?
Further Research
Learn more about five other sets of twins who grew up apart and discovered each other later in life at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/twins
References
Brabham, Denis. 2001. “The Smart Guy.” Newsday, August 21. Retrieved January 31, 2012 (http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/TheSmartGuy.pdf).
Flam, Faye. 2007. “Separated Twins Shed Light on Identity Issues.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9. Retrieved January 31, 2012 (http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/TheSmartGuy.pdf).
Gladwell, Malcolm. 2008. “The Trouble With Geniuses, Part 2.” Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Spratling, Cassandra. 2007. “Nature and Nurture.” Detroit Free Press. November 25. Retrieved January 31, 2012 (http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2007-11-25/news/26786902_1_twins-adoption-identical-strangers).
Sternberg, R.J., G.B. Forsythe, J. Hedlund, J. Horvath, S. Snook, W.M. Williams, R.K. Wagner, and E.L. Grigorenko. 2000. Practical Intelligence in Everyday Life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Agents of Socialization
Overview
- Learn the roles of families and peer groups in socialization
- Understand how we are socialized through formal institutions like schools, workplaces, and the government
Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds. How does the process of socialization occur? How do we learn to use the objects of our society’s material culture? How do we come to adopt the beliefs, values, and norms that represent its nonmaterial culture? This learning takes place through interaction with various agents of socialization, like peer groups and families, plus both formal and informal social institutions.
Social Group Agents
Social groups often provide the first experiences of socialization. Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society.
Family
Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes); how to relate to others (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own experience as a child or from your role in helping to raise one, socialization includes teaching and learning about an unending array of objects and ideas.
Keep in mind, however, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many social factors affect the way a family raises its children. For example, we can use sociological imagination to recognize that individual behaviors are affected by the historical period in which they take place. Sixty years ago, it would not have been considered especially strict for a father to hit his son with a wooden spoon or a belt if he misbehaved, but today that same action might be considered child abuse.
Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in socialization. For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity (National Opinion Research Center 2008). This may occur because working-class parents have less education and more repetitive-task jobs for which it is helpful to be able to follow rules and conform. Wealthy parents tend to have better educations and often work in managerial positions or careers that require creative problem solving, so they teach their children behaviors that are beneficial in these positions. This means children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs their parents already have, thus reproducing the class system (Kohn 1977). Likewise, children are socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors.
In Sweden, for instance, stay-at-home fathers are an accepted part of the social landscape. A government policy provides subsidized time off work—480 days for families with newborns—with the option of the paid leave being shared between mothers and fathers. As one stay-at-home dad says, being home to take care of his baby son “is a real fatherly thing to do. I think that’s very masculine” (Associated Press 2011). Close to 90 percent of Swedish fathers use their paternity leave (about 340,000 dads); on average they take seven weeks per birth (The Economist, 2014). How do U.S. policies—and our society’s expected gender roles—compare? How will Swedish children raised this way be socialized to parental gender norms? How might that be different from parental gender norms in the United States?
Peer Groups
A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, the rules of a game, or how to shoot a basket. As children grow into teenagers, this process continues. Peer groups are important to adolescents in a new way, as they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. Additionally, peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families. Peer groups provide adolescents’ first major socialization experience outside the realm of their families. Interestingly, studies have shown that although friendships rank high in adolescents’ priorities, this is balanced by parental influence.
Institutional Agents
The social institutions of our culture also inform our socialization. Formal institutions—like schools, workplaces, and the government—teach people how to behave in and navigate these systems. Other institutions, like the media, contribute to socialization by inundating us with messages about norms and expectations.
School
Most U.S. children spend about seven hours a day, 180 days a year, in school, which makes it hard to deny the importance school has on their socialization (U.S. Department of Education 2004). Students are not in school only to study math, reading, science, and other subjects—the manifest function of this system. Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks.
School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and leaders, regularly reinforce what society expects from children. Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools.
For example, in the United States, schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students (Bowles and Gintis 1976). When children participate in a relay race or a math contest, they learn there are winners and losers in society. When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in cooperative situations. The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. Children learn how to deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day. Schools in different cultures socialize children differently in order to prepare them to function well in those cultures. The latent functions of teamwork and dealing with bureaucracy are features of U.S. culture.
Schools also socialize children by teaching them about citizenship and national pride. In the United States, children are taught to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Most districts require classes about U.S. history and geography. As academic understanding of history evolves, textbooks in the United States have been scrutinized and revised to update attitudes toward other cultures as well as perspectives on historical events; thus, children are socialized to a different national or world history than earlier textbooks may have done. For example, information about the mistreatment of African Americans and Native American Indians more accurately reflects those events than in textbooks of the past.
Controversial Textbooks
On August 13, 2001, twenty South Korean men gathered in Seoul. Each chopped off one of his own fingers because of textbooks. These men took drastic measures to protest eight middle school textbooks approved by Tokyo for use in Japanese middle schools. According to the Korean government (and other East Asian nations), the textbooks glossed over negative events in Japan’s history at the expense of other Asian countries.
In the early 1900s, Japan was one of Asia’s more aggressive nations. For instance, it held Korea as a colony between 1910 and 1945. Today, Koreans argue that the Japanese are whitewashing that colonial history through these textbooks. One major criticism is that they do not mention that, during World War II, the Japanese forced Korean women into sexual slavery. The textbooks describe the women as having been “drafted” to work, a euphemism that downplays the brutality of what actually occurred. Some Japanese textbooks dismiss an important Korean independence demonstration in 1919 as a “riot.” In reality, Japanese soldiers attacked peaceful demonstrators, leaving roughly 6,000 dead and 15,000 wounded (Crampton 2002).
Although it may seem extreme that people are so enraged about how events are described in a textbook that they would resort to dismemberment, the protest affirms that textbooks are a significant tool of socialization in state-run education systems.
The Workplace
Just as children spend much of their day at school, many U.S. adults at some point invest a significant amount of time at a place of employment. Although socialized into their culture since birth, workers require new socialization into a workplace, in terms of both material culture (such as how to operate the copy machine) and nonmaterial culture (such as whether it’s okay to speak directly to the boss or how to share the refrigerator).
Different jobs require different types of socialization. In the past, many people worked a single job until retirement. Today, the trend is to switch jobs at least once a decade. Between the ages of eighteen and forty-six, the average baby boomer of the younger set held 11.3 different jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This means that people must become socialized to, and socialized by, a variety of work environments.
Religion
While some religions are informal institutions, here we focus on practices followed by formal institutions. Religion is an important avenue of socialization for many people. The United States is full of synagogues, temples, churches, mosques, and similar religious communities where people gather to worship and learn. Like other institutions, these places teach participants how to interact with the religion’s material culture (like a mezuzah, a prayer rug, or a communion wafer). For some people, important ceremonies related to family structure—like marriage and birth—are connected to religious celebrations. Many religious institutions also uphold gender norms and contribute to their enforcement through socialization. From ceremonial rites of passage that reinforce the family unit to power dynamics that reinforce gender roles, organized religion fosters a shared set of socialized values that are passed on through society.
Government
Although we do not think about it, many of the rites of passage people go through today are based on age norms established by the government. To be defined as an “adult” usually means being eighteen years old, the age at which a person becomes legally responsible for him- or herself. And sixty-five years old is the start of “old age” since most people become eligible for senior benefits at that point.
Each time we embark on one of these new categories—senior, adult, taxpayer—we must be socialized into our new role. Seniors must learn the ropes of Medicare, Social Security benefits, and senior shopping discounts. When U.S. males turn eighteen, they must register with the Selective Service System within thirty days to be entered into a database for possible military service. These government dictates mark the points at which we require socialization into a new category.
Mass Media
Mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. With the average person spending over four hours a day in front of the television (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly influences social norms (Roberts, Foehr, and Rideout 2005). People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).
Girls and Movies
Pixar is one of the largest producers of children’s movies in the world and has released large box office draws, such as Toy Story,Cars,The Incredibles, andUp. What Pixar has never before produced is a movie with a female lead role. This changed with Pixar’s newest movieBrave, which was released in 2012. BeforeBrave, women in Pixar served as supporting characters and love interests. InUp, for example, the only human female character dies within the first ten minutes of the film. For the millions of girls watching Pixar films, there are few strong characters or roles for them to relate to. If they do not see possible versions of themselves, they may come to view women as secondary to the lives of men.
The animated films of Pixar’s parent company, Disney, have many female lead roles. Disney is well known for films with female leads, such as Snow White,Cinderella,The Little Mermaid, andMulan. Many of Disney’s movies star a female, and she is nearly always a princess figure. If she is not a princess to begin with, she typically ends the movie by marrying a prince or, in the case of Mulan, a military general. Although not all “princesses” in Disney movies play a passive role in their lives, they typically find themselves needing to be rescued by a man, and the happy ending they all search for includes marriage.
Alongside this prevalence of princesses, many parents are expressing concern about the culture of princesses that Disney has created. Peggy Orenstein addresses this problem in her popular book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter. Orenstein wonders why every little girl is expected to be a “princess” and why pink has become an all-consuming obsession for many young girls. Another mother wondered what she did wrong when her three-year-old daughter refused to do “nonprincessy” things, including running and jumping. The effects of this princess culture can have negative consequences for girls throughout life. An early emphasis on beauty and sexiness can lead to eating disorders, low self-esteem, and risky sexual behavior among older girls.
What should we expect from Pixar’s new movie, the first starring a female character? Although Brave features a female lead, she is still a princess. Will this film offer any new type of role model for young girls? (O’Connor 2011; Barnes 2010; Rose 2011).
Summary
Our direct interactions with social groups, like families and peers, teach us how others expect us to behave. Likewise, a society’s formal and informal institutions socialize its population. Schools, workplaces, and the media communicate and reinforce cultural norms and values.
Section Quiz
Why are wealthy parents more likely than poor parents to socialize their children toward creativity and problem solving?
- Wealthy parents are socializing their children toward the skills of white-collar employment.
- Wealthy parents are not concerned about their children rebelling against their rules.
- Wealthy parents never engage in repetitive tasks.
- Wealthy parents are more concerned with money than with a good education.
Hint:
A
How do schools prepare children to one day enter the workforce?
- With a standardized curriculum
- Through the hidden curriculum
- By socializing them in teamwork
- All of the above
Hint:
D
Which one of the following is not a way people are socialized by religion?
- People learn the material culture of their religion.
- Life stages and roles are connected to religious celebration.
- An individual’s personal internal experience of a divine being leads to their faith.
- Places of worship provide a space for shared group experiences.
Hint:
C
Which of the following is a manifest function of schools?
- Understanding when to speak up and when to be silent
- Learning to read and write
- Following a schedule
- Knowing locker room etiquette
Hint:
B
Which of the following is typically the earliest agent of socialization?
- School
- Family
- Mass media
- Workplace
Hint:
B
Short Answer
Do you think it is important that parents discuss gender roles with their young children, or is gender a topic better left for later? How do parents consider gender norms when buying their children books, movies, and toys? How do you believe they should consider it?
Based on your observations, when are adolescents more likely to listen to their parents or to their peer groups when making decisions? What types of dilemmas lend themselves toward one social agent over another?
Further Research
Most societies expect parents to socialize children into gender norms. See the controversy surrounding one Canadian couple’s refusal to do so at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Baby-Storm
References
Associated Press. 2011. “Swedish Dads Swap Work for Child Care.” The Gainesville Sun, October 23. Retrieved January 12, 2012 (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20111023/wire/111029834?template=printpicart).
Barnes, Brooks. 2010. “Pixar Removes Its First Female Director.” The New York Times, December 20. Retrieved August 2, 2011 (http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/first-woman-to-direct-a-pixar-film-is-instead-first-to-be-replaced/?ref=arts).
Bowles, Samuel, and Herbert Gintis. 1976. Schooling in Capitalistic America: Educational Reforms and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York: Basic Books.
Crampton, Thomas. 2002. “The Ongoing Battle over Japan’s Textbooks.” New York Times, February 12. Retrieved August 2, 2011 (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/12/news/12iht-rtexts_ed3_.html).
Kohn, Melvin L. 1977. Class and Conformity: A Study in Values. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
National Opinion Research Center. 2007. General Social Surveys, 1972–2006: Cumulative Codebook. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.
O’Connor, Lydia. 2011. “The Princess Effect: Are Girls Too ‘Tangled’ in Disney’s Fantasy?” Annenberg Digital News, January 26. Retrieved August 2, 2011 (http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/01/princess-effect-are-girls-too-tangled-disneys-fantasy).
Roberts, Donald F., Ulla G. Foehr, and Victoria Rideout. 2005. “Parents, Children, and Media: A Kaiser Family Foundation Survey.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved February 14, 2012 (http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7638.pdf).
Rose, Steve. 2011. “Studio Ghibli: Leave the Boys Behind.” The Guardian, July 14. Retrieved August 2, 2011. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jul/14/studio-ghibli-arrietty-heroines).
“South Koreans Sever Fingers in Anti-Japan Protest.” 2001. The Telegraph. Retrieved January 31, 2012 (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1337272/South-Koreans-sever-fingers-in-anti-Japan-protest.html).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014. “Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers.” September 10. Retrieved Oct. 27th, 2012 (www.bls.gov/nls/nlsfaqs.htm).
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2004. “Average Length of School Year and Average Length of School Day, by Selected Characteristics: United States, 2003-04.” Private School Universe Survey (PSS). Retrieved July 30, 2011 (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/tables/table_2004_06.asp).
"Why Swedish Men take so much Paternity Leave." 2014. The Economist. Retrieved Oct. 27th, 2014. (http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/07/economist-explains-15)
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2025-03-18T00:36:49.085896
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Socialization Across the Life Course
Overview
- Explain how socialization occurs and recurs throughout life
- Understand how people are socialized into new roles at age-related transition points
- Describe when and how resocialization occurs
Socialization isn’t a one-time or even a short-term event. We aren’t “stamped” by some socialization machine as we move along a conveyor belt and thereby socialized once and for all. In fact, socialization is a lifelong process.
In the United States, socialization throughout the life course is determined greatly by age norms and “time-related rules and regulations” (Setterson 2002). As we grow older, we encounter age-related transition points that require socialization into a new role, such as becoming school age, entering the workforce, or retiring. For example, the U.S. government mandates that all children attend school. Child labor laws, enacted in the early twentieth century, nationally declared that childhood be a time of learning, not of labor. In countries such as Niger and Sierra Leone, however, child labor remains common and socially acceptable, with little legislation to regulate such practices (UNICEF 2012).
Gap Year: How Different Societies Socialize Young Adults
Have you ever heard of gap year? It’s a common custom in British society. When teens finish their secondary schooling (aka high school in the United States), they often take a year “off” before entering college. Frequently, they might take a job, travel, or find other ways to experience another culture. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, spent his gap year practicing survival skills in Belize, teaching English in Chile, and working on a dairy farm in the United Kingdom (Prince of Wales 2012a). His brother, Prince Harry, advocated for AIDS orphans in Africa and worked as a jackeroo (a novice ranch hand) in Australia (Prince of Wales 2012b).
In the United States, this life transition point is socialized quite differently, and taking a year off is generally frowned upon. Instead, U.S. youth are encouraged to pick career paths by their mid-teens, to select a college and a major by their late teens, and to have completed all collegiate schooling or technical training for their career by their early twenties.
In yet other nations, this phase of the life course is tied into conscription, a term that describes compulsory military service. Egypt, Switzerland, Turkey, and Singapore all have this system in place. Youth in these nations (often only the males) are expected to undergo a number of months or years of military training and service.
How might your life be different if you lived in one of these other countries? Can you think of similar social norms—related to life age-transition points—that vary from country to country?
Many of life’s social expectations are made clear and enforced on a cultural level. Through interacting with others and watching others interact, the expectation to fulfill roles becomes clear. While in elementary or middle school, the prospect of having a boyfriend or girlfriend may have been considered undesirable. The socialization that takes place in high school changes the expectation. By observing the excitement and importance attached to dating and relationships within the high school social scene, it quickly becomes apparent that one is now expected not only to be a child and a student, but also a significant other. Graduation from formal education—high school, vocational school, or college—involves socialization into a new set of expectations.
Educational expectations vary not only from culture to culture, but also from class to class. While middle- or upper-class families may expect their daughter or son to attend a four-year university after graduating from high school, other families may expect their child to immediately begin working full-time, as many within their family have done before.
The Long Road to Adulthood for Millennials
2008 was a year of financial upheaval in the United States. Rampant foreclosures and bank failures set off a chain of events sparking government distrust, loan defaults, and large-scale unemployment. How has this affected the United States’s young adults?
Millennials, sometimes also called Gen Y, is a term that describes the generation born during the early eighties to early nineties. While the recession was in full swing, many were in the process of entering, attending, or graduating from high school and college. With employment prospects at historical lows, large numbers of graduates were unable to find work, sometimes moving back in with their parents and struggling to pay back student loans.
According to the New York Times, this economic stall is causing the Millennials to postpone what most Americans consider to be adulthood: “The traditional cycle seems to have gone off course, as young people remain untethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes, going back to school for lack of better options, traveling, avoiding commitments, competing ferociously for unpaid internships or temporary (and often grueling) Teach for America jobs, forestalling the beginning of adult life” (Henig 2010). The term Boomerang Generation describes recent college graduates, for whom lack of adequate employment upon college graduation often leads to a return to the parental home (Davidson, 2014).
The five milestones that define adulthood, Henig writes, are “completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying, and having a child” (Henig 2010). These social milestones are taking longer for Millennials to attain, if they’re attained at all. Sociologists wonder what long-term impact this generation’s situation may have on society as a whole.
In the process of socialization, adulthood brings a new set of challenges and expectations, as well as new roles to fill. As the aging process moves forward, social roles continue to evolve. Pleasures of youth, such as wild nights out and serial dating, become less acceptable in the eyes of society. Responsibility and commitment are emphasized as pillars of adulthood, and men and women are expected to “settle down.” During this period, many people enter into marriage or a civil union, bring children into their families, and focus on a career path. They become partners or parents instead of students or significant others.
Just as young children pretend to be doctors or lawyers, play house, and dress up, adults also engage in anticipatory socialization, the preparation for future life roles. Examples would include a couple who cohabitate before marriage or soon-to-be parents who read infant care books and prepare their home for the new arrival. As part of anticipatory socialization, adults who are financially able begin planning for their retirement, saving money, and looking into future healthcare options. The transition into any new life role, despite the social structure that supports it, can be difficult.
Resocialization
In the process of resocialization, old behaviors that were helpful in a previous role are removed because they are no longer of use. Resocialization is necessary when a person moves to a senior care center, goes to boarding school, or serves time in jail. In the new environment, the old rules no longer apply. The process of resocialization is typically more stressful than normal socialization because people have to unlearn behaviors that have become customary to them.
The most common way resocialization occurs is in a total institution where people are isolated from society and are forced to follow someone else’s rules. A ship at sea is a total institution, as are religious convents, prisons, or some cult organizations. They are places cut off from a larger society. The 6.9 million Americans who lived in prisons and penitentiaries at the end of 2012 are also members of this type of institution (U.S. Department of Justice 2012). As another example, every branch of the military is a total institution.
Many individuals are resocialized into an institution through a two-part process. First, members entering an institution must leave behind their old identity through what is known as a degradation ceremony. In a degradation ceremony, new members lose the aspects of their old identity and are given new identities. The process is sometimes gentle. To enter a senior care home, an elderly person often must leave a family home and give up many belongings which were part of his or her long-standing identity. Though caretakers guide the elderly compassionately, the process can still be one of loss. In many cults, this process is also gentle and happens in an environment of support and caring.
In other situations, the degradation ceremony can be more extreme. New prisoners lose freedom, rights (including the right to privacy), and personal belongings. When entering the army, soldiers have their hair cut short. Their old clothes are removed, and they wear matching uniforms. These individuals must give up any markers of their former identity in order to be resocialized into an identity as a “soldier.”
After new members of an institution are stripped of their old identity, they build a new one that matches the new society. In the military, soldiers go through basic training together, where they learn new rules and bond with one another. They follow structured schedules set by their leaders. Soldiers must keep their areas clean for inspection, learn to march in correct formations, and salute when in the presence of superiors.
Learning to deal with life after having lived in a total institution requires yet another process of resocialization. In the U.S. military, soldiers learn discipline and a capacity for hard work. They set aside personal goals to achieve a mission, and they take pride in the accomplishments of their units. Many soldiers who leave the military transition these skills into excellent careers. Others find themselves lost upon leaving, uncertain about the outside world and what to do next. The process of resocialization to civilian life is not a simple one.
Summary
Socialization is a lifelong process that reoccurs as we enter new phases of life, such as adulthood or senior age. Resocialization is a process that removes the socialization we have developed over time and replaces it with newly learned rules and roles. Because it involves removing old habits that have been built up, resocialization can be a stressful and difficult process.
Section Quiz
Which of the following is not an age-related transition point when Americans must be socialized to new roles?
- Infancy
- School age
- Adulthood
- Senior citizen
Hint:
A
Which of the following is true regarding U.S. socialization of recent high school graduates?
- They are expected to take a year “off” before college.
- They are required to serve in the military for one year.
- They are expected to enter college, trade school, or the workforce shortly after graduation.
- They are required to move away from their parents.
Hint:
C
Short Answer
Consider a person who is joining a sorority or fraternity, attending college or boarding school, or even a child beginning kindergarten. How is the process the student goes through a form of socialization? What new cultural behaviors must the student adapt to?
Do you think resocialization requires a total institution? Why, or why not? Can you think of any other ways someone could be resocialized?
Further Research
Homelessness is an endemic problem among veterans. Many soldiers leave the military or return from war and have difficulty resocializing into civilian life. Learn more about this problem at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Veteran-Homelessness orhttp://openstaxcollege.org/l/NCHV
References
Davidson, Adam. 2014. "It's Official, the Boomerang Kids Won't Leave." New York Times, June 20. Retrieved October 27, 2014 (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/magazine/its-official-the-boomerang-kids-wont-leave.html?_r=0).
Henig, Robin Marantz. 2010. “What Is It About Twenty-Somethings?” New York Times, August 18. Retrieved December 28, 2011 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1325202682-VVzEPjqlYdkfmWonoE3Spg).
Prince of Wales. 2012a. “Duke of Cambridge, Gap Year.” Retrieved January 26, 2012 (http://www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/the-duke-of-cambridge/biography).
Prince of Wales. 2012b. “Prince Harry, Gap Year.” Retrieved January 26, 2012 (http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/personalprofiles/princeharry/biography/gapyear/index.html).
Setterson, Richard A., Jr. 2002. “Socialization in the Life Course: New Frontiers in Theory and Research.” New Frontiers in Socialization, Vol. 7. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd.
UNICEF. 2011. “Percentage of Children Aged 5–14 Engaged in Child Labour.” Retrieved December 28, 2011 (http://www.childinfo.org/labour_countrydata.php).
UNICEF. 2012. "Percentage of Children Aged 5-14 Engaged in Child Labour." Retrieved Oct. 27th, 2014 (http://www.unicef.org/search/search.phpen=Percentage+of+children+Aged+5-14+engaged+in+child+labour&go.x=0&go.y=0)
U.S. Department of Justice. 2012. "Corrections Populations in the US, 2012." Retrieved October 27, 2014 (http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus12.pdf).
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/11775/overview",
"title": "Introduction to Sociology 2e, Socialization",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/85005/overview
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1.3 Development of Male and Female Gametophyte
1.4 Self Pollination vs. Cross Pollination
1.5 Double Fertilization
1.6 Development of the Seed
1.7 Development of Fruit and Fruit Type
1.8 Fruit and Seed Dispersal
1.9 Seed Dormancy & Germination
1_Sexual-Reproduction-in-Plants
Sexual Reproduction in Plants
Overview
Flowers of different families
Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Students must have knowledge about mitosis and meiosis before studying sexual reproduction in plants. Please refer to chapter 10 & 11 of OpenStax Biology 2e. Links are provided below.
OpenStax Biology 2e (Chapter 10 Cell reproduction)
https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/10-introduction
OpenStax Biology 2e (Chapter 11 Meiosis & Sexual reproduction)
https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/11-introduction
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
Discuss alternation of generations.
Describe the components of a flower.
Describe the development of male and female gametophytes.
Define pollination.
Contrast self-pollination and cross-pollination.
Describe the process of double fertilization.
Explain the stages of seed development.
Key Terms
alternation of generation - alteration of haploid gametophyte stage with diploid sporophyte stage in the life cycle of an organism
anther - sac-like structure at the tip of a stamen in which pollen grains are produced
carpel - the female part of the flower includes stigma, style, and ovary
cotyledon - the fleshy part of the seed that provides nutrition to the seed
cross-pollination - transfer of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of a different flower
diploid - cell, nucleus, or organisms containing two sets of chromosomes (2n)
double fertilization - two fertilization events in angiosperms; one sperm fuses with the egg, forming the zygote, whereas the other sperm fuses with the polar nuclei, forming the endosperm
egg - female haploid germ cell
embryo - the young plant confined in a seed with endosperm and is viable to germinate
endosperm - triploid structure resulting from the fusion of a sperm with polar nuclei, which serves as a nutritive tissue for the embryo
epicotyl - the part of an embryonic axis that projects above the cotyledons
female gametophyte - multicellular part of the plant that gives rise to the haploid ovule
flower - branches specialized for reproduction found in some seed-bearing plants, containing either specialized male or female organs or both male and female organs
gametophyte - multicellular stage of the plant that gives rise to haploid gametes or spores
generative cell - a cell within the tube cell that divides to produce two sperm nuclei in angiosperms
male gametophyte - multicellular part of a plant that gives rise to haploid pollens
ovary - a chamber that contains and protects the ovule or female megasporangium
ovule - female gametophyte
petal - modified leaf interior to the sepals; colorful petals attract animal pollinators
pollen - structure containing the male gametophyte of the plant
pollen tube - extension from the pollen grain that delivers sperm to the egg cell
pollination - transfer of pollen to the stigma
radicle - the original root that develops from the germinating seed
seed coat - the outer covering of a seed
self-pollination - transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same flower
sporophyte - multicellular diploid stage in plants that is formed after the fusion of male and female gametes
stamen - the male part of the flower includes filament and anthers
stigma - the uppermost structure of the carpel where pollen is deposited
suspensor - part of the growing embryo that makes the connection with the maternal tissues
synergid - a type of cell found in the ovule sac that secretes chemicals to guide the pollen tube toward the egg
tube cell - the cell in the pollen grain that develops into the pollen tube
zygote - diploid cell produced after fertilization of egg cell by the sperm nuclei delivered by tube cell into the ovule
Introduction
Sexual reproduction takes place with slight variations in different groups of plants. Plants have two distinct stages in their lifecycle: the gametophyte stage and the sporophyte stage. The haploid gametophyte produces the male and female gametes by mitosis in distinct multicellular structures. Fusion of the male and female gametes forms the diploid zygote, which develops into the sporophyte. After reaching maturity, the diploid sporophyte produces spores by meiosis, which in turn divide by mitosis to produce the haploid gametophyte. The new gametophyte produces gametes, and the cycle continues. This is the alternation of generation and is typical of plant reproduction (Figure 3.1.1.).
The life cycle of higher plants is dominated by the sporophyte stage, with the gametophyte borne on the sporophyte. In ferns, the gametophyte is free-living and very distinct in structure from the diploid sporophyte. In bryophytes, such as mosses, the haploid gametophyte is more developed than the sporophyte.
During the vegetative phase of growth, plants increase in size and produce a shoot system and a root system. As they enter the reproductive phase, some of the branches start to bear flowers. Many flowers are borne singly, whereas some are borne in clusters. The flower is borne on a stalk known as a receptacle. Flower shape, color, and size are unique to each species and are often used by taxonomists to classify plants.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-1-reproductive-development-and-structure
Sexual Reproduction in Angiosperms
The lifecycle of angiosperms follows the alternation of generation explained in the previous section. The haploid gametophyte alternates with the diploid sporophyte during the sexual reproduction process of angiosperms. The male and female reproductive structures of a plant are housed in a flower. Let us revisit the structure of a flower (unit 1: Plant Form, lesson 2: Parts of a plant, section 6.
Flower Structure
A typical flower has four “layers,” illustrated and described below from external to internal structures (Figure 3.1.2.):
- The outermost layer consists of sepals, the green, leafy structures which protect the developing flower bud before it opens.
- The next layer is comprised of petals, the modified leaves which are usually brightly colored, which help attract pollinators.
- The third layer contains the male reproductive structures—the stamen. Stamens are composed of anther and filaments. Anthers contain the microsporangia—the structures that produce the microspores, which go on to develop into male gametophytes. Filaments are structures that support the anthers.
- The innermost layer—the carpel—contains one or more female reproductive structures. Each carpel contains a stigma, style, and ovary. The ovaries contain the megasporangia—the structures that produce the megaspores, which go on to develop into female gametophyte. The stigma is the location where pollen (the male gametophyte) is deposited by wind or by pollinators. The style is a structure that connects the stigma to the ovary.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-1-reproductive-development-and-structure
Development of Male and Female Gametophyte
Male Gametophyte (The Pollen Grain)
The male gametophyte develops and reaches maturity in an immature anther. In a plant’s male reproductive organs, the development of pollen takes place in a structure known as the microsporangium (Figure 3.1.3.). The microsporangia, which are usually bilobed, are pollen sacs in which the microspores develop into pollen grains. These are found in the anther, which is at the end of the stamen—the long filament that supports the anther.
Within the microsporangium, each of the microspore mother cells divides by meiosis to give rise to four microspores, each of which will ultimately form a pollen grain (Figure 3.1.4.). An inner layer of cells, known as the tapetum, provides nutrition to the developing microspores and contributes key components to the pollen wall. Mature pollen grains contain two cells: a generative cell and a pollen tube cell. The generative cell is contained within the larger pollen tube cell. Upon germination, the tube cell forms the pollen tube through which the generative cell migrates to enter the ovary. During its transit inside the pollen tube, the generative cell divides to form two male gametes (sperm cells). Upon maturity, the microsporangia burst, releasing the pollen grains from the anther.
Each pollen grain has two coverings: the exine (thicker, outer layer) and the intine (Figure 3.1.4.). The exine contains sporopollenin, a complex waterproofing substance supplied by the tapetal cells. Sporopollenin allows the pollen to survive under unfavorable conditions and to be carried by the wind, water, or biological agents without undergoing damage.
Female Gametophyte (The Embryo Sac)
While the details may vary between species, the overall development of the female gametophyte has two distinct phases. First, in the process of mega-sporogenesis, a single cell in the diploid mega-sporangium—an area of tissue in the ovules—undergoes meiosis to produce four megaspores, only one of which survives. During the second phase, mega-gametogenesis, the surviving haploid megaspore undergoes mitosis to produce an eight-nucleate, seven-cell female gametophyte, also known as the megagametophyte or embryo sac. Two of the nuclei—the polar nuclei—move to the equator and fuse, forming a single, diploid central cell. This central cell later fuses with sperm to form the triploid endosperm. Three nuclei position themselves on the end of the embryo sac opposite the micropyle and develop into antipodal cells, which later degenerate. The nucleus closest to the micropyle becomes the female gamete—or egg cell, and the two adjacent nuclei develop into synergid cells (Figure 3.1.5.). The synergids help guide the pollen tube for successful fertilization, after which they disintegrate. Once fertilization is complete, the resulting diploid zygote develops into the embryo and the fertilized ovule forms the other tissues of the seed.
A double-layered integument protects the megasporangium and, later, the embryo sac. The integument will develop into the seed coat after fertilization and protect the entire seed. The ovule wall will become part of the fruit. The integuments, while protecting the megasporangium, do not enclose it completely, but leave an opening called the micropyle. The micropyle allows the pollen tube to enter the female gametophyte for fertilization.
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Self Pollination vs. Cross Pollination
In angiosperms, pollination is defined as the placement or transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same flower or another flower. In gymnosperms, pollination involves pollen transfer from the male cone to the female cone. Upon transfer, the pollen germinates to form the pollen tube and the sperm for fertilizing the egg. Pollination takes two forms: self-pollination and cross-pollination. Self pollination occurs when the pollen from the anther is deposited on the stigma of the same flower, or another flower on the same plant. Cross pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on a different individual of the same species. Self-pollination occurs in flowers where the stamen and carpel mature at the same time and are positioned so that the pollen can land on the flower’s stigma. This method of pollination does not require an investment from the plant to provide nectar and pollen as food for pollinators.
Self-pollination leads to the production of plants with less genetic diversity, since genetic material from the same plant is used to form gametes, and eventually, the zygote. In contrast, cross-pollination—or out-crossing—leads to greater genetic diversity because the microgametophyte and megagametophyte are derived from different plants.
Because cross-pollination allows for more genetic diversity, plants have developed many ways to promote cross-pollination. In some species, the pollen and the ovary mature at different times. These flowers make self-pollination nearly impossible. By the time pollen matures and has been shed, the stigma of this flower is mature and can only be pollinated by pollen from another flower. Some flowers have developed physical features that prevent self-pollination. Primrose is one such flower. Primroses have evolved two flower types with differences in anther and stigma length: the pin-eyed flower has anthers positioned at the pollen tube’s halfway point, and the thrum-eyed flower’s stigma is likewise located at the halfway point. Insects easily cross-pollinate while seeking the nectar at the bottom of the pollen tube. This phenomenon is also known as heterostyly. Many plants, such as cucumber, have male and female flowers located on different parts of the plant (monoecious, Unit 1 lesson 2), thus making self-pollination difficult. In yet other species, the male and female flowers are borne on different plants (dioecious, Unit 1 lesson 2). All of these are barriers to self-pollination; therefore, the plants depend on pollinators to transfer pollen. Most pollinators are biotic agents such as insects (like bees, flies, and butterflies), bats, birds, and other animals. Other plant species are pollinated by abiotic agents, such as wind and water.
Pollination by Insects
Bees are perhaps the most important pollinator of many garden plants and most commercial fruit trees (Figure 3.1.6.). The most common species of bees are bumblebees and honeybees. Bees collect energy-rich pollen or nectar for their survival and energy needs. They visit flowers that are open during the day, are brightly colored, have a strong aroma or scent, and have a tubular shape, typically with the presence of a nectar guide. A nectar guide includes regions on the flower petals that are visible only to bees, and not to humans; it helps to guide bees to the center of the flower, thus making the pollination process more efficient. The pollen sticks to the bees’ fuzzy hair, and when the bee visits another flower, some of the pollen is transferred to the second flower. We perceive colors based on reflection. When light hits an object, some wavelengths are absorbed, and some wavelengths are reflected. Bees perceive UV light and blue and green wavelengths. Thus, bee-pollinated flowers usually have shades of blue, yellow, or other colors.
Recently, there have been many reports about the declining population of honeybees called colony collapse disorder (CCD). The impact on commercial fruit growers could be devastating. Many flowers will remain unpollinated and not bear seed if honeybees disappear, crops such as almonds, pumpkins, apples, melons, cranberries, squash, and broccoli. Factors such as the use of pesticides, parasitic fungi, mites, viral pathogens, climate change, destruction of natural habitats, and agricultural monocrops are a few of the many factors that affect honeybee populations.
Bees are not the only insects that aid the pollination. Many flies are attracted to flowers that have a decaying smell or an odor of rotting flesh. These flowers, which produce nectar, usually have dull colors, such as brown or purple. They are found on the corpse flower or voodoo lily (Amorphophallus), dragon arum (Dracunculus), and carrion flower (Stapleia, Rafflesia). The nectar provides energy, whereas the pollen provides protein. Wasps are also important insect pollinators and pollinate many species of figs. Butterflies, such as the monarch, pollinate many garden flowers and wildflowers, which usually occur in clusters. These flowers are brightly colored, have a strong fragrance, are open during the day, and have nectar guides to make access to nectar easier. The pollen is picked up and carried on the butterfly’s limbs. Moths, on the other hand, pollinate flowers during the late afternoon and night; the flowers pollinated by moths are pale or white and are flat, enabling the moths to land. One well-studied example of a moth-pollinated plant is the yucca plant, which is pollinated by the yucca moth. The shape of the flower and moth have adapted in such a way as to allow successful pollination. The moth deposits pollen on the sticky stigma for fertilization to occur later. The female moth also deposits eggs into the ovary. As the eggs develop into larvae, they obtain food from the flower and develop seeds. Thus, both the insect and the flower benefit from each other in this symbiotic relationship. The corn earworm moth and Gaura plant have a similar relationship (Figure 3.1.7.).
Pollination by Bats
In the tropics and deserts, bats are often the pollinators of nocturnal flowers, such as agave, guava, and morning glory. The flowers are usually large and white or pale-colored; thus, they can be distinguished from the dark surroundings at night. The flowers have a strong, fruity, or musky fragrance and produce large amounts of nectar. They are naturally large and wide-mouthed to accommodate the head of the bat. As the bats seek the nectar, their faces and heads become covered with pollen, which is then transferred to the next flower.
Pollination by Birds
Brightly colored, odorless flowers that are open during the day are pollinated by birds. As a bird seeks energy-rich nectar, pollen is deposited on the bird’s head and neck and is then transferred to the next flower it visits. Many species of small birds, such as the hummingbird (Figure 3.1.8.) and sunbirds, are pollinators for plants such as orchids and other wildflowers. Flowers visited by birds are usually sturdy and are oriented in such a way as to allow the birds to stay near the flower without getting their wings entangled in the nearby flowers. The flower typically has a curved, tubular shape, which allows access to the bird’s beak. Botanists have been known to determine the range of extinct plants by collecting and identifying pollen from 200-year-old bird specimens from the same site.
Pollination by Wind
Most species of conifers and many angiosperms—such as grasses, maples, and oaks—are pollinated by wind. Pinecones are brown and unscented, while the flowers of wind-pollinated angiosperm species are usually green and small, with tiny or no petals, and produce large amounts of pollen. Unlike the typical insect-pollinated flowers, flowers adapted to pollination by the wind do not produce nectar or scent. In wind-pollinated species, the microsporangia hang out of the flower, and, as the wind blows, the lightweight pollen is carried with it (Figure 3.1.9.). The flowers usually emerge early in the spring, before the leaves, so that the leaves do not block the movement of the wind. The pollen is deposited on the exposed feathery stigma of the flower (Figure 3.1.10.).
Pollination by Water
Some weeds, such as Australian seagrass and pondweeds, are pollinated by water. The pollen floats on water, and when it comes into contact with the flower, it is deposited inside the flower.
EVOLUTION CONNECTION
Pollination by Deception
Orchids are highly valued flowers, with many rare varieties (Figure 3.1.11.) They grow in a range of specific habitats, mainly in the tropics of Asia, South America, and Central America. At least 25,000 species of orchids have been identified.
Flowers often attract pollinators with food rewards, in the form of nectar. However, some species of orchid are an exception to this standard: they have evolved different ways to attract the desired pollinators. They use a method known as food deception, in which bright colors and perfume are offered, but no food. Anacemptis morio, commonly known as the green-winged orchid, bears bright purple flowers and emits a strong scent. The bumblebee, its main pollinator, is attracted to the flower because of the strong scent – which usually indicates food for a bee - and in the process, picks up the pollen to be transported to another flower.
Other orchids use sexual deception. Chiloglottis trapeziformis emits a compound that smells the same as the pheromone emitted by a female wasp to attract male wasps. The male wasp is attracted to the scent, lands on the orchid flower, and in the process, transfer pollen. Some orchids, like the Australian hammer orchid, use scent as well as visual trickery in yet another sexual deception strategy to attract wasps. The flower of this orchid mimics the appearance of a female wasp and emits a pheromone. The male wasp tries to mate with what appears to be a female wasp, and in the process, picks up pollen, which is then transferred to the next counterfeit mate.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-2-pollination-and-fertilization
Double Fertilization
After pollen is deposited on the stigma, it must germinate and grow through the style to reach the ovule. The microspores, or the pollen, contain two cells: the pollen tube cell and the generative cell. The pollen tube cell grows into a pollen tube through which the generative cell travels. The germination of the pollen tube requires water, oxygen, and certain chemical signals. As it travels through the style to reach the embryo sac, the pollen tube’s growth is supported by the tissues of the style. In the meantime, if the generative cell has not already split into two cells, it now divides to form two sperm cells. The pollen tube is guided by the chemicals secreted by the synergid present in the embryo sac, and it enters the ovule sac through the micropyle. Of the two sperm cells, one sperm fertilizes the egg cell, forming a diploid zygote; the other sperm fuses with the two polar nuclei, forming a triploid cell that develops into the endosperm which serves as a nutritive tissue for the embryo. Together, these two fertilization events in angiosperms are known as double fertilization (Figure 3.1.12.). After fertilization is complete, no other sperm can enter. The fertilized ovule forms the seed, whereas the tissues of the ovary become the fruit, usually enveloping the seed.
After fertilization, the zygote divides to form two cells: the upper cell—or terminal cell—and the lower cell—or basal cell. The division of the basal cell gives rise to the suspensor, which eventually makes a connection with the maternal tissue. The suspensor provides a route for nutrition to be transported from the mother plant to the growing embryo. The terminal cell also divides, giving rise to a globular-shaped proembryo (Figure 3.1.13a.). In dicots (eudicots), the developing embryo has a heart shape, due to the presence of the two rudimentary cotyledon (Figure 3.1.13b.). In non-endospermic dicots, such as Capsella bursa, the endosperm develops initially but is then digested, and the food reserves are moved into the two cotyledons. As the embryo and cotyledons enlarge, they run out of room inside the developing seed and are forced to bend (Figure 3.1.13c). Ultimately, the embryo and cotyledons fill the seed (Figure 3.1.13d), and the seed is ready for dispersal. Embryonic development is suspended after some time, and growth is resumed only when the seed germinates. The developing seedling will rely on the food reserves stored in the cotyledons until the first set of leaves begin photosynthesis.
View an animation of the double fertilization process of angiosperms.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-2-pollination-and-fertilization
Development of the Seed
The mature ovule develops into the seed. A typical seed contains a seed coat, cotyledons, an endosperm, and a single embryo (Figure 3.1.14). Let us look at the development of each of these components in a seed.
Endosperm and cotyledon: The storage of food reserves in angiosperm seeds differs between monocots and dicots. In monocots, such as corn and wheat, the single cotyledon is called a scutellum; the scutellum is connected directly to the embryo via vascular tissue (xylem and phloem). Food reserves are stored in the large endosperm. Monocot seeds are also identified as endospermic seeds. Upon germination, enzymes are secreted by the aleurone—a single layer of cells just inside the seed coat that surrounds the endosperm and embryo. The enzymes degrade the stored carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids; the products of which are absorbed by the scutellum and transported via a vasculature strand to the developing embryo. Therefore, the scutellum can be seen to be an absorptive organ, not a storage organ.
The two cotyledons in the dicot seed also have vascular connections to the embryo. In endospermic dicots, the food reserves are stored in the endosperm During germination, the two cotyledons, therefore, act as absorptive organs to take up the enzymatically released food reserves. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and pepper (Capsicum annuum) are examples of endospermic dicots. In non-endospermic dicots, the triploid endosperm develops normally following double fertilization, but the endosperm food reserves are quickly remobilized and moved into the developing cotyledon for storage. The two halves of a peanut seed (Arachis hypogaea) and the split peas (Pisum sativum) are individual cotyledons loaded with food reserves.
Seed coat: The seed, along with the ovule, is protected by a seed coat that is formed from the integuments of the ovule sac. In dicots, the seed coat is further divided into an outer coat known as the testa and the inner coat known as the tegmen.
Embryo: The embryonic axis consists of three parts: the plumule, the radicle, and the hypocotyl. The portion of the embryo between the cotyledon attachment point and the radicle is known as the hypocotyl (hypocotyl means “below the cotyledons”). The embryonic axis terminates in a radicle (the embryonic root), which is the region from which the root will develop. In dicots, the hypocotyls extend above ground, giving rise to the stem of the plant. In monocots, the hypocotyl does not show above ground because monocots do not exhibit stem elongation. The part of the embryonic axis that projects above the cotyledons are known as the epicotyl. The plumule is composed of the epicotyl, young leaves, and the shoot apical meristem.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-2-pollination-and-fertilization
Development of Fruit and Fruit Type
Fruits are of many types, depending on their origin and texture. The sweet tissue of the blackberry, the red flesh of the tomato, the shell of the peanut, and the hull of corn (the tough, thin part that gets stuck in your teeth when you eat popcorn) are all fruits. Botanically, the term “fruit” is used for a ripened ovary. In most cases, fruit formation occurs after fertilization. The fruit encloses the seeds and the developing embryo, thereby providing it with protection. As the fruit matures, the seeds also mature. Some fruits develop from the ovary and are known as true fruits, whereas others develop from other parts of the female gametophyte and are known as accessory fruits.
Fruits may be classified as simple, aggregate, multiple, or accessory, depending on their origin (Figure 3.1.15). If the fruit develops from a single carpel or fused carpel of a single ovary, it is known as a simple fruit, as seen in nuts and beans. An aggregate fruit is one that develops from more than one carpel, but all are in the same flower: the mature carpels fuse together to form the entire fruit, as seen in the raspberry. Multiple fruit develops from an inflorescence or a cluster of flowers. An example is a pineapple, where the flowers fuse together to form the fruit. Accessory fruits (sometimes called false fruits) are not derived from the ovary but from another part of the flower, such as the receptacle (strawberry) or the hypanthium (apples and pears).
Fruits generally have three parts: the exocarp (the outermost skin or covering), the mesocarp (middle part of the fruit), and the endocarp (the inner part of the fruit). Together, all three are known as the pericarp. The mesocarp is usually the fleshy, edible part of the fruit; however, in some fruits, such as the almond, the endocarp is the edible part. In many fruits, two or all three of the layers are fused and indistinguishable at maturity. Fruits can be dry or fleshy. Furthermore, fruits can be divided into dehiscent or indehiscent types. Dehiscent fruits, such as peas, readily release their seeds, while indehiscent fruits, like peaches, rely on decay to release their seeds.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-2-pollination-and-fertilization
Fruit and Seed Dispersal
The fruit has a single purpose: seed dispersal. Seeds contained within fruits need to be dispersed far from the mother plant, so they may find favorable and less competitive conditions in which to germinate and grow.
Some fruit has built-in mechanisms so they can disperse by themselves, whereas others require the help of agents like wind, water, and animals (Figure 3.1.16) Modifications in seed structure, composition, and size help in dispersal. Wind-dispersed fruits are lightweight and may have wing-like appendages that allow them to be carried by the wind. Some have a parachute-like structure to keep them afloat. Some fruits—for example, the dandelion—have hairy, weightless structures that are suited to dispersal by wind.
Seeds dispersed by water are contained in light and buoyant fruit, giving them the ability to float. Coconuts are well known for their ability to float on water to reach the land where they can germinate. Similarly, willow and silver birches produce lightweight fruit that can float on water.
Animals and birds eat fruits, and the seeds that are not digested are excreted in their droppings some distance away. Some animals, like squirrels, bury seed-containing fruits for later use; if the squirrel does not find its stash of fruit, and if conditions are favorable, the seeds germinate. Some fruits, like the cocklebur, have hooks or sticky structures that stick to an animal's coat and are then transported to another place. Humans also play a big role in dispersing seeds when they carry fruits to new places and throw away the inedible part that contains the seeds.
All the above mechanisms allow for seeds to be dispersed through space, much like an animal’s offspring can move to a new location. Seed dormancy, which was described earlier, allows plants to disperse their progeny through time, which is something animals cannot do. Dormant seeds can wait months, years, or even decades for the proper conditions for germination and propagation of the species.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-2-pollination-and-fertilization
Seed Dormancy & Germination
Many mature seeds enter a period of inactivity, or extremely low metabolic activity: a process is known as dormancy; this may last for months, years, or even centuries. Dormancy helps keep seeds viable during unfavorable conditions. Upon a return to favorable conditions, seed germination takes place. Favorable conditions could be as diverse as moisture, light, cold, fire, or chemical treatments. After heavy rains, many new seedlings emerge. Forest fires also lead to the emergence of new seedlings.
The requirements for germination depend on the species. Common environmental requirements include light, the proper temperature, the presence of oxygen, and the presence of water. Seeds of small-seeded species usually require light as a germination cue. This ensures the seeds only germinate at or near the soil surface (where the light is greatest). If they were to germinate too far underneath the surface, the developing seedling would not have enough food reserves to reach the sunlight.
Not only do some species require a specific temperature to germinate, but they may also require a prolonged cold period (vernalization) prior to germination. In this case, cold conditions gradually break down a chemical inhibitor to germination. This mechanism prevents seeds from germinating during an unseasonably warm spell in the autumn or winter in temperate climates. Similarly, plants growing in hot climates may have seeds that need heat treatment to germinate, which is an adaptation to avoid germination in the hot, dry summers. Horticulturists can improve germination rates of species that have a vernalization requirement by exposing seeds to a stratification treatment, where seeds imbibe water and then are kept in cold storage until vernalization requirements are met.
In many seeds, the presence of a thick seed coat retards the ability to germinate. Scarification, which includes mechanical or chemical processes to soften the seed is often employed before germination. Seeds of many species may need to pass through an animal's digestive tract to remove inhibitors prior to germination. Similarly, some species require mechanical abrasion of the seed coat, which could be achieved by water dispersal. Other species are fire-adapted, requiring fire to break dormancy (Figure 3.1.17).
The Mechanism of Germination
The first step in germination starts with the uptake of water, also known as imbibition. Imbibition activates enzymes that start to break down starch into sugars consumed by the embryo for cell division and growth. This process is irreversible.
Depending on seed size, the time taken for a seedling to emerge may vary. Species with large seeds have enough food reserves to germinate deep below ground, and still, extend their epicotyl all the way to the soil surface while the seedlings of small-seeded species emerge more quickly (and can only germinate close to the surface of the soil).
During epigeous germination, the hypocotyl elongates, and the cotyledons extend above ground. During hypogeous germination, the epicotyl elongates, and the cotyledon(s) remain below ground (Figure 3.1.18). Some species (like beans and onions) have epigeous germination while others (like peas and corn) have hypogeous germination. In many epigeous species, the cotyledons not only transfer their food stores to the developing plant but also turn green and make more food by photosynthesis until they drop off.
Germination in Eudicots
Upon germination in eudicot seeds, the radicle emerges from the seed coat while the seed is still buried in the soil.
For epigeous eudicots (like beans), the hypocotyl is shaped like a hook with the plumule pointing downwards. This shape is called the plumule hook, and it persists as long as germination proceeds in the dark. Therefore, as the hypocotyl pushes through the tough and abrasive soil, the plumule is protected from damage. Additionally, the two cotyledons additionally protect them from mechanical damage. Upon exposure to light, the hypocotyl hook straightens out, the young foliage leaves face the sun and expand, and the epicotyl elongates (Figure 3.1.19; 3.1.20).
In hypogeous eudicots (like peas), the epicotyl rather than the hypocotyl forms a hook, and the cotyledons and hypocotyl thus remains underground. When the epicotyl emerges from the soil, the young foliage leaves expand. The epicotyl continues to elongate (Figure 3.1.21). The radicle continues to grow downwards and ultimately produces the tap root. Lateral roots then branch off to all sides, producing the typical eudicot tap root system.
Germination in Monocots
As the seed germinates, the radicle emerges and forms the first root. In epigeous monocots (such as onion), the single cotyledon will bend, forming a hook and emerge before the coleoptile (Figure 3.1.22). In hypogeous monocots (such as corn), the cotyledon remains below ground, and the coleoptile emerges first. In either case, once the coleoptile has exited the soil and is exposed to light, it stops growing. The first leaf of the plumule then pieces the coleoptile (Figure 3.1.23), and additional leaves expand and unfold. At the other end of the embryonic axis, the first root soon dies while adventitious roots (roots that arise directly from the shoot system) emerge from the base of the stem (Figure 3.1.24). This gives the monocot a fibrous root system.
Glossary
accessory fruit - fruit derived from tissues other than the ovary
aggregate fruit - fruit that develops from multiple carpels in the same flower
aleurone - a single layer of cells just inside the seed coat that secretes enzymes upon germination
androecium - the sum of all the stamens in a flower
antipodals - the three cells away from the micropyle
cotyledon - the fleshy part of the seed that provides nutrition to the seed
cross-pollination - transfer of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of a different flower
double fertilization - two fertilization events in angiosperms; one sperm fuses with the egg, forming the zygote, whereas the other sperm fuses with the polar nuclei, forming the endosperm
endocarp - the innermost part of the fruit
endosperm - triploid structure resulting from the fusion of a sperm with polar nuclei, which serves as a nutritive tissue for the embryo
endospermic dicot - dicot that stores food reserves in the endosperm
exine - outermost covering of pollen
exocarp - outermost covering of a fruit
gametophyte - multicellular stage of the plant that gives rise to haploid gametes or spores
gynoecium - the sum of all the carpels in a flower
intine - the inner lining of the pollen
mega-gametogenesis - the second phase of female gametophyte development, during which the surviving haploid megaspore undergoes mitosis to produce an eight-nucleate, seven-cell female gametophyte, also known as the megagametophyte or embryo sac
megasporangium - tissue found in the ovary that gives rise to the female gamete or egg
megasporogenesis - the first phase of female gametophyte development, during which a single cell in the diploid megasporangium undergoes meiosis to produce four megaspores, only one of which survives
megasporophyll - bract (a type of modified leaf) on the central axis of a female gametophyte
mesocarp - middle part of a fruit
micropropagation - propagation of desirable plants from a plant part; carried out in a laboratory
micropyle - opening on the ovule sac through which the pollen tube can gain entry
microsporangium - tissue that gives rise to the microspores or the pollen grain
microsporophyll - central axis of a male cone on which bracts (a type of modified leaf) are attached
monocarpic - plants that flower once in their lifetime
multiple fruit - fruit that develops from multiple flowers on an inflorescence
nectar guide - pigment pattern on a flower that guides an insect to the nectaries
non-endospermic dicot - dicot that stores food reserves in the developing cotyledon
perianth - also known as petal or sepal; part of the flower consisting of the calyx and/or corolla; forms the outer envelope of the flower
pericarp - a collective term describing the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp; the structure that encloses the seed and is a part of the fruit
plumule - shoot that develops from the germinating seed
polar nuclei – diploid nuclei found in the ovule or embryo sac; produce endosperm after fusion with one of the two sperm cells
pollination - transfer of pollen to the stigma
polycarpic - plants that flower several times in their lifetime
radicle - the original root that develops from the germinating seed
scutellum - a type of cotyledon found in monocots, as in grass seeds
self-pollination - transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same flower
simple fruit - fruit that develops from a single carpel or fused carpels
sporophyte - multicellular diploid stage in plants that is formed after the fusion of male and female gametes
suspensor - part of the growing embryo that makes the connection with the maternal tissues
synergid - a type of cell found in the ovule sac that secretes chemicals to guide the pollen tube toward the egg
tegmen - the inner layer of the seed coat
testa - the outer layer of the seed coat
Attributions
Flowers of different families; Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
"Germination" by Melissa Ha, Maria Morrow, & Kammy Algiers, LibreTexts is licensed under CC BY-SA .
Morrow, M. H., Maria, & Algiers, K. (2022, February 19). Germination. https://bio.libretexts.org/@go/page/32044
Biology 2e by OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License v4.0
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87598/overview
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2.3 Artificial Methods of Asexual Reproduction
2_Vegetative-Propagation-in-Plants
Vegetative Propagation in Plants
Overview
Adventitious roots of Magnolia cutting Pistoia - Baldacci Vivai (25.06.1980, photo: Mihailo Grbić)
The original uploader was Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 RS <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/rs/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
Describe how plants use corm, rhizome, tuber, bulbs, stolons, or runners as methods of natural asexual reproduction.
Describe apomixis.
List and describe how grafting, cutting, layering, and micropropagation are used as the artificial methods of asexual reproduction in plants.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction.
Key Terms
apomixis - a process by which seeds are produced without fertilization of sperm and egg
bulb - modified stem used for propagation
corm - modified stem with scales used for propagation
cutting - method of asexual reproduction where a portion of the stem, containing nodes and internodes, is placed in moist soil and allowed to root
grafting - method of asexual reproduction where the stem from one plant species is spliced into a different plant
layering - method of propagating plants by bending a stem under the soil
micropropagation - propagation of desirable plants from a plant part; carried out in a laboratory
rhizome - modified stem grows underground and produces roots and shoots from its nodes
runner/stolon - a modified stem that grows horizontally on the soil surface and gives rise to new plants
tuber - a stem modified as a storage organ also used in vegetative propagation
Introduction
Many plants propagate themselves asexually using vegetative parts like stems, roots, leaves, or apomixis. Asexual reproduction is cost-effective since it does not require the plant to produce a flower, attract pollinators, or find a means of seed dispersal.
An advantage of asexual reproduction is that the resulting plant will reach maturity faster. Since the new plant is arising from an adult plant or plant parts, it will also be sturdier than a seedling. New cells are formed via mitosis and undergo differentiation to produce different parts of a plant. And asexual reproduction can take place by natural or artificial (assisted by humans) means.
Natural Methods of Asexual Reproduction
Many plants use stems or roots to propagate. These vegetative structures are identified by the presence or absence of scales, if the structure is a storage organ or not, and called
Corm: solid fleshy stems that look like bulbs. For example, garlic (Figure 3.2.1) and gladiolus (Figure 3.2.2).
Rhizome: is a subterranean stem that produces roots and shoots from its nodes; this is apparent with ginger and iris plants (Figure 3.2.1c). Rhizomes give rise to multiple plants.
Tuber: Potato form fleshy stem tubers. Each eye in the stem tuber can give rise to a new plant. A potato is a stem tuber but with an enlarged structure for storage of food (Figure 2.3.4).
Bulb: stout stem covered with scales. The scales can be fleshy (non-tunicate bulbs, ex. lilies) or dry (tunicate bulbs, ex. Onion, daffodil) (Figure 3.2.3).
Stolon/runner: stems that grow at the soil surface or just below ground and can give rise to new plants. A stem tuber is usually a stolon, also called a runner; this can be found with strawberries (Figure 3.2.1e; 3.2.5)., In sweet potatoes, adventitious roots come out of the nodes of the stem to give rise to a new plant (Figure 3.2.5).
Parsnip propagates from a taproot, while Ivy uses an adventitious root—a root arising from a plant part other than the primary root.
In Bryophyllum and kalanchoe, the leaves have small plantlets on their margins. When these plantlets drop off the mother plant, they grow into independent plants; or they may start growing into independent plants if the leaf touches the soil (Figure 3.2.6).
Some plants can produce seeds without fertilization. Either the ovule or part of the ovary, which is diploid in nature, gives rise to a new seed. This method of reproduction is known as apomixis. Seeds are produced in either of the two ways:
- In one form, the egg is formed with 2n chromosomes and develops without ever being fertilized.
- In another version, the cells of the ovule (2n) develop into an embryo instead of - or in addition to - the fertilized egg.
Hybridization between different species often yields infertile offspring. But in plants, this does not necessarily doom the offspring. Many such hybrids use apomixis to propagate themselves.
The many races of Kentucky bluegrass growing in lawns across North America and the many races of blackberries are two examples of sterile hybrids that propagate successfully by apomixis.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-3-asexual-reproduction
Artificial Methods of Asexual Reproduction
Artificial methods are frequently employed to give rise to new, and sometimes novel, plants. They include grafting, cutting, layering, and micropropagation.
Grafting
Grafting has long been used to produce novel varieties of roses, citrus species, and other plants, and it is widely used in viticulture (grape growing) and the citrus industry In grafting, two plant species are used; part of the stem of the desirable plant is grafted onto a rooted plant called the stock. The part that is grafted or attached is called the scion. Both are cut at an oblique angle (any angle other than a right angle), placed in close contact with each other, and are then held together (Figure 3.2.7). Matching up these two surfaces as closely as possible is extremely important because these will be holding the plant together. The vascular systems of the two plants grow and fuse, forming a graft. After some time, the scion starts producing shoots and eventually starts bearing flowers and fruits. Scions capable of producing a particular fruit variety are grafted onto rootstock with specific resistance to disease.
Cutting
Plants such as coleus and money plant are propagated through stem cuttings, where a portion of the stem containing nodes and internodes is placed in moist soil and allowed to root. In some species, stems can start producing a root even when placed only in water. For example, leaves of the African violet will root if kept in water undisturbed for several weeks. Similarly, many indoor ornamental plants, such as rubber plants, poinsettia, and pothos, also propagate through cutting.
Layering
Layering is a method in which a stem attached to the plant is bent and covered with soil. Young stems that can be bent easily without any injury are preferred. Jasmine and bougainvillea (paper flower) can be propagated this way (Figure 3.2.8). In some plants, a modified form of layering known as air layering is employed. A portion of the bark or outermost covering of the stem is removed and covered with moss, which is then taped. Some gardeners also apply rooting hormones (unit 2 lesson 5). After some time, roots will appear, and this portion of the plant can be removed and transplanted into a separate pot.
Micropropagation
Micropropagation (also called plant tissue culture) is a method of propagating multiple plants from a single plant in a short time under laboratory conditions (Figure 3.2.9). This method allows the propagation of rare, endangered species that may be difficult to grow under natural conditions, are economically important or are in demand as disease-free plants. To start plant tissue culture, a part of the plant such as a stem, leaf, embryo, anther, or seed can be used. The plant material is thoroughly sterilized using a combination of chemical treatments standardized for that species. Under sterile conditions, the plant material is placed on a plant tissue culture medium that contains all the minerals, vitamins, and hormones required by the plant. The plant part often gives rise to an undifferentiated mass known as callus, from which individual plantlets begin to grow after a period of time. These can be separated and are first grown under greenhouse conditions before they are moved to field conditions.
Asexual reproduction produces new plants faster and more adapted to survive well under stable environmental conditions when compared with plants produced from sexual reproduction. This method produces plants that are genetically identical to their parents. Such populations are less likely to survive if the environmental conditions change.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-3-asexual-reproduction
Attributions
Adventitious roots of Magnolia cutting Pistoia
The original uploader was Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 RS <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/rs/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
International potato center https://cipotato.org/
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87600/overview
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3.3 Plant Biotechnology
3.3 Plant Germplasm
3_Influence-of-Genetic-Engineering-on-Agriculture-and-Germplasm-Conservation
Exercise 3a Herbaceous Cuttings
Exercise 3b Flower Reproductive Parts Dissection
Influence of Genetic Engineering on Agriculture and Germplasm Conservation
Overview
Plant tissue cultures being grown at a USDA facility. USDA, Lance Cheung, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Compare conventional breeding and genetic engineering.
- List the advantages and disadvantages of plant breeding.
- Explain the steps in molecular cloning.
- List examples of genetically engireered, transgenic crops.
- Define germplasm.
- Explain the significance of germplasm conservation.
- Describe USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System.
Key Terms
biotechnology - use of biological agents for technological advancement
clone - exact replica of an organism, a cell, DNA molecule
contig - larger sequence of DNA assembled from overlapping shorter sequences
conventional breeding - crossing or mating the organisms with preferred traits and selecting the progeny that produces those traits or a combination of traits.
cytogenetic mapping - a technique that uses a microscope to create a map from stained chromosomes
ex-situ conservation - conserving an organism outside of its natural habitat, such as a zoo
foreign DNA - DNA that belongs to a different species or DNA that is artificially synthesized
gene targeting - method for altering the sequence of a specific gene by introducing the modified version on a vector
genetic engineering - alteration of the genetic makeup of an organism
genetic recombination - DNA exchange between homologous chromosome pairs
genetically modified organism (GMO) - an organism whose genome has been artificially changed
germplasm - a collection of all genetic material stored as seeds, tissues, and live samples.
in-situ conservation - conserving an organism in its natural habitat
recombinant DNA - combining DNA fragments from two different sources or organisms
recombinant protein - a gene's protein product derived by molecular cloning
transgenic - organism that receives DNA from a different species
Introduction
Plants are the source of food for humans as well as livestock. Farmers have historically developed ways to select plant varieties with desirable traits, long before modern-day biotechnology practices were established. conventional breeding relies on crossing or mating the organisms with preferred traits and selecting the progeny that produces those traits or a combination of traits. conventional breeding has generated many present-day crops from wild relatives over thousands of years. However, modern scientific techniques have led to faster and more efficient practices. Staples like corn, potatoes, and tomatoes were the first crop plants that scientists genetically engineered. Biotechnology creates organisms by using a targeted approach to modify specific traits, changing an organism's genomic composition or DNA. Since the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, the biotechnology field has proliferated through both academic research and private companies. The primary applications of this technology are in medicine (vaccine and antibiotic production) and agriculture (crop genetic modification to increase yields). Biotechnology has many industrial applications, such as increasing fermentation, treating oil spills, and producing biofuels. Similarly, the collection and maintenance of germplasm, is critical for advancements in technology. Germplasm is a collection of all genetic material stored as seeds, tissues, and live samples. The conservation and documentation of all the samples and related documentation provide vital information useful in biotechnology.
DNA and Recombinant DNA
To understand the basic techniques used to work with nucleic acids, it is important to remember a few basic facts:
- Nucleic acids are macromolecules made of nucleotides—a sugar, a phosphate, and a nitrogenous base—linked by phosphodiester bonds. The phosphate groups on these molecules each have a net negative charge.
- An entire set of DNA molecules in the nucleus is called the genome. DNA has two complementary strands linked by hydrogen bonds between the paired bases. Exposure to high temperatures (DNA denaturation) can separate the two strands and cooling can reanneal them.
- The DNA polymerase enzyme can replicate the DNA.
- Unlike DNA, located in the eukaryotic cells' nucleus, RNA molecules leave the nucleus.
- The most common type of RNA that researchers analyze is messenger RNA (mRNA) because it represents the protein-coding genes that are actively expressed. However, RNA molecules present some other challenges to analysis, as they are often less stable than DNA.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/17-1-biotechnology
Molecular Cloning
In general, the word “cloning” means the creation of a perfect replica; however, in biology, the re-creation of a whole organism is referred to as “reproductive cloning.” Long before attempts were made to clone an entire organism, researchers learned how to reproduce desired regions or fragments of the genome, a process that is referred to as molecular cloning. The technique offered methods to create new medicines and overcome difficulties with existing ones. Scientists have repurposed and engineered plasmids as vectors for molecular cloning and the large-scale production of important reagents, such as insulin and human growth hormone. Cloning small genome fragments allows researchers to manipulate and study-specific genes (and their protein products) or noncoding regions in isolation. A plasmid, or vector, is a small circular DNA molecule that replicates independently of the chromosomal DNA.
In cloning, scientists can use the plasmid molecules to provide a "folder" in which to insert the desired DNA fragment. Plasmids are usually introduced into a bacterial host for proliferation. In the bacterial context, scientists call the DNA fragment from the genome of the studied organism, foreign DNA —or a transgene; to differentiate it from the bacterium's DNA—or the host DNA.
Plasmids occur naturally in bacterial populations (such as Escherichia coli) and have genes that can contribute favorable traits to the organism, such as antibiotic resistance (the ability to be unaffected by antibiotics). An important feature of plasmid vectors is the ease with which scientists can introduce a foreign DNA fragment via the multiple cloning site (MCS). The MCS is a short DNA sequence containing multiple sites that different commonly available restriction endonucleases can cut. Restriction endonucleases recognize specific DNA sequences and cut them in a predictable manner. They are naturally produced by bacteria as a defense mechanism against foreign DNA. Many restriction endonucleases make staggered cuts in the two DNA strands, such that the cut ends have a 2- or 4-base single-stranded overhang. Because these overhangs are capable of annealing with complementary overhangs, we call them “sticky ends.” Adding the enzyme DNA ligase permanently joins the DNA fragments via phosphodiester bonds. In this way, scientists can splice any DNA fragment generated by restriction endonuclease cleavage between the plasmid DNA's two ends that have been cut with the same restriction endonuclease (Figure 3.3.1).
Plasmids with foreign DNA inserted into them are called recombinant DNA molecules (Figure 3.3.1) because they are created artificially and do not occur in nature. They are also called chimeric molecules because the origin of different molecule parts of molecules can be traced back to different species of biological organisms or even to chemical synthesis. We call proteins that are expressed from recombinant DNA molecules recombinant protein.
Not all recombinant plasmids can express genes. The recombinant DNA may need to move into a different vector (or host) that is better designed for gene expression. Scientists may also engineer plasmids to express proteins only when certain environmental factors stimulate them, so they can control the recombinant proteins' expression.
Genetic Engineering
Scientists have genetically modified bacteria, plants, and animals since the early 1970s for academic, medical, agricultural, and industrial purposes. Genetic engineering is the alteration of an organism’s genotype using recombinant DNA technology to modify an organism’s DNA for the purpose of achieving desirable traits. The addition of foreign DNA in the form of recombinant DNA vectors generated by molecular cloning is the most common method of genetic engineering. The organism that receives the recombinant DNA is a genetically modified organism (GMO). In the US, GMOs such as Roundup-ready soybeans and borer-resistant corn are part of many common processed foods. If the foreign DNA comes from a different species, the host organism is transgenic, Bt corn and Bt cotton are two such examples of transgenic plants.
Gene Targeting
Although classical methods of studying gene function began with a given phenotype and determined the genetic basis of that phenotype, modern techniques allow researchers to start at the DNA sequence level and ask: "What does this gene or DNA element do?" This technique is called reverse genetics, and it has resulted in reversing the classic genetic methodology. This method would be like damaging a body part to determine its function. For instance, an insect that loses a wing cannot fly. The classical genetic method would compare insects that cannot fly with insects that can fly and observe that the non-flying insects have lost wings; this would result in understanding that the function of the wing is flight. Similarly, mutating or deleting genes provides researchers with clues about gene function. We collectively call these methods they use to disable gene function – gene targeting. Gene targeting is the use of recombinant DNA vectors to alter a particular gene's expression, either by introducing mutations in a gene or by eliminating a certain gene's expression by deleting a part or all the gene sequences from the organism's genome.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/17-1-biotechnology
Plant Biotechnology
Plant biotechnology includes techniques used to adapt plants for specific needs or a possibility. Situations that combine multiple needs and opportunities are common. For example, a single crop may be required to provide sustainable food and healthful nutrition, protection of the environment, and opportunities for jobs and income. Finding or developing suitable plants is typically a highly complex challenge. Plant biotechnologies utilize tools and resources from genetics, genomics, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and transgenic (genetically engineered) crops to assist in developing new varieties and/or new traits in plants. This allows researchers to detect and map genes, discover their functions, select specific genes in genetic resources and breeding, and transfer genes for specific traits into plants where they are needed, for example, research and development of disease-resistant crops.
Most public research on transgenic crops focuses on one or two general objectives:
- a better understanding of all aspects of the transgenic/genetic engineering process, for enhancing efficiency, precision, and proper expression of the added genes or nucleic acid molecules
- and a wider range of useful and valuable traits, including complex traits.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) a U.S federal government body, funds research, training, and extension for developing and using biotechnologies for food and agriculture. Areas of work include, but are not limited to:
- genetic structures and mechanisms,
- methods for transgenic biotechnology (also known as genetic engineering),
- identification of traits and genes that can contribute to national and global goals for agriculture,
- plant genome sequences—molecular markers and bioinformatics,
- gene editing/genome editing,
- and synthetic biology.
Transgenic and genetically modified Plants
Manipulating the DNA of plants—creating GMOs—has helped to create desirable traits, such as disease resistance, herbicide and pesticide resistance, better nutritional value, and better shelf-life (Figure 3.3.2). As mentioned in the previous section, GMOs are plants that receive recombinant DNA) and transgenic plants receive DNA from other species. Because they are not natural, government agencies closely monitor transgenic plants and other GMOs to ensure that they are fit for human consumption and do not endanger other plant and animal life. To prevent foreign genes from spreading to other species in the environment, extensive testing is required to ensure ecological stability. Let us discuss some common methods used in developing tansgenic and genetically modified plants.
Explore the Nature Education article on GMOs by using this link.
Explore US Food & Drug Administration page on GMOs
Transformation of Plants Using Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Gene transfer occurs naturally between species in microbial populations. Many viruses that cause human diseases, such as cancer, act by incorporating their DNA into the human genome. In plants, tumors caused by the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens occur by DNA transfer from the bacterium to the plant. Although the tumors do not kill the plants, they stunt the plants and they become more susceptible to harsh environmental conditions. A. tumefaciens affects many plants, such as walnuts, grapes, nut trees, and beets.
The artificial introduction of DNA into plant cells is more challenging because of the thick cell wall compared to animal cells. Researchers use the natural transfer of DNA from Agrobacterium to introduce DNA fragments of their choice into plant hosts. In nature, the disease-causing A. tumefaciens have a set of plasmids—Ti plasmids (tumor-inducing plasmids) —that contain genes to produce tumors in plants. DNA from the Ti plasmid integrates into the infected plant cell’s genome. Researchers manipulate the Ti plasmids to remove the tumor-causing genes and insert the desired DNA fragment for transfer into the plant genome. This newly engineered plasmid also carries antibiotic resistance genes to aid selection and researchers can propagate them in E. coli cells as well. Agrobacterium has been used as a vector to transform many GMOs such as canola, sugar beet, cotton, and soybean.
The Organic Insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis
Bt maize and Bt cotton are two examples of genetically modified crops with B. thuringiensis toxin. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a bacterium (Figure 3.3.3) that produces protein crystals (figure 3.3.4) during sporulation that is toxic to many insect species that affect plants. Insects need to ingest Bt toxin to activate the toxin. Insects that have eaten Bt toxin stop feeding on the plants within a few hours. After the toxin activates in the insects' intestines, they die within a couple of days (Figure 3.3.6). Modern biotechnology has allowed plants to encode their own crystal Bt toxin that acts against insects. Scientists have cloned the crystal toxin genes from Bt and introduced them into plants. Bt toxin is safe for the environment and non-toxic to humans and other mammals, and organic farmers have approved it as a natural insecticide. This reduces the use of synthetic spray pesticides.
Let us look at the basics of one of the techniques used in creating genetically modified plants with Bt toxin.
Step 1. Scientists identify the trait that is desired (for example, insect resistance).
Step 2. Find an organism that already has that trait - Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces toxins against insects.
Step 3. Gene governing the production of toxins is excised using enzymes called restriction enzymes.
Step 4. Excised gene is utilized to create a DNA construct that includes the gene of interest or reporter gene as well as promoter and terminator sequences for proper transformation.
Step 5. DNA constructs are coated on gold particles and delivered to the undifferentiated plant cells or directly into a plant using a gene gun (Figure 3.3.5).
Step 6. The cells that absorb the DNA construct are stable and are selected and grown under with nutritive medium and treated with plant hormones to cause differentiation to form new plants.
Step 7. Newly formed young plants are grown and monitored in greenhouses and tested in fields. After a comprehensive evaluation, introduced for commercial purposes.
Study the use and impact of Bt Corn in this Nature article.
Here are some examples of successfully developed transgenic or genetically modified plants.
Flavr Savr Tomato
The first genetically modified crop on the market was the Flavr Savr Tomato, created in 1994. Scientists used antisense RNA technology to slow the softening and rotting process caused by fungal infections, which led to the increased shelf life of this tomato. Additional genetic modification improved the tomato's flavor. However, the Flavr Savr tomato did not successfully stay in the market because of problems maintaining and shipping the crop.
Golden Rice
Golden rice (Figure 3.3.8) was created to combat widespread vitamin A deficiency in children that live in developing nations, especially Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia (Figure 3.3.7). Golden rice is genetically modified to produce beta-carotene in the endosperm. Beta carotene is converted to vitamin A by the human body. Vitamin A is critical for normal vision, growth, and immune reaction. Night blindness is an early sign of vitamin A deficiency. Prolonged deficiency can cause complete blindness, as well as premature death. According to WHO, as many as 250,000 to 500,000 children are affected by this deficiency and about half of these children die within 12 months of losing their sight. The first country to adopt Golden Rice for production and consumption was the Philippines. However, due to misinformation and misunderstandings about genetically modified organisms, fewer countries have adopted the commercial use of golden rice.
Visit the USDA National Institute of Food & Agriculture to know more about plant biotechnology.
Kew's Millenium seed bank.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/17-1-biotechnology
Plant Germplasm
Since the domestication of plants—over many thousands of years, humans have collected the seeds and other plant material for the purpose of propagation over growing seasons or years. germplasm is a collection of any plant material or data that can be utilized to conserve and investigate the genetic composition of a species. Germplasm includes seeds, vegetative parts of a plant, plant tissue culture collection samples, DNA samples, cultivars, landraces, crop wild relatives (CWR), and accessions with the relevant documentation and data on these collections (Veerala et al, 2021) (Figure 3.3.9). Genetic diversity of plants is critical, and acquisition, maintenance, research & analysis, documentation, conservation, and distribution are vital to the conservation of plant diversity.
Food security, dietary expectations, availability of feed for animals, medicine, fibers, and oils, as well as demands for fuel, continue to grow alongside the expanding human population. According to Byrne et al., 2018, a 25 to 70% increase in global agricultural production is required to meet food demand by 2050. With increased agricultural demands comes the increased risk of environmental deterioration due to soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient runoff to waterways; additionally, global climate changes are presenting new challenges, such as increasing temperatures, water scarcity, and new emerging pests. Genetic engineering can aid in the needed response to these growing concerns, along with plant breeding, improved horticulture practices, integrated pest management, sustainable farming practices, and research in the various fields that inform better plant science.
Effective conservation and efficient use and access to the diversity of germplasm dictate the production of cultivars/accessions that are more suited to the various environmental conditions such as drought, flooding, soil salinity, nutrient-deficient soils as well as pathogen/pest infestation, and increased nutritional quality, and increased crop yield.
National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)
USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) is the primary body involved in the preservation of germplasm resources in the United States. NPGS is made up of many laboratories and research stations (table 1). Multiple USDA offices and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service participate in acquiring, quarantining, and distributing of NPGS collections with collaboration. The complete and comprehensive database of NPGS collections is administered via the National Germplasm resource Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. NPGS is part of an international collaboration called the GRIN-Global project. (National Research Council 1991. The U.S. National Plant Germplasm System).
Visit the website of the USDA plant germplasm collection.
Collection/Facility | Location | Number of collections |
National seed storage laboratory | Fort Collins, Colorado | 230,000 accessions |
4 Regional stations | Pullman, Washington. Ames, Iowa Geneva, New York Griffin, GA
| 135,000 accessions of 4000 species |
10 National clonal germplasm repositories |
| 27,000 accessions of 3000 species |
National small grain collection | Aberdeen, Idaho | 110,000 accessions |
Interregional Research Project-1 | Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin | 3500 potato accessions |
Multiple collections in universities/USDA laboratories |
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Unit 3 Lab Exercises
Exercise 3a: Herbaceous Cuttings
Students learn the techniques and procedures for propagating plants through herbaceous cuttings, including steps for selecting, preparing, and planting cuttings to ensure successful growth and development.
Exercise 3b: Flower Reproductive Parts Dissection
Students dissect a flower to identify and study its reproductive parts, including the stamen, pistil, and ovary. This exercise aims to help students understand the structure and function of these components in plant reproduction.
Attributions
Biology 2e By Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, Jung Choi. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License v4.0
Priyanka, V.; Kumar, R.; Dhaliwal, I.; Kaushik, P. Germplasm Conservation: Instrumental in Agricultural Biodiversity—A Review. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6743. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126743
Sustaining the Future of plant breeding: The critical role of the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System by Patrick F Byrne, Gayle M Volk, Candice Gardner, Michael A Gore, Philipp W. Simon and Stephen Smith. Crop Science, 58:451-468 (2018). doi: 10.2135/crp[sco2017.05.0303
Crop Science Society of America | 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA. This is an open-access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Published January 12, 2018
https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2135/cropsci2017.05.0303
National Research Council 1991. The U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Https://doi.org/10.17226/1583
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1.3 Temporary Methods and Structures
1.4 Permanent Methods and Structures
1_Controlled-Environment-Agriculture-and-Protected-Culture-Systems
7c_-_Season_Extension_Methods
SPECA_grant-_Greenhouse_introduction_handbook_2018_
Controlled Environment Agriculture and Protected Culture Systems
Overview
Title image "S. Milledge Greenhouse" by UGA CAES/Extension is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Explain a variety of different controlled environment systems.
Evaluate the use of greenhouses, high tunnels, and cold frames.
Key Terms
cold frames - low-to-the-ground outdoor structures that have a translucent covering and utilize solar energy to grow plants
greenhouses - structures that have a translucent covering and environmental controls
high tunnels - structures that are typically tall enough to accommodate farm equipment and has a single layer of poly covering, roll-up side curtains, and no environmental controls
low tunnels - covered by a single layer of poly covering placed over a single row or bed
The What and Why of Season Extension
Excerpt used with permission from "Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
One of the basic facts of gardening is that crops will grow, develop and produce when temperatures are appropriate. Gardeners carefully plant cool- and warm-season crops to grow during the time of year that targets their ideal temperature range. Managing crops according to surrounding conditions can work very well and fit the needs of many gardeners. However, gardeners have the option of altering the environment around their plants (called the microclimate) to enable crops to be grown in a wider range of conditions — thus extending the growing season.
This practice of season extension allows gardeners to have some control over the environment around their crops (roots and/or shoots) to enhance productivity or maintain survival until conditions are more appropriate for growth. Certainly there are limits, but adding an extra few days to weeks to the growing season can be quite useful in vegetable gardens. Methods are divided into two main groups: management practices that can extend growing periods and structures or materials that can be used to alter temperatures and extend seasons.
What is Really Happening?
Excerpt used with permission from "Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
The basis for most season extension methods involves absorbing or trapping radiation from the sun to warm up the environment around crops. For instance, dark mulches absorb light (or solar radiation) and conduct this heat to the soil below. Clear plastic covers transmit and then trap light, causing the air temperature under the covering to increase.
Agricultural plastics revolutionized season extension and provided a variety of tools that work across a range of scales (Table 7.1.1). The biggest decisions for the gardener are how much money to invest in the purchase of materials and how much time to invest in installing and managing systems to alter environmental conditions. In passive systems, growers cannot increase the temperature if there is no sunlight to provide heating, although they can temporarily capture heat that has been stored in the soil to provide warmth during cloudy periods. Also, they only have natural air movement to provide cooling. In active systems, passive heating is used, but it is combined with active heating and cooling sources to maintain more precise control, which always comes at a price. This discussion will focus on passive systems because they are the most flexible, cost efficient and applicable for home gardeners.
Temporary Methods and Structures
Excerpt used with permission from "Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Mulches
Mulches can influence soil temperatures in two important ways. The first is through absorbing or reflecting incoming light. Dark mulches, such as solid black or woven plastic, absorb solar radiation and can transfer this energy to warm the soil below. Lighter mulches, such as white plastic or straw mulches, reflect more light and do not warm soil temperatures as much as darker mulches. Under warm summer conditions, lighter mulches can be a benefit because they may keep soil temperatures lower and less variable, which can be an advantage to plants.
The second way that mulches alter soil temperatures is by reducing heat loss. Heat can be lost from soil through the evaporation of water or when air temperatures are lower than soil temperatures (such as at night). Mulches, both plastic and natural, can retain heat by reducing both of these losses.
When choosing a mulch, pay special attention to watering needs. Irrigation is required when using impermeable plastic mulch. If using a natural mulch instead, select wisely to avoid the potential for introduction of weed seeds or herbicides. For more information on these topics, see W 346-D “The Tennessee Vegetable Garden — Plant Management Practices.”
Floating Row Covers
Also known as direct covers, floating row covers are usually nonwoven plastic films or agricultural fabrics that can be applied directly over crops. These covers can be installed in large sections that cover many rows in the garden. The edges are usually secured with soil, wooden posts or other materials. They increase air and sunlight. Because of their light weight and permeability, they do not need structural support. However, some crops, such as tomatoes and peppers, have tender growing points that may need protection from abrasion by floating covers.
Because these covers are permeable to air and water, irrigation may not be required. Also, these covers are naturally vented due to air movement through the material. These aspects of floating row covers make them attractive to home gardeners. Additional benefits of floating row covers are their ability to protect plants and soil by reducing the speed of rain drop impact (reducing erosion and crusting) and to serve as a protective barrier from insects, such as flea beetles on eggplant.
Gardeners generally use row covers as a temporary measure in spring and fall since the covers can trap sunlight and may cause plants to overheat under the warm, sunny conditions of late spring and summer. Overheating can cause leafy crops to be lower in quality and can reduce fruit set in some warm- season crops. It is also a good practice to remove row covers when crops that require pollination by insects begin to flower. Often this coincides with warmer temperatures when additional heating is no longer desired. Thanks to the improved climate under row covers in early and late seasons, weeds can also thrive under covers as well as crops, so proper weed control is essential to maintain benefits of row covers.
Row covers come in a variety of thicknesses, which vary in their ability to increase daytime temperatures and retain heat at night. Thicker covers retain more heat but block more incoming sunlight. It is common for gardeners to use thinner covers in the warmer seasons to retain some heat and protect crops from insects. Gardeners typically use thicker covers for fall to spring cropping of cool- season vegetables, installing them in the late afternoon and removing them in the morning. Row covers can often be reused from season to season if managed carefully and kept clean. All things considered, row covers of permeable nonwoven plastic may be the most versatile and useful, yet cost effective, tool for the home gardener seeking to extend growing seasons.
Low Tunnels
Low tunnels (Figure 7.1.1) provide many of the same benefits as row covers, and sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. In this discussion, we will use low tunnels to describe a temporary hoop-supported structure. Often, gardeners use polyethylene plastics over these 2- to 3-feet-tall wire or plastic hoops and stretch the plastics tight to create the appearance of a miniature greenhouse. These commercial wire hoops (pictured in Figure 7.1.1) are available for purchase, but other materials, such as electrical conduit or plastic pipes, also can be used to form tunnels.
Low tunnels are installed down the length of a row to create a distinct air space around the crops, which can provide more consistent temperature benefits. Also, the hoops protect sensitive crops from abrasion by the covering or by cold temperature damage from contact with the covering during freezing conditions. Like floating row covers, gardeners often remove these tunnels to prevent overheating when warmer late spring and summer temperatures arrive. It also is best practice to remove them when the crop outgrows the structure or when pollinating insects need access to the crop.
When using these small polyethylene tunnels, keep in mind that they can heat rapidly under bright sunlight and should be vented to prevent crop damage due to overheating. Slits along the top of the tunnels (as seen in Figure 7.1.1) or small perforations are common as a part of the manufacturing process. These slits reduce heat retention at night, but they lower the risk of daytime high temperature damage.
Polyethylene tunnels generally shed water, which can be a benefit in protecting crops. However, they usually require irrigation to be installed under the tunnel. Another limitation of polyethylene low tunnels is that the plastic is more difficult to reuse from season to season. It is common for plastic mulch, drip irrigation and polyethylene low tunnels to be installed together to achieve maximum benefit for early planting of warm-season crops. Agricultural fabrics also can be installed over hoops to form low tunnels, which can protect sensitive crop growing points or create a larger air space to retain heat.
Permanent Methods and Structures
Excerpts used with permission from "Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Cold Frames
Cold frames are familiar to many home gardeners. Often constructed of wooden frames with glass, Plexiglas, or polycarbonate panels, these structures have long been used for transplant production. It is also common to use cold frames for early or late-season root or leafy vegetable production. Cold frames can retain heat well when closed, and hinged lids on the boxes provide ventilation to prevent overheating on warm, sunny days. Some gardeners also set up a composting system under their cold frames to provide heating. This is often referred to as a hot bed. If the frames have access to electric, then electric soil heating cables could be used to add heat.
Limitations of cold frames are their size, accessibility and construction expense. Additionally, hinged cold frames typically require close management to prevent damage to crops when bright sunlight can rapidly increase the temperature in the cold frame. Automatic opening and closing mechanisms are available as well if gardeners are willing to invest in tools to reduce management time.
High Tunnels
High tunnels [also called poly houses] are more permanent, plastic-covered structures built over growing areas to provide warmer temperatures for crops. They also keep leaves drier, therefore potentially reducing some foliar disease. However, this exclusion of rainfall means that irrigation will be necessary. While row covers and low tunnels are generally removed after a certain period of time, crops are usually grown in high tunnels for the entire season. The sizes of high tunnels can vary greatly from smaller structures (12 feet wide x 24 feet in length) to more commercial sized units (30 feet wide x 80 feet in length). Typically, a high tunnel is tall enough for a person to comfortably work in while standing. Definitions vary, but high tunnels are commonly described as unheated greenhouses. This definition obviously limits the amount of environmental control gardeners can practice and is one of the main distinctions between high tunnels and greenhouses.
High tunnels are generally constructed of wood or steel frames and are covered with flexible or rigid plastic. Material choices depend on cost, length of productive life, and the weather conditions of the area. Snow and wind loads are one of the most common determining factors for high tunnel design and construction. Many aspects of high tunnels design are related to the crops that will be grown in them and the seasons they will be used. Most high tunnels have doors and sidewalls that can be used for ventilation while other have vents in the end walls that can provide additional air movement. Managing these methods of ventilation is one of the most time-consuming aspects of high tunnel growing.
Venting, shading, and using multiple layers of plastic or row covers are all practices that enable gardeners to maintain more environmental control in the high tunnel. Figure 7.1.2 illustrates the use of row covers and low tunnels inside a high tunnel. When gardeners combine these methods, they can extend the growing season for cool- season crops thanks to better heat retention during the night. Likewise, sidewall venting and/or shading could extend the growing season for cool-season crops in the warmer times of year.
Greenhouses
Excerpt used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Greenhouses rely on some passive heating, but also include active environmental control and are one of the most common examples of Controlled Environment Agriculture (Figure 7.1.3). These framed, enclosed structures enable growers to manipulate the environmental factors within, such as light, water, humidity and carbon dioxide. Greenhouses are enclosed using transparent coverings that can be plastic (commonly polyethylene or polycarbonate) or glass. The transparency of these materials allows solar radiation to penetrate, thus providing light for photosynthesis as well as heat. However, the low heat retention rate of greenhouse coverings (low insulation properties) as compared to other buildings or other growing facilities requires the user to employ a variety of heating and cooling methods to maintain optimum temperatures within the structure for year-round crop production.
Attribution
Excerpt used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Excerpts used with permission from "Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Title image "S. Milledge Greenhouse" by UGA CAES/Extension is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Dig Deeper
"Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with Permission.
"Season Extension Methods" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with permission.
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2.3 Small-Scale Hydroponic Growing Systems
2.4 Small-Scale Aquaponic Growing Systems
2_Soilless-and-Hydroponic-Production
7c - An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production COPYRIGHTED
7c - Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics PUBLIC DOMAIN
7d - Hydroponic Systems PUBLIC DOMAIN
SPECA grant-Hydroponics introduction handbook_2018
Soilless and Hydroponic Production
Overview
Title image "Agriculture Secretary Perdue tours the Lēf Hydroponic Farm, in Lēf Farm, Loudon, NH, on Sep 1, 2017. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung." by USDAgov is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Evaluate the use of vertical farming, hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
Defend the benefits of hydroponic and soilless production methods in comparison to soil-based production.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of soilless production.
Key Terms
aeroponic production - a variation of hydroponics in which plant roots are suspended in air and misted with nutrient solution
aquaponic production - a system of growing plants in the water that has been used to cultivate aquatic organisms
hydroponic production - the production of normally terrestrial, vascular plants in nutrient rich solutions or in an inert, porous, solid matrix bathed in nutrient rich solutions
vertical farming - a production system where growing systems (typically soilless) are stacked on top of one another
Introduction
Used with permission from "An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
Residential and small-scale commercial food production can take many forms. Traditional home gardens that utilize native soil may be the most common, but interest in growing vegetables is not limited to those with suitable outdoor and in-ground sites. In many cases, a gardener may not have access to a plot of soil, or the soil may be of such poor quality that growing in the ground is not an option. Soilless production and hydroponics are options for many and enable small-scale vegetable production where traditional gardens would be impossible.
The growing systems and techniques involved in soilless growing can enable those in urban areas with small spaces, a sunny patio, or a range of other locations and situations to enjoy growing their own food. Growing plants without using soil has been done for many years, but the science and practice of these methods continues to develop and expand opportunities for commercial growers and gardeners alike.
Growing Food Without Soil
Used with permission from "An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
What is Soilless and Hydroponic Production?
Most crops are grown in outdoor locations with adequate sunlight where native soil and appropriate irrigation and fertilization practices can provide for plant needs. Soil plays many vital roles for plants including: supplying physical support, providing water holding capacity, supplying many of the nutrient needs of plants, as well as supporting the biological activity necessary for nutrient cycling. Soilless production is a method of growing plants that provides for many of the same functions as the soil by supporting the plant physically while providing a rooting environment that gives access to optimum levels of water and nutrients.
Soilless production can take place in naturally occurring sand, peat moss, coconut husks (coir), as well as materials made from rocks or minerals through industrial processes (perlite, vermiculite, rockwool). In many locations, locally available materials such as composted pine bark, rice hulls and other products are used in soilless culture. Some soilless production also takes place in foam substrates. These materials will be discussed in more detail in the later sections (Figure 7.2.1).
Soilless production can be done in several ways. Sometimes plants are grown in a substrate (simply meaning the material where the plant roots live) that mimics the physical support and water and nutrient supplying roles of native soil but is not actually soil. An example would be poinsettias, bedding plants, vegetable transplants and other crops grown in a greenhouse in a peat-based substrate. These plants are watered, fertilized and managed to optimize growth through management of physical properties of the substrate and providing water and nutrition for the plant. Soilless production can also include roots that are not grown in a substrate. In these solution-based systems, nutrients are dissolved in water, and plant roots are directly bathed in a nutrient solution.
For the purposes of this publication, the authors consider using the terms “soilless production” and “hydroponics” to be interchangeable. Both terms are used to describe plant production systems where the native soil is not used. In this publication there are two subcategories within soilless production or hydroponics. Those two subcategories are: 1. Systems using a soilless media or substrate to grow the crop, and 2. Systems using only a nutrient solution to grow the crop with no media or substrate other than to grow the transplant plug. Products sold as “hydroponic” in stores may use either a soilless media or nutrient solution type of production system. In no case would a crop be considered to be grown hydroponically if grown in a native soil.
Why Use Soilless Systems?
While soil supports many areas of our lives (food, clothing, housing), there are challenges in managing crops in soils. Soil may have poor physical structure, poor drainage or low nutrition, all of which limit plant growth. Soils may harbor plant pathogens, insects or nematodes that can infect or feed on plants. Soils may have been contaminated with other materials or chemicals that can reduce growth and yield
or present safety hazards for humans. Additionally, there are many urban and suburban areas where soil is not even accessible or land is so valuable that gardening or agriculture cannot realistically be practiced in those soils. Plants grown in soil are generally outdoors where low or high ambient temperatures, low or excess moisture, pests and pathogens can negatively impact crop growth and quality. All of these potentially negative factors can be condensed into three key reasons why soilless production may be a solution:
- Soilless production can tailor the physical, chemical and even biological aspects of the growing substrate and environment to exact crop needs to enhance growth and productivity.
- Soilless production can be practiced more easily in controlled environments, such as greenhouses or even indoors with proper lighting, to enable the most efficient use of these high capital production areas.
- Soilless production in controlled environments can enable exclusion and efficient management of damaging pests and pathogens as well as environmental challenges.
Background on Soilless Production and Hydroponics
It has long been an interest of agriculture producers and researchers to better control all aspects of plant growth to maximize production. Thousands of years of history can attest to the fact that humans have been interested in improving the crop growing environment to increase food production or reduce land use. In the past century, key developments have expanded these efforts. First, a better understanding of plant mineral nutrition enabled the interaction of plants, soils and nutrients to be more closely replicated in soilless systems. Second, the use of plastics has enabled growers access to greenhouses, irrigation and plant management tools (twine, clips, etc.) that are more cost, time and space efficient.
Current Use of Controlled Environments and Hydroponics
Soilless production and precise environmental controls are often used together in commercial settings. One can maximize plant production by combining optimum rooting conditions through soilless culture and optimum “aboveground” environmental conditions.
While some commercial growers use soil to produce vegetables in greenhouses, most greenhouse producers rely on soilless systems to control quality and optimize production. Hydroponic and soilless production of vegetables has been actively investigated in the US since the early 1900s and was employed during World War II to provide food for troops in areas where soil production was a challenge. Since that time, commercial interest in hydroponics has advanced the industry to enable dependable production of soilless crops in many parts of the world. The ability to efficiently use water and nutrients and introduce strict food safety practices means controlled environment soilless agriculture may be an important growing system for the future.
In addition to increases in large and medium scale greenhouse hydroponic production, personal and family-sized production of fresh vegetables is becoming more common and enables residents to contribute to their own fresh food supply. Often overlooked, another aspect of soilless production is that it can be a great tool for researchers and teachers. Growth chambers as well as greenhouses are the site of many experiments focused on understanding plant genetics and interactions with the environment. Soilless systems provide a means of scaling down the size of these studies and having the precise control needed for research. Lastly, but certainly not least is the potential of soilless systems to be used as a teaching tool. The scalability and versatility of these growing systems as well as their combination of science, technology, math and engineering make them a great tool for many educators.
What Crops Can Be Growing in Soilless or Hydroponic Systems?
With a proper understanding of nutrient needs, most crops can be grown hydroponically. A wide range of vegetable and herb crops can be produced, and both long- and short-term crops can be grown in soilless systems. Annual leafy and fruiting vegetables (Figure 7.2.2) are more often grown in soilless systems because of the return on time and system investment, ease of production, consistency of supply, high quality, and value to consumers.
A wide range of leafy vegetable crops, including lettuce (Figure 7.2.3), kale, mustard, spinach, endive, Swiss chard and many Asian greens are commonly grown in soilless systems because of their rapid growth rate and frequent consumption. Basil is the most commonly produced herb, but others may include chives, oregano, thyme, cilantro and rosemary. Many consumers also appreciate the ability of controlled environments and soilless systems to produce leafy crops with less pest and disease damage that can usually be grown with little or no pesticides.
Fruiting vegetable crops are also commonly grown in soilless systems. Tomatoes and cucumbers are most common because of their quality and productivity. A wide range of beefsteak, paste, cherry, cluster-harvest and grape tomatoes are grown in soilless systems. Generally, seedless cucumbers are produced in these systems, and they are valued for their thin skins as well as lack of seeds and bitterness. Two primary types of seedless cucumbers can be grown. The long, traditional types that are 12 inches or longer are thin-skinned and dehydrate quickly and are usually shrink-wrapped. More recently, smaller-sized seedless cucumber fruit have become very popular. The smaller fruited types, referred to as mini cucumber or Beit alpha types, have all of the same attributes as the larger varieties, but do not dehydrate as fast and, therefore, are not typically shrink-wrapped. All seedless cucumber varieties have to be isolated from regular seeded varieties if pollinators are present. Sweet (especially colored) and hot peppers as well as eggplants are also possible. The quality of the pepper fruit can be outstanding, yet one thing to consider is that peppers are a slower growing crop.
How Are Plant Nutrients Provided?
In traditional soil growing, plant roots take up most essential nutrients from the water that fills the spaces between soil particles. The soil particles themselves contribute to plant nutrition by holding nutrients added as fertilizer, contributing to nutrient cycling, or even slowly breaking down to provide nutrients from soil minerals or organic matter. In hydroponic systems, the supply of plant nutrients can be more exacting because there is not a soil ‘middle man.’ Plants still take up most nutrients from a water solution, but there is no soil reservoir to hold or provide nutrient. In soilless production, the soilless substrate is used to hold the nutrient-rich solution, but in most cases, the soilless substrate does not contribute to the nutrient supply itself. Plants grown in soilless and hydroponic systems require the same macro and micronutrients as plants grown in the soil, and these nutrients are provided in the form of fertilizer salts. The positively charged (+) cations and negatively charged (-) anions dissolve in water to provide needed nutrients (Table 7.2.1).
Growers select fertilizer materials and prepare solutions that provide all the nutrients needed. Specific fertilizer salts are used in nutrient solutions to ensure that they are soluble in water and that dissolved salts do not become unavailable for plant uptake. These nutrients are calculated to be available in appropriate concentrations to provide what plants need without over or undersupply. Maintaining appropriate pH levels is also important in ensuring nutrient availability. Plants may show signs of a nutrient deficiency if essential nutrients are not available to the plant.
Small-Scale Hydroponic Growing Systems
Used with permission from "An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
The type of growing system for soilless production should be selected based on the mature size of the crop being produced as well as cost, management time, and many other factors. Size of plants and time in production are both important in determining the growing system. Large vining crops not only require more space for stems, leaves and fruit, but also have a larger root mass and higher nutrient needs over a longer period of time. Smaller leafy crops require less space for leaves and roots and occupy the growing system for less time.
Leafy Vegetable Crops
There are a variety of soilless growing systems that can be used to produce leafy vegetable crops. Most are some type of recirculating hydroponic system, and a few non-recirculating systems can be effective growing leafy greens hydroponically as well. A recirculating hydroponic system means that the nutrient solution is continuously or intermittently (with the use of a timer) moving past plant roots. Sometimes the pH and target nutrient levels are continuously maintained by automated equipment. Other systems require manual adjustment by the grower or gardener.
Most leafy crops are started close together in a nursery and then transplanted into a growing system where they are grown until harvest. This conserves space in the main growing system while the plants are small. The two most common growing systems are nutrient film and floating raft, also known as a deep-water culture system. Another recirculating hydroponic option is an aeroponic system, where roots are misted with nutrient solution or solution is intermittently dripped over the roots.
Recirculating Nutrient Film Technique
The nutrient film technique (NFT) is scalable and flexible for a range of leafy vegetable crops. NFT systems come in a range of sizes to fit large or small greenhouses, on porches or even indoors (Figure 7.2.4). These systems typically consist of plastic channels containing a thin film of nutrient solution flowing through them. This nutrient solution is generally pumped from a reservoir located below the channels. Irrigation lines deliver the nutrient solution directly to the feed end of each channel. The channels are installed with a slight (1-2 percent) slope to allow nutrient solution to drain down the channel from the higher feed end and out a drain line at the other end to then be returned to the reservoir by gravity.
Channels can be of varied length and design. Some are two-piece with a top cap that snaps over the bottom channel, while others are one piece with holes punched or drilled in the top (or sides). Regardless of the design, channels typically have holes at set distances that provide consistent plant spacing. Channels are supported by metal or wooden benches or support racks that provide the needed slope. Solid pipes, open channels or flexible lines are used to drain the nutrient solution from the channels back into the reservoir.
Within the channel, plant roots are bathed in a thin, continuously moving film of nutrient solution on the bottom of the channel. Because of the shallow depth of the solution, there is still space in the channel for roots to be in contact with air. Most light is blocked from reaching the flowing nutrient solution to prevent algae growth. The shallow depth of the nutrient solution also means that solution temperatures are similar to air temperatures, which can be a challenge in small systems in warm seasons. Also, small aboveground reservoirs heat up more quickly than larger, buried tanks.
Recirculating Vertical Systems
Vertical hydroponic systems have plants in structures in an upright arrangement to be more space efficient. Some systems have channels arranged vertically with constantly flowing solution. Others, such as the tower systems (Figure 7.2.5) have no channels, but are recirculating because solution is typically pumped to the top of the tower and allowed to drain through the plant roots to the reservoir beneath. In many tower systems, the water is not pumped continuously. Intermittent solution flow can reduce prolific root growth in the system by encouraging some root pruning by the air. Even with some of these differences in system management, the main principles of supplying plants with nutrients through flowing, dripping or spraying nutrient solutions are similar across NFT and vertical systems.
Floating Culture or Deep-Water Systems
Floating or deep-water hydroponic systems have a reservoir of nutrient solution on which crops are floated or suspended while the roots hang freely in the solution. Floating systems can be constructed cost efficiently for the home grower from wooden frames lined with plastic or using other containers that are water tight (buckets, tubs, small swimming or kiddie pools). Lightweight plastics (expanded polystyrene, Styrofoam) with holes drilled at intervals are used to support the plants in plastic mesh pots.
Since plants are floating on the solution, pumping of the solution as described in the NFT system is not necessary. One of the key differences between NFT and deep-water systems is often the volume of water and the depth of solution. Unlike the NFT system where there is a thin film of solution and a large air space, most of the roots in deep-water systems are directly submerged. A small portion of the roots are above the solution and are exposed to the air around the soilless substrate used to grow the transplant. Maintaining oxygen in the nutrient solution of these systems may require bubblers or even oxygen injectors on a large scale. However, on a small scale, leafy greens can be successful in a non-recirculating deep water system so long as the roots have some space for air. A benefit of floating systems is that the larger water volume tends to have a moderating impact on solution temperatures and other conditions. Another benefit to home gardeners is the floating systems do not require any pumping systems and are easy to construct. More details on crop production appropriate to both of these systems will be covered in other publications in the series.
Fruiting Vegetable Crops
Fruiting vegetable crops differ from leafy vegetable crops in crop duration (often several months instead of several weeks), mature crop size, and nutrient needs. Therefore, growing systems for fruiting crops generally have more rooting space and physical support.
Production systems for fruiting vegetables typically use a single pass or feed to drain system of nutrient management rather than a recirculating nutrient solution. A recirculating system may pose more risk of spreading pathogens to longer term crops or having an imbalance in the nutrient solution for larger crops that are taking up more nutrients at varying levels. In smaller, noncommercial systems, it is common for fruiting crops to be grown in recirculating systems because of the small plant number and the simpler management.
Unlike the NFT and floating systems described above, most fruiting crops are grown in a soilless substrate. They typically have a larger root mass that is best grown in a larger space than is present in channels. Aeration is important for these large root masses and a porous substrate can better provide oxygen to roots than floating systems. Two common systems for fruiting crop production are upright containers and lay-flat bags, also known as slabs. Less commonly, soilless media vertical systems can also be used.
Upright Container Culture
The upright container systems may include upright plastic bags, nursery pots, or buckets. The upright containers may have drainage holes in the bottom of the container or have a higher drainage system to allow a reservoir of nutrient solution in the bottom of the container. Upright container systems are similar to a soilless production systems for many potted crops, although substrates differ (Figure 7.2.6). In a reservoir container system (e.g., Dutch buckets or Bato buckets), young plants are transplanted into a container of porous substrate, commonly perlite or clay pebbles. Other upright containers with drainage in the bottom may use a wider range of soilless media such as peat mixes, composted pine bark, coconut fiber (coir), sawdust, perlite, etc. A balanced nutrient solution is delivered using drip lines at intervals throughout the day. The containers with reservoirs are designed to have a reservoir in the bottom to enable a large portion of the bucket to drain and provide good aeration to the roots while also providing a small storage area for the roots to reach a more consistent supply of nutrient solution. Other upright containers have a small reservoir in the bottom along with a pump that enables the system to be self-contained. Some upright containers, like reservoir buckets, are washed and used for many years.
Lay-Flat Bag or Slab Culture
Fruiting crop production in lay-flat grow bags or slabs is similar to several of the upright containers because a nutrient solution is dripped by plant roots and allowed to drain from the bottom. Perlite is the most common substrate in reservoir buckets, while rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber (coir) or sawdust can all be used in bags or slabs. Bags or slabs are not typically reused (or only reused once). Since the nutrient solution is not being recycled, the leachate should be minimized and collected to protect groundwater quality. The nutrient concentration in the leachate is often similar to the incoming solution and therefore, once collected, can be used for fertilizing many other plants in the yard or farm. Managing leachate collection can be challenging in many of these systems, so growers must have a reasonable plan to collect the nutrient solution leachate.
Small-Scale Aquaponic Growing Systems
Excerpt from "Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics" by C. Mullins, B. Nerrie & T.D. Sink, USDA-NIFA Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, which is in the Public Domain
Aquaponics is the integration of a hydroponic plant production system with a recirculating aquaculture system. A hydroponic system (closed or open) involves growing plants without soil (i.e., in a nutrient solution or in some type of artificial media). A recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) is most often a closed fish production system in which water quality is maintained through a filter system. Independently, hydroponic systems and RAS can be productive and commercially viable. However, because of concerns about the sustainability of modern aquaculture, growers and consumers are interested in aquaponics as a potentially more sustainable system.
The origin of aquaponics is uncertain, but it has existed in one form or another since about 1,000 A.D. in Mayan, Aztec, and Chinese cultures. The term aquaponics was coined in the 1970s. Modern aquaponic systems have existed both in growers’ trials and in institutional research since that time, and much information has been produced about both small and large systems. This publication provides an overview of the principles and practices of a small-scale aquaponic system. For more detailed information, please see SRAC Publication No. 454, Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture; SRAC Publication No. 5006, Economics of Aquaponics; and the Suggested Readings section.
A small-scale system may be a “home” or “hobby” unit, or it could be a scaled-up version that produces more than required by a single family.
In a simple aquaponic system, nutrient-rich effluent from the fish tank flows through filters (for solids removal and biofiltration) and then into the plant production unit before returning to the fish tank. Solid fish wastes can be removed (depending on system design). Ammonia/ammonium in the water is converted to nitrite and then to nitrate by microbes living in the system. Microbes play a key role in the nitrification process in aqueous solutions. Plants remove nitrogenous waste from the water so it can be returned to the fish tank, and the nitrate and other minerals in turn feed the plants. Plants, fish, and microbes thrive in a balanced symbiotic relationship. All three organisms must be managed for a system to be successful.
Dig Deeper
"An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
"Hydroponic Systems" by J.W. Bartok, Jr., Connecticut Cooperative Extension is in the Public Domain.
"Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics" by C. Mullins, B. Nerrie & T.D. Sink, USDA-NIFA Southern Regional Aquaculture Center is in the Public Domain.
"Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension. Used with permission.
Attribution
Excerpts used with permission from "An Introduction to Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
Excerpt used with permission from "Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics" by C. Mullins, B. Nerrie & T.D. Sink, USDA-NIFA Southern Regional Aquaculture Center is in the Public Domain.
Excerpt used used with permission from "Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © University of Tennessee Extension.
Title image "Agriculture Secretary Perdue tours the Lēf Hydroponic Farm, in Lēf Farm, Loudon, NH, on Sep 1, 2017. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung." by USDAgov is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
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3.3 The Process
3_Creating-a-Growing-Schedule
7a - Crop Planning COPYRIGHTED
7a Vegetable Planting and Transplanting Guide APPROVED and copyrighted
Creating a Growing Schedule
Overview
Title image "20120414-DM-LSC-3040" by USDAgov is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Create a controlled environment growing schedule.
Explain the use of days to maturity in creating a controlled environment growing schedule.
Differentiate the needs of warm season and cool season crops in creating a controlled environment growing schedule.
Key Terms
days to maturity - can be compared with the number of growing days to ensure that enough growing days are available for the crop to come to maturity
warm season crops - plants that prefer temperatures above 70⁰F and are planted after the last frost date
cool season crops - plants that prefer temperatures below 70⁰F and generally are planted in early spring or fall
Introduction
The practice of horticulture is a marriage of science and business. Growers must be able to meet deadlines in order to make a profit. This lesson will provide information about the goals of planning, modern tools, and the planning process. A producer can appropriately time planting, maintenance activities, and harvest by having a working understanding of the type of crop (warm season or cool season, annual or perennial, etc.), its growing requirements, and the number of days to harvest.
For example, pumpkins are typically cultivated as annual plants that have a growing season of one year or less. Pumpkins are warm season crops, and their seedlings require temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit to thrive. A farmer who wants to maximize their yields of Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins could plant seeds early in the season under protected culture before transplanting outdoors. On average, this variety requires at least 120 days from planting seed before it is ready to harvest (also called days to maturity). If this farmer’s goal is to have a pumpkin patch ready for the Halloween season, they should plant seed at least 120 days before the pumpkin patch is scheduled to open for business.
The principles outlined in this lesson apply to any grower, regardless of method, including nursery managers, Controlled Environment Agriculture farmers, and traditional field growers.
Goals in Planning
Excerpts used with permission from "Crop Planning" by T. Dupont & L. Stivers, PennState Extension. © PennState Extension.
Goals in Planning
Time management is my major reason for doing extensive crop planning. The more I can organize during the winter, the smoother things go during the season. Another important piece is good data collection. We all want to continually improve our production. But if we don't know what we did last year, it is hard to access what worked and what did not work. Of course, there are plenty of farmers who are able to hold the important information in their heads. But when you are getting started it is often helpful to have a few things to go by namely: the seed order, bed preparation schedule, greenhouse seeding sheet, direct seeding and transplanting schedules, a harvest record sheet and a detailed map.
Why Spreadsheets
"I want to be a farmer because I don't like to sit in front of a computer," you say. Well, everything we are going to talk about today can be done with a piece (or 10) of graph paper and a calculator. John Jeavons book "How to Grow More Vegetables," (Jeavrons, 1982) does a nice job of putting a lot of relevant information on a few pieces of paper in graph form. This is a handy reference. But what it does not do is allow you to reformat the information according to what data you really want to see, or easily update it year to year.
Josh Volk frequent contributor to "Growing for Market" says if you were going to do something similar on paper you would put each row of the spreadsheet on an index card. There would be an index card with each planting on it and all the corresponding yield, planting, seeding and ordering information. You could then arrange the index cards by planting date, by crop, by variety or by seed company order form. But it would take some time considering that you would have hundreds of index cards (Volk, 2010). With the computer you can just sort the rows depending on what you are interested in looking at.
The Process
Excerpts used with permission from "Crop Planning" by T. Dupont & L. Stivers, PennState Extension. © PennState Extension.
The process outlined here is adapted from a process shared by Josh Volk from Slow Hand Farm, frequent contributor to Growing for Market. When one of the farmers I work with asked what he does differently than they do, Josh responded, "Probably not much." This outline just gives those of us not familiar with forming spreadsheets and crop plans some handy steps and formats to use. The key here is we will form something Josh calls a "crop master" or master spreadsheet with all the information about our crops. From there we can create the seeding, transplanting and greenhouse charts and easily update them when we get new information.
Step 1 - Collecting the Data
What data is available and where to find it will of course depend a little bit on where you are and what sort of operation you have. But there are a few likely places to look. The Extension offices have a lot of information about growing crops in their production guides, but to get more specific information one of the best places to look is often the seed catalogs. They usually put very specific information about everything from the number of seeds per ounce to plant spacing. Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers (Maynard, 1997) is a good all-around source for vegetable information such as germination temperatures, plant spacing, scheduling successive plantings and more. I like John Jeavons' book as well, though his plant spacing are designed for intensive raised bed systems that don't work in my field.
Everyone's brain works differently which makes it hard for us to use each other's spreadsheets. I have included a sample here and there is another nice example available online from Roxbury Farm. For me it makes the most sense to gather all the data in the first part of my spreadsheet. Then I can work to process it into the other information I need. I love sitting down with my seed catalogs and thumbing through them to decide what I want to grow this year. The first 21 columns in my spreadsheet are all the data I think I might want about each crop. Everything from crop and variety names to plant spacing, seeds per ounce, and ordering information. This may seem a little overwhelming at first. But the nice thing is you won't ever have to do as much work again. You will probably grow many of the same crops and varieties next year and you will have all the data right there.
Step 2 - Calculating Yield Needed
Whether you plan to grow for a market or for a CSA it is important to try to grow an appropriate amount for that market outlet. In the case of a CSA this can be more than a little nerve wracking because you have pretty well guaranteed a certain number of people produce every week and they are hoping they don't just get swiss chard every week. Yield calculations are never going to be perfect. But every year you will be able to get closer if you have a starting point. There are a few ways to do this but this is a feasible option.
For a CSA the data you will need is the # of CSA shares, the quantity you will give each shareholder in a given week, the unit, the number of weeks you expect a specific crop succession to produce, the # of varieties if you plan to plant more than one thing and give people a mix of say tomatoes, and whether the crop received multiple harvests or not.
Crop yield per planting you need = (# CSA shares) x (quantity/ share) x number of weeks
Step 3 - Bed/Row Feet per Planting
Next, we want to know how much to grow to get that yield. I calculate this in bed feet. But if you are not in a bed system it works the same to calculate in row feet.
1. Row feet per planting = target crop yield ÷ crop yield per 100 ft row ÷ 100 ft
2. Bed feet per planting = row feet/planting ÷ # rows/bed Step 4 & 5 - Timing Direct
Seeding & Transplanting
To figure out when to plant each of these crops I work backwards from the target date I want to harvest. It may make more sense to you to work forward from the target seeding/transplanting dates to find the harvest date. If you work back from the target harvest date you will probably have to adjust for what is reasonable in your area in terms of frost-free dates etc.
1. Seeding date = target harvest date - days to maturity
2. Transplant date = seeding date + days to transplant
Step 6 - Harvest Dates
You will need columns for seeding/transplanting date, days to maturity, weeks to maturity, and weeks of production.
1. Estimated 1st harvest date = seeding/transplanting date + days to maturity
2. Estimated last harvest date = 1st harvest date + weeks of production x 7
Step 7 - Additional Transplanting Information
It is nice to gather here the information you will need when you are in the greenhouse - i.e. how many plants, the tray size and number of plants.
Step 8 - Seed Ordering Information
For this section you will probably want to make columns for the company, the number of seeds, the oz you need, seeds/ oz, minimum germination, cost and unit code.
Step 9 - Field Prep/Cultivation
Field prep timing always depends on the weather, but it is nice to have target dates set for when you will want to do your field work. This is especially important when you have a cover crop to work in. Based on your experience of how long it takes for that cover crop to break down after you plow it in and if you plan to make beds you may want to have columns for 1st tillage, 2nd tillage, bed preparation, 1st cultivation and 2nd cultivation. I find it really important to have those 1st and 2nd cultivation dates on my calendar. With a hundred plantings to manage it is easy for me to forget to do that first cultivation when the weeds are tiny and then they get out of control.
Dig Deeper
"Crop Planning" by T. Dupont & L. Stivers, PennState Extension. © PennState Extension. Used with permission.
"Vegetable Planting and Transplanting Guide" by E. Sanchez, PennState Extension. Copyright © PennState Extension. Used with permission.
Attribution and References
Attribution
Excerpts used with permission from "Crop Planning" by T. Dupont & L. Stivers, PennState Extension. © PennState Extension.
Title image "20120414-DM-LSC-3040" by USDAgov is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
References
Jeavons, J. (1982). How to grow more vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine: A primer on the life-giving biodynamic/French intensive method of organic horticulture (Rev. and enl.). Ten Speed Press.
Volk, J. (2010). Tips of Using Spreadsheets for Crop Planning, in Growing for Market. Fairplains Publications Inc.
Maynard, D.N., Hochmuth, G. J., & Knott, J. E. (1997). Knott’s handbook for vegetable growers. (4th ed. / Donald N. Maynard, George J. Hochmuth.). John Wiley.
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4.3 Selecting the Best Crops and Cultivars for Soilless Production
4_Production-Systems-for-Various-Crops
7b - Leafy Crop Production in Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Systems COPYRIGHTED
7c - Tomatoes, Peppers and Cucumbers in Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Systems COPYRIGHTED
Exercise 7a Test Tube Hydroponics
Exercise 7b Hydroponic Design
SPECA grant- Greenhouse introduction handbook_2018 COPYRIGHTED
SPECA grant-Hydroponics introduction handbook_2018 COPYRIGHTED
Production Systems for Various Crops
Overview
Title image CropKing, Inc., Lodi, OH, used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production " by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Match specific crops with appropriate controlled environment production systems.
Identify common crops grown in a variety of controlled environment systems.
Key Terms
controlled environment systems - adjusts the environment around crops to provide conditions that optimize growth and productivity to enhance yield and/or quality of crops; heavily reliant on technology
What is Controlled Environment Agriculture?
Excerpt used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) involves production systems that rely on some degree of technology to alter the conditions around crops. The goal of adjusting the environment around crops is to provide conditions that optimize growth and productivity to enhance yield and/or quality of crops. In order to consider investing the time, energy, and money in CEA, growers need to gain a production advantage, labor savings, crop quality enhancement or some benefit to their business. As compared to traditional open field agriculture, CEA is often referred to as intensive production, requiring larger inputs of labor and capital per unit of land as compared to the more traditional extensive production, which requires larger inputs of land per unit of labor and capital. There is a wide spectrum of CEA practices in use, so this discussion will begin with a brief overview of some the lower input or temporary methods, with the document then focusing on greenhouses and their use in CEA vegetable production.
[See Unit 7, Lesson 1: Controlled Environment Agriculture and Protected Culture Systems for more information about growing methods.]
The majority of this [unit] will be focused on greenhouse systems, but this overview will also provide an introduction to other types of CEA operations because CEA facilities are not limited to greenhouses and other structures that rely on natural light to support photosynthesis. Enclosed facilities can be managed to provide proper temperatures, humidity, carbon dioxide and light needed for plant growth. Such CEA operations are present in the United States, but are likely more prevalent in countries where population density is higher and there are more limitations to farm land. Japan is an example of a country that has focused on developing CEA facilities that are independent of natural light - often called plant factories. An example of such a facility that is pushing the field of completely enclosed production forward would be the CEA systems on the international space station.
Current Examples of Controlled Environment Agriculture
Excerpt used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Innovators around the world are putting state of the art technology to the test to evaluate yield and crop quality with the intent of minimizing their environmental footprint while maximizing profitability. In the Atlanta, Georgia area, for example, leafy crops are growing year-round in a climate that would not be conductive to such production. PodPonics has converted shipping containers into a CEA and soilless (often referred to as hydroponic) growing system where all light for leafy crop production is artificial (Figure 7.4.1).
Across North America, the Houweling family has greenhouses in California, Utah and British Columbia, and provides an example of stewardship in the production of tomatoes and cucumbers. The family-owned business recently opened a 28-acre greenhouse farm location in Mona, Utah, that was built near a natural gas power plant to capture the waste heat and carbon dioxide from the exhaust stacks. Vertical farming, utilizing indoor stacked soilless production systems, is also a growing area of interest in some urban areas. Farmed Here is a business in Chicago in a 90,000 square foot facility utilizing all supplemental lighting that supplies greens to grocery stores and restaurants only a few miles from the suburban production facility.
Most crops produced in CEA facilities are high-value and many of these are leafy and fruiting vegetables as well as herbs. CEA production enables growers to sell local vegetables for longer periods of the year (or year round) and provides the opportunity for quality or production increases. Crops that were once limited to field cultivation and dependent on locally appropriate climates can be grown in greenhouses around the globe.
It is important to note that it may not be economically feasible for producers to grow all crops in CEA facilities. For example, growing wheat indoors would not be advantageous or possible on a large enough scale to feed the masses without exponentially increasing the cost of wheat and the many food products it is used in. The agriculture industry is instead striving to strike a balance in between innovatively producing high quality food for the population while reducing environmental impacts. The USDA, NASA and other government agencies are partnering with private and public agricultural business to fund research that implements and investigates these innovative practices.
While there is still much to learn about production in these facilities, CEA including soilless production is not merely a niche market as a wide range of vegetable produce on grocery store shelves already come from such operations. With an increasing population and decreasing arable land, greenhouse production will continue to play a vital role in providing vegetable and other crops. While CEA can be beneficial to our communities, health and environment, it is not meant to replace traditional field agriculture. The premise of this document is simply that providing high quality, sufficient, and accessible fresh produce will likely require a range of effective and efficient tools to provide for an increasing human population. In order to meet society’s present and future food needs, the CEA industry links chemists, biologists, engineers, farmers, marketers, and growers to explore and experiment with a range of food production systems.
Selecting the Best Crops and Cultivars for Soilless Production
Excerpt used with permission from "Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Descriptions of the crops and cultivars are provided here to provide information on vegetable cultivars for non-commercial growers. While these comparisons can be used to inform educational and small-scale production, greenhouse and environmental conditions will dictate the performance of cultivars, so quality and yield may vary greatly by system and locations.
One of the most important aspects of growing vegetable crops in soilless system is making sure that the growing system itself and the management are likely to produce a successful crop. Consider the mature size of the plant and make sure that it will not outgrow the spacing in the growing system. Overgrown plants generally have reduced quality or increased chance of disease. This is true for shoot growth, but larger or older crops can also have large root masses that can create issues in NFT systems.
Also consider the nutrient needs of the crop. Many lettuces and leafy greens can be grown using a similar nutrient solution (Figure 7.4.2). However, some may need slight adjustments. For instance, basil can be grown with lettuce, but it may require additional iron in the solution. Similarly, some of the kale and other crops in the same family (collards, radish) may be deficient in some micronutrients when lettuce is still being successfully grown. The most sensitive crop often determines nutrient solution levels. Cilantro will often tipburn at lower EC levels than other leafy crops, so it must be grown separately or other crops must be produced at lower EC levels than may be needed for optimum growth. These are just some examples of considerations for crop selection in small-scale soilless systems.
Common Leafy Crops Grown in Soilless Systems
Excerpt used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Head Lettuce
The most common leafy crop grown in most soilless systems is bibb or butterhead lettuce. Part of the reason is that tender bibb leaves do not ship as well as iceberg and romaine and are less common in large soil grown lettuce production areas. Another aspect may well be tradition and European influence combined with the fact that the majority of breeding efforts for controlled environment lettuce has been in bibb lettuce. So, the prevalence of this crop in soiless system is likely a combination of suitable cultivars that perform consistently well and the market niche. Discussions of crops and cultivars can be found in Chapter 4.
Romaine lettuce is increasingly popular in soilless production. It can be a bit more difficult to produce due to a slightly higher sensitivity to quality issues such as tipburn. However, the more open romaine heads often have a higher percentage of dark green leaves than romaine hearts often purchased. Oakleaf lettuce is a good option for beginning growers, and can often provide a reasonably consistent, high quality crop. Some of the lettuces typically thought of as leaf cultivars can be grown to a more mature stage and produce weights similar to bibb lettuces. Green leaf lettuces and the smaller serrated leaf lettuces, such as lolla rossa, can be good choices for variety and quality. They can also be harvested at a range of maturity stages. Iceberg lettuce is not often produced in soilless systems due to the specific environmental conditions needed to form heads as well as a longer production time and larger mature size that can create issues in NFT systems.
Mixed Lettuce - Immature Stages
Lettuce commonly referred to as leaf lettuce is often simply harvested at an immature stage (Figure 7.4.3). Many romaine, leaf, and oakleaf cultivars can be successfully produced for immature harvest. One important feature of immature harvest is the opportunity to produce multiple plants in the same growing space. These mixed cubes are essentially a mixed bag salad grown and harvested together. The opportunities for mixing colors and leaf shapes creates a tasty and visually appealing product that can be harvested at a range of sizes.
Kale and Other Brassica Crops
Kale, mustard, Pak choy, and mizuna are examples of other leafy crops that can thrive in small hydroponic systems. While many lettuces were bred and developed for soilless production, these crops and cultivars are more commonly developed for use in soil. Many of the crops and cultivars still do quite well in soilless production. Trying a range of crops and cultivars is one of the best means of determining what works well in the site and system.
Basil
After lettuce, basil is the second most widely grown leafy crop in hydroponic systems. While most lettuce crops are harvested once at maturity, basil is often harvested multiple times. Growing points and young leaves are harvested and the plant continues to branch and grow to produce more harvestable leaves and tender stems. Often basil plants can be grown and harvested for many weeks (longer than lettuce and other leafy crops). An important consideration is that basil is a warm season crop and prefers warmer temperatures and higher light levels than are typical for lettuce production. In fact, basil can also be grown in fruiting crop systems with fertilizer levels similar to those used for tomatoes and cucumbers.
Common Vine Crops Grown in Soilless Systems
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are the most commonly grown soilless vegetable crops. There are a wide range of tomato cultivars that can be grown in the soilless systems described here. Beefsteak tomatoes are generally the most common in the US, but there are a wide range of cherry, grape (Figure 7.4.4), plum, and roma or paste tomatoes that can be grown as well. Currently, cluster or tomato-on-vine (TOV) are a common tomato crop. You would recognize these as the cluster of 5 tomatoes sold in grocery stores.
There are many cultivars developed specifically for soilless systems in greenhouses. Even when growing in a small greenhouse where productivity may not be the main criteria, these cultivars would be good choices because they have more resistance to leaf molds and powdery mildew common in these environments. If the soilless system is used to grow tomatoes outdoors, some of the greenhouse tomato cultivar disease resistances may not be as useful.
Important factors in selecting tomato cultivars are taste preference, productivity and growth habit. Most greenhouse cultivars are indeterminate, meaning they continue to grow vertically while producing fruit. These cultivars have been developed to bear consistently for several months. Many home gardeners and commercial field producers grow determinate cultivars that bear over a shorter period of time and do not continue to produce vertical stem and leaf growth and flowers for the duration of the crop. Both indeterminate and determinate crops can be grown in soilless systems, but there will be differences in harvest duration and plant management (see "Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" in Supplemental Reading for more detail).
There are two different cropping calendars for greenhouse tomatoes. The more northern schedule has transplants seeded in December or January that enables harvest to begin in mid to late spring. Fruit are harvested through the summer and the crop continues to produce into the fall. Low production, disease pressure or the need to remove the current crop to clean out the greenhouse for the next crop are the determining factors in how long the crop stays in the greenhouse in the fall. In more southern areas, seeds are sown in or around August and come into production in the late fall. They are harvested through the winter and spring and generally come out of the greenhouse in the hottest months of summer.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a rapidly growing and productive crop that can fit well in home soilless production systems. Additionally, cucumbers can be grown on the same fertilizer solution as tomatoes in small systems. Regular garden cucumbers can be grown in soilless systems if there are bees present to carry out pollination. However, greenhouse cucumbers are thin-skinned (skins are not bitter) and typically seedless, so they do not require fertilization. In fact, greenhouse cucumbers do not have male flowers.
So, if these cultivars are grown outdoors where bees can get to the flowers of the seedless and field cucumbers, they will no longer be seedless. In addition to the cultivars selected for greenhouse production, there are now a number of seedless cucumbers that were bred and developed for outdoor production, which can be grown in greenhouses.
Greenhouse cucumbers are typically grown in three to five crops per year. Sometimes plant spacing is reduced in the low light times of year to improve production potential.
Peppers
Colored bell peppers are high value crop often grown in soilless systems on a similar schedule to tomatoes. However, these large bells are considered a challenging crop. It can be difficult to precisely manage nutrients and environments to maintain good production over a long period of time. Small bells (Figure 7.4.5) and various types of hot peppers can be less challenging for the small-scale grower.
Eggplant
Eggplant can be a desirable mid-length crop for soilless systems. They will typically bear fruit at a younger age than tomatoes and peppers. While there are greenhouse eggplant cultivars, a range of cultivars for home production can be grown. One of the largest assets of greenhouse production of eggplants is the opportunity to limit pest damage (such as flea beetles), which can be a challenge in outdoor production.
Basil
Basil is an herb harvested for its leaves, and was presented as a possible crop in the leafy crop system. It should also be stated that basil can be grown under similar nutrient, light and temperature regimes as many of the vine crops discussed here. So, there is an opportunity to incorporate this common herb with vine crops. Buckets or bags may provide more rooting volume for the plants and enable basil crops to be grown and harvested for a longer period of time than may be possible in many recirculating systems.
Dig Deeper
"Leafy Crop Production in Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Systems" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with permission.
"Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
"Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with permission.
"Tomatoes, Peppers and Cucumbers in Small-Scale Soilless and Hydroponic Vegetable Systems" by N. Bumgarner & R. Hochmuth, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with permission.
Unit 7 Lab Exercises
Exercise 7a: Test Tube Hydroponics
Students will set up a hydroponic system using test tubes to grow plants without soil and observe and document the growth and health of the plants over time.This exercise will help students grasp the basics of hydroponics and the importance of controlled environments in plant cultivation.
Exercise 7b: Hydroponic Design
Students will set up and operate various controlled environment systems. They will explore the principles of nutrient delivery in hydroponics, monitor plant growth, and understand the advantages and challenges of using hydroponic systems for plant cultivation.
Attribution
Excerpts used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Excerpts used with permission from "Soilless Growing Systems and Common Vegetable Crops" by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Title image CropKing, Inc., Lodi, OH, used with permission from "Greenhouse Structures for Vegetable Production " by N. Bumgarner, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
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1.3 Components of Prokaryotic Cell
1.4 Components of Eukaryotic Cell
1.5 Components of a Plant Cell
1_The-Cell
The Cell
Overview
Red and cyan fluorescent proteins marking plant cell nuclei. Fernan Federici
CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0
Botany by Melissa Ha, Maria Morrow & Kammy Algiers
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/Botany_(Ha_Morrow_and_Algiers)
A Photographic Atlas for Botany by Maria Morrow https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/A_Photographic_Atlas_for_Botany_(Morrow)
Introduction to Botany By Alexey Shipunov
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/Introduction_to_Botany_(Shipunov)
Plant Anatomy and Physiology by Sean Bellairs
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/Book%3A_Plant_Anatomy_and_Physiology_(Bellairs)
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Define cell.
- Summarize the main components of a light microscope.
- List the features of a prokaryotic cell.
- Define cell theory.
- Explain how the surface area to volume ratio regulates cell size.
- List and describe the cellular components of a eukaryotic cell.
- Identify characteristic features of a plant cell.
- Explain the structure and function of the cell wall, chloroplast, central vacuole, and plasmodesmata in the plant cell.
Key Terms
cell theory/unified cell theory - a biological concept that states that all organisms are made up of cells; the cell is the basic unit of life, and new cells arise from existing cells
cell wall - rigid cell covering comprised of various molecules that protect the cell, provides structural support, and give shape to the cell
cellulose - the main component of cell wall, made up of glucose polymer
central vacuole - large plant cell organelle that regulates the cell’s storage compartment, holds water, and plays a significant role in cell growth as the site of macromolecule degradation
chlorophyll - the green pigment that captures the light energy that drives the light reactions of photosynthesis
chloroplast - plant cell organelle that carries out photosynthesis
endoplasmic reticulum (ER) - series of interconnected membranous structures within eukaryotic cells that collectively modify proteins and synthesize lipids
eukaryotic cell - a cell that has a membrane-bound nucleus and several other membrane-bound compartments or sacs
light microscope - an instrument that magnifies an object using a beam of visible light that passes and bends through a lens system to visualize a specimen
lignin - phenolic polymer, a component of plant cell wall
nucleus - cell organelle that houses the cell’s DNA and directs ribosome and protein synthesis
pectin - polysaccharide commonly found in the primary cell wall of plants
peptidoglycan - polysaccharide commonly found in the bacterial cell wall
plasma membrane - phospholipid bilayer with embedded (integral) or attached (peripheral) proteins, and separates the cell's internal content from its surrounding environment
plasmodesma - (plural = plasmodesmata) channel that passes between adjacent cell walls of plant cells, connects their cytoplasm, and allows transporting of materials from cell to cell
primary cell wall - outermost cell wall in a plant cell, primary made up of cellulose and pectin; usually flexible and permeable
prokaryote - a unicellular organism that lacks a nucleus or any other membrane-bound organelle
secondary cell wall - cell wall between the primary cell wall and plasma membrane in a plant cell; usually rigid and impermeable
Introduction
Close your eyes and picture a brick wall. What is the wall's basic building block? It is a single brick. Like a brick wall, cells are the building blocks that make up our body.
Our body has many kinds of cells, each specialized for a specific purpose. Just as we use a variety of materials to build a home, the human body is constructed from many cell types. Given their enormous variety, cells from all organisms—even ones as diverse as bacteria, onions, and humans—share certain fundamental characteristics.
Microscopy, Cell Theory & Cell Size
A cell is the smallest unit of all living things. We call “living things” – organism(s). Whether it is a single-cell organism (like bacteria) or a multi-cellular organism (like a human). Thus, cells are the basic building blocks of all organisms.
Several cells of one kind that interconnect with each other and perform a shared function make a tissue. These tissues combine to form an organ (your stomach, heart, or brain), and several organs comprise an organ system (such as the digestive system, circulatory system, or nervous system). Several systems that function together form an organism (like a human being). Here, we will examine the structure and function of cells.
All cells can be broadly categorized as prokaryotic and eukaryotic. For example, we classify both animal and plant cells as eukaryotic cells, whereas we classify bacterial cells as prokaryotic. Before discussing the criteria for determining whether a cell is prokaryotic or eukaryotic, we will first examine how biologists study cells.
Microscopy
Cells vary in size. To give you a sense of cell size, a typical human red blood cell is about eight-millionths of a meter or eight micrometers (abbreviated as eight µm) in diameter. A pinhead is about two-thousandths of a meter (two mm) in diameter. That means about 250 red blood cells could fit on a pinhead. With few exceptions, we cannot see individual cells with the naked eye, so scientists use microscopes (micro- ="small; -scope = "to look at") to study them. A microscope is an instrument that magnifies an object. We photograph most cells with a microscope, so we can call these images micrographs.
The optics of a microscope’s lenses change the image orientation that the user sees. A specimen that is right-side up and facing right on the microscope slide will appear upside-down and facing left when one views through a microscope, and vice versa. Similarly, if one moves the slide left while looking through the microscope, it will appear to move right, and if one moves it down, it will seem to move up. This occurs because microscopes use two sets of lenses to magnify the image. Because of how light travels through the lenses, this two-lens system produces an inverted image (binocular, or dissecting microscopes, work in a similar manner, but include an additional magnification system that makes the final image appear to be upright).
Light Microscope
Most student microscopes are light microscopes (figure 1.1a). In this type of microscope, visible light passes and bends through the lens system to enable the user to see the specimen. Light microscopes are advantageous for viewing living organisms, but since individual cells are generally transparent, their components are not distinguishable unless they are colored with special stains. Staining, however, usually kills the cells.
Two parameters that are important in microscopy are magnification and resolving power. Magnification is the process of enlarging an object in appearance. Resolving power is the microscope's ability to distinguish two adjacent structures as separate: the higher the resolution, the better the image's clarity and detail. Light microscopes that students commonly use in the laboratory magnify up to approximately 400 times. Light microscopes can magnify up to 1,000 times when oil immersion lenses are used. To gain a better understanding of cellular structure and function, scientists typically use electron microscopes.
Electron Microscope
In contrast to light microscopes, electron microscopes (figure 1.1.1b) use a beam of electrons instead of a beam of light. Not only does this allow for higher magnification and, thus, more detail, but it also provides higher resolving power. There are two main types of electron microscopes, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). In a scanning electron microscope, a beam of electrons moves back and forth across a cell’s surface, creating details of cell surface characteristics. In a transmission electron microscope, the electron beam penetrates the cell and provides details of a cell’s internal structures. As you might imagine, electron microscopes are significantly bulkier and more expensive than light microscopes.
To learn more about light microscopes, visit this site.
Cell theory
The microscopes we use today are far more complex than those that Dutch shopkeeper Antony van Leeuwenhoek, used in the 1600s. Skilled in crafting lenses, van Leeuwenhoek observed the movements of single-celled organisms, which he collectively termed “animalcules.” In the 1665 publication Micrographia, experimental scientist Robert Hooke coined the term “cell” for the box-like structures he observed when viewing cork tissue through a lens. In the 1670s, van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria and protozoa. Later advances in lenses, microscope construction, and staining techniques enabled other scientists to see some components inside cells. By the late 1830s, botanist Matthias Schleiden and zoologist Theodor Schwann were studying tissues and proposed the unified cell theory, which states that one or more cells comprise all living things, the cell is the basic unit of life, and new cells arise from existing cells. Rudolf Virchow later made important contributions to this theory.
Cells fall into one of two broad categories: prokaryotic and eukaryotic. We classify only the predominantly single-celled organisms Bacteria and Archaea as prokaryotes (pro- = “before”; -Kary- = “nucleus”). Animal cells, plants, fungi, and protists (protozoa) are all eukaryotes (EU- = “true”).
Cell Size
At 0.1 to 5.0 µm in diameter, prokaryotic cells are significantly smaller than eukaryotic cells, which have diameters ranging from 10 to 100 µm. The prokaryotes' small size allows ions and organic molecules that enter them to quickly diffuse to other parts of the cell. Similarly, any waste produced within a prokaryotic cell can quickly diffuse. This is not the case in eukaryotic cells, which have developed different structural adaptations to enhance intracellular transport. Small size, in general, is necessary for all cells, whether prokaryotic or eukaryotic. Let’s examine why that is so.
First, we’ll consider the area and volume of a typical cell. Not all cells are spherical in shape, but most tend to approximate a sphere. You may remember from your high school geometry course that the formula for the surface area of a sphere is 4πr2, while the formula for its volume is 4πr3/3. Thus, as the radius of a cell increases, its surface area increases as the square of its radius, but its volume increases as the cube of its radius (much more rapidly). Therefore, as a cell increases in size, it's surface area-to-volume ratio decreases. This same principle would apply if the cell had a cube shape (figure 1.1.2). If the cell grows too large, the plasma membrane will not have sufficient surface area to support the rate of diffusion required for the increased volume. In other words, as a cell grows, it becomes less efficient. One way to become more efficient is to divide. Other ways are to increase surface area by creating inward or outward projections of the cell membrane, becoming flat or thin and elongated, or by developing organelles that perform specific tasks. These adaptations lead to the development of more sophisticated cells, which we call eukaryotic cells.
For another perspective on cell size, try the HowBig interactive at this site.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/4-1-studying-cells
Components of Prokaryotic Cell
All cells share four common components: 1) a plasma membrane, an outer covering that separates the cell’s interior from its surrounding environment; 2) cytoplasm, consisting of a jelly-like cytosol within the cell in which there are other cellular components; 3) DNA, the cell's genetic material; and 4) ribosome, which synthesize proteins. However, prokaryotes differ from eukaryotic cells in several ways.
A prokaryote is a simple, mostly single-celled (unicellular) organism that lacks a nucleus, or any other membrane-bound organelle. We will shortly come to see that this is significantly different in eukaryotes. Prokaryotic DNA is in the cell's central part: the nucleoid (figure 1.1.3)
Most prokaryotes have a Peptidoglycan cell wall, and many have a polysaccharide capsule (figure 1.1.3). The cell wall acts as an extra layer of protection, helps the cell maintain its shape, and prevents dehydration. The capsule enables the cell to attach to surfaces in its environment. Some prokaryotes have flagella, pili, or fimbriae. Flagella are used for locomotion. Pili exchange genetic material during conjugation, the process by which one bacterium transfers genetic material to another through direct contact. Bacteria use Fimbriae to attach to a host cell.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/4-2-prokaryotic-cells
Components of Eukaryotic Cell
Have you ever heard the phrase “form follows function?” It’s a philosophy that many industries follow. In architecture, this means that buildings should be constructed to support the activities that will be carried out inside them. For example, a skyscraper should include several elevator banks. A hospital should place its emergency room where it is easily accessible.
Our natural world also utilizes the principle of form following function, especially in cell biology, and this will become clear as we explore eukaryotic (figure 1.1.4). Unlike prokaryote cells, eukaryotic cells have 1) a membrane-bound nucleus; 2) numerous membrane-bound organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, chloroplast, mitochondria, and others; and 3) several, rod-shaped chromosomes. Because a membrane surrounds the eukaryotic cell’s nucleus, it has a “true nucleus.” The word “organelle” means “little organ,” and, as we already mentioned, organelles have specialized cellular functions, just as your body's organs have specialized functions.
At this point, it should be clear to you that eukaryotic cells have a more complex structure than prokaryotic cells. Organelles allow different functions to be compartmentalized in different areas of the cell. Before turning to organelles, let’s first examine two important components of the cell: the plasma membrane and the cytoplasm.
The Plasma Membrane
Like prokaryotes, eukaryotic cells have a plasma membrane (figure 1.1.5), a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins that separate the internal contents of the cell from its surrounding environment. A phospholipid is a lipid molecule with two fatty acid chains and a phosphate-containing group. The plasma membrane controls the passage of organic molecules, ions, water, and oxygen into and out of the cell. Wastes (such as carbon dioxide and ammonia) also leave the cell by passing through the plasma membrane.
The Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm is the cell's entire region between the plasma membrane and the nuclear envelope (a structure we will discuss shortly). It is comprised of organelles suspended in the gel-like cytosol, the cytoskeleton, and various chemicals (figure 1.1.4). Even though the cytoplasm consists of 70 to 80 percent water, it has a semi-solid consistency, which comes from the proteins within it. However, proteins are not the only organic molecules in the cytoplasm. Glucose and other simple sugars, polysaccharides, amino acids, nucleic acids, fatty acids, and derivatives of glycerol are also there. Ions of sodium, potassium, calcium and many other elements also dissolve in the cytoplasm. Many metabolic reactions, including protein synthesis, take place in the cytoplasm.
The Nucleus
Typically, the nucleus is the most prominent organelle in a cell (figure 1.1.4). The nucleus (plural = nuclei) houses the cell’s DNA and directs the synthesis of ribosomes and proteins. Let’s look at it in more detail (figure 1.1.6).
The Nuclear Envelope
The nuclear envelope is a double-membrane structure that constitutes the nucleus' outermost portion (figure 1.1.6). Both the nuclear envelope's inner and outer membranes are phospholipid bilayers. The nuclear envelope is punctuated with pores that control the passage of ions, molecules, and RNA between the nucleoplasm and cytoplasm. The nucleoplasm is the semi-solid fluid inside the nucleus, where we find the chromatin and the nucleolus.
Chromatin and Chromosomes
To understand chromatin, it is helpful to first explore chromosomes, structures within the nucleus that are made up of DNA, the hereditary material. You may remember that in prokaryotes, DNA is organized into a single circular chromosome. In eukaryotes, chromosomes are linear structures. Every eukaryotic species has a specific number of chromosomes in the nucleus of each cell. For example, in humans, the chromosome number is 46, while in fruit flies, it is 8. Chromosomes are only visible and distinguishable from one another when the cell is getting ready to divide. When the cell is in the growth and maintenance phases of its life cycle, proteins attach to chromosomes. During this stage, they resemble an unwound, jumbled bunch of threads. We call these unwound protein-chromosome complexes chromatin (figure1.1.6 & 1.1.7). Chromatin describes the material that makes up the chromosomes both when condensed and decondensed.
The Nucleolus
We already know that the nucleus directs the synthesis of ribosomes, but how does it do this? Some chromosomes have sections of DNA that encode ribosomal RNA. A darkly staining area within the nucleus called the nucleolus (plural = nucleoli) aggregates the ribosomal RNA with associated proteins to assemble the ribosomal subunits that are then transported out through the pores in the nuclear envelope to the cytoplasm (figure 1.1.6).
Ribosomes
Ribosomes are the cellular structures responsible for protein synthesis. When we view them through an electron microscope, ribosomes appear either as clusters (polyribosomes) or as single, tiny dots that float freely in the cytoplasm. They may be attached to the cytoplasmic surfaces of the plasma membrane, on the endoplasmic reticulum, and the nuclear envelope (figure 1.1.4). Electron microscopy shows us that ribosomes, which are large protein and RNA complexes, consist of two subunits: large and small (figure 1.1.8). Ribosomes receive their “orders” for protein synthesis from the nucleus where the DNA transcribes into messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA travels to the ribosomes, which translate the code, provided by the sequence of the nitrogenous bases in the mRNA, into a specific order of amino acids in a protein. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
Because protein synthesis is an essential function of all cells (including enzymes, hormones, antibodies, pigments, structural components, and surface receptors), there are ribosomes in practically every cell. Ribosomes are particularly abundant in cells that synthesize large amounts of protein. For example, the pancreas is responsible for creating several digestive enzymes and the cells that produce these enzymes contain many ribosomes. Thus, we see another example of the structure following function.
Mitochondria
Scientists often call mitochondria (singular = mitochondrion) “powerhouses” or “energy factories” of both plant and animal cells because they are responsible for making adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — the cell’s main energy-carrying molecule. Cellular respiration is the process of making ATP using the chemical energy in glucose and other nutrients. In mitochondria, this process uses oxygen and produces carbon dioxide as a waste product. Mitochondria are oval-shaped, double-membrane organelles (figure 1.1.9) that have their own ribosomes and DNA. Each membrane is a phospholipid bilayer embedded with proteins. The inner layer has inward projections or folds called cristae. The inner lumen of mitochondria is filled with viscous fluid called matrix, made up of enzymes, certain vitamins & minerals in different forms, ions, small and large proteins, DNA, and ribosomes.
Peroxisomes
Peroxisomes are small, round organelles enclosed by single membranes. They carry out oxidation reactions that break down fatty acids and amino acids. They also detoxify many poisons that may enter the body. (Many of these oxidation reactions release hydrogen peroxide H2O2, which would be damaging to cells; however, when these reactions are confined to peroxisomes, enzymes safely break down the H2O2 into oxygen and water.) For example, peroxisomes in liver cells detoxify alcohol. Glyoxysomes, which are specialized peroxisomes in plants, are responsible for converting stored fats into sugars. Plant cells contain many different types of peroxisomes that play a role in metabolism, pathogen defense, and stress response, to mention a few.
Vesicles and Vacuoles
Vesicles and vacuoles are membrane-bound sacs that function in storage and transport. Other than the fact that vacuoles are somewhat larger than vesicles, there is a very subtle distinction between them. Vesicle membranes can fuse with either the plasma membrane or other membrane systems within the cell. The vacuole's membrane does not fuse with the membranes of other cellular components. Additionally, some agents such as enzymes within plant vacuoles break down macromolecules.
Endomembrane System
Scientists have long noticed that bacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplast are similar in size. We also know that bacteria have DNA and ribosomes, just like mitochondria and chloroplasts. Scientists believe that host cells and bacteria formed an endosymbiotic relationship when the host cells ingested both aerobic and autotrophic bacteria (cyanobacteria) but did not destroy them. Through many millions of years of evolution, these ingested bacteria became more specialized in their functions, with the aerobic bacteria becoming mitochondria and the autotrophic bacteria becoming chloroplasts. The endomembrane system (endo = “within”) is a group of membranes and organelles (figure 1.1.4) in eukaryotic cells that works together to modify, package, and transport lipids and proteins. It includes the nuclear envelope, lysosomes, and vesicles, which we have already mentioned, as well as the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, which we will cover shortly. Although not technically within the cell, the plasma membrane is included in the endomembrane system because, as you will see, it interacts with the other endomembranous organelles. The endomembrane system does not include either mitochondria or chloroplast membranes.
The Endoplasmic Reticulum
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (figure 1.1.4) is a series of interconnected membranous sacs and tubules. The ER's membrane, which is a phospholipid bilayer embedded with proteins, is continuous with the nuclear envelope. The inner hollow space of ER is called lumen or cisternal space. ER is responsible for modifying proteins, and their transportation as well as for synthesizing lipids. However, these two functions take place in two different areas of the ER: the rough ER and the smooth ER, respectively.
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
Scientists have named the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) as such because the ribosomes attached to its cytoplasmic surface give it a studded appearance when viewing it through an electron microscope (figure 1.1.10). Ribosomes transfer their newly synthesized proteins into the RER's lumen where they undergo structural modifications, such as folding or acquiring side chains. These modified proteins incorporate into cellular membranes—the ER or the ER's or other organelles' membranes. The proteins can also secrete from the cell (such as protein hormones, and enzymes). The RER also makes phospholipids for cellular membranes. If the phospholipids or modified proteins are not destined to stay in the RER, they will reach their destinations via transport vesicles that bud from the RER’s membrane (figure 1.1.11).
Since the RER is engaged in modifying proteins (such as enzymes, for example) that secrete from the cell, you would be correct in assuming that the RER is abundant in cells that secrete proteins.
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum
The smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) is continuous with the RER but has few or no ribosomes on its cytoplasmic surface (figure 1.1.11). SER functions include the synthesis of carbohydrates, lipids, and steroid hormones; detoxification of medications and poisons; and storing calcium ions. In muscle cells, a specialized SER, the sarcoplasmic reticulum, is responsible for storing calcium ions that are needed to trigger the muscle cells' coordinated contractions.
The Golgi Apparatus
We have already mentioned that vesicles can bud from the ER and transport their contents elsewhere, but where do the vesicles go? Before reaching their final destination, the lipids or proteins within the transport vesicles still need sorting, packaging, and tagging so that they end up in the right place. Sorting, tagging, packaging, and distributing lipids and proteins takes place in the Golgi apparatus (also called the Golgi body), a series of flattened membranous sacs (figure 1.1.12).
The side of the Golgi apparatus that is closer to the ER is called the cis face. The opposite side is the trans face. The transport vesicles that formed from the ER travel to the cis face, fuse with it, and empty their contents into the lumen of the Golgi apparatus. As the proteins and lipids travel through the Golgi, they undergo further modifications that allow them to be sorted. The most frequent modification is adding short-chain sugar molecules. These newly modified proteins and lipids are then tagged with phosphate groups or other small molecules to travel to their target destinations. Finally, the modified and tagged proteins are packaged into secretory vesicles that bud from the Golgi's trans face. While some of these vesicles deposit their contents into other cell parts where they will be used, other secretory vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane and release their contents outside the cell.
In another example of form following function, cells that engage in a great deal of secretory activity (such as salivary gland cells that secrete digestive enzymes or immune system cells that secrete antibodies) have an abundance of Golgi. In a plant cell, the Golgi apparatus has the additional role of synthesizing polysaccharides, some of which are incorporated into the cell wall and some of which other cell parts use.
Lysosomes
The lysosomes are the cell’s “garbage disposal.” Enzymes within the lysosomes aid in breaking down proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, and even worn-out organelles. Most plant cells do not have lysosomes, though many of these lysosomal enzymes are present in the vacuole of the plant cell. Lysosomes are also part of the endomembrane system.
You can watch an excellent animation of the endomembrane system here. At the end of the animation, there is a short self-assessment.
Cytoskeleton
If you were to remove all the organelles from a cell, would the plasma membrane and the cytoplasm be the only components left? No. Within the cytoplasm, there would still be ions and organic molecules, plus a network of protein fibers that help maintain the cell's shape, secure some organelles in specific positions, allow cytoplasm and vesicles to move within the cell, and enable cells within the all eukaryotic organisms to move. Collectively, scientists call this network of protein fibers the cytoskeleton. There are three types of fibers within the cytoskeleton: microfilaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules (figure 1.1.13). Here, we will examine each.
Microfilaments
Also called actin filaments (figure 1.1.14), microfilaments are the narrowest. They function in cellular movement, have a diameter of about 7 nm, and are made up of intertwined strands of two globular proteins. Microfilaments also provide some rigidity and help cells to change their shape. Microfilaments function in muscle contraction, cytoplasmic streaming, maintaining the cell shape, internal transport and cytokinesis.
Intermediate Filaments
Intermediate filaments are filaments with a diameter of about 8 to 10 nm (figure 1.1.15). You are probably most familiar with keratin, the fibrous protein that strengthens your hair, nails, and the skin's epidermis. Intermediate filaments have no role in cell movement. Their function is purely structural. They bear tension, thus maintaining the cell's shape, and anchor the nucleus and other organelles in place. The intermediate filaments are the most diverse group of cytoskeletal elements. The research is ongoing to understand the function of intermediate filaments in plants.
Microtubules
As their name implies, microtubules are small hollow tubes. With a diameter of about 25 nm, microtubules are the widest component of cytoskeletons. Two globular proteins, α-tubulin and β-tubulin are polymerized as dimers, which then associate with other such dimers laterally to form tubular structures called protofilaments. One of the common arrangements is of 13 protofilaments joined to each other, side by side, to form a microtubule (figure 1.1.16). They help the cell resist compression, provide a track along which vesicles move through the cell, and pull replicated chromosomes to opposite ends of a dividing cell. Like microfilaments, microtubules can disassemble and reform quickly. Microtubules participate in cell division in plant cells.
You have now completed a broad survey of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell components. For a summary of cellular components in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, see table 1.1
Cell Component | Function | Present in Prokaryotes? | Present in Animal Cells? | Present in Plant Cells? |
Plasma membrane | Separates cell from the external environment; controls passage of organic molecules, ions, water, oxygen, and wastes into and out of a cell | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Cytoplasm | Provides turgor pressure to plant cells as the fluid inside the central vacuole; site of many metabolic reactions; medium in which organelles are found | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Nucleolus | The darkened area within the nucleus where ribosomal subunits are synthesized. | No | Yes | Yes |
Nucleus | A cell organelle that houses DNA and directs the synthesis of ribosomes and proteins | No | Yes | Yes |
Ribosomes | Protein synthesis | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mitochondria | ATP production/cellular respiration | No | Yes | Yes |
Peroxisomes | Oxidize and thus break down fatty acids and amino acids, and detoxify poisons | No | Yes | Yes |
Vesicles and vacuoles | Storage and transport; digestive function in plant cells | No | Yes | Yes |
Centrosome | Unspecified role in cell division in animal cells; microtubule source in animal cells | No | Yes | No |
Lysosomes | Digestion of macromolecules; recycling of worn-out organelles | No | Yes | Some |
Cell wall | Protection, structural support, and maintenance of cell shape | Yes, primarily peptidoglycan | No | Yes, primarily cellulose |
Chloroplasts | Photosynthesis | No | No | Yes |
Endoplasmic reticulum | Modifies proteins and synthesizes lipids | No | Yes | Yes |
Golgi apparatus | Modifies, sorts, tags, packages, and distributes lipids and proteins | No | Yes | Yes |
Cytoskeleton | Maintains cell’s shape, secures organelles in specific positions, allows cytoplasm and vesicles to move within the cell, and enables unicellular organisms to move independently | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Flagella | Cellular locomotion | Some | Some | No, except for some plant sperm cells |
Cilia | Cellular locomotion, movement of particles along plasma membrane's extracellular surface, and filtration | Some | Some | No |
Extracellular Structure
If you work on a group project, you need to communicate with others (at least your group members and the teacher). As you might expect, if cells are to work together, they must communicate with each other. Let’s look at how cells communicate with each other. Animal cells release materials into the extracellular space. The primary component of these materials is collagen. Collagen fibers are interwoven with proteoglycans, which are carbohydrate-containing protein molecules. Collectively, we call these materials the extracellular matrix. Plant cells do not secrete collagen but produce a rigid cell wall.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/4-3-eukaryotic-cells
Components of a Plant Cell
At this point, you know that all eukaryotic cell has a plasma membrane, cytoplasm, a nucleus, ribosomes, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and in some vacuoles, microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs). Animal cells and plant cells have lysosomes, though lysosomes in plants operate differently and are not very common. There are some striking differences between animal and plant cells. In animal cells centrioles are associated with the MTOC, a complex we call the centrosome. Plant cells lack centrioles. Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts, and other specialized plastids, and a large central vacuole, whereas animal cells do not.
The Cell Wall
If you examine figure 1.1.4 b, the plant cell diagram, you will see a structure external to the plasma membrane. This is the cell wall, a rigid covering that protects the cell, provides structural support, and gives shape to the cell. Fungal and some protistan cells also have cell walls. While the prokaryotic cell walls' chief component is peptidoglycan, the major organic molecule in the plant’s (and some protists') cell wall is cellulose — a polysaccharide comprised of glucose units (figure 1.1.17). Have you ever noticed that when you bite into a raw vegetable, like celery, it crunches? That’s because you are tearing the rigid cell walls of a celery stalk with your teeth.
Central Vacuole
Previously, we mentioned vacuoles as essential components of plant cells. If you look at figure 1.1.4b, you will see that each plant cell has a large central vacuole that occupies most of the space inside the cell. The central vacuole plays a key role in regulating the cell’s concentration of water in changing environmental conditions. Have you ever noticed that if you forget to water a plant for a few days, it wilts? That’s because as the water concentration in the soil becomes lower than the water concentration in the plant, water moves out of the central vacuoles and cytoplasm. As the central vacuole shrinks, it leaves the cell wall unsupported. This loss of support to the plant's cell walls results in a wilted appearance. The central vacuole also supports the cell's expansion. When the central vacuole holds more water, the cell becomes larger without having to invest considerable energy in synthesizing new cytoplasm.
Chloroplasts
Like the mitochondria, chloroplasts have their own DNA and ribosomes, but chloroplasts have an entirely different function. Chloroplasts are plant cell organelles that carry out photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the series of reactions that use carbon dioxide, water, and light energy to make glucose and oxygen. This is a major difference between plants and animals. Plants (autotrophs) can make their own food, like sugars that is used in cellular respiration to provide ATP energy generated in the plant mitochondria. Animals (heterotrophs) must ingest their food.
Like mitochondria, chloroplasts have outer and inner membranes, but within the space enclosed by a chloroplast’s inner membrane is a set of interconnected and stacked fluid-filled membrane sacs we call thylakoids (figure 1.1.18). Each thylakoid stack is a granum (plural = grana). We call the fluid enclosed by the inner membrane that surrounds the grana the stroma. The chloroplasts contain a green pigment, chlorophyll, which captures the light energy that drives the reactions of photosynthesis. Like plant cells, photosynthetic protists also have chloroplasts. Some bacteria perform photosynthesis, but their chlorophyll is different from that of plants and is not present inside an organelle.
Intercellular Junctions
Cells can also communicate with each other via direct contact or intercellular junctions. There are differences in the ways that plant and animal and fungal cells communicate. Plasmodesmata are junctions between plant cells, whereas, animal cell contacts include tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes. Only plasmodesmata are discussed here.
Plasmodesmata
In general, long stretches of the plasma membranes of neighboring plant cells cannot touch one another because the cell wall that surrounds each cell separates them (figure 1.1.4b). How then, can a plant transfer water and other soil nutrients from its roots, through its stems, and to its leaves? Such transport uses the vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) primarily. There also exist structural modifications, which we call plasmodesmata (singular = plasmodesma). Numerous channels pass between adjacent cell walls of plant cells connecting their cytoplasm, and enabling the transport of materials from cell to cell, and thus throughout the plant (figure 1.1.19).
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/4-3-eukaryotic-cells
Attributions
Biology 2e by Clark Mary Ann, Douglas Matthew, Choi Jung. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License V 4.0
Introduction to Organismal Biology at https://sites.gatech.edu/organismalbio/ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Botany by Melissa Ha, Maria Morrow, and Kammy Algiers is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Melissa Ha, Maria Morrow, & Kammy Algiers.
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/84551/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit Introduction to Plant Science, Plant Form",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/89185/overview
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2.3 Plant Organ System - Roots
2.4 Plant Organ System - Stems
2.5 Plant Organ System - Leaf
2.6 Plant Organ System - Flower
2_Parts-of-a-Plant
Parts of a Plant
Overview
Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm tree)
By Brian Green, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13127021
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Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Describe the angiosperms or flowering plants.
- Identify the root & shoot system of a plant.
- Differentiate between a monocot and a eudicot plant.
- Describe the external structure of roots and various modifications of the roots.
- Describe the external structure of the stem and various modifications of the stem.
- Explain the external structure of a typical leaf.
- Define phyllotaxy.
- Differentiate between simple and compound leaves.
- Describe the internal structure of a typical dicot leaf.
- List and describe the parts of a typical angiosperm flower.
- Differentiate between perfect and imperfect flower flowers.
- Differentiate between complete and incomplete flowers.
- Differentiate between monoecious and dioecious plants.
Key Terms
androecium - the sum of all the stamens in a flower
angiosperms - a group of seed-bearing plants that produce flowers and fruits
anther - sac-like structure at the tip of the stamen in which pollen grains are produced
bract - modified leaf associated with a flower
bulb - a modified underground stem that consists of a large bud surrounded by numerous leaf scales
calyx - whorl of sepals
carpel - a single unit of the pistil
complete flower - flower with all four parts, sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels
compound leaf - a leaf in which the leaf blade is subdivided to form leaflets, all attached to the midrib
corm - rounded, fleshy underground stem that contains stored food
corolla - a collection of petals
dicot - (also, eudicot) related group of angiosperms whose embryos possess two cotyledons
dioecious - describes a species in which the male and female reproductive organs are carried on separate specimens
filament - thin stalk that links the anther to the base of the flower
guard cell - paired cells on either side of a stoma that control the stomatal opening and thereby regulate the movement of gases and water vapor
gynoecium - (also, carpel) structure that constitutes the female reproductive organs
imperfect flower - a flower that only carries either male or female reproductive organ
monocot - a related group of angiosperms that produce embryos with one cotyledon and pollen with a single ridge
monoecious - describes a species in which the male and female reproductive organs are on the same plant
ovary - a chamber that contains and protects the ovule or female megasporangium
palisade mesophyll - an area of a typical dicot leaf comprising column-shaped tightly packed parenchyma cells found underneath the upper epidermis
perfect flower - a flower that carries both male and female reproductive organs
petal - modified leaf interior to the sepals; colorful petals attract animal pollinators
phyllotaxy - arrangement of leaves on a stem
pistil - a fused group of carpels
pistillate flower - a flower that only carries female reproductive organs
pneumatophore - roots participating in gas exchange
rhizome - a modified underground stem that grows horizontally to the soil surface and has nodes and internodes
root - belowground portion of the plant that supports the plant and absorbs water and minerals
runner/stolen - a modified stem that runs parallel to the ground and can give rise to new plants at the nodes
sepal - a modified leaf that encloses the bud; the outermost structure of a flower
simple leaf - leaf type in which the lamina is completely undivided
spongy mesophyll - an area of a typical dicot leaf comprising large air spaces and loosely packed irregularly shaped parenchyma cells found underneath the palisade parenchyma cells
staminate flower - a flower that only carries male reproductive organs
stem - aboveground portion of the plant; consists of nonreproductive plant parts, such as leaves and stems, and reproductive parts, such as flowers and fruits
stigma - the uppermost structure of the carpel where pollen is deposited
style - long, thin structure that links the sigma to the ovary
Introduction
Plants are as essential to human existence as land, water, and air. Without plants, our day-to-day lives would be impossible because, without oxygen from photosynthesis, aerobic life cannot be sustained. From providing food and shelter to serving as a source of medicines, oils, perfumes, and industrial products, plants provide humans with numerous valuable resources.
When you think of plants, most of the organisms that come to mind are vascular plants. These plants have tissues that conduct food and water, and most of them have seeds. Seed plants are divided into gymnosperms and angiosperms. Gymnosperms include the needle-leaved conifers—spruce, fir, and pine—as well as less familiar plants, such as ginkgo and cycads. Their seeds are not enclosed by fleshy fruit. Angiosperms, constitute seed plants with flowers, also called flowering plants. They include broadleaved trees (such as maple, oak, and elm), vegetables (such as potatoes, lettuce, and carrots), grasses, and plants known for the beauty of their flowers (roses, irises, and daffodils, for example).
While individual plant species are unique, all share a common structure: a plant body consisting of stems, roots, and leaves. They all transport water, minerals, and sugars produced through photosynthesis through the plant body in a similar manner. All plant species also respond to environmental factors, such as light, gravity, competition, temperature, and predation.
Angiosperms or flowering plants
From their humble and still obscure beginning during the early Jurassic period, the angiosperms—or flowering plants—have evolved to dominate most terrestrial ecosystems (Figure 1.2.1). With more than 300,000 species, the angiosperm phylum (Anthophyta) is second only to insects in terms of diversification.
The success of angiosperms is due to two novel reproductive structures: flowers and fruits. The function of the flower is to ensure pollination, often by insects, as well as to protect a developing embryo. The colors and patterns on flowers offer specific signals to many pollinating insects or birds and bats that have coevolved with them. For example, some patterns are visible only in the ultraviolet range of light, which can be seen by insect pollinators. For some pollinators, flowers advertise themselves as a reliable source of nectar. Flower scent also helps to select pollinators. Sweet scents tend to attract bees and butterflies and moths, but some flies and beetles might prefer scents that signal fermentation or putrefaction. Flowers also provide protection for the ovule and developing embryo inside a receptacle. The function of the fruit is seed protection and dispersal. Different fruit structures or tissues on fruit—such as sweet flesh, wings, parachutes, or spines that grab—reflect the dispersal strategies that help spread seeds.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-introduction
Diversity of Angiosperms
Diversity of Angiosperms
Within the angiosperms are three major groups: basal angiosperms, monocots, and dicots. Basal angiosperms are a group of plants that are believed to have branched off before the separation of the monocots and dicots, because they exhibit traits from both groups. They are categorized separately in most classification schemes. The basal angiosperms include Amborella, water lilies, the Magnoliids (magnolia trees, laurels, and spice peppers), and a group called the Austrobaileyales, which includes the star anise. The monocots and dicots are differentiated on the basis of the structure of the cotyledons, pollen grains, and other structures. Monocots include grasses and lilies, and the dicots form a multi-branched group that includes (among many others) roses, cabbages, sunflowers, and mints.
Monocots
Plants in the monocot group are primarily identified by the presence of a single cotyledon in the seedling. Other anatomical features shared by monocots include veins that run parallel to and along the length of the leaves, and flower parts that are arranged in a three- or six-fold symmetry. True woody tissue is rarely found in monocots. In palm trees, vascular and parenchyma tissues produced by the primary and secondary thickening meristems form the trunk. The pollen from the first angiosperms was likely monosulcate, containing a single furrow or pore through the outer layer. This feature is still seen in modern monocots. The vascular tissue of the stem is scattered, not arranged in any particular pattern, but is organized in a ring in the roots. The root system consists of multiple fibrous roots, with no major taproot. Adventitious roots often emerge from the stem or leaves. The monocots include familiar plants such as the true lilies (Liliopsida), orchids, yucca, asparagus, grasses, and palms. Many important crops are monocots, such as rice and other cereals, corn, sugar cane, and tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples (figure 1.2.2 a, b, c).
Eudicots
Eudicots, or true dicots, are characterized by the presence of two cotyledons in the developing shoot. Veins form a network in leaves, and flower parts come in four, five, or many whorls. Vascular tissue forms a ring in the stem; in monocots, the vascular tissue is scattered in the stem. Eudicots can be herbaceous (not woody) or produce woody tissues. Most eudicots produce pollen that is trisulcate or triporate, with three furrows or pores. The root system is usually anchored by one main root developed from the embryonic radicle. Eudicots comprise two-thirds of all flowering plants. The major differences between monocots and eudicots are summarized in table 2.1. However, some species may exhibit characteristics usually associated with the other group, so the identification of a plant as a monocot or a eudicot is not always straightforward (figure 1.2.2. d, e, f).
Characteristic | Monocot | Eudicot |
Cotyledon | One | Two |
Veins in Leaves | Parallel | Network (branched) |
Stem Vascular Tissue | Scattered | Arranged in a ring pattern |
Roots | Network of fibrous roots | Taproot with many lateral roots |
Pollen | Monosulcate | Trisulcate |
Flower Parts | Three or multiple of three | Four, five, multiple of four or five and whorls |
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/26-3-angiosperms
Plant Organ System - Roots
In plants, just as in animals, similar cells working together form a tissue. When different types of tissues work together to perform a unique function, they form an organ; organs working together form organ systems. Vascular plants have two distinct organ systems: a shoot system and a root system. The shoot system consists of two portions: the vegetative (non-reproductive) parts of the plant, such as the leaves and the stems, and the reproductive parts of the plant, which include flowers and fruits. The shoot system generally grows above ground, where it absorbs the light needed for photosynthesis. The root system, which supports the plants and absorbs water and minerals, is usually underground. Figure 1.2.3 shows the organ systems of a typical plant.
Roots
The roots of seed plants have three major functions: anchoring the plant to the soil, absorbing water and minerals, transporting them upwards, and storing the products of photosynthesis. Some roots are modified to absorb moisture and exchange gases. Most roots are underground. Some plants, however, also have adventitious roots, which emerge above the ground from the shoot.
Types of Root Systems
Root systems are mainly of two types (figure 1.2.4). Dicots have a taproot system, while monocots have a fibrous root system. A tap root system has a main root that grows down vertically, from which many smaller lateral roots arise. Dandelions are a good example; their tap roots usually break off when trying to pull these weeds, and they can regrow another shoot from the remaining root. A tap root system penetrates deep into the soil. In contrast, a fibrous root system is located closer to the soil surface and forms a dense network of roots that also helps prevent soil erosion (lawn grasses are a good example, as are wheat, rice, and corn). Some plants have a combination of tap roots and fibrous roots. Plants that grow in dry areas often have deep root systems, whereas plants growing in areas with abundant water are likely to have shallower root systems.
Root Modifications
Root structures may be modified for specific purposes. For example, some roots are bulbous and store starch. Aerial roots and prop roots are two forms of aboveground roots that provide additional support to anchor the plant. Tap roots, such as carrots, turnips, and beets, are examples of roots that are modified for food storage (figure 1.2.5).
Epiphytic roots enable a plant to grow on another plant. For example, the epiphytic roots of orchids develop spongy tissue to absorb moisture. The banyan tree (Ficus sp.) begins as an epiphyte, germinating in the branches of a host tree; aerial roots develop from the branches and eventually reach the ground, providing additional support (figure 1.2.6). In screwpine (Pandanus sp.), a palm-like tree that grows in sandy tropical soils, aboveground prop roots develop from the nodes to provide additional support.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-3-roots
Plant Organ System - Stems
Stems are a part of the shoot system of a plant. They may range in length from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters, and vary in diameter, depending on the plant type. Stems are usually above ground, although the stems of some plants, such as the potato, also grow underground. Stems may be herbaceous (green & soft) or woody in nature. Their main function is to provide support to the plant, holding leaves, flowers, and buds; in some cases, stems also store food for the plant. A stem may be unbranched, like that of a palm tree, or it may be highly branched, like that of a magnolia tree. The stem of the plant connects the roots to the leaves, helping to transport absorbed water and minerals to different parts of the plant. It also helps to transport the products of photosynthesis, namely sugars, from the leaves to the rest of the plant.
Plant stems, whether above or below ground, are characterized by the presence of nodes and internodes (figure 1.2.7). Nodes are points of attachment for leaves, aerial roots, and flowers. The stem region between two nodes is called an internode. The stalk that extends from the stem to the base of the leaf is the petiole. An axillary bud is usually found in the axil—the area between the base of a leaf and the stem—where it can give rise to a branch or a flower. The apex (tip) of the shoot contains the apical meristem within the apical bud.
Stem Modifications
Some plant species have modified stems that are especially suited to a particular habitat and environment (figure 1.2.8). A rhizome is a modified stem that grows horizontally underground and has nodes and internodes. Vertical shoots may arise from the buds on the rhizome of some plants, such as ginger and ferns. Corms are like rhizomes; except they are more rounded and fleshier (such as in gladiolus). Corms contain stored food that enables some plants to survive the winter. Stolons are stems that run almost parallel to the ground, or just below the surface, and can give rise to new plants at the nodes. Runners are a type of stolon that runs above the ground and produces new clone plants at nodes at varying intervals: strawberries are an example. Tubers are modified stems that may store starch, as seen in the potato (Solanum sp.). Tubers arise as swollen ends of stolons and contain many adventitious or unusual buds (familiar to us as the “eyes” on potatoes). A bulb that functions as an underground storage unit is a modification of a stem that has the appearance of enlarged fleshy leaves emerging from the stem or surrounding the base of the stem, as seen in the iris.
Some aerial modifications of stems are tendrils and thorns (figure 1.2.9). Tendrils are slender, twining strands that enable a plant (like a vine or pumpkin) to seek support by climbing on other surfaces. Thorns are modified branches appearing as sharp outgrowths that protect the plant; common examples include roses, Osage orange, and devil’s walking stick.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-2-stems
Plant Organ System - Leaf
Leaves are the main sites for photosynthesis: the process by which plants synthesize food. Most leaves are usually green, due to the presence of chlorophyll in the leaf cells. However, some leaves may have different colors, caused by other plant pigments that mask the green chlorophyll. The thickness, shape, and size of leaves are adapted to the environment. Each variation helps a plant species maximize its chances of survival in a particular habitat. Usually, the leaves of plants growing in tropical rainforests have larger surface areas than those of plants growing in deserts or very cold conditions, which are likely to have a smaller surface area to minimize water loss.
Structure of a Typical Leaf
The structure of a leaf is more complex than meets the naked eye. A leaf typically has a leaf blade also called the lamina, which is also the widest part of the leaf. Some leaves are attached to the plant stem by a petiole. Leaves that do not have a petiole and are directly attached to the plant stem are called sessile leaves. Small green appendages usually found at the base of the petiole are known as stipule(s). Most leaves have a midrib, which travels the length of the leaf and branches to each side to produce veins of vascular tissue. The edge of the leaf is called the margin. Figure 1.2.10 shows the structure of a typical eudicot leaf.
Within each leaf, the vascular tissue forms veins. The arrangement of veins in a leaf is called the venation pattern. Monocots and dicots differ in their patterns of venation (figure 1.2.11). Monocots have parallel venation; the veins run in straight lines across the length of the leaf without converging at a point. In dicots, however, the veins of the leaf have a net-like appearance, forming a pattern known as reticulate venation. One extant plant, the Ginkgo biloba, has dichotomous venation where the veins fork.
Leaf Arrangement
The arrangement of leaves on a stem is known as phyllotaxy. The number and placement of a plant’s leaves will vary depending on the species, with each species exhibiting a characteristic leaf arrangement. Leaves are classified as either alternate, spiral, or opposite. Plants that have only one leaf per node have leaves that are said to be either alternate—meaning the leaves alternate on each side of the stem in a flat plane—or spiral, meaning the leaves are arrayed in a spiral along the stem. In an opposite leaf arrangement, two leaves arise at the same point, with the leaves connecting opposite each other along the branch. If there are three or more leaves connected at a node, the leaf arrangement is classified as whorled.
Leaf Form
Leaves may be simple or compound (figure 1.2.12). In a simple leaf, the blade is either completely undivided—as in the banana leaf—or it has lobes, but the separation does not reach the midrib, as in the maple leaf. In a compound leaf, the leaf blade is completely divided with the formation of leaflets (that may have a stalk), as in the locust tree, attached to the main axis or midrib in a simple leaf. This main axis is also called a rachis. A palmately compound leaf resembles the palm of a hand, with leaflets radiating outwards from one point. Examples include the leaves of poison ivy, the buckeye tree, or the familiar houseplant Schefflera sp. (common name “umbrella plant"). Pinnately compound leaves take their name from their feather-like appearance; the leaflets are arranged along the midrib, as in rose leaves (Rosa sp.), or the leaves of hickory, pecan, ash, or walnut trees.
Internal Structure of a leaf
The outermost layer of the leaf is the epidermis; it is present on both sides of the leaf and is called the upper and lower epidermis, respectively. Botanists call the upper side the adaxial surface (or adaxis) and the lower side the abaxial surface (or abaxis). The epidermis helps in the regulation of gas exchange. It contains stomata (figure 1.2.13): openings through which the exchange of gases takes place. Two guard cells surround each stoma, regulating its opening and closing.
The epidermis is usually one cell layer thick; however, in plants that grow in very hot or very cold conditions, the epidermis may be several layers thick to protect against excessive water loss from transpiration. A waxy layer known as the cuticle covers the leaves of all plant species. The cuticle reduces the rate of water loss from the leaf surface. Other leaves may have small hairs called trichomes on the leaf surface. Trichomes help to deter herbivory by restricting insect movements, or by storing toxic or bad-tasting compounds; they can also reduce the rate of transpiration by blocking air flow across the leaf surface (figure 1.2.14).
Below the epidermis of dicot leaves are layers of cells known as the mesophyll, or “middle leaf.” The mesophyll of most leaves typically contains two arrangements of parenchyma cells: the palisade parenchyma and spongy parenchyma (figure 1.2.15). The palisade parenchyma (also called the palisade mesophyll) has column-shaped, tightly packed cells, and may be present in one, two, or three layers. Below the palisade parenchyma is loosely arranged cells of irregular shape. These are the cells of the spongy parenchyma (or spongy mesophyll). The air space found between the spongy parenchyma cells allows gaseous exchange between the leaf and the outside atmosphere through the stomata. In aquatic plants, the intercellular spaces in the spongy parenchyma help the leaf float. Both layers of the mesophyll contain many chloroplasts. Guard cells are the only epidermal cells to contain chloroplasts.
Like the stem, the leaf contains vascular bundles composed of the xylem and phloem (figure 1.2.16). The xylem consists of tracheids and vessels, which transport water and minerals to the leaves. The phloem transports the photosynthetic products from the leaf to the other parts of the plant. A single vascular bundle, no matter how large or small, always contains both the xylem and phloem tissues.
Leaf Adaptations
Coniferous plant species that thrive in cold environments—like spruce, fir, and pine—have leaves that are reduced in size and needle-like in appearance. These needle-like leaves have sunken stomata and a smaller surface area, which are two attributes that aid in reducing water loss. In hot climates, plants such as cacti have leaves that are reduced to spines that, in combination with their succulent stems, help to conserve water. Many aquatic plants have leaves with wide lamina that can float on the surface of the water, and a thick waxy cuticle on the leaf surface that repels water.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-4-leaves
Plant Organ System - Flower
Flowers are the sexual reproductive parts of a plant. Flowers are modified leaves, or sporophylls organized around a central receptacle. Although there is a remarkable variation in the appearance of flowers, virtually all flowers contain the sepals, petals, carpels, and stamens. A complete flower must have all four structures, otherwise, it is called an incomplete flower.
The peduncle typically attaches the flower to the plant body. A whorl of sepals(collectively called the calyx) is located at the base of the peduncle and encloses the unopened floral bud. Sepals are usually photosynthetic organs, although there are some exceptions. For example, the corolla in lilies and tulips consists of three sepals and three petals that look virtually identical. Petals, collectively the corolla, are located inside the whorl of sepals and may display vivid colors to attract pollinators. Sepals and petals together form the perianth. The sexual organs—the female gynoecium and male androecium —are located at the center of the flower. Typically, the sepals, petals, and stamens are attached to the receptacle at the base of the gynoecium, but the gynoecium may also be located deeper in the receptacle, with the other floral structures attached above it.
As illustrated in figure 1.2.17, the innermost part of a perfect flower is the gynoecium, the location in the flower where the eggs will form. The female reproductive unit consists of one or more carpels, each of which has a stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma is the location where the pollen is deposited either by wind or a pollinating arthropod. The sticky surface of the stigma traps pollen grains, and the style is a connecting structure through which the pollen tube will grow to reach the ovary. The ovary houses one or more ovules, each of which will ultimately develop into a seed. Flower structure is very diverse, and carpels may be singular, multiple, or fused. (Multiple fused carpels comprise a pistil.) The androecium, or male reproductive region, is composed of multiple stamens surrounding the central carpel. Stamens are composed of a thin stalk called a filament and a sac-like structure called the anther. The filament supports the anther, where the microspores are produced by meiosis and develop into haploid pollen grains, or male gametophytes.
Most angiosperms have perfect flowers, which means that each flower carries both stamens and carpels (figure1.2.17), for example lilies. Many flowers are called imperfect since they are either staminate (with only male reproductive structure) or carpellate flowers (with only female reproductive structure).
In monoecious plants, male (staminate) and female (pistillate/carpellate) flowers are separate but carried on the same plant, which can mature simultaneously or at different times (dichogamous) to ensure cross pollination, Sweetgums (Liquidambar spp.) and beeches (Betula spp.) are monoecious (figure 1.2.18). Family Rosaceae (rose) include many plants that show dichogamy. Monoecious plants also include many plants that produce bisexual flowers. In dioecious plants, male and female flowers are found on separate plants. Willows (Salix spp.), poplars (Populus spp.), papaya and asparagus are dioecious.
Despite the predominance of perfect flowers, only a few species of angiosperms self-pollinate. Both anatomical and environmental barriers promote cross-pollination mediated by a physical agent (wind or water), or an animal, such as an insect or bird. Cross-pollination increases genetic diversity in a species.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/26-3-angiosperms
Attributions
Biology 2e by Clark Mary Ann, Douglas Matthew, Choi Jung. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License V 4.0
Glossary
adventitious root - an above-ground root that arises from a plant part other than the radicle of the plant embryo
apical bud - bud formed at the tip of the shoot
apical meristem - meristematic tissue located at the tips of stems and roots; enables a plant to extend in length
axillary bud - bud located in the axil of a leaf, area of the stem where the petiole connects to the stem
bark - the tough, waterproof, outer epidermal layer of cork cells
bulb - modified underground stem that consists of a large bud surrounded by numerous leaf scales
Casparian strip - waxy coating that forces water to cross endodermal plasma membranes before entering the vascular cylinder, instead of moving between endodermal cells
collenchyma cell - elongated plant cell with unevenly thickened walls; provides structural support to the stem and leaves
companion cell - phloem cell that is connected to sieve-tube cells; has large amounts of ribosomes and mitochondria
compound leaf - a leaf in which the leaf blade is subdivided to form leaflets, all attached to the midrib
corm - rounded, fleshy underground stem that contains stored food
cortex - ground tissue found between the vascular tissue and the epidermis in a stem or root
cuticle - waxy covering on the outside of the leaf and stem that prevents the loss of water
dermal tissue - a protective plant tissue covering the outermost part of the plant; controls the gas exchange
endodermis - a layer of cells in the root that forms a selective barrier between the ground tissue and the vascular tissue, allowing water and minerals to enter the root while excluding toxins and pathogens
epidermis - a single layer of cells found in plant dermal tissue; covers and protects underlying tissue
fibrous root system - type of root system in which the roots arise from the base of the stem in a cluster, forming a dense network of roots; found in monocots
ground tissue - plant tissue involved in photosynthesis; provides support, and stores water and sugars
guard cells - paired cells on either side of a stoma that control the stomatal opening and thereby regulate the movement of gases and water vapor
intercalary meristem - meristematic tissue located at nodes and the bases of leaf blades; found only in monocots
internode - region between nodes on the stem
lamina - leaf blade
lateral meristem - also called secondary meristem, meristematic tissue that enables a plant to increase in thickness or girth caused by the vascular cambium and cork cambium
lenticel - opening on the surface of mature woody stems that facilitates gas exchange
meristem - plant region of continuous growth
meristematic tissue - tissue containing cells that constantly divide; contributes to plant growth
node - point along the stem at which leaves, flowers, or aerial roots originate
palmately compound leaf - leaf type with leaflets that emerge from a point, resembling the palm of a hand
parenchyma cell - most common type of plant cell; found in the stem, root, leaf, and in fruit pulp; site of photosynthesis and starch storage
pericycle - outer boundary of the stele from which lateral roots can arise
periderm - outermost covering of woody stems; consists of the cork cambium, cork cells, and the phelloderm
permanent tissue - plant tissue composed of cells that are no longer actively dividing
petiole - stalk of the leaf
phyllotaxy - arrangement of leaves on a stem
pinnately compound leaf - leaf type with a divided leaf blade consisting of leaflets arranged on both sides of the midrib
pith - ground tissue found towards the interior of the vascular tissue in a stem or root
primary growth - growth resulting in an increase in length of the stem and the root; caused by cell division in the shoot or root apical meristem
rhizome - modified underground stem that grows horizontally to the soil surface and has nodes and internodes
root cap - protective cells covering the tip of the growing root
root hair - hair-like structure that is an extension of epidermal cells; increases the root surface area and aids in absorption of water and minerals
root system - belowground portion of the plant that supports the plant and absorbs water and minerals
runner - stolon that runs above the ground and produces new clone plants at nodes
sclerenchyma cell - plant cell that has thick secondary walls and provides structural support, usually dead at maturity
sessile - leaf without a petiole that is attached directly to the plant stem
shoot system - aboveground portion of the plant; consists of nonreproductive plant parts, such as leaves and stems, and reproductive parts, such as flowers and fruits
sieve-tube cell - (sieve-tube members in angiosperms) phloem cell arranged end to end to form a sieve tube that transports organic substances, such as sugars and amino acids
simple leaf - leaf type in which the lamina is completely undivided or merely lobed
sink - growing parts of a plant, such as roots and young leaves, which require photosynthate
source - organ that produces photosynthate for a plant
stele - inner portion of the root containing the vascular tissue; surrounded by the endodermis
stipule - small green structure found on either side of the leaf stalk or petiole
stolon - modified stem that runs parallel to the ground and can give rise to new plants at the nodes
tap root system - type of root system with a main root that grows vertically with few lateral roots; found in dicots
tendril - modified stem consisting of slender, twining strands used for support or climbing
thorn - modified stem branch appearing as a sharp outgrowth that protects the plant
tracheid - xylem cell with thick secondary walls that helps transport water
translocation - mass transport of photosynthates from source to sink in vascular plants
transpiration - loss of water vapor to the atmosphere through stomata
trichome - hair-like structure on the epidermal surface
tuber - modified underground stem adapted for starch storage; has many adventitious buds
vascular bundle - strands of plant tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular stele - strands of root tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular tissue - tissue made up of xylem and phloem that transports food and water throughout the plant
venation - pattern of veins in a leaf; may be parallel (as in monocots), reticulate (as in dicots), or dichotomous (as in ginkgo biloba)
vessel element - xylem cell that is shorter than a tracheid and has thinner walls
whorled - pattern of leaf arrangement in which three or more leaves are connected at a node
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2025-03-18T00:36:49.922405
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87592/overview
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3.3 Vascular Tissue
3.4 Ground Tissue & Cell Types
3_Plant-Tissues-and-Cell-Types
Plant Tissues and Cell Types
Overview
Introduction
Learning Objectives
- List three types of tissues in plants.
- Describe the identifying features of dermal tissue.
- List the most common modifications of dermal tissue.
- List two types of vascular tissues.
- Explain the structure of xylem tracheids and vessels.
- Explain the structure of phloem sieve tube members and companion cells.
- Differentiate between xylem and phloem.
- List the three types of plant cells.
- List the identifying features of parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma and their modifications.
Key Terms
adventitious root - an above ground root that arises from a plant part other than the radicle of the plant embryo
apical bud - bud formed at the tip of the shoot
apical meristem - meristematic tissue located at the tips of stems and roots; enables a plant to extend in length
axillary bud - bud located in the axil of a leaf, area of the stem where the petiole connects to the stem
bark - the tough, waterproof, outer epidermal layer of cork cells
bulb - modified underground stem that consists of a large bud surrounded by numerous leaf scales
Casparian strip - waxy coating that forces water to cross endodermal plasma membranes before entering the vascular cylinder, instead of moving between endodermal cells
collenchyma cell - elongated plant cell with unevenly thickened walls; provides structural support to the stem and leaves
companion cell - phloem cell that is connected to sieve-tube cells; has large amounts of ribosomes and mitochondria
compound leaf - a leaf in which the leaf blade is subdivided to form leaflets, all attached to the midrib
corm - rounded, fleshy underground stem that contains stored food
cortex - ground tissue found between the vascular tissue and the epidermis in a stem or root
cuticle - waxy covering on the outside of the leaf and stem that prevents the loss of water
dermal tissue - a protective plant tissue covering the outermost part of the plant; controls the gas exchange
endodermis - a layer of cells in the root that forms a selective barrier between the ground tissue and the vascular tissue, allowing water and minerals to enter the root while excluding toxins and pathogens
epidermis - a single layer of cells found in plant dermal tissue; covers and protects underlying tissue
fibrous root system - type of root system in which the roots arise from the base of the stem in a cluster, forming a dense network of roots; found in monocots
ground tissue - plant tissue involved in photosynthesis; provides support, and stores water and sugars
guard cells - paired cells on either side of a stoma that control the stomatal opening and thereby regulate the movement of gases and water vapor
intercalary meristem - meristematic tissue located at nodes and the bases of leaf blades; found only in monocots
internode - region between nodes on the stem
lamina - leaf blade
lateral meristem - also called secondary meristem, meristematic tissue that enables a plant to increase in thickness or girth caused by the vascular cambium and cork cambium
lenticel - opening on the surface of mature woody stems that facilitates gas exchange
meristem - plant region of continuous growth
meristematic tissue - tissue containing cells that constantly divide; contributes to plant growth
node - point along the stem at which leaves, flowers, or aerial roots originate
palmately compound leaf - leaf type with leaflets that emerge from a point, resembling the palm of a hand
parenchyma cell - most common type of plant cell; found in the stem, root, leaf, and in fruit pulp; site of photosynthesis and starch storage
pericycle - outer boundary of the stele from which lateral roots can arise
periderm - outermost covering of woody stems; consists of the cork cambium, cork cells, and the phelloderm
permanent tissue - plant tissue composed of cells that are no longer actively dividing
petiole - stalk of the leaf
phyllotaxy - arrangement of leaves on a stem
pinnately compound leaf - leaf type with a divided leaf blade consisting of leaflets arranged on both sides of the midrib
pith - ground tissue found towards the interior of the vascular tissue in a stem or root
primary growth - growth resulting in an increase in length of the stem and the root; caused by cell division in the shoot or root apical meristem
rhizome - modified underground stem that grows horizontally to the soil surface and has nodes and internodes
root cap - protective cells covering the tip of the growing root
root hair - hair-like structure that is an extension of epidermal cells; increases the root surface area and aids in absorption of water and minerals
root system - belowground portion of the plant that supports the plant and absorbs water and minerals
runner - stolon that runs above the ground and produces new clone plants at nodes
sclerenchyma cell - plant cell that has thick secondary walls and provides structural support, usually dead at maturity
sessile - leaf without a petiole that is attached directly to the plant stem
shoot system - aboveground portion of the plant; consists of nonreproductive plant parts, such as leaves and stems, and reproductive parts, such as flowers and fruits
sieve-tube cell - (sieve-tube members in angiosperms) phloem cell arranged end to end to form a sieve tube that transports organic substances, such as sugars and amino acids
simple leaf - leaf type in which the lamina is completely undivided or merely lobed
sink - growing parts of a plant, such as roots and young leaves, which require photosynthate
source - organ that produces photosynthate for a plant
stele - inner portion of the root containing the vascular tissue; surrounded by the endodermis
stipule - small green structure found on either side of the leaf stalk or petiole
stolon - modified stem that runs parallel to the ground and can give rise to new plants at the nodes
tap root system - type of root system with a main root that grows vertically with few lateral roots; found in dicots
tendril - modified stem consisting of slender, twining strands used for support or climbing
thorn - modified stem branch appearing as a sharp outgrowth that protects the plant
tracheid - xylem cell with thick secondary walls that helps transport water
translocation - mass transport of photosynthates from source to sink in vascular plants
transpiration - loss of water vapor to the atmosphere through stomata
trichome - hair-like structure on the epidermal surface
tuber - modified underground stem adapted for starch storage; has many adventitious buds
vascular bundle - strands of plant tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular stele - strands of root tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular tissue - tissue made up of xylem and phloem that transports food and water throughout the plant
venation - pattern of veins in a leaf; may be parallel (as in monocots), reticulate (as in dicots), or dichotomous (as in ginkgo biloba)
vessel element - xylem cell that is shorter than a tracheid and has thinner walls
whorled - pattern of leaf arrangement in which three or more leaves are connected at a node
Introduction
Plants are multicellular eukaryotes with tissue systems made of various cell types that carry out specific functions. Plant tissue systems fall into one of two general types: meristematic tissue or permanent (or non-meristematic) tissue. Cells of the meristematic tissue are found in meristems, which are plant regions of continuous cell division and growth. Meristematic tissue cells are either undifferentiated or incompletely differentiated, and they continue to divide and contribute to the growth of the plant. In contrast, permanent tissue consists of plant cells that are no longer actively dividing.
There are two types of meristematic tissues, based on their location in the plant. Apical meristem or primary meristem contain meristematic tissue located at the tips of stems and roots, which enable a plant to extend in length. Lateral meristem or secondary meristem facilitate growth in thickness or girth in a maturing woody plant. Intercalary meristem is found in some monocots such as grasses. Meristems produce cells that quickly differentiate, or specialize, and become permanent tissue. Such cells take on specific roles and lose their ability to divide further. They differentiate into three main types: dermal, vascular, and ground tissue.
Permanent tissues are either simple (composed of similar cell types) or complex (composed of different cell types). Dermal tissue, for example, is a simple tissue that covers the outer surface of the plant and controls gas exchange. Dermal tissue covers and protects the plant, while vascular tissue transports water, minerals, and sugars to different parts of the plant. Vascular tissue is an example of a complex tissue and is made of two specialized conducting tissues: xylem and phloem.
Xylem tissue transports water and nutrients from the roots to different parts of the plant and includes three different cell types: vessel elements and tracheids (both of which conduct water), and xylem parenchyma. Phloem tissue, which transports organic compounds from the site of photosynthesis to other parts of the plant, consists of four different cell types: sieve elements (which conduct photosynthates), companion cells, phloem parenchyma, and phloem fibers. Gymnosperms lack sieve elements and companion cells. Cells carrying out similar function in gymnosperms are called sieve cells. Unlike xylem conducting cells, phloem conducting cells are alive at maturity. The xylem and phloem always lie adjacent to each other (Figure 1.3.1). In stems, the xylem and the phloem form a structure called a vascular bundle; in roots, this is termed the vascular stele or vascular cylinder.
Ground tissue serves as a site for photosynthesis, provides a supporting matrix for the vascular tissue, and helps to store water and sugars.
Any part of a plant has three tissue systems: dermal, vascular, and ground tissue. Each is distinguished by characteristic cell types that perform specific tasks necessary for the plant’s growth and survival.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-1-the-plant-body
Dermal Tissue
Dermal Tissue
The dermal tissue of the stem consists primarily of epidermis, a single layer of cells covering and protecting the underlying tissue. Woody plants have a tough, waterproof outer layer of cork cells commonly known as bark, which further protects the plant from damage. Epidermal cells are the most numerous and least differentiated of the cells in the epidermis. The epidermis of a leaf also contains openings known as stomata, through which the exchange of gases takes place (Figure 1.3.2). Two cells, known as guard cells, surround each leaf stoma, controlling its opening and closing and thus regulating the uptake of carbon dioxide and the release of oxygen and water vapor. Trichomes are hair-like structures on the epidermal surface. They help to reduce transpiration (the loss of water by aboveground plant parts), increase solar reflectance, and store compounds that defend the leaves against predation by herbivores.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-2-stems
Vascular Tissue
Vascular Tissue
The xylem and phloem that make up the vascular tissue of the stem are arranged in distinct strands called vascular bundles, which run up and down the length of the stem. When the stem is viewed in cross section, the vascular bundles of dicot stems are arranged in a ring. In plants with stems that live for more than one year, the individual bundles grow together and produce the characteristic growth rings. In monocot stems, the vascular bundles are randomly scattered throughout the ground tissue (Figure 1.3.3).
Xylem tissue has three types of cells: xylem parenchyma, tracheids, and vessel elements. The latter two types conduct water and are dead at maturity. Tracheids are xylem cells with thick secondary cell walls that are lignified. Water moves from one tracheid to another through regions on the side walls known as pits, where secondary walls are absent. Vessel elements are xylem cells with thinner walls; they are shorter than tracheids. Each vessel element is connected to the next by means of a perforation plate at the end walls of the element. Water moves through the perforation plates to travel up the plant.
Phloem tissue is composed of sieve-tube cells, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, and phloem fibers. A series of sieve-elements (also called sieve-tube members) are arranged end to end to make up a long sieve tube, which transports organic substances such as sugars and amino acids. The sugars flow from one sieve-tube cell to the next through perforated sieve plates, which are found at the end junctions between two cells. Although still alive at maturity, the nucleus and other cell components of the sieve-tube cells have disintegrated. Companion cells are found alongside the sieve-tube cells, providing them with metabolic support. The companion cells contain more ribosomes and mitochondria than the sieve-tube cells, which lack some cellular organelles.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-2-stems
Ground Tissue & Cell Types
Ground Tissue
Plant tissues that are not dermal or vascular are considered ground tissue. Cell of ground tisses perform many differnent types of functions, such as photosynthesis, storage, based on their location. In a stem ground tissue mostly contains parenchyma cells, but may also contain collenchyma and sclerenchyma cells that help support the stem. The ground tissue towards the interior of the vascular tissue in a stem or root is known as pith, while the layer of tissue between the vascular tissue and the epidermis is known as the cortex.
Let us look at three types of plant cells, parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma cells.
Parenchyma cells are the most common plant cells (Figure 1.3.4). They are found in the stem, the root, the inside of the leaf, and the pulp of the fruit. These cells are somewhat spherical and have thin primary wall. This help in exchange of raw material and waste products between outside and the inside of the cell. Parenchyma cells are responsible for metabolic functions, such as photosynthesis, and they help repair and heal wounds. Some parenchyma cells also store starch. Parenchyma cells rarely show formation of secondary wall.
Collenchyma cells are elongated cells with unevenly thickened walls (Figure 1.3.5). They provide structural support, mainly to the stem and leaves. These cells are alive at maturity and are usually found below the epidermis. The “strings” of a celery stalk are an example of collenchyma cells.
Sclerenchyma cells also provide support to the plant, but unlike collenchyma cells, many of them are dead at maturity. There are two types of sclerenchyma cells: fibers and sclereids. Both types have secondary cell walls that are thickened with deposits of lignin—an organic compound that is a key component of wood. Fibers are long, slender cells; sclereids are smaller-sized. Sclereids give pears their gritty texture. Humans use sclerenchyma fibers to make linen and rope (Figure 1.3.6).
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-2-stems
Dig Deeper
Watch Botany Without Borders, a video produced by the Botanical Society of America about the importance of plants.
Attributions
Title: Browallia americana L.: entire flowering plant with separate parts of fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1774.
Work Type: Scientific illustrations
Date: 1774
Description: Browallia demissa pedunculis unifloris. H.Cliff.318.t.17. - Hort.Ups.179. - Linn.Sp.Plant.773
Repository: Wellcome Collection
Collection: Open Artstor: Wellcome Collection
ID Number: V0042766ER
Source: Image and original data from Wellcome Collection
License: Creative Commons: Attribution
Use of this image is in accordance with the applicable Terms & Conditions
Biology 2e by Clark Mary Ann, Douglas Matthew, Choi Jung. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License V 4.0
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87592/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit Introduction to Plant Science, Plant Form",
"author": null
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87593/overview
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4.3 Primary & Secondary Growth
4_Stages-of-Plant-Growth
Exercise 1a Plant Dissection
Exercise 1a Plant Dissection
Stages of Plant Growth
Overview
Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Identify factors that influence transition of a plant from vegetative to reproductive phase.
- List and describe primary and secondary meristem.
- Differentiate between annual, biennial, and perennial plants.
Key Terms
adventitious root - an above ground root that arises from a plant part other than the radicle of the plant embryo
apical bud - bud formed at the tip of the shoot
apical meristem - meristematic tissue located at the tips of stems and roots; enables a plant to extend in length
axillary bud - bud located in the axil of a leaf, the area of the stem where leaf petiole connects to the stem
bark - the tough, waterproof, outer epidermal layer of cork cells
Casparian strip - waxy coating that forces water to cross endodermal plasma membranes before entering the vascular cylinder, instead of moving between endodermal cells
companion cell - phloem cell that is connected to sieve-tube cells; contain large amounts of ribosomes and mitochondria
cortex - ground tissue found between the vascular tissue and the epidermis in a stem or root
cuticle - waxy covering on the outside of the leaf and stem that prevents the loss of water
endodermis - a layer of cells in the root that forms a selective barrier between the ground tissue and the vascular tissue, allowing water and minerals to enter the root while excluding toxins and pathogens
epidermis - a single layer of cells found in plant dermal tissue; covers and protects underlying tissue
fibrous root system - type of root system in which the roots arise from the base of the stem in a cluster, forming a dense network of roots; found in monocots
ground tissue - plant tissue involved in photosynthesis; provides support, and stores water and sugars
guard cells - paired cells on either side of a stoma that control the stomatal opening and thereby regulate the movement of gases and water vapor
intercalary meristem - meristematic tissue located at nodes and the bases of leaf blades; found only in monocots
internode - region between nodes on the stem
lamina - leaf blade
lateral meristem – also called secondary meristem, comprised of vascular cambium and cork cambium, meristematic tissue that enables a plant to increase in thickness or girth
lenticel - opening on the surface of mature woody stems that facilitates gas exchange
meristem - plant region of continuous growth
meristematic tissue - tissue containing cells that constantly divide; contributes to plant growth
node - point along the stem at which leaves, flowers, or aerial roots originate
pericycle – cell layer present on the outer boundary of the stele; produce lateral roots
periderm - outermost covering of woody stems; consists of the cork cambium, cork cells, and the phelloderm
permanent tissue - plant tissue composed of cells that are no longer actively dividing
petiole - stalk of the leaf
pith - ground tissue found towards the interior of the vascular tissue in a stem or root
primary growth - growth resulting in an increase in length of the stem and the root; caused by cell division in the shoot or root apical meristem
root cap - protective cells covering the tip of the growing root
root hair - hair-like structure that is an extension of epidermal cells; increases the root surface area and aids in the absorption of water and minerals
root system - belowground portion of the plant that supports the plant and absorbs water and minerals
shoot system - aboveground portion of the plant; consists of nonreproductive plant parts, such as leaves and stems, and reproductive parts, such as flowers and fruits
sieve-tube cell - (sieve-tube members in angiosperms) phloem cell arranged end to end to form a sieve tube that transports organic substances such as sugars and amino acids
stele - inner portion of the root containing the vascular tissue; surrounded by the endodermis
tap-root system - type of root system with the main root that grows vertically with few lateral roots; found in dicots
tendril - modified stem consisting of slender, twining strands used for support or climbing
thorn - modified stem branch appearing as a sharp outgrowth that protects the plant
tracheid - xylem cell with thick secondary walls that help transport water
trichome - hair-like structure on the epidermal surface
vascular bundle - strands of plant tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular stele - strands of root tissue made up of xylem and phloem
vascular tissue - tissue made up of xylem and phloem that transports food and water throughout the plant
venation - a pattern of veins in a leaf; may be parallel (as in monocots), reticulate (as in dicots), or dichotomous (as in ginkgo)
vessel element - xylem cell that is shorter than a tracheid and has thinner walls
Introduction
The lives of plants may be as short as a few weeks or months or as long as many years. All plants go through changes as they grow. We can identify these changes as stages of plant growth. These stages are more distinct in some plants compared to others. These stages can be roughly identified as germination or sprouting, seedling, vegetative growth, budding, flowering, fruiting, and ripening. The first three stages are vegetative and the last four stages are reproductive. The transition from vegetative stages to reproductive stages is called the phase transition and depends on internal genetic pathways that are regulated by environmental cues (temperature, day length) and internal factors (hormones, sugar accumulation).
Meristems
Meristems
Meristematic cells are responsible for plant growth. Plant meristems are centers of mitotic cell division and are composed of a group of undifferentiated self-renewing cells from which most plant structures arise. The Shoot Apical Meristem (SAM) gives rise to organs like the leaves and flowers, while the Root Apical Meristem (RAM) provides the meristematic cells for future root growth. The cells of the shoot and root apical meristems divide rapidly and are indeterminate, which means that they do not possess any defined end fate. In that sense, the meristematic cells are frequently compared to the stem cells in animals, which have an analogous behavior and function.
Meristem Tissue and Plant Development
Meristematic tissues are cells or groups of cells that divide perpetually. These tissues in a plant consist of small, densely packed cells that can keep dividing to form new cells. Meristematic tissue is characterized by small cells, thin cell walls, large cell nuclei, absent or small vacuoles, and no intercellular spaces. Meristematic tissues are found in many locations, including: 1) near the tips of roots and stems (apical meristems), 2) in the buds and nodes of stems, 3) in the cambium between the xylem and phloem (vascular cambium) in dicotyledonous trees and shrubs, 4) under the epidermis of dicotyledonous trees and shrubs (cork cambium), and 5) in the pericycle layer of roots, producing lateral branches.
The two types of meristems are primary meristems and secondary meristems. Primary meristem (apical meristems) initiates in the developing embryo and gives rise to three primary meristematic tissues: protoderm, procambium, and ground meristem. Primary meristem is responsible for the growth in length of a plant. All tissues that arise from primary meristem are identified as primary tissue. Secondary meristem (lateral meristem) is responsible for the growth in the girth of a plant. This growth in width of a plant is largely due to the meristematic action of the vascular cambium and to certain extent cork cambium. Any new cells arising from vascular cambium and or cork cambium are collectively called secondary tissues.
Meristem Zones
The apical meristem, also known as the “growing tip,” is an undifferentiated meristematic tissue found in the growing shoot tips or axillary buds and growing tips of roots (figure 1.4.1). Shoot apical meristems are organized into four zones: (1) the central zone, (2) the peripheral zone, (3) the medullary meristem, and (4) the medullary tissue (figure 1.4.2). The central zone is located at the meristem summit, where a small group of slowly dividing cells can be found. Cells of this zone have a stem cell function and are essential for meristem maintenance. The proliferation and growth rates at the meristem summit usually differ considerably from those at the periphery. Surrounding the central zone is the peripheral zone. The rate of cell division in the peripheral zone is higher than that of the central zone. Peripheral zone cells give rise to cells that contribute to the organs of the plant, including leaves (figure 1.4.4), inflorescence meristems, and floral meristems. The outermost layer is called the tunica, while the innermost layers are cumulatively called the corpus.
An active root apical meristem consists of slow dividing cells in the region called the quiescent center, a mass of loosed packed cells in the region of the root cap, and the three primary meristems that may or may not be identifiable at low magnifications (figure 1.4.3). An active apical meristem lays down a growing root or shoot behind itself, pushing itself forward.
Primary & Secondary Growth
Plant Growth
Growth in plants occurs as the stems and roots lengthen. Some plants, especially those that are woody, also increase in thickness during their life span. The increase in length of the shoot and the root is referred to as primary growth and is the result of cell division in the apical meristems. Secondary growth is characterized by an increase in thickness or girth of the plant and is caused by cell division in the lateral meristem. Figure 1.3.5 shows the areas of primary and secondary growth in a plant. Herbaceous plants mostly undergo primary growth, with hardly any secondary growth or increase in thickness. Secondary growth or “wood” is noticeable in woody plants; it occurs in some dicots but occurs very rarely in monocots. Some plant parts, such as stems and roots, continue to grow throughout a plant’s life: a phenomenon called indeterminate growth. Other plant parts, such as leaves and flowers, exhibit determinate growth, which ceases when a plant part reaches a particular size.
Primary Growth
Most primary growth occurs at the apices, or tips, of stems and roots. Primary growth is a result of rapidly dividing cells in the apical meristems at the shoot tip and root tip. Subsequent cell elongation also contributes to primary growth. The growth of shoots and roots during primary growth enables plants to continuously seek water (roots) or sunlight (shoots).
The influence of the apical bud on overall plant growth is known as apical dominance, which diminishes the growth of axillary buds that form along the sides of branches and stems. Most coniferous trees (ex., pine) exhibit strong apical dominance, thus producing the typical conical Christmas tree shape. If the apical bud is removed, then the axillary buds will start forming lateral branches. Gardeners make use of this fact when they prune plants by cutting off the tops of branches, thus encouraging the axillary buds to grow out, giving the plant a bushy shape.
Intercalary Meristem
The intercalary meristem is located away from the growing shoot tip, usually between mature tissues. Have you ever wondered how lawn grasses regrow rapidly after mowing? Grasses regenerate their leaves rapidly after mowing because of the actions of the intercalary meristem located right above the base of the leaf. Grasses evolved in prairie habitats with many types of grazing animals. The ability to regrow quickly is critical to survival. Intercalary meristem is also present in other plants such as horsetails and welwitschia.
Secondary Growth
The increase in stem thickness that results from secondary growth is due to the activity of the lateral meristems, which are lacking in herbaceous plants. Lateral meristems include the vascular cambium and, in woody plants, the cork cambium (Figure 1.4.5.) The vascular cambium is located just outside the primary xylem and to the interior of the primary phloem. The cells of the vascular cambium divide and form secondary xylem (tracheids and vessel elements) to the inside and secondary phloem (sieve elements and companion cells) to the outside. The thickening of the stem that occurs in secondary growth is due to the formation of secondary phloem and secondary xylem by the vascular cambium, as well as the cork cambium. The cells of the secondary xylem contain lignin, which provides hardiness and strength.
In woody plants, cork cambium is the outermost lateral meristem. It produces cork cells (bark) containing a waxy substance known as suberin that can repel water. The bark protects the plant against physical damage and helps reduce water loss. The cork cambium also produces a layer of cells known as phelloderm, which grows inward from the location of cork cambium. The cork cambium, cork cells, and phelloderm are collectively termed the periderm. The periderm substitutes for the epidermis in mature plants. In some plants, the periderm has many openings, known as lenticels, which allow the interior cells to exchange gases with the outside atmosphere (Figure 1.4.6). This supplies oxygen to the living and metabolically active cells of the cortex, xylem, and phloem.
Annual Rings
The activity of the vascular cambium gives rise to annual growth rings. During the spring growing season, cells of the secondary xylem have a large internal diameter and their primary cell walls are not extensively thickened. This is known as earlywood or springwood. During the fall season, the secondary xylem develops thickened cell walls, forming latewood, or autumn wood, which is denser than earlywood. This alternation of early and late wood is largely due to a seasonal decrease in the number of vessel elements and a seasonal increase in the number of tracheids. It results in the formation of an annual ring, which can be seen as a circular ring in the cross-section of the stem (Figure 1.4.7). An examination of the number of annual rings and their nature (such as their size and cell wall thickness) can reveal the age of the tree and the prevailing climatic conditions during each season.
Growth in Roots
Root growth begins with seed germination. When the plant embryo emerges from the seed, the radicle of the embryo forms the root system. The tip of the root is protected by the root cap, a structure exclusive to roots and unlike any other plant structure. The root cap is continuously replaced because it gets damaged easily as the root pushes through the soil. The root tip can be divided into three zones: a zone of cell division, a zone of elongation, and a zone of maturation & differentiation (Figure 1.4.8). The zone of cell division is closest to the root tip; it is made up of the actively dividing cells of the root meristem and quiescent center. The zone of elongation is where the newly formed cells increase in length, thereby lengthening the root. Beginning at the first root hair is the zone of cell maturation where the root cells begin to differentiate into specialized cell types. All three zones are in the first centimeter or so of the root tip.
The root has an outer layer of cells called the epidermis, which surrounds areas of ground tissue and vascular tissue. The epidermis provides protection and helps in absorption. Root hairs, which are extensions of root epidermal cells, increase the surface area of the root, greatly contributing to the absorption of water and minerals.
Inside the root, the ground tissue forms two regions: the cortex and the pith (Figure 1.4.9). Compared to stems, roots have lots of cortex and little pith. Both regions include cells that store photosynthetic products. The cortex is between the epidermis and the vascular tissue, whereas the pith lies between the vascular tissue and the center of the root.
The vascular tissue in the root is arranged in the inner portion of the root, which is called the stele (Figure 1.4.10). A layer of cells known as the endodermis separates the stele from the ground tissue in the outer portion of the root. The endodermis is exclusive to roots and serves as a checkpoint for materials entering the root’s vascular system. A waxy substance called suberin is present on the walls of the endodermal cells. This waxy region, known as the Casparian strip, forces water and solutes to cross the plasma membranes of endodermal cells instead of slipping between the cells. This ensures that only materials required by the root pass through the endodermis, while toxic substances and pathogens are generally excluded. The outermost cell layer of the root’s vascular tissue is the pericycle, an area that can give rise to lateral roots. In dicot roots, the xylem and phloem of the stele are arranged alternately in an X shape, whereas in monocot roots, the vascular tissue is arranged in a ring around the pith.
Unit 1 Lab Exercises
Lab Exercises Notes for Instructors
Each unit contains a section with two lab exercises provided to give students hands-on experience with the content in the SDC Plant Science course. They have been designed to be low-cost or free. The associated rubrics are guidelines for assessment and can be adapted based on specific classroom needs or standards.
Safety: Some of these exercises require safety precautions. A student safety contract is included Instructors should keep the contract in their records for the length of the course. Safety concerns contain, but are not limited to
- Handling glassware
- Using sharp objects
- Using Bromothymol blue solution
- Proximity to possible allergens
These concerns are addressed in the Student Laboratory Safety Contract.
If you conduct the exercise that uses Bromothymol blue solution, post the MSDS that comes with the solution in the classroom and review the information with students.
Schools and instructors are responsible for determining which exercises to use. Do not use an exercise if there is a high risk of harm.
Exercise 1a: Plant Dissection
Students dissect a plant to identify and study its various parts. This exercise helps students understand the structure and function of different plant components.
Exercise 1b: Plant Cell DIagram
Students create a detailed diagram of a plant cell, labeling its various parts, and understanding their functions. This exercise helps students visualize and comprehend the structure and components of plant cells.
Attributions
Title: A plant root cut to show growth rings, wood cells in longitudinal and transverse section and a root tip. Chromolithograph, c. 1850.
Work Type: Chromolithographs.
Date: [c. 1850]
Material: chromolithograph.
Description: 1 print : Pflanzenrich A. I. wurzelstock eines kieferstammes ... II. holzzellen im quer & la?ngsschnitte III. spitze, eines saugwurzel-chens ...
Repository: Wellcome Collection
Open Artstor: Wellcome Collection
ID Number:V0044550
Source: Image and original data from Wellcome Collection
License: Creative Commons: Attribution
Use of this image is in accordance with the applicable Terms & Conditions
File Name
V0044550.jpg
SSID
24897875
Biology 2e by Clark Mary Ann, Douglas Matthew, Choi Jung. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License V 4.0
"Plant Development - Meristems" by LibreTexts is licensed under CC BY-SA.
"Stems - Primary and Secondary Growth in Stems" by LibreTexts is licensed under CC BY-SA.
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1.3 Soil Formation
1.4 Soil Profile and Horizons
1.5 Soil Structure and Porosity
1_Soil-Features
1_Soil-Features
Soil Features
Overview
Title Image "Figure 1" by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Staff is in the Public Domain.
The Soil Features section gives a basic introduction to general concepts of soil including soil properties, profiles, and levels of saturation and how those features allow soil to interact with plants.
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Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Examine the physical and hydrological features of the soil.
Explain vertical section of soil.
Describe the three horizons of soil
Distinguish between various soil types, clay, silt, loam & sandy.
Explain how pore size dictate field capacity, PWP and SWC.
Key Terms
A horizon - consists of a mixture of organic material with inorganic products of weathering
adhesion - attraction between water molecules and other molecules
available water capacity - the water available for plant growth held between field capacity and permanent wilting point
B horizon - soil layer that is an accumulation of mostly fine material that has moved downward
bedrock - solid rock that lies beneath the soil, known as R horizon
C horizon - layer of soil that contains the parent material, and the organic and inorganic material that is broken down to form soil; also known as the soil base
capillary rise - the upward movement of water that is responsible for the loss of water from the soil surface by evaporation
clay - soil particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter
cohesion - the force of attraction holding a solid or liquid together, owing to attraction between like molecules
field capacity - the relatively constant soil water content reached after 48 hours drainage of water from a saturated soil
horizon - soil layer with distinct physical and chemical properties, which differs from other layers depending on how and when it was formed
humus - organic material of soil; made up of microorganisms, dead animals, and plants in varying stages of decay
hygroscopic water - water that surrounds and is tightly held by soil particles, making the water unavailable to plants
inorganic compound - chemical compound that lacks carbon
loam - soil that has no dominant particle size
O horizon - layer of soil with humus at the surface and decomposed vegetation at the base
organic compound - chemical compound that contains carbon (foundation of living things)
permanent wilting point - the water content of a soil that has been exhausted of its available water by a crop, such that only non-available water remains
sand - soil particles between 0.1–2 mm in diameter
saturation water content - the maximum amount of water that a soil can store
silt - soil particles between 0.002 and 0.1 mm in diameter
soil - outer loose layer that covers the surface of Earth
soil formation - the chemical changes and mixing of materials that create soil
soil pore - space between soil particles that is filled with air or water
soil profile - vertical section of a soil
soil properties - features of soil including color, texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, and horizonation
soil saturation - a soil's water content when practically all pore spaces are filled with water
topsoil - the top layer of soil
Introduction
Plants obtain elements from soil, which serves as a natural medium for land plants. Soil is the outer loose layer that covers the surface of Earth. Along with climate, a major determinant of plant distribution and growth is soil quality. Soil quality depends not only on the chemical composition of the soil but also the topography (regional surface features) and the presence of living organisms. In agriculture, the history of the soil, such as the cultivating practices and previous crops, modify the characteristics and fertility of that soil.
Soil Composition and Types
Soil develops very slowly over long periods of time, and its formation results from natural and environmental forces acting on mineral, rock, and organic compounds. Soils can be divided into two groups: 1) organic soils are those that are formed from sedimentation and are primarily composed of organic matter; 2) mineral soils are those that are formed from the weathering of rocks and are primarily composed of inorganic material. Mineral soils are predominant in terrestrial ecosystems, where soils may be covered by water for part of the year or exposed to the atmosphere.
Soil consists of these four major components (Figure 4.1.1):
- inorganic mineral matter, which constitutes about 40 to 45 percent of the soil volume
- organic matter, which constitutes about 5 percent of the soil volume
- water and air, which constitutes about 50 percent of the soil volume
The amount of each of the four major components of soil depends on the amount of vegetation, soil compaction, and water present in the soil. A good healthy soil has sufficient air, water, minerals, and organic material to promote and sustain plant life. The organic material of soil, called humus, is made up of microorganisms (dead and alive), as well as dead animals and plants in varying stages of decay. Humus improves soil structure and provides plants with water and minerals. The inorganic material of soil consists of rock, slowly broken down into smaller particles that vary in size (Figure 4.1.2).
Soil particles that are 0.1 to 2 mm in diameter are sand. Soil particles between 0.002 and 0.1 mm are called silt, and even smaller particles, less than 0.002 mm in diameter, are called clay. Some soils have no dominant particle size and contain a mixture of sand, silt, and humus; these soils are called loams.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-2-the-soil
Soil Formation
Soil formation is the consequence of a combination of biological, physical, and chemical processes. These processes create different soils with unique soil properties. Soil should ideally contain 50 percent solid material and 50 percent pore space. About one-half of the pore space should contain water, and the other half should contain air. The organic component of soil serves as a cementing agent, returns nutrients to the plant, allows soil to store moisture, makes soil tillable for farming, and provides energy for soil microorganisms. Most soil microorganisms—bacteria, algae, or fungi—are dormant in dry soil, but become active once moisture is available.
Five factors account for soil formation: parent material, climate, topography, biological factors, and time. The organic and inorganic material in which soils form is the parent material. Mineral soils form directly from the weathering of bedrock, the solid rock that lies beneath the soil; therefore, they have a similar composition to the original rock. Other soils form in materials that came from elsewhere, such as sand and glacial drift. Materials located in the depth of the soil are relatively unchanged compared with the deposited material. Sediments in rivers may have different characteristics, depending on whether the stream moves quickly or slowly. A fast-moving river could have sediments of rocks and sand; whereas, a slow-moving river could have fine-textured material, such as clay.
Soil formation is a dynamic process, and time is an important factor in soil formation because soils develop over long periods. Temperature, moisture, and wind cause different patterns of weathering and therefore affect soil characteristics. Biological activity is a key component of a quality soil that is promoted by such characteristics as the presence of moisture and nutrients from weathering. Regional surface features (familiarly called “the lay of the land”) can have a major influence on the characteristics and fertility of a soil. Topography affects water runoff, which strips away parent material and affects plant growth. Steeps soils are more prone to erosion and may be thinner than soils that are relatively flat or level. The presence of living organisms greatly affects soil formation and structure. Animals and microorganisms can produce pores and crevices, and plant roots can penetrate crevices to produce more fragmentation. Plant secretions promote the development of microorganisms around the root, in an area known as the rhizosphere. Additionally, leaves and other material that fall from plants decompose and contribute to soil composition. Materials are deposited over time, decompose, and transform into other materials that can be used by living organisms or deposited onto the surface of the soil.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-2-the-soil
Soil Profile and Horizons
Soil distribution is not homogenous because its formation results in the production of layers; together, the vertical section of a soil is called the profile. Within the soil profile, soil scientists define zones called horizons. A horizon is a soil layer with distinct physical and chemical soil properties that differ from those of other layers. Soils are named and classified based on their horizons. The soil profile has four main distinct layers, listed in order from top to bottom: 1) O horizon; 2) A horizon; 3) B horizon—or subsoil; and 4) C horizon—or soil base (Figure 4.1.3).
Figure 4.3 shows a cross-section of soil layers, or horizons. The top layer, from zero to two inches, is the O horizon. The O horizon is a rich, deep brown color. From two to ten inches is the A horizon. This layer is slightly lighter in color than the O horizon, and extensive root systems are visible. From ten to thirty inches is the B horizon. The B horizon is reddish brown. Longer roots extend to the bottom of this layer. The C horizon extends from 30 to 48 inches. This layer is rocky and devoid of roots.
The four distinct main layers perform different roles. The O horizon has freshly decomposing organic matter—humus—at its surface, with decomposed vegetation at its base. Humus enriches the soil with nutrients and enhances soil moisture retention. Topsoil—the top layer of soil—is usually two to three inches deep, but this depth can vary considerably. For instance, river deltas like the Mississippi River delta have deep layers of topsoil. Topsoil is rich in organic material; it is considered the “workhorse” of plant production because microbial processes occur there. The A horizon consists of a mixture of organic material with inorganic products of weathering; therefore, it is the beginning of true mineral soil. The A horizon is typically darkly colored because of the presence of organic matter. In this area, rainwater percolates through the soil and carries materials from the surface. The B horizon is an accumulation of mostly fine material that has moved downward, resulting in a dense layer in the soil. In some soils, the B horizon contains nodules or a layer of calcium carbonate. The C horizon, or soil base, includes the parent material, plus the organic and inorganic material that is broken down to form soil. The parent material may be either created in its natural place or transported from elsewhere to its present location. Beneath the C horizon lies bedrock. Bedrock is known as the R horizon. Some soils may have additional layers or lack one of these layers. The thickness of the layers is also variable and depends on the factors that influence soil formation. In general, immature soils may have O, A, and C horizons; whereas, mature soils may display all of these, plus additional layers (Figure 4.1.4).
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-2-the-soil
Soil Structure and Porosity
Soil structure is the combination or arrangement of primary soil particles into aggregates. Aggregate size, shape, and distinctness are the basis for classes, types, and grades, respectively. Soil structure describes the manner in which soil particles are aggregated. Soil structure affects water and air movement through soil, greatly influencing soil's ability to sustain life and perform other vital soil functions. Soil pores are the spaces between soil particles that are filled with air or water and exist between and within aggregates. Macropores are large soil pores, usually between aggregates, that are generally greater than 0.08 mm in diameter. Macro pores drain freely by gravity and allow easy movement of water and air. They provide habitat for soil organisms and plant roots can grow into them. With diameters less than 0.08 mm, micropores are small soil pores usually found within structural aggregates.
Suction or force is required to remove water from micropores. Capillary rise is the upward movement of water that is responsible for the loss of water from the soil surface by evaporation. Water properties must be examined to better understand this phenomenon. While cohesion is the force of attraction holding water together, adhesion is the force that attracts water molecules to other molecules. Essentially, cohesion and adhesion are the "stickiness" that water molecules have for each other and for other substances. When the adhesive force is greater than the cohesive force, the surface tension forces act against gravity forces to cause water to rise upward.
Available water capacity is an estimate of how much water a soil can hold and release for use by most plants, measured in inches of water per inch of soil. Available water capacity is influenced by soil texture, content of rock fragments, depth to a root-restrictive layer, organic matter, and compaction. It is used in scheduling irrigation and in determining plant populations. The type of soil structure can influence the availability of water to plants and the rate at which water is released to plant roots. A soil with a tillage pan may not allow roots to penetrate and extract the deeper water. Soils with more silt and clay have a greater water holding capacity than sandy soils.
Saturation refers to a soil's water content when air has been displaced and practically all pore spaces are filled with water (Figure 4.5). During this time, no energy is needed to remove water from soil particles. This is a temporary state for well-drained soils, as the excess water quickly drains out of the larger pores under the influence of gravity, to be replaced by air. All soils have a saturation water content that is the maximum amount of water that a soil can store.
Field capacity refers to the relatively constant soil water content reached after 48 hours of free drainage of water by gravity from a saturated soil (Figure 4.5). Drainage occurs through the transmission pores (greater than about 0.05 mm diameter; but note that field capacity can correspond to pores ranging from 0.03 to 0.1 mm diameter). The field capacity concept only applies to well-structured soils where drainage of excess water is relatively rapid. If drainage occurs in poorly structured soils, it will often continue for several weeks; consequently, poorly structured soils seldom possess a clearly defined field capacity. Soil at field capacity feels very moist to the hands. In contrast, the permanent wilting point refers to the water content of a soil that has been exhausted of its available water by a crop, such that only non-available water remains (Figure 4.5).
Hygroscopic water surrounds and is tightly held by soil particles, making the water unavailable to plants (Figure 4.1.5). Water cannot move from the soil to the root of plants. When hygroscopic water is all that remains, the crop becomes permanently wilted and cannot be revived when placed in a water-saturated atmosphere. At this point the soil feels nearly dry or only very slightly moist.
Dig Deeper
USDA: Soil Physical and Chemical Properties
USDA: Technical Reference Examination and Description of Soil Profiles
Water Plant and Soil Relation Under Stress Situations
FAO: Irrigation Water Management: Training Manual No. 1 - Introduction to Irrigation
USGS: The Occurance of Ground Water in the United States
USDE: The Measurement of Water Potential in Low-Level Waste Management
Attributions
"Biology 2e: Chapter 31: Section 2" by Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, and Jung Choi is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003, Francis Shaxson and Richard Barber, "Optimizing Soil Moisture for Plant Production", https://www.fao.org/3/y4690e/y4690e04.htm. Reproduced with permission.
"From the Surface Down" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Doman.
"Soil Quality Information Sheet: Available Water Capacity" by the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
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2.3 The Water Cycle
2.4 Runoff and Groundwater
2.5 The Water Cycle and Climate Change
2_Hydrological-Cycle
Hydrological Cycle
Overview
Title image "The Natural Water Cycle" by Howard Perlman and John Evans of the United States Geological Survey is in the Public Domain.
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Introduction
Learning Objectives
Illustrate the hydrological cycle and discuss its significant to plant growth and development.
Explain the role of precipitation & condensation in water cycle.
Describe how transpiration from plants effect water cycle.
Distinguish between runoff and ground water.
Key Terms
condensation - the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water
evaporation - the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor
evapotranspiration - the sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from plants
ground water - the water beneath earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations
hydrologic cycle - the continuous circulation of water from land and sea to the atmosphere and back again
precipitation - the process by which water droplets fall to earth as rain, hail, or snow
runoff - the flow of water downhill across saturated or impervious surfaces above ground
transpiration - the process by which water is taken up by plants and released into the atmosphere
Significance of Water to Plants
Plants need water to support cell structure, for metabolic functions, to carry nutrients, and for photosynthesis. The majority of volume in a plant cell is water; it typically comprises 80 to 90 percent of the plant’s total weight. Soil is the main water source for land plants, and it can be an abundant source of water, even if it appears dry. Plant roots absorb water from the soil through root hairs and transport it up to the leaves through the xylem. As water vapor is lost from the leaves, more water is drawn up from the roots through the plant to the leaves (Figure 4.2.1).
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-1-nutritional-requirements-of-plants
The Water Cycle
The water cycle has no starting point, but since most of Earth's water exists in the oceans, that is a good place to begin. The hydrologic cycle (or water cycle) is the continuous circulation of water from land and sea to the atmosphere and back again. (See Figure 4.2.2 for a visual representation of the basic aspects of the water cycle.) The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it changes from water to gas or vapor and is added to the air through the process of evaporation. A relatively smaller amount of moisture is added as ice and snow sublimate directly from the solid state into vapor. Just as humans release water vapor when they breathe so do plants—although the term "transpire" is more appropriate than "breathe." Transpiration is the process by which water is taken up by plants and released into the atmosphere. Studies have revealed that transpiration accounts for about 10 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere, with oceans, seas, and other bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams) providing nearly 90 percent and a tiny amount coming from sublimation (ice changing into water vapor without first becoming liquid). Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from plants.
Rising air currents take the vapor created by transpiration and evapotranspiration up into the atmosphere. Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water. The vapor rises into the air where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds. Clouds regulate the flow of radiant energy into and out of Earth's climate system. They influence the Earth's climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation (heat) back to space and outgoing radiation (terrestrial) from the Earth's surface. Often at night, clouds act as a "blanket," keeping a portion of the day's heat next to the surface. Changing cloud patterns modify the Earth's energy balance, and, in turn, temperatures on the Earth's surface. Condensation is the opposite of evaporation.
Air currents move clouds around the globe. Cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the sky during precipitation, the process by which water droplets fall to earth as rain, hail, or snow. Precipitation that falls as snow can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years. Snow-packs in warmer climates often thaw and melt when spring arrives, and the melted water flows overland as snowmelt. Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land, where due to gravity, the precipitation moves over the ground as surface flow or runoff. Figure 4.2.3 gives a more complete picture of the water cycle.
Runoff and Groundwater
A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys, with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff, and groundwater seepage, accumulate and are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers, though. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some of the water infiltrates into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which store huge amounts of freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge, and some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and emerges as freshwater springs. Yet, more groundwater is absorbed by plant roots to end up as evapotranspiration from the leaves. Over time, though, all of this water keeps moving and some of it reenters the ocean, where the water cycle "ends."
Large amounts of water are stored in the ground as groundwater as seen in Figure 4.2.4. The water is still moving, possibly very slowly, and it is still part of the water cycle. Most of the water in the ground comes from precipitation that infiltrates downward from the land surface. The upper layer of the soil is the unsaturated zone, where water is present in varying amounts that change over time but does not saturate the soil. Below this layer is the saturated zone, where all of the pores, cracks, and spaces between rock particles are saturated with water. The term groundwater is used to describe this area. Another term for groundwater is "aquifer," although this term is usually used to describe water-bearing formations capable of yielding enough water to supply peoples' uses. Aquifers are a huge storehouse of Earth's usable fresh water. People all over the world depend on the groundwater in aquifers in their daily lives for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes.
The top of the surface where groundwater occurs is called the water table. Figure 4.2.5 displays how the ground below the water table is saturated with water (the saturated zone). Aquifers are replenished by the seepage of precipitation that falls on the land, but there are many geologic, meteorologic, topographic, and human factors that determine the extent and rate to which aquifers are refilled with water. The characteristics of groundwater recharge vary all over the world. Rocks have different porosity and permeability characteristics, which means that water does not move around the same way in all rocks.
The Water Cycle and Climate Change
Water vapor is a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect. The water, or hydrologic, cycle describes the pilgrimage of water as water molecules make their way from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back again, in some cases to below the surface. This gigantic system, powered by energy from the Sun, is a continuous exchange of moisture between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the land. As external factors like increasing carbon dioxide warm the atmosphere, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere will increase. This will then slowly increase the greenhouse effect, reducing the amount of heat able to escape from Earth. The atmosphere warms further, enabling more water vapor to be held in the atmosphere. Water vapor that remains in the atmosphere will eventually condense and form clouds. Clouds can add to the greenhouse effect by trapping heat in the atmosphere. The process shows how global warming causes the hydrologic cycle to accelerate.
Dig Deeper
USGS: The Fundamentals of the Water Cycle
USGS: Condensation and the Water Cycle
USGS: Freshwater (Lakes and Rivers) and the Water Cycle
USGS: Evapotranspiration and the Water Cycle
USGS: Surface Runoff and the Water Cycle
USGS: Groundwater Flow and the Water Cycle
USGS: Groundwater Storage and the Water Cycle
USGS: Precipitation and the Water Cycle
Attributions
"Biology 2e: Chapter 31: Section 1" by Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, and Jung Choi is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
"A Multi-Phased Journey" by the United States National Atmospheric Space Administration is in the Public Domain.
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3.3 Nutrient Availability
3.4 Cation Exchange Capacity
3_Soil-Chemical-Properties
Soil Chemical Properties
Overview
Title Image "Nutrient bioavailability with regards to soil pH" is copyrighted and used with permission from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.
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Introduction
Learning Objectives
Explain the chemical properties of the soil and soil/medium pH on nutrient availability.
Explain how soil pH effect nutrient availability for plants.
Describe the process of cation exchange.
Explain how negatively charged mineral ions are more likely to be leached.
Key Terms
acidic soil - soil with a pH level less than 7
alkaline soil - soil with a pH level greater than 7
anion - negative ion that is formed by an atom gaining one or more electrons
cation - positive ion that is formed by an atom losing one or more electrons
cation exchange capacity - the measure of the total amount of exchangeable positive ions that a soil can hold
ion - atom or chemical group that does not contain equal numbers of protons and electrons
leach - the act of chemicals or minerals being drained away from soil by water
soil electrical conductivity - measure of the amount of salts in soil
Soil pH
Even though most plants are autotrophs and can generate their own sugars from carbon dioxide and water, they still require certain ions and minerals from the soil. An ion is an atom or chemical that does not contain equal numbers of protons and electrons. Ions are either anions or cations. An anion is a negative ion that is formed by an atom gaining one or more electrons, and a cation is a positive ion that is formed by an atom losing one or more electrons. By definition, “pH” is a measure of the active hydrogen ion (H+) concentration. It is an indication of the acidity or alkalinity of a soil, and is also known as “soil reaction.” The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with values below 7.0 being considered acidic and values above 7.0 alkaline. A pH value of 7 is considered neutral, where H+ and OH- are equal, both at a concentration of 10-7 moles/liter. A pH of 4.0 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 5.0. Some minor elements (e.g., iron) and most heavy metals are more soluble at lower pH. This makes pH management important in controlling movement of heavy metals (and potential groundwater contamination) in soil.
The most important effect of pH in the soil is on ion solubility, which in turn affects microbial and plant growth. A pH range of 6.0 to 6.8 is ideal for most crops because it coincides with optimum solubility of the most important plant nutrients. Not all ions are equally available in soil water; their availability depends on the properties of the soil. Clay is negatively charged; thus, any positive ions (cations) present in clay-rich soils will remain tightly bound to the clay particles. This tight association with clay particles prevents the cations from being washed away by heavy rains, but it also prevents the cations from being easily absorbed by plant root hairs. In contrast, anions are easily dissolved in soil water and thus readily accessible to plant root hairs; however, they are also very easily leached or washed away by rainwater. In this way, the presence of clay particles creates a trade-off for plants: they prevent leaching of cations from the soil by rainwater, but they also prevent absorption of the cations by the plant. In acid soils, hydrogen and aluminum are the dominant exchangeable cations. The latter is soluble under acidic conditions, and its reactivity with water (hydrolysis) produces hydrogen ions. Calcium and magnesium are basic cations; as their amounts increase, the relative amount of acidic cations will decrease. Let's take phosphorous as an example (Figure 4.2.1) If soils are too acidic, phosphorus reacts with iron and aluminum. That makes it unavailable to plants. But if soils are too alkaline, phosphorus reacts with calcium and also becomes inaccessible.
Factors that affect soil pH include parent material, vegetation, and climate. Some rocks and sediments produce soils that are more acidic than others: quartz-rich sandstone is acidic; limestone is alkaline. Some types of vegetation, particularly conifers, produce organic acids, which can contribute to lower soil pH values. In humid areas such as the eastern US, soils tend to become more acidic over time because rainfall washes away basic cations and replaces them with hydrogen. Addition of certain fertilizers to soil can also produce hydrogen ions. Liming the soil adds calcium, which replaces exchangeable and solution H+ and raises soil pH. Lime requirement, or the amount of liming material needed to raise the soil pH to a certain level, increases with CEC. To decrease the soil pH, sulfur can be added, which produces sulfuric acid.
Nutrient Availability
How do plants acquire micronutrients from the soil? This process is mediated by root hairs, which are extensions of the root epidermal tissue that increase the surface area of the root, greatly contributing to the absorption of water and minerals. Root hairs absorb ions that are dissolved in the water in soil.
How do plants overcome these issues?
The cell in the root utilizes active transport (use of energy to transport a substrate against the concentration gradient) to move mineral ions into the root cells. Proton pumps or ATPases, use ATP as an energy source to pump protons out of the cells and into the soils leading to an increase in the concentration of protons (H+) thus lowering the pH or acidifying the microscopic area of soil surrounding the root hair and generating electrochemical gradient (difference in concentration and electrical charge of species across a membrane). These pumps are located on the plasma membrane and are found in the cells of root hair, cortex, and endodermal layer. Based on apoplastic, symplastic or transmembrane route (unit 2, lesson 3 Xylem transport) the mineral ions are actively loaded into the root vascular system.
Protons pumped in the soil may participate in exchange of cations on the surface of the soil particles or accompany an anion into a plant cell or generate the gradient for specific ion to be transported across the plasma membrane into the cell. To facilitate the transport of cations and anions into the plant cells proton pumps work in conjugation with either antiporters, symporters, or uniporters (Figure 4.3.2). Antiporters transport different ions or molecules across the plasma membrane in opposite directions while symporters transport ions or molecules in the same direction. Uniporters transport one specific ion or molecule across the plasma membrane.
Electrochemical gradient leads to two outcomes:
- Protons bind to the negatively charged clay particles, replacing the cations from the clay in a process called cation exchange. The cations then diffuse down their electrochemical gradient into the root hairs. High concentration of negatively charged organic anions within the cells also favor the transport of cations into the cells.
- The high concentration of protons in the soil creates a strong electrochemical gradient that favors transport of protons back into the root hairs. Plants use co-transport of protons via symporters down their concentration gradient as the energy source to move anions against their electrical gradient into the root hairs. (The soil environment is highly positively charged, so it is unfavorable for anions to leave the soil, but highly favorable for protons to leave the soil).
As of now, proton pumps are considered central to the mineral ion transport across the root plasma membrane. However, studies of the involvement of redox chains, and OH- efflux transporters during anion transport are also underway. Redox chains located on the plasma membrane are utilized by many plants, such as corn and oats, for anion absorption. Redox chains pump electrons out of the cells, thus creating an electrical gradient for anion uptake. More research is in progress to complete the characterization of proteins in the redox chains and understand their mechanisms. OH-efflux transporters are unique in enhancing the anion absorption by excreting negatively charged hydroxyl ion (OH-) outside of the root cell. These transporters need further research to increase our understanding of anion absorption in plants.
Cation Exchange Capacity
The cation exchange capacity of a soil is a measurement of the magnitude of the negative charge per unit weight of soil or the amount of cations a particular sample of soil can hold in an exchangeable form. The greater the clay and organic matter content, the greater the cation exchange capacity should be; although, different types of clay minerals and organic matter can vary in cation exchange capacity. soil electrical conductivity is a measure of the amount of salt in soil. Because salts move with water; low areas, depressions, or other wet areas where water accumulates tend to be higher in electrical conductivity than surrounding higher-lying, better drained areas. Clay soils dominated by clay minerals that have a high cation-exchange capacity have higher electrical conductivity than clay soils dominated by clay minerals that have a low cation exchange capacity. Soils with restrictive layers, such as claypans, typically have higher electrical conductivity because salts cannot be leached from the root zone and accumulate on the surface.
Cation exchange is an important mechanism in soils for retaining and supplying plant nutrients, as well as for adsorbing contaminants. For example, it plays an important role in wastewater treatment in soils. Sandy soils with a low cation exchange capacity are generally unsuited for septic systems since they have little adsorptive ability and there is potential for groundwater.
Due to the influence of pH and clay on ion retention, as well as other parameters, the composition and texture of soil greatly influences the ability of roots to penetrate the soil, as well as the availability of water, nutrients, and oxygen:
Composition | Water availability | Nutrient availability | Oxygen availability | Root penetration ability |
Sand | Low: water drains out | Low: poor capacity for cation exchange; anions leach out | High: many air-containing spaces | High: large particles do not pack tightly |
Clay | High: water clings to charged surface of clay particles | High: large capacity for cation exchange; anions remain in solution | Low: few air-containing spaces | Low: small particles pack tightly |
Organic matter | High: water clings to charged surface of clay particles | High: ready source of nutrients, large capacity for cation exchange; anions remain in solution | High: many air-containing spaces | High: large particles do not pack tightly |
While plants have ready access to carbon (carbon dioxide) and water (except in dry climates or during drought), they must extract minerals and ions from the soil. Often nitrogen is most limiting for plant growth; while it comprises approximately 80% of the atmosphere, gaseous nitrogen is chemically stable and not biologically available to plants. Many plants have evolved mutualistic relationships with microorganisms, such as specific species of bacteria and fungi, to enhance their ability to acquire nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil. This relationship improves the nutrition of both the plant and the microbe.
Dig Deeper
Cation Exchange Video https://youtu.be/HmEyymGXOfI
Mineral Absorption Video: https://youtu.be/6aC-WTAWgOg
Attributions
"Adhesion and Cohesion of Water" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
Haynes, R.J. Active ion uptake and maintenance of cation-anion balance: A critical examination of their role in regulating rhizosphere pH. Plant Soil 126, 247–264 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012828
"Nutrient Acquisition by Plants" by Georgia Tech Biological Sciences is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
"Nutrient Bioavailability" graphic used with permission from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.
OpenStax Biology 2e by Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, and Jung Choi is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
"Soil Electrical Conductivity" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
"Soil Physical and Chemical Properties" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
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4.3 Use of Soilless Growing Media in Hydroponic Production
4.4 Use of Soilless Growing Media in Tissue Culture
4_Soilless-Plant-Growth-Mediums
Gardeners World: Explore a Peat Bog with Arit Anderson
Gardeners World: How the UK's horticulture industry is becoming peat-free
Soilless Plant Growth Mediums
Overview
Title image credit: "Hand Trowel with Soil" by Image Catalog is licensed under CC0 1.0
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Introduction
Learning Objectives
Explain the types and utility for soilless substrata for plant growth.
Identify the different types of soilless cultures.
Discuss the advantages of alternate growth mediums.
Key Terms
aquaponic production - a system of growing plants in the water that has been used to cultivate aquatic organisms
hydroponic production - the production of normally terrestrial, vascular plants in nutrient rich solutions or in an inert, porous, solid matrix bathed in nutrient rich solutions synthetic
substrate - plant growing media made of artificial materials
tissue culture (micropropagation) - a method of propagating a large number of plants from a single plant in a short time on a nutrient culture medium under laboratory conditions
Introduction
Soilless plant growth mediums are crucial to the success of many areas of plant sciences, with practical applications in nursery container production, hydroponic farming, and tissue culture. Soilless production allows the grower to have more control over environmental factors that directly impact plant growth and often include varying proportions of natural or inorganic ingredients for mixtures tailored to meet the crop’s needs.
Use of Soilless Growing Media in the Nursery Container Production
Container plant production (Figure 4.4.1) is a major area of the horticulture industry, and most plants available to consumers are grown in plastic pots. Nearly all container-grown plants are planted in soilless growing mixtures rather than true soils. The benefits of using soilless growing media rather than soil are increased uniformity of the environment for root development, better control over characteristics such as water retention, nutrient availability, and drainage, as well as a decrease in weight for ease of transportation from the nursery to the retailer or customer (McMahon, 2020).
Qualities of a Good Growing Medium
While soilless mixtures are usually tailored to best suit specific crops, there are several basic properties that all good growing mediums share (Acquaah, 2009).
- Good aeration and drainage: There should be a good proportion of air space, and the mixture should drain freely.
- Porosity: The mixture should have good water holding capacity and be easily wetted.
- Durability: The materials should be long-lasting in the pot and resist decomposition.
- Chemical properties: The mixture should have a good Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and a pH suited to the crop grown. There should be nutrients in sufficient quantity for healthy plant growth. The growing medium should not produce any toxins. Natural materials that produce growth-inhibiting compounds (such as sawdust, wood chips or bark from certain species) should be fully composted or soaked in water to allow chemicals to leach from the product.
- Functionality: The mixture should flow easily through equipment, such as automated pot and tray-filling machines.
- Sterility: Soilless growing mixtures are usually pasteurized to kill pathogens.
Common Ingredients in Potting Mixtures
Excerpt used with permission from "Growing Media for Greenhouse Production" by E. Will & J.E. Faust, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension.
Peat
Peat is a main component of most soilless media mixes used today. It is produced by the partial decomposition of plant material under low-oxygen conditions (Figure 4.4.2). Differences in peat are related to the climate under which they are produced and the species of plant from which it is formed. Peats from sphagnum mosses have a spongy, fibrous texture, high porosity and water-holding capacity, and a low pH (Figure 4.4.3). Peats formed from sedges are darker, more decomposed and contain more plant nutrients and higher CEC than peat from sphagnum mosses.
In the US, the American Society of Testing Materials has designed a system of peat classification based on generic origin and fiber content. Under this classification, sphagnum peat moss must contain more than 75 percent sphagnum peat moss fiber
and a minimum of 90 percent organic matter. Hypnum moss peat is composed of Hypnum species with a fiber content of at least 50 percent and an organic matter content of at least 90 percent. Reed-sedge peat must contain at least 33 percent reed,
sedge or grass fibers. Peat humus has a total fiber content of less than 33 percent.
The majority of peat moss used for horticultural purposes in the US is sphagnum peat moss from Canada or the south east US. Peats are classified as light or dark depending on the degree of decomposition. Most peats from Canada sold for use in the U.S. are light peats, having a loose, coarse structure and very little decomposition. More highly decomposed, dark peats have higher CEC and nutrient content. However, the finer structure results in poor media aeration and loss of volume. Media composed of dark peat must be handled carefully to avoid compaction.
Bark
Bark, a byproduct of saw mills, is used extensively in the nursery industry and has a role in greenhouse media as well (Figure 4.4.4). It functions to improve aeration and reduce the cost of media. Pine bark is the most widely used bark source, especially in the south- east US where local supplies are plentiful and inexpensive. Bark variability stems from the species and age of tree, method of bark removal and degree of decomposition. Raw bark is screened and wood (tree cambium) is removed before the <0.5 inch fraction is composted.
Bark must be aged or composted before use as a media component to eliminate the presence of phytotoxic compounds. Composting also decomposes the material to a point where further slow decomposition as a media component does not tie up nitrogen needed for plant growth, and does not result in great loss of volume. Bark particles of less than 3/8 inch in size are used in greenhouse media.
In general, nutrient content and pH (3.5 - 6.5) of unprocessed bark are low. However, the Ca content of barks tends to be high, resulting in a gradual increase in pH during composting. Final composted bark CEC is generally low. When using bark as a media component, it is wise to monitor for pH and nutrient changes in the media and be aware of the low water-holding capacity of the material. The presence of bark may also necessitate using higher doses of growth regulator applied as media drenches, since the bark appears to make the growth regulator less available to the plant.
Coir
The media component coir originates from ground-waste coconut husks (Figure 4.4.5). After most of the fibers are removed, the remaining coir, or coir dust, is marketed for media. Chemical and physical properties of the coir are variable, depending largely on the amount of fiber remaining in the material. Particle size ranges from about 0.5 to 2 mm, is greater than 80 percent pore space and air-filled pore space at container capacity is 9 to 13 percent. Coir has a high water- holding capacity, higher than peat in some tests, and is as or more easily rewetted after drying than peat. Coir-based media undergo slightly less settling than peat-based media.
Coir contains relatively low levels of micronutrients, but significant levels of phosphorus and potassium. The pH of coir ranges from 5.5 to 6.5. Since no lime is needed for pH adjustment and coir does not provide these nutrients, supplemental calcium and magnesium may need to be added to the fertilizer program. The EC of coir ranges from 0.4 to 3.4 mmhos/cm.
A concern with coir has been the reported high chloride levels (typically 200 - 300 ppm). Since most recommendations for media are 100 ppm or less chloride, coir may not be a preferred media component if non-leaching subirrigation is used. Coir has been suggested as a low-cost replacement for sphagnum peat moss in media. Production trials with a variety of plants indicate that there is great potential for this alternative media component. Because of the variability in the qualities of coir, it is important to purchase it from a reputable dealer with good quality-control practices.
Perlite
Perlite is a volcanic rock that is crushed and heated rapidly to a high temperature (1,800F). The material expands to form a white, light-weight aggregate with high pore space (Figure 4.4.6). Water-holding capacity is fairly low, as water is retained only on the surface and in the pores between particles. Perlite is added to media to improve drainage. It is chemically inert with almost no CEC or nutrients, and a neutral pH. Perlite may contain levels of fluoride that are injurious to fluoride-sensitive foliage plants. Maintaining a pH above 6 and reducing the use of fluoride-containing superphosphate fertilizer should avoid fluoride toxicity problems. Fine grades of perlite are available for use in plug production. Perlite dust can pose as a health risk; therefore, dust masks must be worn by workers during handling of this product.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite (Figure 4.4.7) is a silicate material that is processed much like perlite. Heating causes tremendous expansion of the particles and results in a highly porous lattice structure with good water-retention properties. Vermiculite is available in a number of grades from fine, for seed germination, to coarser grades for use as media amendments. Although the finer material allows the media to flow more evenly into plug trays when filling, the particles are too small to hold much air or water for the developing roots. It is also susceptible to compaction.
CEC of vermiculite is fairly high (2 - 2.5 meq/100cc) and pH varies from slightly to very alkaline, depending on the source. Most vermiculite mined in the US has a pH be- tween 6.3 and 7.8. Vermiculite provides some Ca, Mg and K. Particles are soft and easily compressed, so must be handled carefully.
Rock wool
Rock wool is made from basalt rock, steel mill slag or other minerals that are liquefied at high temperature and spun into fibers. The fibers are formed into cubes or blocks, or granulated into small nodules for use as a component of horticultural media. The granules have high porosity, air space, water-holding capacity and available water. These qualities, along with its ability to rewet rapidly, makes rock wool a good media component for subirrigated crop. Rock wool is slightly alkaline and has almost no cation exchange capacity or nutrients.
Polystyrene Foam
Flakes or beads of expanded polystyrene foam are added to media to improve aeration, drainage and reduce cost. They supply no nutrients, CEC or water-holding capacity and the pH is neutral. Styrofoam® should not be steam heated. The beads can migrate to the top of the media and may become a nuisance if dispersed by water or wind.
Use of Soilless Growing Media in Hydroponic Production
Excerpt used with permission from “Soilless Growing Mediums” by D. Thakulla, B. Dunn, & Bizhen, H., Oklahoma State University Extension. Copyright © OSU Extension.
History
The term “hydroponics” was first introduced by American scientist Dr. William Gericke in 1937 to describe all methods of growing plants in liquid media for commercial purposes. Before 1937, scientist were using soilless cultivation as a tool for plant nutrition studies. In 1860, two scientists, Knop and Sachs, prepared the first standardized nutrient solution by adding various inorganic salts to water, then using them for plant growth. Later, scientists started using an aggregate medium to provide support and aeration to the root system. Quartz sand and gravel were the most popular aggregate mediums used in soilless cultivation at that time. In the late 1960s, Scandinavian and Dutch greenhouse growers tested rockwool plates as a soil substitute, which resulted in revolutionary expansion of rockwool-grown crops in many countries. Today, many alternative porous materials are used as growing media in hydroponics, including organic medias like coconut coir, peat, pine bark and inorganic mediums such as mineral wool, growstone, perlite and sand. For more information about hydroponics see Unit 9, Lesson 2: Soilless and Hydroponic Production.
Aquaponics couples hydroponics with aquaculture, using nutrient-rich water to feed the hydroponically grown plants. Nitrifying bacteria convert the ammonia into nitrates. For more information about aquaponics see Unit 9, Lesson 2: Soilless and Hydroponic Production. The three main live components of aquaponics are plants, fish (or other aquatic creatures) and bacteria. Producers also choose growing media that will provide plant nutrition, support the plants and provide surface area for the growth of bacteria. Clay pebbles, lava rocks and expanded shale are among the most widely used growing media in aquaponics.
Characteristics of Growing Mediums
Selection of a growing medium depends on the type of plant, the pH of irrigation water, cost, shelf life of the product, the type of system that is being used and a grower’s personal preference (Table 4.4.1). A grower should look for specific qualities in choosing media. Soilless media must provide oxygen, water, nutrients and support the plant roots just as soil does.
Grow media | Cost | Lifespan | pH |
Mineral wool | Medium | Renewable | Basic |
Coconut fiber | Low/Medium | Short | Neutral |
Expanded clay | High | Reusable | Neutral |
Perlite | Low | Reusable | Neutral |
Vermiculite | Medium | Reusable | Basic |
Oasis cubes | Low | Short | Neutral |
Sand | Low | Reusable | Neutral |
Peat | Medium | Short | Acidic |
Grow stones | Medium | Reusable | Basic |
Rice hulls | Low | Short | Neutral/Acidic |
Pine bark | Low | Short | Acidic |
Pumice | High | Reusable | Neutral |
Sawdust | Low | Short | Acidic |
Polyurethane foam | Low | Short | Neutral |
Gravel | Low | Reusable | Basic |
Expanded shale | Low/Medium | Reusable | Neutral |
Lava rock | Low | Reusable | Neutral |
An ideal growing medium should have all or some of the following characteristics:
- Good aeration and drainage. While the medium must have good water retention, it also must provide good drainage. Excessively fine materials should be avoided to prevent excessive water retention and lack of aeration within the medium.
- Durability. The medium must be durable over time. Soft aggregates that disintegrate easily should be avoided.
- Porosity. The medium must stay damp from the nutrient flow long enough for plants to absorb all their required nutrients between cycles.
- Sterile. A clean and sterile growing medium will minimize the spread of both diseases and pests. A clean medium does not introduce additional nutrients to the roots. Some media can be reused by pasteurizing at 180 F for 30 minutes or using a 10% bleach soak for 20 minutes followed by multiple rinses of tap water.
- Chemical properties. Neutral pH and good cation-exchange capacity (the ability to hold nutrients).
- Functionality. Lightweight, easy to handle, reusable and durable.
Overview of the Most Popular Hydroponic Growing Mediums
Except used with permission from “Soilless Growing Mediums” by D. Thakulla, B. Dunn, & Bizhen, H., Oklahoma State University Extension. Copyright © OSU Extension.
Mineral Wool
Mineral wool (such as Rockwool) is a sterile, porous, non-degradable medium composed primarily of granite and/or limestone, which is superheated and melted, then spun into small threads and formed into blocks, sheets, cubes, slabs or flocking. It readily absorbs water and has decent drainage properties, which is why it is used widely as a starting medium for seeds, rooting medium for cuttings and for large biomass crops like tomatoes.
Advantages
- It has a large water retention capacity and is 18% to 25% air, which gives the root system ample oxygen as long as the medium is not completely submersed.
- It is available in multiple sizes and shapes for various hydroponic applications. Everything from 1-inch cubes to huge slabs can be found.
- Mineral wool slabs can be reused by steam sterilizing the slabs between crops. Structurally, it does not break down for three to four years.
Disadvantages
- It has a high pH, and nutrient solutions must be adjusted to accommodate for that factor. The initial pH of the commercial material is rather high (7.0 to 8.0), therefore, continuous pH adjustment to a more favorable range (5.5 to 6.0) is required, or the medium must be conditioned by soaking in a low-pH solution before use.
- Mineral wool does not biodegrade, which makes it an environmental nuisance when disposed of. Lately there has been a decline in the use of mineral wool.
- It has a restricted root environment and a low buffering capacity for water and nutrients. The water flow to plant roots may be hindered, even when the water content is apparently high.
- Many people find mineral wool dust irritating to the skin.
Coconut Coir
Coconut coir is also known by trade names like Ultrapeat®, Cocopeat® and Coco-tek®. It is a completely organic medium made from shredded coconut husks. Different sources and production procedures result in a large variability of end products in the market. The most popular is the compressed briquette form, which requires soaking in water before use. During soaking, the coir rehydrates and expands up to six times the size of the original briquette.
Advantages
- Coconut coir is slightly acidic and holds moisture very well, yet still allows for good root aeration.
- There are claims that coir dust enhances rooting due to the presence of root-promoting substances.
- Coir can be used either as a stand-alone medium or as an ingredient in a mix for the cultivation of vegetables and cut flowers. It can also serve as a rooting medium for cuttings under mist and in high humidity chambers.
- It is biodegradable, organic and non-toxic, which makes its disposal easier and environmentally friendly.
- Since it is compactable, it can be bought compressed then expanded at home, which saves money on shipping.
Disadvantages
- If the husks are soaked in salt water during manufacturing and not rinsed with fresh water, then there could be a problem with high salinity.
- Coconut coir is rich in sodium and chlorine and may damage the plants, which is why it must be washed. Usually, calcium and magnesium need to be added to both facilitate sodium removal and provide nutrients.
Expanded Clay Aggregate
Expanded clay pellets are made by heating dry, heavy clay and expanding it to form round porous balls. It is commonly known as lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA), grow rocks or Hydroton®. They are heavy enough to provide secure support for the plants, but are still lightweight. Their spherical shape and porosity help to ensure a good oxygen/water balance so as not to overly dry or drown the roots.
Advantages
- Expanded clay pellets release almost no nutrients into the water stream and are neutral with a pH of about 7.0.
- They have high pore space, which results in better flow of solution. They rarely become clogged or blocked, so water drains very effectively, which makes it a great option for ebb and flow systems as well as aquaponic media bed systems.
- After use, the pellets can be washed and sterilized for reuse.
- They are very stable and can last for many years.
Disadvantages
- The clay pellets do not have good water-holding capacity as compared to many other substrates. They drain and dry very fast, which may cause roots to dry out.
- They are fairly expensive.
- They often bind tightly around roots in Dutch bucket systems and can be hard to separate.
- Because clay pellets float for the first few months until they’re saturated, the pebbles can get sucked into filters or drain lines and cause blockages.
Perlite
Perlite is a natural volcanic mineral that expands when subjected to very high heat, and becomes very lightweight, porous and absorbent. It is produced in various grades, the most common being 0 to 2 mm and 1.5 to 3 mm in diameter. Perlite can be used by itself or mixed with other types of growing media.
Advantages
- It has one of the best oxygen retention levels of all growing mediums.
- It is very porous and has a strong capillary action. It can hold three to four times its weight of water.
- Its sterility makes it highly suitable for starting seeds. There is little risk of root rot or damping off.
- It is comparatively inexpensive and is reusable. After use, it can be steam pasteurized.
- Its stability is not greatly affected by acids or microorganisms.
Disadvantages
- Since it is very lightweight, it easily washes away. This drawback makes perlite an inappropriate medium in the flood-and-flush type of hydroponic systems.
- When used alone in hydroponic systems like drip systems, it does not retain water very well.
- Perlite dust can create respiratory problems and eye irritation, necessitating precautions such as wearing goggles and a mask to reduce dust exposure when working with it. When dry, fans can blow it around the greenhouse.
- Perlite is prone to algae growth that can lead to irrigation and fungus gnat problems.
Vermiculite
It is a micaceous mineral that is heated at temperatures near 2,000 F until it expands into pebbles. It is considered an excellent rooting medium. It is often used in combination with other types of media like coconut coir or peat moss to start seedlings. It is produced in various grades, the most common being 0 to 2 mm, 2 to 4 mm and 4 to 8 mm in diameter.
Advantages
- It has a relatively high cation exchange capacity and holds nutrients for later use.
- It is very porous, has a strong capillary action and has excellent water-holding capacity.
Disadvantages
- When used alone, it can retain too much moisture, which can result in waterlogged conditions, inviting bacterial and fungal growth.
- It cannot be steam sterilized as it disintegrates during heating.
- It is comparatively expensive and can contain a small amount of asbestos.
Oasis Cubes
Oasis cubes are a brand of medium manufactured from water-absorbent phenolic foam, also known as floral foam. It is a grow medium designed for both seeds and cuttings and is mostly used for plant propagation. Oasis cubes are most used for rapid germination of crops such as lettuce and cole crops (cabbage, collards and kale), onions and alliums, herbs and sometimes tomato and eggplant seedings.
Advantages
- It has a neutral pH and a great water-retention capacity.
- It is pretty versatile and can be transplanted into many different types of hydroponic systems and grow mediums.
- It is inexpensive and no pre-soaking is required.
- It comes in several different sizes.
Disadvantages
- It does not have any buffering capacity, cation exchange capacity or initial nutrient charge.
- Beyond seed germination and propagation, it is of limited value.
- The foam can break off and clog pump filters.
Sand
Sand is inarguably the oldest hydroponic medium and is very common. It is commonly mixed with other substrates like vermiculite, perlite and coconut coir. When using sand as a growing medium, growers often prefer coarse sand, as it helps to increase aeration to the roots by increasing the size of the air pockets between the grains of sand.
Advantages
- It is comparatively inexpensive and is readily available in most locations.
- The finer sand particles allow lateral movement of water through capillary action, which makes the solution applied at each plant evenly distributed throughout the root zone.
- When mixed with vermiculite, perlite and/or coconut coir, it helps aerate the mix for roots.
- Sand is very durable because it is neither chemically nor biologically affected.
- It can be easily steam-sterilized for reuse.
Disadvantages
- It has very low water- and nutrient-holding capacity and can exacerbate deficiencies quickly.
- Salt buildup may occur in the sand during the growing period. This can be corrected by flushing the medium periodically with pure water.
- It is very heavy.
Peat
Peat consists of partially decomposed marsh plants, including sedges, grasses and mosses. Sphagnum peat moss, hypnum peat moss, and reed and sedge peat moss are three types of peat in horticultural classification. Sphagnum peat moss is the most desirable and popular type, as it has higher moisture-holding capacity and does not break down as rapidly as other types of peat.
Advantages
- Peat moss has a high moisture-holding capacity and can hold up to 10 times its dry weight of water.
- Most peat mosses are acidic with pH of 3.8 to 4.5, which can be an advantage for some acid-loving plants.
- Even though peat moss retains water incredibly well, it can drain freely. Excess water quickly moves through the material to drain out.
- Disposal of used peat moss does not pose any environmental problem.
Disadvantages
- It is generally considered as a substrate conducive to numerous soil-borne diseases. Although peat can be sterilized, it does not alleviate the problem, as sterilization leaves a biological vacuum that can be easily filled by pathogenic fungi.
- In some cases, its acidic property may be a disadvantage for some crops, so lime or dolomite is usually added to increase the pH.
- It is not sustainable. Peat moss extraction from bogs is a destructive process that removes layers that took centuries to develop.
Growstones
Growstones are made from recycled glass. They are light weight, unevenly shaped, porous and reusable. They have good wicking ability and can wick water up to 4 inches above the water line. It is important to have good drainage to prevent stems from rotting.
Advantages
- Since growstone is inert, it does not supply plants with any additional inputs or elements that could interfere with the nutrient solution in the system.
- It is highly porous and provides a lot of aeration to the roots.
- Because it is made from glass, it is non-toxic and guaranteed to be free of contaminants like pathogens.
- Growstones can be reused or further recycled.
Disadvantages
- Sometimes growstones can cause root damage because they tend to grip the plant roots too much. This also makes it difficult to move the plants from one medium or grow area to another.
- Growstones come coated with a fine dust of silica, which needs to be carefully washed off. This is best done outdoors or in a well-ventilated space as the dust can clog drains and is dangerous to inhale.
Rice Hulls
Rice hulls are a byproduct of the rice industry. Even though it is an organic plant material, it breaks down very slowly like coconut coir, making it suitable as a growing medium for hydroponics. It is often used as part of a mix of growing media such as 30% to 40% rice hulls and pine bark mix. Rice hulls are referred to as either fresh, aged, composted, parboiled or carbonized. Parboiled hulls have been shown to be superior to other hulls as a medium amendment.
Advantages
- The overall pH of parboiled and composted rice hulls range from 5.7 to 6.5, which is right in the optimal pH range for most hydroponically-grown plants.
- They are comparable to perlite in water-holding capacity per weight but have a greater air-porosity ratio and can hold more oxygen in the root zone.
- They drain well and retain little water in general.
Disadvantages
- Fresh and composted rice hulls often have high amounts of manganese. If pH is not maintained properly, manganese toxicity is a potential problem.
- Rice hulls work well when mixed with peat or coir, but not as well when used as a standalone medium.
- It has a low cation-exchange capacity.
Pine Bark
Composted and aged pine bark was one of the first growing media used in hydroponics. It was generally considered a waste product, but has found uses as a ground mulch, as well as substrate for hydroponically grown crops.
Advantages
- Compared to other types of tree bark, pine resists decomposition better and has fewer organic acids that can leach into the nutrient solution.
- A naturally biodegradable material, used bark can be recycled in many ways, including as mulch.
- Because of its fibrous structure with pockets of many sizes, it holds nutrient solution and air well.
Disadvantages
- It absorbs water easily, which may result in water-logged conditions. A layer of rocks at the bottom will aid drainage greatly.
- Pine bark floats and may pose problems with an ebb and flow system. It is more suitable for a drip or a wick system.
- The pH of pine bark is acidic and might be a disadvantage.
Pumice
Pumice is a siliceous material of volcanic origin. It is graded and kiln dried to 80 F, making it sterile and ready to use. It can be mixed with other types of growing media, such as vermiculite or coir to improve aeration and drainage.
Advantages
- It breaks down slowly and is very lightweight.
- Its light-colored appearance makes it an ideal media for summer growing as it does not absorb heat.
- It has a high oxygen-retention level.
Disadvantages
- It has essentially the same properties as perlite but does not absorb water as readily.
- It can be too lightweight for some hydroponics systems, if bought as small pieces.
Sawdust
There are many variables that determine how well sawdust will work, predominantly the kind of wood used and the purity of it. Sawdust from Douglas fir and western hemlock have been found to give best results, while western red cedar is toxic and should never be used. A moderately fine sawdust or one with a good proportion of planer shavings is preferred, because water spreads better laterally through these than in coarse sawdust.
Advantages
- The best thing about sawdust is that it is very cheap or usually free.
- It retains a lot of moisture, so care must be taken while watering.
Disadvantages
- Sawdust might acquire salt levels toxic to plants. Therefore, the sodium chloride content of the samples should be tested before using. If any significant amount of sodium chloride is found (greater than 10 ppm), sawdust should be thoroughly leached with fresh water.
- Growers need to ensure their sawdust is not contaminated with soil and pathogens or chemicals from wood-processing facilities or undesirable tree species.
Polyurethane Grow Slab/Cubes
Polyurethane grow slabs and cubes are an uncommon hydroponics medium used as an alternative to oasis cubes or rockwool for starter cubes. It can be found as poly foam at hobby or fabric stores. It comes in rolls or sheets of different thickness and sizes. Starter cubes can be self-made by just cutting 1- to 2-inch-thick poly foam sheets/rolls.
Advantages
- It is a comparatively cheaper alternative to rockwool or oasis cubes for starting seeds.
- It is easy to find.
Disadvantages
- It may contain harmful chemicals.
- It is not likely to have predetermined holes for seed germination.
Gravel
Gravel has been used with great success, especially in ebb and flow systems. It is a fragmented media from rocks like sandstone, limestone or basalt and has large spaces between each particle. This helps give a plentiful supply of air to the roots, however, the medium does not hold water well, which can cause roots to dry out quickly.
Advantages
- Gravel is usually fairly cheap, works well as a starter medium and is typically easy to find.
- It is durable and reusable as long as it is washed and sterilized between crops.
- It does not break down in structure and can be reused.
Disadvantages
- Its heavy weight makes it difficult to handle.
- Gravel is not suitable for heavy plant roots.
Expanded Shale
Expanded shale is created when quarried shale is heated to temperatures above 2,000 F. The process renders the shale chemically and biologically inert. The heated shale loses its water, which causes the shale to expand. It is considered one of the best aquaponics grow media. It is lightweight and works well in aquaponic grow beds. Each stone has a large surface area for supporting the bacteria necessary to convert ammonia into nitrates.
Advantages
- The free draining quality of this medium aids in the necessary oxygenation of roots.
- Expanded shale holds up to 40% of its weight in water, allowing for better water retention around plants.
Disadvantages
- Expanded shale has a slightly polished surface area, but edges can be sharp, which can harm the root system of plants.
- Its heavy weight makes it difficult to handle.
Lava Rock
Lava rock is a lower cost alternative to expanded clay or expanded shale. These types of rock form when hot lava rapidly cools down. They contain air pockets inside, which gives an additional surface area for beneficial bacteria.
Advantages
- They are lightweight, porous and provide beneficial drainage, aeration, water retention and even trace elements to the system.
Disadvantages
- A notable disadvantage is their jagged texture. The sharp edges of lava rocks have the potential to cut your hands as well as damage the root system of plants.
Use of Soilless Growing Media in Tissue Culture
Micropropagation—also called plant tissue culture—is a method of propagating a large number of plants from a single plant in a short time under laboratory conditions (Figure 4.4.16). This method allows propagation of rare, endangered species that may be difficult to grow under natural conditions, are economically important, or are in demand as disease-free plants.
To start plant tissue culture, a part of the plant, such as a stem, leaf, embryo, anther, or seed, can be used. The plant material is thoroughly sterilized using a combination of chemical treatments standardized for that species. Under sterile conditions, the plant material is placed on a plant tissue culture medium that contains all the minerals, vitamins, and hormones required by the plant. The plant part often gives rise to an undifferentiated mass known as callus, from which individual plantlets begin to grow after a period of time. These can be separated and are first grown under greenhouse conditions before they are moved to field conditions.
Soilless Substrates for Micropropagation
Plant material grown in tissue culture is usually placed in a growing medium that has been tailored to meet that specific plant’s needs. The most common substrate used as a base in micropropagation is agar, which is a gelatinous product of some species of red algae (Figure 4.4.17). Agar will be mixed with ingredients—such as plant growth regulators—to initiate root or shoot development, mineral salts, sugar, vitamins, and even organic components like banana puree, coconut milk, or yeast extract (McMahon, 2020).
Benefits and Drawbacks of Tissue Culture Propagation
Micropropagation allows growers who have limited material from a parent plant to create many new plants in a short amount of time. When exposed to the right ingredients in the substrate, a small, sterile section collected from any part of the plant can eventually grow into an independent plant that is ready to transition to the greenhouse.
Tissue culture has become an important way to cultivate a uniform crop for the cut flower industry, orchids, and other houseplant production, as well as for fruit tree propagation. Micropropagation has also proven to be critical for preserving germplasm from rare and threatened species, including many species of orchid.
The use of tissue culture is critical to the practice of “embryo rescue”, where a developing embryo that is unlikely to grow by normal seed reproduction is removed from the seed and allowed to develop in vitro. Embryo rescue is a useful tool to plant breeders who have crossed two genetically distant parents (Aquaah, 2009).
Micropropagation is also an important tool in the field of biotechnology and is often used to grow genetically engineered plants. The grower will use a gene gun or a specially modified bacteria to insert genes or pieces of DNA into the plant material. If the process was successful, the host plant can be divided many times and its material grown on through tissue culture (McMahon, 2020).
The sterile nature of micropropagation allows growers to produce guaranteed disease and pest-free material. A large number of plants can be produced by fewer people in a much smaller amount of space when compared to other forms of plant production.
While micropropagation has revolutionized the field of plant sciences, there are also several drawbacks. Tissue culture requires expensive equipment, a sterile environment, highly trained staff, and high energy inputs. Young plants must be carefully transitioned to life outside of the sterile lab environment and will be extremely susceptible to “transplant shock” caused by changes in light, temperature, soil moisture, and other organisms. Plants grown in tissue culture often lack a functional cuticle and responsive stomates. Maintaining high humidity is critical while young plants acclimate to their new environment (Lineberger, n.d.)
Dig Deeper
Open Source Ecology: Hydroponics
Plant Growth Experiments in Zeoponic Substrates: Applications for Advanced Life Support Systems
Tissue Culture: Micropropagation, Conservation, and Export of Potato Germplasm
Explore a peat bog with Arit Anderson of BBC Gardeners World: Arit Anderson visits a peat bog in Cumbria looking at the subject of peat, its place in horticulture and its role in our environment. Natural England Senior Reserve Manager, Glen Swainson, explains how peat is formed, the habitat that peatlands provide and its role in the carbon cycle. To learn more, follow this link to watch the video on the BBC's website.
Discover how the United Kingdom’s horticulture industry is becoming peat-free: Arit continues to find out how the horticultural industry is adapting to reducing its use of peat and talks to gardeners about how the changes will impact them. To learn more, click this link to watch the video on the BBC's website.
Attributions and References
Attributions
"Growing Media for Greenhouse Production" by E. Will & J.E. Faust, University of Tennessee Extension. Copyright © UT Extension. Used with permission.
OpenStax Biology 2e by Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, and Jung Choi is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
"Soilless Growing Mediums" by D. Thakulla, B. Dunn, & Bizhen, H., Oklahoma State University Extension. Copyright © OSU Extension. Used with permission.
Title image credit: "Hand Trowel with Soil" by Image Catalog is licensed under CC0 1.0
References
Acquaah, G. (2009). Horticulture principles and practices (Fourth edition). Pearson Education, Inc.
Hydroponic Production of Vegetables and Ornamentals. Embryo Publications, Greece.
Lineberger, R.D. (n.d.). Care and handling of micropropagated plants. Texas A&M University. Retrieved February 8, 2022 from https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tisscult/Microprop/micropro.html
McMahon, M. (2020). Plant science: Growth, development, and utilization of cultivated plants (Sixth edition). Pearson Education, Inc.
Resh, H.M. (1978). Hydroponic Food Production. 5th ed. Woodbridge Press Publishing
Company, Santa Barbara, CA.
Roberto, K. (2004). How-to hydroponics. 4th ed. Electron Alchemy, Inc. Massapequa, NY.
Savvas, D. (2002). General introduction, 1-2. In: D. Savvas and H. Passam (eds.).
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5.3 Major and Minor Nutrients
5.4 Nitrogen Fixation
5.5 Mycorrhizae_The Symbiotic Relationship between Fungi and Roots
5_Plant-Nutrition
Plant Nutrition
Overview
Title Image "Root with Mycorhhizae" by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
Distinguish between the major and minor plant nutrients and deficiency symptoms.
Identify the major and minor plant nutrients.
List the most common symptoms of nutrient deficiency in plants.
Explain the process of nitrogen fixation by bacteria.
Describe phosphorus absorption.
Explain the process of primary and secondary ecological succession.
Key Terms
biomolecule - any organic compound that is produced by living organisms
essential element - elements that are directly involved in plant nutrition, perform a function that no other element can, and are necessary for a plant to complete its life cycle
macronutrient - nutrient that is required in large amounts for plant growth
micronutrient - nutrient required in small amounts; also called trace element
mycorrhizae - a symbiotic association between a plant and a fungus
nitrogenase - enzyme that is responsible for the reduction of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia
nutrient deficiency - a lack of essential element(s) needed for plant life
rhizobia - soil bacteria that symbiotically interact with legume roots to form nodules and fix nitrogen
symbiosis - an interaction between two organisms that benefits them both
Essential Nutrients
Plants require only light, water, and about 20 elements (Figure 4.5.1) to support all their biochemical needs. These 20 elements are called essential nutrients. To be considered an essential element, three criteria are required: 1) a plant cannot complete its life cycle without the element; 2) no other element can perform the function of the element; and 3) the element is directly involved in plant nutrition.
Essential Elements for Plant Growth | |
Macronutrients | Micronutrients |
Carbon (C) | Iron (Fe) |
Hydrogen (H) | Manganese (Mn) |
Oxygen (O) | Boron (B) |
Nitrogen (N) | Molybdenum (Mo) |
Phosphorus (P) | Copper (Cu) |
Potassium (K) | Zinc (Zn) |
Calcium (Ca) | Chlorine (Cl) |
Magnesium (Mg) | Nickel (Ni) |
Sulfur (S) | Cobalt (Co) |
Sodium (Na) | |
Silicon (Si) |
All of the required mineral elements can potentially limit growth. The limitation can come about both because that element is lacking from the soil or because, although the element is present, it is unavailable because of soil conditions. For instance, iron is frequently unavailable in basic soils even though it may be present in abundance. The problem is that under aerobic, basic conditions very little iron is present in a form that readily dissolves.
Somewhere on earth, there are soils that are deficient in all of the 14 mineral elements required by plants and deficiencies can develop even for elements like molybdenum that are needed in very small amounts. In the early 19th century Carl Sprengel developed an idea later championed by Justus van Liebig called the ‘Law of the Minimum:’ that plant growth will be limited not by nutrient availability generally but by whatever nutrient is in the shortest supply relative to how much is needed. For example, although additions of nitrogen often increase plant growth, if there isn’t enough molybdenum available such additions will not result in any growth enhancements. One can think of growing crops to be like baking a cake: if the cake recipe calls for five ingredients, making a cake can be limited by any of the five ingredients, and a lack of one is not made up for by excesses in others. This is a very straightforward idea that applies in many situations. But it runs counter to the common idea that response to factors will always be the constant: ‘if a little bit is good then a lot must be better’ is generally not the case!
While too little of the essential nutrients can limit growth, too many of the same elements (toxicities) can also retard growth. The most common toxicities are the result of saline soils that have high levels of K, Ca, Cl, SO4 and Na but unique soil conditions (waterlogging) can also bring about toxicities in iron and manganese in non-saline soils.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-1-nutritional-requirements-of-plants
Major and Minor Nutrients
The essential elements can be divided into two groups: macronutrients and micronutrients. Nutrients required by plants in larger amounts are called macronutrient. About half of the essential elements are considered macronutrients: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
- The first of these macronutrients—carbon (C)—is required to form carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and many other compounds; it is therefore present in all macromolecules. On average, the dry weight (excluding water) of a cell is 50 percent carbon. Carbon is a key part of plant biomolecules. A biomolecule is any organic compound that is produced by living organisms. Figure 4.5.2 shows three cellulose fibers and the chemical structure of cellulose. Cellulose consists of unbranched chains of glucose subunits that form long, straight fibers.
The next most abundant element in plant cells is nitrogen (N); it is part of proteins and nucleic acids. Nitrogen is also used in the synthesis of some vitamins.
Hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) are macronutrients that are part of many organic compounds, and together they form water. Oxygen is necessary for cellular respiration; plants use oxygen to store energy in the form of ATP.
Plants use their roots to uptake phosphorus, another macromolecule, from the soil as inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the forms of HPO42− or H2PO4− ions. Phosphorus (P) is necessary to synthesize nucleic acids and phospholipids. As part of ATP, phosphorus enables food energy to be converted into chemical energy through oxidative phosphorylation. Likewise, light energy is converted into chemical energy during photophosphorylation in photosynthesis, and into chemical energy to be extracted during respiration.
Sulfur (S) is part of certain amino acids, such as cysteine and methionine, and is present in several coenzymes. Sulfur also plays a role in photosynthesis as part of the electron transport chain, where hydrogen gradients play a key role in the conversion of light energy into ATP.
Potassium (K) is important because of its role in regulating stomatal opening and closing. As the openings for gas exchange, stomata help maintain a healthy water balance; a potassium ion pump supports this process.
Magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) are also important macronutrients. The role of calcium is twofold: 1) to regulate nutrient transport, and 2) to support many enzyme functions.
Magnesium is important to the photosynthetic process. These minerals, along with the micronutrients, which are described below, also contribute to the plant’s ionic balance.
In addition to macronutrients, organisms require various elements in small amounts. These micronutrients, or trace elements, are present in very small quantities. The seven main micronutrients include boron, chlorine, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. Most micronutrients are necessary for enzyme function. Nutrient deficiency, a lack of essential element(s) needed for plant life, can result in visible issues in plants.
- Boron (B) is believed to be involved in carbohydrate transport in plants; it also assists in metabolic regulation. Boron deficiency will often result in bud dieback.
- Chlorine (Cl) is necessary for osmosis and ionic balance; it also plays a role in photosynthesis. On some plant species, the most commonly described symptom of Cl deficiency is wilting of leaves, especially at the margins. As the deficiency progresses and becomes more severe, the leaves exhibit curling, bronzing, chlorosis, and necrosis.
- Copper (Cu) is a component of some enzymes. Symptoms of copper deficiency include browning of leaf tips and chlorosis (yellowing of the leaves).
- Iron (Fe) is essential for chlorophyll synthesis, which is why an iron deficiency results in chlorosis.
- Manganese (Mn) activates some important enzymes involved in chlorophyll formation. Manganese-deficient plants will develop chlorosis between the veins of its leaves. The availability of manganese is partially dependent on soil pH.
- Molybdenum (Mo) is essential to plant health as it is used by plants to reduce nitrates into usable forms. Some plants use molybdenum for nitrogen fixation; thus, it may need to be added to some soils before seeding legumes.
- Zinc (Zn) participates in chlorophyll formation and also activates many enzymes. Symptoms of zinc deficiency include chlorosis and stunted growth.
Macronutrients and micronutrients are both important for plant health. A lack of macronutrients and micronutrients will signal an issue with symptoms. Deficiencies in any of these nutrients—particularly the macronutrients—can adversely affect plant growth (Figure 4.5.3). Depending on the specific nutrient, a lack can cause stunted growth, slow growth, or chlorosis (yellowing of the leaves). Extreme deficiencies may result in leaves showing signs of cell death.
Explore nutrient deficiencies here or at this site.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-1-nutritional-requirements-of-plants
Nitrogen Fixation
Nitrogen is an important macronutrient because it is part of nucleic acids and proteins. Atmospheric nitrogen, which is the diatomic molecule N2, or dinitrogen, is the largest pool of nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. However, plants cannot take advantage of this nitrogen because they do not have the necessary enzymes to convert it into biologically useful forms. However, nitrogen can be “fixed,” which means that it can be converted to ammonia (NH3) through biological, physical, or chemical processes. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), exclusively carried out by prokaryotes, such as soil bacteria or cyanobacteria. Biological processes contribute 65 percent of the nitrogen used in agriculture. The following equation represents the process:
N2+16 ATP + 8 e− + 8 H+ → 2NH3 + 16 ADP + 16 Pi + H2
The most important source of BNF is the symbiotic interaction between soil bacteria and legume plants, including many crops important to humans (Figure 4.5.4). The NH3 resulting from fixation can be transported into plant tissue and incorporated into amino acids, which are then made into plant proteins. Some legume seeds, such as soybeans and peanuts, contain high levels of protein and serve among the most important agricultural sources of protein in the world.
Through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, the plant benefits from using an endless source of nitrogen from the atmosphere. The process simultaneously contributes to soil fertility because the plant root system leaves behind some of the biologically available nitrogen. Soil bacteria, collectively called rhizobia, symbiotically interact with legume roots to form specialized structures called nodules, in which nitrogen fixation takes place. This process entails the reduction of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, by means of the enzyme nitrogenase. Therefore, using rhizobia is a natural and environmentally friendly way to fertilize plants, as opposed to chemical fertilization that uses a nonrenewable resource, such as natural gas.. As in any symbiosis, both organisms benefit from the interaction: the plant obtains ammonia, and bacteria obtain carbon compounds generated through photosynthesis, as well as a protected niche in which to grow (Figure 4.5.5). Part a from Figure 4.5.5 is a photo of legume roots, which are long and thin with hair-like appendages. Nodules are bulbous protrusions extending from the root. Part B is a transmission electron micrograph of a nodule cell cross section. Black oval-shaped vesicles containing rhizobia are visible. The vesicles are surrounded by a white layer and are scattered unevenly throughout the cell, which is gray.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-3-nutritional-adaptations-of-plants
Mycorrhizae: The Symbiotic Relationship between Fungi and Roots
A nutrient depletion zone can develop when there is rapid soil solution uptake, low nutrient concentration, low diffusion rate, or low soil moisture. These conditions are very common; therefore, most plants rely on fungi to facilitate the uptake of minerals from the soil. Fungi form symbiotic associations called mycorrhizae with plant roots, in which the fungi actually are integrated into the physical structure of the root. The fungi colonize the living root-tissue during active plant growth.
Mycorrhizae functions as a physical barrier to pathogens. It also provides an induction of generalized host defense mechanisms, and sometimes involves production of antibiotic compounds by the fungi. Through mycorrhization, the plant obtains mainly phosphate and other minerals, such as zinc and copper, from the soil. The fungus obtains nutrients, such as sugars, from the plant root. Mycorrhizae help increase the surface area of the plant root system because hyphae, which are narrow, can spread beyond the nutrient depletion zone. Hyphae can grow into small soil pores that allow access to phosphorus that would otherwise be unavailable to the plant. The beneficial effect on the plant is best observed in poor soils. The benefit to fungi is that they can obtain up to 20 percent of the total carbon accessed by plants.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/31-3-nutritional-adaptations-of-plants
Dig Deeper
Attributions
"Essential Nutrients for Plants" by Libretexts is licensed under CC BY-SA.
Inanimate Life by George M. Briggs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
"Mycorrhiza: The Hidden Plant Support Network" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the Public Domain.
"Nutrition Needs and Adaptations" by Georgia Tech Biological Sciences is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
OpenStax Biology 2e by Mary Ann Clark, Matthew Douglas, and Jung Choi is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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6.3 Primary Succession
6.4 Secondary Succession
6.5 Soil Biodiversity
6_Soil-Organic-Matter
Soil Organic Matter
Overview
Title image "Organic Matter" by Wpsopo is license CC BY SA 3.0.
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Introduction
Lesson Objectives
Discuss the importance of soil organic matter (SOM) and biological community of soil.
Explain the process of primary and secondary ecological succession.
Explain the significance of soil biodiversity and organic matter.
Key Terms
biological community - two or more different plant or animal species that occupy the same geographical area at the same time
climax community - a biological community that has reached a stable ecosystem through the process of ecological succession
humus - dark organic matter formed by decomposed plant and animal matter.
mineral soil - type of soil that is formed from the weathering of rocks and inorganic material; composed primarily of sand, silt, and clay
organic soil - type of soil that is formed from sedimentation; composed primarily of organic material
primary succession - newly exposed or newly formed rock is colonized by living things for the first time
secondary succession - an area previously occupied by living things is disturbed—disrupted—then recolonized following the disturbance
soil biodiversity - the variability among living organisms from plants, bacteria, fungi, and animals
soil organic matter - the living component of soil consisting of plant or animal tissues in various stages of decomposition
succession - a series of progressive changes in the composition of an ecological community over time
tilth - condition of prepared soil
Introduction
Looking at a landscape with a complex, diverse community of plants and animals—such as a forest—can prompt thoughts about how it came to be. Once upon a time, that land must have been empty rock, yet today, it supports a rich ecological community consisting populations of different species that live together and interact with one another. Odds are, that didn't happen overnight!
Ecologists have a strong interest in understanding how communities form and change over time. In fact, they have spent a lot of time observing how complex communities, like forests, arise from empty land or bare rock. They study, for example, sites where volcanic eruptions, glacier retreats, or wildfires have taken place—where these events have cleared land or exposed rock.
Succession
In studying these sites over time, ecologists have seen gradual processes of change in ecological communities. In many cases, a community arising in a disturbed area will go through a series of shifts in composition, often over the course of many years. Over periods of years or decades, the plants that grow in any given place change. New species take the place of those that came before. This process is called plant succession or, more broadly, ecological succession—because as the plants change so do the microorganisms and animals. Ecological succession is a series of progressive changes in the species that make up a biological community over time. Ecologists usually identify two types of succession, which differ in their starting points:
- In primary succession, newly exposed or newly formed rock is colonized by living things for the first time.
- In secondary succession, an area that was previously occupied by living things is disturbed, then re-colonized following the disturbance.
Primary Succession
Primary succession occurs when new land is formed or bare rock is exposed, providing a habitat that can be colonized for the first time.
For example, primary succession may take place following the eruption of volcanoes, such as those on the Big Island of Hawaii. As lava flows into the ocean, new rock is formed. On the Big Island, approximately 32 acres of land are added each year. What happens to this land during primary succession?
First, weathering and other natural forces break down the substrate, which is rock, enough for the establishment of certain hearty plants and lichens with few soil requirements; these are known as pioneer species (see image below). These species help to further break down the mineral-rich lava into soil where other, less hardy species can grow and eventually replace the pioneer species. In addition, as these early species grow and die, they add to an ever-growing layer of decomposing organic material and contribute to soil formation.
This process repeats multiple times during succession. At each stage, new species move into an area, often due to changes in the environment made by the preceding species, and these new species may replace their predecessors. At some point, the community may reach a relatively stable state and stop changing in composition. However, it's unclear if there is always—or even usually—a stable endpoint to succession, as we'll discuss later.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/45-6-community-ecology
Secondary Succession
In secondary succession, a previously occupied area is re-colonized following a disturbance that kills much or all of its community.
A classic example of secondary succession occurs in oak and hickory forests cleared by wildfire. Wildfires will burn most vegetation and kill animals unable to flee the area. Their nutrients, however, are returned to the ground in the form of ash. Since a disturbed area already has nutrient-rich soil, it can be recolonized much more quickly than the bare rock of primary succession.
Before a fire, the vegetation of an oak and hickory forest would have been dominated by tall trees. Their height would have helped them acquire solar energy, while also shading the ground and other low-lying species. After the fire, however, these trees do not spring right back up. Instead, the first plants to grow back are usually annual plants—plants that live a single year—followed within a few years by quickly growing and spreading grasses. The early colonizers can be classified as pioneer species, as they are in primary succession.
Over many years, due at least in part to changes in the environment caused by the growth of grasses and other species, shrubs will emerge; these are usually followed by small pine, oak, and hickory trees. Eventually, barring further disturbances, the oak and hickory trees will become dominant and form a dense canopy, returning the community to its original state—its pre-fire composition. This process of succession takes about 150 years. This final stage is known as a climax community, which is a biological community that has reached a stable ecosystem through the process of ecological succession.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/45-6-community-ecology
Soil Biodiversity
The unsung hero of forests is the soil from which the trees and plants grow. Soil biodiversity reflects the mix of living organisms in the soil. These organisms interact with one another and with plants and small animals forming a web of biological activity. Soil is by far the most biologically diverse part of Earth. The soil food web includes beetles, springtails, mites, worms, spiders, ants, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms. These organisms improve the entry and storage of water, resistance to erosion, plant nutrition, and break down of organic matter. A wide variety of organisms provides checks and balances to the soil food web through population control, mobility, and survival from season to season. On the basis of organic matter content, soils are characterized as mineral soil or organic soil. Soil organic matter is any material produced originally by living organisms (plant or animal) that is returned to the soil and goes through the decomposition process. At any given time, it consists of a range of materials from the intact original tissues of plants and animals to the substantially decomposed mixture of materials known as humus.
Organic matter within the soil serves several functions. Organic matter is critical for soil health and for soil productivity by providing energy for soil microbes, supporting and stabilizing soil structure, increasing water storage, storing and supplying nutrients, building soil biodiversity, storing carbon, and buffering chemical behavior such as pH. From a practical agricultural standpoint, it is important for two main reasons: (i) as a “revolving nutrient fund”; and (ii) as an agent to improve soil structure, maintain tilth and minimize erosion.
As a revolving nutrient fund, organic matter serves two main functions:
- As soil organic matter is derived mainly from plant residues, it contains all of the essential plant nutrients. Therefore, accumulated organic matter is a storehouse of plant nutrients.
- The stable organic fraction (humus) adsorbs and holds nutrients in a plant-available form.
Organic matter releases nutrients in a plant-available form upon decomposition. In order to maintain this nutrient cycling system, the rate of organic matter addition from crop residues, manure and any other sources must equal the rate of decomposition. In addition, the rate of organic matter addition must also consider the rate of uptake by plants and losses by leaching and erosion.
Where the rate of addition is less than the rate of decomposition, soil organic matter declines. Conversely, where the rate of addition is higher than the rate of decomposition, soil organic matter increases. The term steady state describes a condition where the rate of addition is equal to the rate of decomposition.
An important part of soils’ biological communities are bacteria. Bacteria are tiny, one-celled organisms—generally 4/100,000 of an inch wide (1 µm) and somewhat longer in length. What bacteria lack in size, they make up for in numbers. A teaspoon of productive soil generally contains between 100 million and 1 billion bacteria. In terms of mass, that is as much as two cows per acre.
Most bacteria are decomposers that consume simple carbon compounds, such as root secretions and fresh plant litter. By this process, bacteria convert energy from soil organic matter into forms useful to the rest of the organisms in the soil food web. A number of decomposers can break down pesticides and pollutants in soil. Decomposers are especially important in immobilizing, or retaining, nutrients in their cells; thus, they prevent the loss of nutrients, such as nitrogen, from the rooting zone.
Bacteria alter the soil environment to the extent that the soil environment will favor certain plant communities over others, playing a large role in succession. Before plants can become established on fresh sediments, the bacterial community must establish, starting with photosynthetic bacteria. These fix atmospheric nitrogen and carbon, produce organic matter, and immobilize enough nitrogen and other nutrients to initiate nitrogen cycling processes in the young soil. Then, early successional plant species can grow. As the plant community is established, different types of organic matter enter the soil and change the type of food available to bacteria. In turn, the altered bacterial community changes soil structure and the environment for plants. Some researchers think it may be possible to control the plant species in a place by managing the soil bacteria community.
Certain strains of the soil bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens have anti-fungal activity that inhibits some plant pathogens. P. fluorescens and other Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas species can increase plant growth in several ways. They may produce a compound that inhibits the growth of pathogens or reduces invasion of the plant by a pathogen. They may also produce compounds (growth factors) that directly increase plant growth.
These plant growth-enhancing bacteria occur naturally in soils, but not always in high enough numbers to have a dramatic effect. In the future, farmers may be able to inoculate seeds with anti-fungal bacteria, such as P. fluorescens, to ensure that the bacteria reduce pathogens around the seed and root of the crop.
Dig Deeper
Attributions
"Community Ecology" by Bear, et. al. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
"Ecological Succession" by Khan Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
"FAO Soils Portal: Soil Biodiversity" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is copyrighted and used with permission.
Organic Matter by Victorian Resources Online is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
"Plant Succession" by the United States National Park Service is in the Public Domain.
"Soil Bacteria" by Elaine R. Ingham, United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, is in the Public Domain.
"Soil Biodiversity" by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, is in the Public Domain.
"The Importance of Soil Organic Matter: Chapter 1" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is copyrighted and used with permission.
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7.3 Broadcast
7.4 Band Application
7.5 Fertigation
7.6 Foliar Application
7.7 Sidedress
7.8 Topdress
7.9 Seed Placement
7_Fertilizer-Application
Exercise 4a Soil Texture and Water Percolation
Exercise 4b Soil Separation
Fertilizer Application
Overview
Title Image "Foliar Application to Soybeans" by Mike Staton, MSU Extension is used with permission.
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Introduction
Learning Objectives
Describe different fertilizer application techniques.
Describe advantages and limitations of various fertilizer application methods.
Key Terms
broadcast - a method by which fertilizer is applied on the surface across an entire field
complete fertilizer - fertilizer that contains the three primary nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium)
fertigation - the practice of adding fertilizer to irrigation water
foliar - application of a small amount of fertilizer or mineral through direct spraying onto the leaves
injection - the practice of putting liquid or gaseous fertilizer below the soil near plant roots
sidedress - applying fertilizer between rows of young plants to provide a boost during periods of rapid growth and nutrient uptake
topdress - spreading fertilizer or manure on established fields
Introduction
Learning about essential elements reveals the issues that might arise if there are not enough nutrients in soil. Fertilizers are added to soil to improve plant growth and productiveness. Most fertilizers that are commonly used in agriculture are known as complete fertilizer because they contain the three basic plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Some fertilizers also contain certain micronutrients, such as zinc and other metals, that are necessary for plant growth. There are many methods used for fertilizer application.
Injection
Injection is used to place liquid or gaseous fertilizer below the soil near plant roots. All of the ammonia in manure, which can comprise 30% or more of the total nitrogen, can be lost through volatilization following land application. Research has shown that depositing manure below the soil surface can reduce ammonia losses by as much as 100% compared to surface-applied manures. Preventing ammonia volatilization increases the amount of nitrogen available for crop growth, thereby potentially benefiting producers through a reduced need for nitrogen fertilizer. In addition, decreasing the loss of ammonia from land-applied manures reduces their potential impact on air quality. Other benefits include the reduction in odor that occurs following subsurface application of manure and a reduction in the run off of nutrients to surface waters.
- Advantages: reduce losses through precise application of nutrients
- Disadvantages: slow, expensive, requires specialized equipment
Broadcast
Surface broadcast is a method by which fertilizer is applied on the surface across an entire field. High-capacity fertilizer spreaders are often used; these spin dry fertilizer or spray liquid fertilizer on the soil surface or on a growing crop.
- Advantages: fast, economical
- Disadvantages: high nutrient losses, low uniformity, P efficiency is only 1/3 to 1/4 that of banding
Broadcast incorporated improves on the efficiency of surface application by incorporating fertilizer through plowing or disking. Plowing is considered better in terms of nutrient availability, as it creates a nutrient-rich zone a few inches below soil surface (where developing plant roots can absorb it).
- Advantages: reduces losses compared to broadcast, improves plant uptake
- Disadvantages: slow, non-uniform application, erosion risk
Band Application
Band application is also known as starter application. Fertilizer is applied in bands near where developing roots will easily reach it; either to the side and below the seed rows, slightly below the seeds, or in between rows. A common practice is to band fertilizer two inches to the side and two inches deeper than the seeds or plants. This provides the plants with a concentrated zone of nutrients and can improve nutrient use efficiency. This process can be done before or simultaneous with planting or seed drilling, and liquid or dry fertilizers can be used. Many fields are deficient in phosphorous, due to soil binding and cold temperatures. Banding phosphorous makes it easier for plants to grow. It also slows NH4+ conversion to NO3- (nitrification), reducing the risk of leaching.
- Advantages: high nutrient use efficiency, jump-starts early growth.
- Disadvantages: costly, slow; risk of salt burn to plants
Fertigation
Fertigation is distribution with water-soluble fertilizers and chemicals through an irrigation system.
- Advantages: high nutrient use efficiency
- Disadvantages: irrigation equipment needed (injection pump, etc), risk of uneven application in windy situations
Foliar Application
Foliar application is application of a small amount of fertilizer or mineral through direct spraying onto the leaves.
- Advantages: rapid uptake
- Disadvantages: phytotoxicity, high expense, limited to small and/or repeated application
Sidedress
Sidedressing is when fertilizer is applied between rows of young plants to provide a boost during periods of rapid growth and nutrient uptake. The most common use is sidedressing nitrogen on corn plants. Application amount is dependent on the results of a Pre-Sidedress Nitrate Test (PSNT) done when corn plants are 12-24 inches tall.
There are three methods of sidedressing:
- Urea-ammonium nitrate applied with a pesticide sprayer fitted with drip nozzles
- Urea-ammonium nitrate injected between corn rows with disc openers
- Anhydrous ammonia injected into soil
- Advantages: high nutrient use efficiency
- Disadvantages: timing often falls during the wet and busy season, slow process
Topdress
Topdressing is when fertilizer or manure is spread on stablished fields (grasses, legumes).
- Advantages: high nutrient use efficiency
- Disadvantages: losses likely
Seed Placement
Seed placement is also known as pop-up application. A small amount of fertilizer is placed with corn seeds during planting, sometimes in conjunction with banding. Both liquid and dry can be used. Urea and DAP cannot be used, and to prevent salt burn the total rate must be kept below 10 lbs of N + K2
- Advantages: lower equipment costs, starter effect greater than just meeting nutrient requirements
- Disadvantages: can be phytotoxic if too much fertilizer is applied, retro-fitting planters can be expensive.
Dig Deeper
"Fertigation - Injecting Soluble Fertilizers into the Irrigation System" by Thomas D. Landis, Jeremy R. Pinto, and
Anthony S. Davis, United States Forestry Service, is in the Public Domain.
"Fertilizer" by the Florida Department of Transportation is in the Public Domain.
Unit 4 Lab Exercises
Exercise 4a: Soil Texture and Water Percolation
Students examine the different soil textures and understanding how they affect water movement through the soil. This exercise involves practical activities to measure and compare the percolation rates of various soil types.
Exercise 4b: Soil Separation
Students analyze soil composition by separating its components to understand the different textures and their properties. This exercise helps in identifying the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample.
Attributions
"Nutrient Sources, Analyses, Application Methods" by Dr. Quirine Ketterings Ph.D., Cornell University. Copyright © Cornell University. Used with permission.
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The Global Question: “Return to Normalcy?”
Overview
Challenges after the First World War
At the end of the First World War people around the world faced a number of challenges. The Allied Powers had to implement the treaties that ended the war, rebuild the portions of Europe devastated by the war, and establish economic and political stability in the aftermath of this conflict. To complicate matters the United Kingdom and France had been economically exhausted by the war; many in the U.S. were unwilling to participate in the construction of a new world order; Lenin was in the violent process of crafting a centralized and authoritarian government for the new Soviet Union, ; and numerous ethnic and/or national groups across Eurasia yearned for national sovereignty in new national states. On top of these challenges, many Western intellectuals were beginning the process of alienating themselves from Western civilization, believing that it was beyond salvation. The responses to these challenges were only partially successful at best. And the numerous failures in addressing these challenges paved the way for the Second World War.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
- Explain the global challenge to liberalismby totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Explain the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Paris Peace Conference - 1919-20 meeting of delegates from the Allied nations that crafted the treaties which ended World War I
In the 1920 U.S. presidential election campaign Warren Harding ran on the slogan of a “return to normalcy,” by which he meant a return to the way life in the U.S. had been before the First World War. His winning sixty percent of the popular vote in that presidential election reflected the reservations that many Americans had about WWI and U.S. participation in it. Globally, it was one of a number of manifestations of the trouble people were having coming to terms with World War I.
Those who thought about WWI wondered what this war said about humanity and its development. The belligerents had mobilized their societies in what was at that time a total war for combatants and civilians alike, which had achieved at best mixed results. A number of writers, historians, and philosophers, wondered pessimistically about the future of humanity. Otto Spengler wrote about this theme in his two-volume The Decline of the West, published in 1918 and 1922. All Quiet on the Western Front (1928) narrated the pointless aspects of the fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. Other writers, such as Ernest Hemmingway commented about the tragedy of this conflict: A Farewell to Arms (1929). The disaffection of these members of the intelligencia reflected a larger response from people in the participating nations. This popular response to WWI would influence the foreign and military policies of nations around the world.
The people in the victorious and defeated nations had questions about this conflict. In the Allied nations people wondered what had been won. Many Americans supported policies during the twenties and thirties that would keep the U.S. out of another world war at any cost. Similarly British and French leaders followed an approach of appeasement in dealing with Hitler’s annexation of Austria, conquest of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, and invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 – 9, in order to avoid another European conflict marked by trench warfare. People in the Central Powers were left with resentment and anger, most visibly in Germany. These feelings grew out of peace treaties drafted at the 1919 – 20 Paris Peace Conference that were in some ways too harsh and in other ways too lenient.
Germany and the Treaty of Versailles
Later it would be realized that the harsh aspects of the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany constituted some of the seeds of the Second World War. And U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s promise that WWI might be “the war to end war”—a phrase originated by H. G. Wells—backfired.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
- Explain the global challenge to liberalismby totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Explain the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Treaty of Versailles: the most important of the peace treaties that ended World War I, which was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Stab-in-the-back myth: the notion, widely believed in right-wing circles in Germany after 1918, that the German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield but was instead betrayed by the civilians on the home front, especially the republicans who overthrew the monarchy in the German Revolution of 1918 – 19 (Advocates denounced the German government leaders who signed the Armistice on November 11, 1918, as the “November Criminals.” When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they made the legend an integral part of their official history of the 1920s, portraying the Weimar Republic as the work of the “November Criminals” who seized power while betraying the nation.)
Reparations
The victorious Allies of WWI imposed harsh reparations on Germany, which were both economically and psychologically damaging. Historians have long argued over the extent to which the reparations led to Germany’s severe economic depression in the interwar period.
World War I reparations were imposed upon the Central Powers during the Paris Peace Conference following their defeat in the First World War by the Allied and Associate Powers. Each defeated power was required to make payments in either cash or kind (a term associated with service). Because of the financial situation Austria, Hungary, and Turkey found themselves in after the war, few to no reparations were paid and the requirements were cancelled. Bulgaria paid only a fraction of what was required before its reparations were reduced and then cancelled. However, Germany was not relieved of their debt as quickly. Historian Ruth Henig argues that the German requirement to pay reparations was the “chief battleground of the post-war era” and “the focus of the power struggle between France and Germany over whether the Versailles Treaty was to be enforced or revised.”
The Treaty of Versailles and the 1921 London Schedule of Payments required Germany to pay 132 billion gold marks ($33 billion USD) in reparations to cover civilian damage caused during the war. Because of the lack of reparation payments by Germany, France occupied the Ruhr in 1923 to enforce payments, causing an international crisis that resulted in the implementation of the Dawes Plan in 1924. This plan outlined a new payment method and raised international loans to help Germany to meet her reparation commitments. Despite this, by 1928 Germany called for a new payment plan, resulting in the Young Plan that established the German reparation requirements at 112 billion marks ($26.3 billion USD) and created a schedule of payments that would see Germany complete payments by 1988. With the collapse of the German economy in 1931, reparations were suspended for a year and in 1932 during the Lausanne Conference they were cancelled altogether. Between 1919 and 1932, Germany paid fewer than 21 billion marks in reparations.
The German people saw reparations as a national humiliation, and the German Government worked to undermine the validity of the Treaty of Versailles and the requirement to pay. British economist John Maynard Keynes called the treaty a Carthaginian peace that would economically destroy Germany. His arguments had a profound effect on historians, politicians, and the public. Despite Keynes’s arguments and those by later historians supporting or reinforcing Keynes’s views, the consensus of contemporary historians is that reparations were not as intolerable as the Germans or Keynes had suggested and were within Germany’s capacity to pay had there been the political will to do so.
The Weimar Republic
In its 14 years in existence, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism, and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War, leading to its collapse during the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Weimar Republic is an unofficial historical designation for the German state between 1919 and 1933. The name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place. The official name of the state was still Deutsches Reich; it had remained unchanged since 1871. A national assembly was convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for the Deutsches Reich was written and adopted on August 11, 1919. In English the country was usually known simply as Germany.
In its 14 years, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism (with paramilitaries, both left- and right-wing), and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War. The people of Germany blamed the Weimar Republic administration, rather than their wartime leaders, for the country’s defeat in WWI and for the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, the Weimar Republic government successfully reformed the currency, unified tax policies, and organized the railway system.
Weimar Germany eliminated most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, but it never completely met its disarmament requirements and eventually paid only a small portion of the war reparations (by twice restructuring its debt through the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan). Under the Locarno Treaties, Germany accepted the western borders of the republic, but continued to dispute the Eastern border.
Challenges and Reasons for Failure
The reasons for the Weimar Republic’s collapse are the subject of continuing debate. It may have been doomed from the beginning since even moderates disliked it and extremists on both the left and right loathed it, a situation referred to by some historians, such as Igor Primoratz, as a “democracy without democrats.” Germany had limited democratic traditions, and Weimar democracy was widely seen as chaotic.
Weimar politicians had been blamed for Germany’s defeat in World War I through a widely believed theory called the “Stab-in-the-back myth,” which contended that Germany’s surrender in World War I had been the unnecessary act of traitors, and thus the popular legitimacy of the government was on shaky ground. As normal parliamentary lawmaking broke down and was replaced around 1930 by a series of emergency decrees, the decreasing popular legitimacy of the government further drove voters to extremist parties.
The Republic in its early years was already under attack from both left- and right-wing sources. The radical left accused the ruling Social Democrats of betraying the ideals of the workers’ movement by preventing a communist revolution, and they sought to overthrow the Republic and do so themselves. Various right-wing sources opposed any democratic system, preferring an authoritarian, autocratic state like the 1871 Empire. To further undermine the Republic’s credibility, some right-wingers (especially certain members of the former officer corps) also blamed an alleged conspiracy of Socialists and Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I.
The Weimar Republic had some of the most serious economic problems ever experienced by any Western democracy in history. Rampant hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and a large drop in living standards were primary factors. In the first half of 1922, the mark stabilized at about 320 marks per dollar. By fall 1922, Germany found itself unable to make reparations payments since the price of gold was now well beyond what it could afford. Also, the mark was by now practically worthless, making it impossible for Germany to buy foreign exchange or gold using paper marks. Instead, reparations were to be paid in goods such as coal. In January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr, the industrial region of Germany in the Ruhr Valley, to ensure reparations payments. Inflation was exacerbated when workers in the Ruhr went on a general strike and the German government printed more money to continue paying for their passive resistance. By November 1923, the US dollar was worth 4,.2 trillion German marks. In 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion marks.
From 1923 to 1929, there was a short period of economic recovery, but the Great Depression of the 1930s led to a worldwide recession. Germany was particularly affected because it depended heavily on American loans. In 1926, about 2 million Germans were unemployed, which rose to around 6 million in 1932. Many blamed the Weimar Republic. That was made apparent when political parties on both right and left, wanting to disband the Republic altogether, made any democratic majority in Parliament impossible.
The reparations damaged Germany’s economy by discouraging market loans, which forced the Weimar government to finance its deficit by printing more currency, causing rampant hyperinflation. In addition, the rapid disintegration of Germany in 1919 by the return of a disillusioned army, the rapid change from possible victory in 1918 to defeat in 1919, which fueled the Stab-in-the-back myth, and the political chaos may have caused a psychological imprint on Germans that could lead to extreme nationalism, later epitomized and exploited by Hitler. It is also widely believed that the 1919 constitution had several weaknesses, making the eventual establishment of a dictatorship likely, but it is unknown whether a different constitution could have prevented the rise of the Nazi party.
Geopolitical Consequences of the First World War
The period from 1919 through 1924 was marked by turmoil as Europe struggled to recover from the devastation of the First World War and the destabilizing effects of the loss of four large historic empires: the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. The dissolution of these empires created a number of new countries in eastern Europe and the Middle East, most of them small, each with a number of ethnic minorities. The creation of these new nations sparked a number of conflicts.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
- Explain the global challenge to liberalismby totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Explain the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
League of Nations: an intergovernmental organization founded on January 10, 1920, as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War; the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
self-determination: principle that a people have the right to determine their sovereignty and international political status
Kellogg-Briand Pact: a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them”
Spanish Civil War: a war from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans (loyalists to the democratic, left leaning and relatively urban Second Spanish Republic along with Anarchists and Communists) and forces loyal to General Francisco Franco (Nationalists, Falangists, and Carlists - a largely aristocratic conservative group)
Internally these new countries tended to have substantial ethnic minorities who wished to unite with neighboring states where their ethnicity dominated. For example, Czechoslovakia had residents who associated with the following nationalities: German, Polish, Ruthenian and Ukrainian, Slovak, and Hungarian. Millions of Germans found themselves minorities in the newly created countries. More than two million ethnic Hungarians found themselves living outside of Hungary in Slovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Many of these national minorities found themselves in bad situations because modern governments were intent on defining the national character of the countries, often at the expense of the minorities. The League of Nations sponsored various Minority Treaties in an attempt to deal with the problem, but with the decline of the League in the 1930s, these treaties became increasingly unenforceable.
One consequence of the massive redrawing of borders and the political changes in the aftermath of World War I was the large number of European refugees. These and the refugees of the Russian Civil War led to the creation of the Nansen passport. In a related set of developments, the presence of ethnic minorities made the location of the frontiers difficult to determine. New states defined by the presence of specific ethnic groups struggled to find ways to include members of other ethnic groups. For example, Czechoslovakia failed to find a place for Sudeten Germans who lived on the northern, western, and southern edges of the new nation, which Adolf Hitler exploited in 1938 with his annexation of the Sudetenland.
Economic and military cooperation among these small states was minimal, ensuring that the defeated powers of Germany and the Soviet Union retained a latent capacity to dominate the region. In the immediate aftermath of the war, defeat drove cooperation between Germany and the Soviet Union, but ultimately these two powers would compete to dominate eastern Europe.
At the end of the war, the Allies occupied Constantinople (Istanbul) and the Ottoman government collapsed. The Treaty of Sèvres, a plan designed by the Allies to dismember the remaining Ottoman territories, was signed on August 10, 1920, although it was never ratified by the Sultan. The occupation of Smyrna by Greece on May 18, 1919, triggered a nationalist movement to rescind the terms of the treaty. Turkish revolutionaries led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a successful Ottoman commander, rejected the terms enforced at Sèvres and under the guise of General Inspector of the Ottoman Army, left Istanbul for Samsun to organize the remaining Ottoman forces to resist the terms of the treaty. After Turkish resistance gained control over Anatolia and Istanbul, the Sèvres treaty was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne, which formally ended all hostilities and led to the creation of the modern Turkish Republic. As a result, Turkey became the only power of World War I to overturn the terms of its defeat and negotiate with the Allies as an equal.
Self-Determination
The right of peoples to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law. It states that peoples, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and fair equality of opportunity, have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no interference. The explicit terms of this principle can be traced to the Atlantic Charter, signed on August 14, 1941, by Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It also is derived from principles espoused by United States President Woodrow Wilson following World War I, after which some new nation states were formed or previous states revived after the dissolution of empires. The principle does not state how the decision is to be made nor what the outcome should be—whether it be independence, federation, protection, some form of autonomy, or full assimilation. Neither does it state what the delimitation between peoples should be, nor what constitutes a people. There are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination.
The employment of imperialism through the expansion of empires and the concept of political sovereignty, as developed after the Treaty of Westphalia, also explains the emergence of self-determination during the modern era. During and after the Industrial Revolution, many groups of people recognized their shared history, geography, language, and customs. Nationalism emerged as a uniting ideology not only between competing powers, but also for groups that felt subordinated or disenfranchised inside larger states. Such groups often pursued independence and sovereignty over territory, but sometimes a different sense of autonomy has been pursued or achieved. In this situation, self-determination can be seen as a reaction to imperialism.
The revolt of New World British colonists in North America during the mid-1770s has been seen as the first assertion of the right of national and democratic self-determination because of the explicit invocation of natural law, the natural rights of man, and the consent of and sovereignty by, the people governed; these ideas were inspired particularly by John Locke’s enlightened writings of the previous century. Thomas Jefferson further promoted the notion that the will of the people was supreme, especially through authorship of the United States Declaration of Independence, which inspired Europeans throughout the 19th century.
Leading up to World War I, in Europe there was a rise of nationalism, with nations such as Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria seeking or winning their independence. Woodrow Wilson revived America’s commitment to self-determination, at least for European states, during World War I. When the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia in November 1917, they called for Russia’s immediate withdrawal as a member of the Allies of World War I. They also supported the right of all nations, including colonies, to self-determination. The 1918 Constitution of the Soviet Union acknowledged the right of secession for its constituent republics. This presented a challenge to Wilson’s more limited demands. In January 1918 Wilson issued his Fourteen Points that, among other things, called for adjustment of colonial claims insofar as the interests of colonial powers had equal weight with the claims of subject peoples. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 led to Russia’s exit from the war and the independence of Armenia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, and Poland.
Similarly, the Allies replaced the dissolved Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman Empires with new smaller and more homogenous Austrian, Hungarian, German, and Ottoman states, along with a number of new states and the cession of portions of the old empires to extant nations. The Allies carved Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs out of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The German Empire lost Northern Slesvig to Denmark after a referendum. The defeated Ottoman empire was dissolved into the Republic of Turkey and several smaller nations, including Yemen, plus the new Middle East Allied “mandates” of Syria and Lebanon (future Syria, Lebanon and Hatay State), Palestine (future Transjordan and Israel), and Mesopotamia (future Iraq). The League of Nations was proposed as much as a means of consolidating these new states, as a path to peace.
During the 1920s and 1930s there were some successful movements for self-determination in the beginnings of the process of decolonization. In the Statute of Westminster, the United Kingdom granted independence to Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, the Irish Free State, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa after the British parliament declared itself as incapable of passing laws over them without their consent. Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iraq also achieved independence from Britain and Lebanon from France. Other efforts were unsuccessful, like the Indian independence movement. However, Italy, Japan, and Germany all initiated new efforts to bring certain territories under their control, leading to World War II.
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
The Kellogg-Briand Pact (or Pact of Paris, officially General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy) intended to establish “the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy,” but it was largely ineffective in preventing conflict or war. This treaty was a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them.” Parties failing to abide by this promise “should be denied the benefits furnished by this treaty.” It was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on August 27, 1928, and by most other nations soon after. Sponsored by France and the U.S., the Pact renounces the use of war and calls for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Similar provisions were incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations and other treaties, and they became a stepping-stone to a more activist American policy. It is named after its authors, United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand.
The text of the treaty reads:
Persuaded that the time has come when a frank renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy should be made to the end that the peaceful and friendly relations now existing between their peoples may be perpetuated; Convinced that all changes in their relations with one another should be sought only by pacific means and be the result of a peaceful and orderly process, and that any signatory Power which shall hereafter seek to promote its national interests by resort to war should be denied the benefits furnished by this Treaty;
Hopeful that, encouraged by their example, all the other nations of the world will join in this humane endeavour and by adhering to the present Treaty as soon as it comes into force bring their peoples within the scope of its beneficent provisions, thus uniting the civilized nations of the world in a common renunciation of war as an instrument of their national policy; Have decided to conclude a Treaty…
After negotiations, the pact was signed in Paris at the French Foreign Ministry by the representatives from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, British India, the Irish Free State, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The provision was that it would come into effect on July 24, 1929. By that date, additional nations embraced the pact, including Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, the Soviet Union, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Siam, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey. Eight further states joined after that date (Persia, Greece, Honduras, Chile, Luxembourg, Danzig, Costa Rica and Venezuela), for a total of 62 signatories.
In the United States, the Senate approved the treaty overwhelmingly, 85–1, with only Wisconsin Republican John J. Blaine voting against. While the U.S. Senate did not add any reservation to the treaty, it did pass a measure that interpreted the treaty as not infringing upon the United States’s right of self-defense and as not obliging the nation to enforce it by taking action against those who violated it.
Effect and Legacy
As a practical matter, the Kellogg–Briand Pact did not live up to its aim of ending war or stopping the rise of militarism, and in this sense, it made no immediate contribution to international peace and proved to be ineffective in the years to come. Moreover, the pact erased the legal distinction between war and peace because the signatories, having renounced the use of war, began to wage wars without declaring them as in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, the Spanish Civil War in 1936, the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939, and the German and Soviet Union invasions of Poland. Nevertheless, the pact is an important multilateral treaty because, in addition to binding the particular nations that signed it, it has also served as one of the legal bases establishing the international norms that the threat or use of military force in contravention of international law, as well as the territorial acquisitions resulting from it, are unlawful.
Notably, the pact served as the legal basis for the creation of the notion of crime against peace. It was for committing this crime that the Nuremberg Tribunal and Tokyo Tribunal tried and sentenced a number of people responsible for starting World War II.
The interdiction of aggressive war was confirmed and broadened by the United Nations Charter, which provides in article 2, paragraph 4, that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” One legal consequence of this is that it is clearly unlawful to annex territory by force. However, neither this nor the original treaty has prevented the subsequent use of annexation. More broadly, there is a strong presumption against the legality of using or threatening military force against another country. Nations that have resorted to the use of force since the Charter came into effect have typically invoked self-defense or the right of collective defense.
These challenges in the aftermath of the First World War threatened international order and domestic stability in a number of nations. Failure to respond successfully to them set humanity on a path to a Second World War.
Attributions
A refugee family returning to Amiens, France, looking at the ruins of a house on Sept. 17, 1918. Credit: Courtesy IWM. Source - https://www.cnn.com/style/article/photographs-life-after-world-war-i-imperial-war-museum/index.html
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Title Image - photo of a family's return to Amiens, France 17 September 1918. Attribution: Credit: Courtesy International War Museum. Provided by: CNN. Location: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/photographs-life-after-world-war-i-imperial-war-museum/index.html. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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Boundless World History
"Rebuilding Europe"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/rebuilding-europe/
War reparations. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_reparations. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
World War I reparations. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_reparations. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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Stab-in-the-back myth. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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Self-determination. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Interwar period. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interwar_period. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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League of Nations: Treaty Series, 1929. Provided by: United Nations Treaty Collection. Located at: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/LON/Volume%2094/v94.pdf. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright
A_view_of_the_ruins_of_Avocourt,_situated_just_behind_the_American_trenches_before_the_Allied_drive_of_September_26..._-_NARA_-_530763.tif.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_reparations#/media/File:A_view_of_the_ruins_of_Avocourt,_situated_just_behind_the_American_trenches_before_the_Allied_drive_of_September_26..._-_NARA_-_530763.tif. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87972/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87975/overview
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France and Britain in 1920s
Overview
"The Crazy Years": France in the 1920s
In the wake of World War I, Britain and France were the European countries guiding a new world order committed to the ideas of democracy and increased rights for humanity. But the war had taken a severe toll on them, also. Like the rest of Europe, Britain and France struggled to rebuild after World War I. They faced significant political, social, and economic challenges. Simultaneously, the “Roaring 20s” culture of flappers, jazz, and avante garde art also reached Britain and France. The clashing of conservativism and new age liberalism produced fragile republics that seemed to be in the middle of national identity crises.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how events of the 1920s affected British and French societies.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Action Française: far-right, extremist, antisemitic organization in France that would serve as the model for similar-minded groups in the 1930s
Années folles: “crazy years” of the 1920s in France
Michael Collins: hero of the Easter Uprising and Irish War for Independence who was assassinated during the Irish Civil War for signing the Anglo-Irish Treaty
France: Economic Catastrophe
More than any other western European nation, France had been devastated by World War I. Nearly 1.4 million Frenchmen had perished in the war, with others wounded or missing. Millions of French women and children were now widows and orphans. Many others were forced to provide for the family because the husbands, fathers, and brothers had been disabled by the war. Disabled and badly marred veterans of the war seemed to haunt every corner of Paris, many unable to work. Families were displaced and broken. Much of the combat on the Western Front had occurred on French territory, and left the land, towns, and villages destroyed. Moreover, families had been forced to flee the fighting and remained displaced from their homes. And northeast France remained physically scarred by four years of warfare on its land.
At the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the French and British had both demanded reparations from Germany. Initially, the payment plan to France was fixed at 33 billion dollars. Soon, it became evident that the very frail Weimar Republic of Germany could not pay back the war reparations. The German economy plummeted into a long period of hyperinflation. Eventually, with the of the United States, a new plan was drafted to deliver German reparations; this partially satisfied France. But the advent of World War II would prevent Germany from fulfilling their reparations to France until 2010, leaving France without the funds necessary to quickly recover.
The French economy was scarcely better off than that of Germany’s following World War I. Internationally, the franc plummeted in value after World War I. Before the war, the franc had been worth .20 cents to the American dollar. By 1925, it had fallen to less than .02 cents to the American dollar. The country had removed its currency from the gold standard, and therefore had little backing for the franc. As a result, French society became deeply divided. One French prime minister after the other tried to resolve the growing set of crises in the country. One by one, they failed. Increasingly, France relied on foreign and private loans to rebuild their country, all the while still suffering from the social trauma of the war. In 1925, France, one of the leaders of the new world order, appeared to teeter on the edge of collapse.
The savior of France was Raymond Poincaré. Restored as prime minister by French conservatives, he likewise restored the gold standard in France. Additionally, Poincaré implemented tax reforms, reduced government spending, and paid off government debts. Under his supervision, the franc began to stabilize. Within a year, France was recovering from their major economic crisis. Due to the need to rebuild much of the country, work abounded, and employment rates soared. France had entered the golden age of modern European affairs. Two years later, it would come crashing down as the international Great Depression hit Europe.
The Années Folles
Translated, Années folles literally means “crazy years.” Indeed, even as France reeled with economic and political instability, the country also experienced a social and cultural revolution. Heavily influenced by American culture, France saw the emergence of the “flapper” girls. As in the United States, many French women bobbed their hair, smoked, drove cars, and wore provocative clothing. This was done to display the “new woman” of the 1920s.
Among the most famous of the French flapper girls was a woman who was not, initially, French at all. Josephine Baker was an African American woman born in St. Louis. Frustrated with American segregation, she renounced her American citizenship and moved to Paris in the 1920s. Once there, she achieved international acclaim and interest as an actress, dancer, and singer. She became a person of fascination for the French, not only because of her African heritage, but also because she frequently performed nearly naked; her costumes consisting only of short skirts and necklaces.
The 1920s were, in many ways, the heyday of Parisian artistic expression. Many American performers and writers who had become disenchanted with the United States moved to Paris to form expatriate communities. Among the most famous were Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. But France had plenty of artists of their own, also. Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were enormously influential in the postwar neoclassical art movement. This style of art was a sharp contrast to the abstract, chaotic art of the prewar era.
In the 1920s, people had leisure time built into their lives in a way unimaginable before World War I. As such, many French men and women flocked to the radio, theater, and to movie houses where silent films experienced wild popularity. Two of France’s biggest film and theater performers began their careers in the 1920s: Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer. Both men would perform in Parisian theaters, French silent films, and eventually find their way to Hollywood’s walk of fame. Similarly, the rise in leisure time also meant an increased interest in sporting events. Most popular in France were the famous bicycle race, the Tour de France.
Cultural Backlash: Extreme Conservativism in France
Not everyone in France enjoyed the cultural changes, or the new government. Several far-right political groups came to the forefront of public attention in the 1920s. The parent organization of these groups was Action Française. An extreme rightist organization of roughly 200,000 people, it promoted “traditional” French values and was strongly antisemitic. Action Française circulated their messages through their newspaper, demonstrations, marches, and public protests. Although they promoted a “Catholic France,” their inflammatory language and use of occasional violence won them no support from the Catholic Church. Instead, the church ultimately prohibited its members from joining the organization. By the late 1920s, Action Française was losing members and popularity. But it had served its purpose in the eyes of its founders. Because in its stead, new, even more extreme rightist groups, such as the Croix-de-Feu, would emerge in the 1930s to rally people to its causes. Despite the efforts of the French government of the 1920s, as well as the cultural developments, much of France remained politically and socially divided during this time.
Strife Within: Britain in the 1920s
More than any other nation in the world, Britain emerged as the leader of democracy and protector of humanity after World War I. It had suffered less physical damage to the countryside than France, although the country writhed with the pain of more than 1 million dead and wounded men. As France rebuilt itself, and the United States retreated into isolationism, Britain became the face of Western democracy. But Britain also faced numerous challenges domestically and internationally. In the 1920s, the British economy was far from stable, and British politicians were consumed with the question of “What should Britain do about the Irish?”
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how events of the 1920s affected British and French societies.
- Analyze how Ireland developed during the 1920s.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Irish Republican Army (IRA): nationalist and militaristic group that supported Irish independence from England
Irish Civil War: 1922 – 1923 war that pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty with those who opposed the treaty
Irish Free State: predecessor to the Republic of Ireland (1922 – 1949)
Irish War for Independence: 1919 – 1921 conflict fought between Irish nationalists and the British
Michael Collins: hero of the Easter Uprising and Irish War for Independence who was assassinated during the Irish Civil War for signing the Anglo-Irish Treaty
The British Economy after World War I
During World War I, the Atlantic Ocean had transformed into a theater of combat between British ships and German submarines. Millions of tons of British exported goods had been sunk. For an industrialized economy such as Britain’s, this loss was difficult to bear. In particular, the loss of exported, manufactured goods proved difficult for the British because of interwar competition from Japan and the United States. As a result, unemployment soared in Great Britain following World War I. By 1921, roughly four million people were receiving government aid. For the thousands of British soldiers returning home from the war, there were often too few jobs.
Throughout the 1920s, the British economy fluctuated and proved unstable. In 1925, Winston Churchill reintroduced the gold standard to generate income from British exports. But the result was that Americans and other nations undersold the British abroad. British manufactured goods were overpriced and undersold, contributing widely to the wavering economy. Moreover, when the Great Depression struck the United States in 1929, it would amplify economic problems for the British. For no longer did foreign countries want to purchase what were, already overpriced, manufactured goods. As a result, Britain lost many of the export markets it relied on, the economy remained poor, and unemployment remained high.
The "Roaring 20s" in Britain
The only country to emerge prosperous immediately after World War I was the United States. In fact, by 1920, Britain experienced deep economic crises. Despite heavy American influence on both France and Britain in the 1920s, neither country “roared” with the financial success of the United States. For the British, the 1920s were a very difficult decade politically and economically.
But just as the French and Americans experienced cultural revolutions in the 1920s, so too did the British. During World War I, women had filled the labor void caused by men leaving for war. After the war, British women called later for the right to vote, believing that they had demonstrated their equality with men. In 1918, Britain gave women the right to vote. On the heels of this achievement came the idea of the “new woman”: the flapper. Internationally renowned for her short hair, beaded necklaces, short dresses, and “morally loose” lifestyle, flapper women became pronounced throughout British society.
Like the Americans and French, British men and women experienced more leisure time in the 1920s. Radio programs became widely popular. In the evenings, men and women also flocked to theaters, cafés, movie houses, and sporting events. But the love of life that permeated America and France in the 1920s never reached the same zenith in Britain.
The Irish Question
In Great Britain’s modern history, no question has proved so bitter and ill-fated as the question of Irish statehood. Part of the difficulty resided in Ireland itself. On the eve of World War I, six counties in the north of Ireland remained strongly pro-British and protestant. The remaining four-fifths of the country were strongly Catholic and supported Irish independence, and a breakaway from England—a country that had treated them as second-class citizens or even indentured servants.
The Irish War for Independence
In 1916, England was in the middle of fighting World War I against the Central Powers. But that did not dissuade the explosion of Irish discontent. The same year, a group of roughly 3,000 Irish patriots launched a rebellion against English rule. Known as the Easter Uprising, the nationalists captured key buildings in Dublin in April 1916. The British responded swiftly. Despite the fact they needed men to fight on the Western Front, the British sent 8,000 troops to Ireland to crush the Irish insurrectionists. At the end of the rebellion, fifteen Irish leaders were executed. The end-result was not what the British anticipated, however. Except for northeast Ireland, the Irish independence movement swept throughout the country. It would culminate in numerous bloody wars between the English and Irish during the 1920s.
In 1919, Irish representatives were elected to the British parliament. With Irish nationalism growing, they refused to take their seats. Instead, the representatives formed their own Irish governing assembly in Dublin. Nationwide strikes and boycotts against British businesses, shops, and industries took place. The Irish War for Independence had begun. Within weeks, the Irish Republican Army was formed to fight the British, who were preparing to use force to suppress the Irish.
For two years, war raged in Ireland. The Irish Republican Army fought for the independence of Ireland. The British forces, nicknamed the “Black and Tans” because of their mismatched uniforms, were largely a group of war veterans deployed to crush the Irish. Frustrated and war weary, the Black and Tans quickly became known for their poor discipline and willingness to carry-out war crimes against the Irish. These crimes included murder and torture of soldiers and civilians, as well as the burning of civilian homes. By the end of the war, both sides had adopted guerilla warfare, and the war had escalated dramatically, particularly in Dublin.
After two years of brutal warfare, the Irish were running out of ammunition, while British resources appeared to be endless. In December 1921, the two sides signed a peace treaty. The following year, British forces withdrew from southern Ireland. In 1922, the Irish achieved their principal goal, and the Irish Free State was created. Originally a dominion of Great Britain, the Free State included 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland. (Northern Ireland—the remaining six counties—did not join the Free State and remained loyal to Great Britain.)
The Irish Civil War
Although the Irish Free State was created in 1922, many Irish people felt the conflict was far from over. The British has stopped short of recognizing the Irish Free State as entirely independent. It was a country independent from the United Kingdom, but still considered part of the British Empire. A fact which many Irish nationalists resented deeply. Moreover, the Anglo-Irish peace treaty had divided Ireland into two separate and distinct Irelands: the Irish Free State and Ulster (Northern Ireland)—the six counties in northeast Ireland that remained loyal to England and part of Great Britain.
Across Ireland, people became divided over the treaty. Many sought an independent, united, and single Ireland with no attachments to Great Britain. Many others felt that they had achieved the best possible peace terms with the British. In 1922, the Irish Civil War erupted between those who supported the treaty, and those who did not. For eleven months, brutal warfare spread throughout Ireland, claiming between 1,500 and 2,000 lives. The most famous casualty of the civil war was none other than the hero in both the Easter Uprising, and the Irish War for Independence, Michael Collins.
Anti-treaty forces assassinated Collins in County Cork, Ireland because of his role in approving the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 The side that supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 ultimately won the Irish Civil War. In 1931, the passage of the Statute of Westminster ensured that the Parliament of the United Kingdom relinquished nearly all of its remaining authority over the Free State of Ireland; this had the effect of granting the Free State internationally recognized sovereignty. In 1949, the Irish Free State achieved complete independence and was renamed the Republic of Ireland. As well as “the Republic of Ireland,” the state is also referred to as “Ireland,” “Éire,” “the Republic,” “Southern Ireland,” or “the South,” depending on who is making the reference and to whom. To this date, deep tension still exists between Northern Ireland, which remains largely protestant, and a part of the United Kingdom, and the largely Catholic country, the Republic of Ireland. This tension is conveyed through the many names used to reference this one nation.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Ferguson, Wallace K. and Geoffrey Bruun. A Survey of European Civilization. 4th Ed.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston: 1969. 816-826.
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2025-03-18T00:36:50.712644
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"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87978/overview
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Protecting Humanity after World War I: Successes and Failures
Overview
The First International War Crimes Trials: Leipzig 1921
The first international war crimes trials, the Leipzig Trials, held in 1921, established an example of how not to conduct a trial against alleged war criminals. Throughout the spring and summer of 1921, Germans charged as war criminals, for their actions in the First World War, were tried and sentenced by Germans in the country’s highest court: the Criminal Senate of the Imperial Court of Justice at Leipzig. Shock at the apparently “light” sentences of the war criminals provoked an outraged response throughout Great Britain, Belgium, and France, who presented charges against Germany. Their expressed resentment for the trials spread across Europe and the United States. The outcome of the trials and their flaws emerged from German partiality and concern for national interest. However, the vying agendas amongst the Allies, the complete lack of guidance for the trials under international law, and the instability of the fragile Weimar Republic allowed for the peculiar structure and conduct of the trials.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the immediate and long-term goals of the Leipzig Trials.
- Analyzes the successes and failures of the Leipzig Trials.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Imperial Court of Justice at Leipzig: Germany’s highest court in 1921
Leipzig Trials: held in Germany in 1921, the first international war crimes trials
Preparing for the First International War Crimes Trials
After WWI, the Allies had called for war crimes trials against the Germans since 1914. However, creating an agreed-upon course of action for the trials caused incessant conflict between the Allies because neither the phrase “war crimes” nor “war criminals” appeared in the 1907 Hague Convention, which governed international law during the First World War. The British first employed the phrases in conjunction with the German occupation and exploitation of neutral Belgium in 1914.
As the war progressed, the focus of British clamor for war trials shifted away from German actions in Belgium to German “atrocities” of mistreatment toward British prisoners of war and unrestricted submarine warfare. These two concerns dominated British charges during postwar discussion of war crimes trials. The French expressed similar charges against German mistreatment of French prisoners of war, particularly in conjunction with the killing of surrendered and wounded prisoners of war. Belgium, the site of severe exploitation and violent mistreatment by the Germans during the war, had a much weaker voice in the dialogue on the war crimes trials, but charged the Germans of committing heinous atrocities against Belgian citizens. Woodrow Wilson, skeptical about the other countries’ agendas in the pursuit of the trials, called for a lenient course of action regarding the trials. However, the four countries agreed on the point that Germany should gather evidence against its own citizens charged as war criminals and present the evidence and the accused persons to the Allies, in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles; these accused would then be tried by an international tribunal. In result, the trials were postponed and United States withdrew from the proceedings.
The Weimar Republic during the Trials
In 1921, the brittle government of the Weimar Republic was caught in a vise as international pressure and domestic strife collided over the pending trials of the first war crime trials. Compliance with Allied demands, the German government argued, would threaten their fragile new republic. Over the course of the war, the bulk of Germany’s resources had been devoted to the war effort. Exhaustion of resources compounded by the loss of more than two million soldiers, demobilization, inflation, and political discontent from both far-leftist and rightist parties, rendered the German Republic an extremely fragile state. The immediate postwar period did not encourage German support for the war crimes trials or the new government. Recognizing the difficulty of their position, the German government’s approach to the war crime trials resulted in a carefully balanced act of attempted appeasement of both Allied and German demands.
As a solution, German Secretary of Finance, Matthias Erzberger led a motion to try German war criminals in Germany’s highest civilian court—Criminal Senate of the Imperial Court of Justice at Leipzig. In an effort to secure support from the Allies, the German proposal asserted that a German committee would investigate Germans charged as war criminals. The proposal also allowed for delegations from each of the prosecuting nations to be present at the trials.
The Leipzig Trials Begin
In the spring of 1921, the Germans assembled eight cases to be tried: four British cases, three French cases, and one Belgian case. These first eight cases comprised the Leipzig Trials. Aware of Allied claims that the Germans systematically violated international law, the court made a concerted effort to appear objective during the proceedings, but from the beginning of the trials in May 1921, German national interest governed the actions of the German court.
The British Cases
The Germans had a vested interest in appeasing British interests. After the war, Great Britain supported German interests during the Upper Silesian Crisis where Polish Silesians revolted against German rule in Western Silesia. Britain also supported the proposition to hold the trials in Germany.
In return, the Germans pursued the trial of the U-86 submarine crew, after the British abandoned the case. Helmut Patzig, commander of U-86, torpedoed the British hospital ship, Llandovery Castle, on June 27, 1918, and subsequently fired on the lifeboats carrying survivors. Sought after heavily by both the British and German governments following the war for violating multiple clauses within The Hague Convention, Patzig avoided capture and presumably returned to his home in Danzig. Under the Treaty of Versailles, German authorities could not apprehend him there. The British government had clamored for Patzig’s trial, but when it was determined that he could not be found, the British dropped the case. The German government did not. Under the Schücking Committee and against immense protest from the German public, the court brought to trial two of Patzig’s crew members: Johann Boldt and Ludwig Dithmar. The trial ended with the Court issuing both Boldt and Dithmar a four-year prison sentence. Dithmar received his discharge from the navy and Boldt lost the privilege of wearing his uniform. Perceived by the Allies as a light sentence, Claud Mullins—British delegate to the trials—explained the sentence carried significantly more weight in Germany. Free of the constraints of international law, the German court conducted the trials according to German law. Under German law, the military was judged according to laws specifically designated for military cases, separating it from the laws of German civilians. The trial of Boldt and Dithmar demonstrated the complexities in trying members of the military. Although it resulted in the demotion of their statuses, it did little else to men charged with committing wartime atrocities.
The Belgian Case
In contrast to the British cases, the Germans handled the French and Belgian cases with considerably less care and objectivity. Belgium’s only case at Leipzig was the case against Max Ramdohr. He was accused of severe cruelty toward Belgian youths who had “sabotaged” the German railroad line in Grammont. Dozens of young, male Belgian boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen testified that Ramdohr had imprisoned them in poor conditions and interrogated them by plunging their heads into buckets of ice water. A thirteen-year-old testified that Ramdohr had wrapped a string around his neck, then connected the string to a hook above his head and beat his bare legs with a cane. The Leipzig Court listened to the extensive testimonies against Ramdohr, but unlike the British cases, did not consider the evidence presented as legitimate because almost all of the evidence presented against Ramdohr rested on the testimonies of young boys. This German court did not take the evidence seriously because the trial was of a member of the German military, and evidence presented against him came from civilians. The court further argued that the age of the witnesses, and the fact that three years had passed since the events, the Belgian government could easily have swayed their witnesses to have false memories of the events. Based on these assertions, Ramdohr was acquitted.
The French Cases
Following Ramdohr’s acquittal, the French presented their long-awaited trial of Lieutenant-General Karl Stenger and his subordinate officer Major Benno Crusius. In August 1914, upon entering a French village, Stenger reportedly gave the order to the 58th Infantry Brigade to kill all of the wounded French soldiers and prisoners of war. Upon receiving word of this order, Crusius executed many French prisoners of war. Evidence produced by both German and French witnesses convinced the court that prisoners were executed during two separate incidents in 1914.
The trial did not proceed in the way anticipated by the French. On the day of the trial, Stenger appeared in court supported by two crutches, having lost his right leg in the course of the war. His uniform was bedecked in medals, most prominent of which was the Pour le Mérite. For the Germans, Stenger still embodied the quintessential war hero. His appearance emphasized the credibility of his testimony. Stenger calmly denied the charge that he had issued such an order, and the only prisoners who were shot were those who continued to fight. Improbable as the story was, it justified Stenger’s actions in the eyes of the court.
Soon thereafter, the trial shifted its focus to the actions of Stenger’s subordinate officer, Major Crusius. At the end of the trial, the court asserted that Crusius acted out of a misconstrued order from Stenger. However, Crusius could not be held entirely responsible for his actions because German doctors had determined he was “insane” at the time of the incident, and likewise, the court shared that opinion. The trial ended with Stenger’s acquittal and Crusius lost the right to wear his uniform and received a sentence of two years in prison, of which he had already served fourteen months.
The verdict outraged the French, who called for first called for Stenger’s trial in 1914. In their eyes, Stenger and Crusius had violated the “laws of war and humanity” many times in the execution of the French prisoners. French Prime Minister Alstrid Briand reacted immediately by ordering a withdrawal of the French delegation from the trials. The French government further stated French troops would continue to occupy the Rhine until “justice” was delivered at Leipzig. Both assertions were poor political maneuvers. Premier Briand’s decision to order the delegation to depart from the trials deeply offended the German court, particularly Statspräsident Heinrich Schmidt, whom the British delegation frequently praised as impartial based on his handling of the trials. With their departure, the French government blatantly accused the Leipzig judges of partiality and followed up this maneuver with a threat to the Germans that French troops would continue to occupy the Rhine. Their threat did nothing more than antagonize the Germans, and support the German idea of an unfair Treaty of Versailles
Evaluating the Leipzig Trials presents several challenges. Both the news reports of the era and historians discuss the “failures” of the trials and often overlook its accomplishments. The blatant partiality of the Germans during the cases was clearly displayed by the fact that of the British cases in which six men were tried, five received sentences. The French and Belgian cases tried six men as well, only one of whom received a prison sentence.
However, the flaws of the trials should not entirely overshadow the events of the first international war crimes trial. The Allies exhibited significant cooperation in their pursuit of administering punishment for war criminals, in spite of their vying agendas. Germany also, demonstrated cooperation with the Allies, during the years prior to and during the trials. While the trials were a failure in legal terms, they marked a significant step in the international attempt to protect international law and punish persons who violated the laws of war and humanity in times of war and, during the revision of international law at the Geneva Convention of 1929, influenced the development of protective clauses concerning prisoners of war and captured troops.
Ignored War Crimes: Serbia and the Armenian Genocide
The 1921 Leipzig Trials were of mixed success. One of their chief failures came not from the German high court, but from the Allies themselves. Wrapped in their respective, post-war misery, England, France, and Belgium focused only on crimes that had occurred against their people. The United States was largely left out of the proceedings. And as a result, no one from the international community that oversaw the first war crimes trials looked at war crimes beyond the Western Front. None of the countries pressed for international war crimes trials to be held for actions that had occurred on the Eastern, Middle Eastern, or African fronts during World War I. As a result, the perpetrators not only “got away” with the war crimes committed in these areas, but the trials set an early precedent for prosecuting only war crimes that were committed against Western powers, ignoring those committed against other nations and peoples. Such was the case for the greatest crime of World War, the Armenian Genocide, as well as numerous others in Serbia and Africa.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the events and importance of the Armenian Genocide.
- Evaluate the significance of “ignore war crimes” of World War I.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Armenians: ethnic, Christian minority group living in Turkey during World War I
Armenian Genocide: mass murder of Armenian people in 1915 – 1917 by the Young Turks
Rodolphe Archibald Reiss: internationally renowned criminologist who investigated Austro-Hungarian war crimes committed in Serbia in World War I
Talaat Pasha: minister of the interior of the Ottoman Empire during World War I; a figure central to the plan of Armenians eradication
Three Pashas: three central government figures in the Young Turks: Talaat Pasha (minister of the interior), Enver Pasha (minister of war), and Djemal Pasha (minister of the navy)
War crimes against Serbia: mass murder against Serbian people carried out by the Austro-Hungarian forces in World War I
Young Turks: hyper-nationalist group who came to power in Turkey through a coup in 1908 and were instrumental in the destruction of the Armenians
War Crimes against Serbia
In early 1915, the Serbian Relief Fund—a London-based organization—beseeched British citizens to help save the Serbian people from extinction. The organization’s pamphlet, Serbia’s Cup of Sorrow, passionately exposed the dire situation the Serbian people faced because of the Austro-Hungarian army’s violent invasion of the country. The fiery language invoked imagery of the Austro-Hungarian army descending upon Serbia as the four horsemen of the apocalypse, bringing with them the war, famine, disease, and death which now “stalked” the Serbian countryside. Interspersed between accounts of starvation and illness, colorful accounts and illustrations of the army’s pre-meditated intentions to eradicate Serbia’s innocent civilians proliferated throughout the sixteen-page document. By the end of the war, nearly two hundred ads for the Serbian Relief Fund had appeared in England’s The Times. The enormous swell of support arose because of Austria-Hungary’s repeated invasions and subsequent occupation of Serbia in 1916. To galvanize support for their small but strategically important ally in the Balkans, the British organized domestic and foreign relief agencies. Serbia’s desperate plight also attracted support from Russia, France, and the United States. And then, within a year of the war’s conclusion, the Allies’ attitude toward Serbia underwent a radical shift.
The Austro-Hungarian army waged a particularly brutal invasion in order to suppress the Serbians. The army invasion proved shockingly brutal not only because of the ruthless tactics employed but also because of the scope and concentration of the violence. Over the course of thirteen days, the Austro-Hungarian army advanced only twenty miles into Serbia before being repulsed by Serbian forces. However, in that narrow period of time the army reportedly torched villages and brutally murdered between 3,500 and 4,000 Serbian civilians. Collectively, the murders are referred to as the War crimes against Serbia.
Internationally renowned criminologist Rodolphe Archibald Reiss investigated this account of the massacre at the Serbian village Chabatz, where he uncovered a mass grave. He found the remains of over eighty corpses of varying ages protruding from earth. Many of the victims’ hands were still bound with rope, while tattered clothing still hung from others. The evidence unearthed at the site supported a deposition given by an Austrian corporal who witnessed the mass execution.
In 1916, the British published a second edition of Reiss’s investigations. Reiss lengthened his work substantially by adding considerably more first-hand accounts and depositions testimonies than were included in the first edition, but little difference existed in the subjects of the two editions. At the time, stirring accounts of the Austro-Hungarian army’s torture of Serbian civilians and destruction of property also proliferated throughout British newspapers.
Aftermath of the War Crimes in Serbia
For over two years, the Allies tried to negotiate the prosecution of alleged “war criminals” before an international military tribunal. Over the course of their negotiations, however, the Allied concern for the victims of war crimes committed outside of Western Europe faded and their anxiety regarding Eastern Europe increased. The committees of the Big Four not only ignored the requests of the Yugoslavian delegation, but almost entirely excluded them from discussions. The postwar perception of the region as a turbulent, war-mongering zone directly influenced the course of action taken by the framers of the international war crimes trials. Their hesitancy conveyed a critical message about the Balkans: the experiences of the Balkan Wars and World War I cemented Western notions that Serbia and the Balkans posed a significant danger to Europe. Thus, the Austrian and Hungarian perpetrators of war crimes in Serbia were never tried for their wartime atrocities.
The Armenian Genocide
The Armenians were an ethnic, Christian minority group who historically had lived in present-day Turkey and Armenia for centuries. In the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, Turkey and Armenia were part of the Ottoman Empire—an empire governed by Muslim Turks. Although the Armenians had strong communities throughout the Ottoman Empire, tension existed between them and the Turks. Armenians were discriminated against, and violence erupted between the two sides in the late 1800s. Of all the atrocities and crimes committed in World War I, none remains as harrowing as the Armenian Genocide.
The Young Turks
In 1908, a revolutionary group came to power in the Ottoman Empire through a coup d’état—the Young Turks. The group was extremely nationalist and believed in a “Turkish state for the Turks.” Within a year, violence again erupted between the Turks and the Armenians during an attempted countercoup. Overnight, the Young Turks had branded the Armenians as an “internal enemy” and a scapegoat for the violence and discontent spreading throughout the empire. The Turks outnumbered and outgunned their opponents, and the Armenians suffered extensively. By the end of 1909, over 20,000 Armenians were killed.
Little attention from other countries was afforded to the mass killings of the Armenians, a point which the Young Turks undoubtedly noticed. The lack of response by anyone with the power to do something established a precedent in the Ottoman Empire; this conveyed the message that it was possible to slaughter people systematically and there would be no repercussions.
Over the succeeding five to six years, the Young Turks became increasingly nationalist and authoritative. They introduced three radical nationalist leaders into their government, who became collectively known as the Three Pashas. These men, aided by their supporters, would lay the groundwork for the Armenian Genocide.
World War I and the Armenian Genocide
War provides cover for some of the most heinous human actions because it distracts government and civilian view toward the bigger problems and pictures at hand. In much the same way that Adolf Hitler’s war of extermination against the Jews would take place during the height of World War II, the Turkish government would use the cover of World War I to shield foreign eyes from the fact that they were systematically exterminating the Armenians in their country.
In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This immediately pitted it against Russia—their neighbor to the northeast. Despite some initial success on the Eastern Front, the Ottoman Empire quickly experienced setbacks. To account for the floundering Turkish war effort, the government asserted that the Armenians were betraying them from within. Their argument claimed that the Armenians, as Christians, were not only anti-Turkish, but pro-Russia, which was also a Christian nation.
In April 1915, the Turkish government began the systematic destruction of the Armenians. Thousands of Armenians were rounded up in Constantinople, which was the capitol at the time. Armenians were similarly rounded-up throughout the Ottoman Empire; their businesses and homes were seized or destroyed. The men were generally shot on site. While the women, children, and elderly were meant to be deported. Although the Turkish government spoke of “deporting” Armenians, the reality was far grislier. Women, children, and elderly people were forced on long death marches with scarcely any supplied little clothing, food, or water—toward the deserts of Syria and Iraq. They were poorly guarded and crossed through regions where they were attacked, raped, and murdered. Very few of the Armenians on these marches survived. Those who did arrive in Syria and Iraq only to find that they were not welcome. Often, they were shot upon arrival.
Evidence of the Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide was the attempted destruction of a race of people by the Turkish government and military from 1915 to 1917, and sporadically until 1923. And yet, more than a century later, the Turkish government denies that the destruction of the Armenians was a “genocide.” However,evidence does exist of this war crime.
Central to the evidence of the Armenian Genocide is the fact that there is surviving records from the government of Talaat Pasha—The Young Turk’s minister of the Interior during the war—that shows his overt planning for the execution of the Armenians. In one correspondence with Henry Morgenthau—U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Pasha presented Morgenthau with an “astonishing request”:
I wish you would get the American life insurance companies to give us [The Turkish government] a list of their Armenian policy holders. They are practically dead now and have left no heirs to collect money. The government is the beneficiary now. Will you do so?
Henry Morgenthau refused the request. He later recorded Talaat Pasha’s boast to friends.
I have accomplished more toward solving the Armenian problem in three months than Abdul Hamid [last sultan of the Ottoman Empire] accomplished in thirty years!
Turkish letters recounted the brutal extermination of the Armenians. One soldier reported how during his appointment to a quarter of Turkey he witnessed the arrival of the Armenians. Men, women, and children were separated. The men were taken out of town in small groups and shot. They were later buried in mass graves. Women and children were “deported” and attacked by organized groups of bandits who raped, robbed, and murdered bands of Armenians walking through the desert. He later reported seeing masses of Armenian corpses beside the roadways.
Although very few Germans participated in the killing of the Armenians, many witnessed the events as bystanders.Because of Germany’s alliance with the Ottoman Empire, the two governments were closely aligned. Since before the war, German military advisors had been stationed in Turkey, and worked closely with the Turkish military. During the Armenian Genocide, German officers watched from the sidelines as the Turkish government engaged in the destruction of the Armenians. Surviving testimony demonstrates the role of Germans during the genocide. German Lieutenant Commander von Humann wrote,“Because of their conspiracy with the Russians, the Armenians are being more or less annihilated. That is hard, but it is useful.”
The Germans were not the only Europeans to witness the Armenian Genocide. Russian soldiers also saw the massacre of the Armenians. Upon their arrival into such villages of eastern Turkey as Mush, they found mass graves of Armenians shot on the outskirts of town.
Aftermath
The Armenian people lost their homes, property, and lives. In the aftermath of World War I, the Young Turks had proved enormously successful in their goal to “Turkify” the Turkish state. At least 800,000 Armenians were dead. Perhaps more than one million.
In 1939, just before the start of World War II, Hitler would rally his troops for the destruction of Poland by declaring, “Who today still remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?” In so doing, he assured his troops that whatever methods of destruction were employed against the Poles, it would ultimately be ignored by the Western nations. Afterall, the West had ignored the slaughter of the Armenians, and never pursued the perpetrators. This choice on the part of the Allies signaled to Hitler that the West would allow brutal warfare to take place anywhere outside of Western Europe or the United States because it did not directly affect them or their important allies.
The Allies Choose Inaction
The Allies were well-aware of the persecution of the Armenians. To their credit, Britain, France, and Russia openly denounced the crime as violating “laws of humanity” during the war. After the war, Britain called for prosecution of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. However, their calls fell short. European countries, especially France, were struggling to rebuild following the war; their primary goal was to hold the people who had destroyed French lives and property accountable for their actions. Likewise, the British public failed to rally behind the calls to prosecute Turkish war criminals. In the eyes of many Western Europeans, the issue of Ottoman war crimes should be handled by the Turks themselves, rather than an international tribunal. After all, World War I resulted in the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire; therefore, it no longer posed a threat to Western Europe or their immediate interests.
To the credit of the post-war Turkish government, they did hold trials for the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. Eighteen perpetrators, including the Three Pashas, were tried. Of the eighteen, only three were executed, and the rest were acquitted. Talaat Pasha was assassinated while in Berlin in 1921 as part of a covert, Turkish mission to execute perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. His killer was later acquitted.
Legacy
The Allies—Britain, France, and the United States—headed the effort to hold war criminals responsible for their actions following World War I. Their efforts successfully led to the idea of an international tribunal that would hold individuals responsible for their wartime atrocities. However, putting the idea of such trials into practice proved far more difficult. Not only did the idea of war crimes trials prove logistically difficult, the Allies themselves also focused only on war crimes committed against their people and their immediate allies. As a result, the most heinous of all war crimes committed in World War I went largely unchecked and unpunished by the international community. Inaction set a dangerous precedent that, in essence, established that war crimes carried out in places outside of Western Europe could be ignored.
International Law Revised: Geneva 1929
The brutality inflicted on humans, particularly civilians, during World War I prompted the international community to try protecting humans during future conflict. Led by Great Britain, France, and the United States, the global community was, in fact, a Western community that focused on the restructuring of international law, as well as the prosecution of war criminals before an international court. Most of all, there was a concerted effort to protect human beings, especially civilians and prisoners of war, in future wars.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the significance of, and the reasons for, the passage of the Third Geneva Convention.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Third Geneva Convention: 1929 passage of revised international laws protecting prisoners of war
International Law and Warfare
When World War I erupted, all major belligerent nations had pledged to abide by the rules of warfare prescribed by two sets of international laws: the 1907 Hague Convention, which explained the rules of warfare with regards to prisoners of war and use of weaponry; and the 1906 Geneva Convention that prescribed the rules for treating human beings during warfare. The goals of these two sets of international laws were regulating warfare to make it more “humane.” As World War I dragged on, and every single major combatant nation violated the rules of warfare time and again, the result was that World War I became the most violent and expansive war in history. (Twenty years later, World War II would surpass it in scope and violence.)
In 1919, the world reeled from the knowledge that World War I had resulted in 40 million deaths in four and a half years. The figures included military, civilian, and 1918-flu related deaths. Moreover, the international community was astounded by the violence committed against civilians, especially in France and Belgium. And over the course of four and a half years of war, millions of people had become prisoners of war. Of that figure, thousands experienced cruel mistreatment including beatings, neglect, disease, and non-deliberate starvation. It was evident that international law had failed to protect humanity. After World War I, it was evident to lawmakers that international law must be revised.
The Third Geneva Convention
Critically, the international community noted that the Hague Convention—a document whose primary focus was on technology and military operations in warfare—had prescribed the treatment of prisoners of war. Whereas, the Geneva Convention had focused on the treatment of human beings, including the wounded and civilians. By lumping prisoners of war into a convention that focused primarily on technology, the prisoners of war were stripped of their humanity, as well as recognized as a collective, amorphous group, rather than individuals. The mixed success of the 1921 Leipzig War Crimes Trials—which focused largely on the mistreatment of prisoners of war in World War I—demonstrated the essentiality of upholding solid, specific, international laws protecting humanity during wartime.
In 1929, framers of international laws from across the world passed the Third Geneva Convention. This document recognized the status of prisoners of war as human beings with a collective right to humane treatment. Among other provisions, the Third Geneva Convention established rules regarding the diet, housing, hygiene, and medical treatment of prisoners of war. It further established rules for the transfer and release of prisoners, as well as prescribed treatment according to rank, labor, and financial resources.
The chief achievement of the Third Geneva Convention was its acknowledgment that, rather than being “part of the war machine,” prisoners of war were human beings and must be treated as such. Failure to respect the rules regarding humane treatment of prisoners of war would (theoretically) constitute a war crime in future warfare.
Legacy
At the time of its passage, 196 countries ratified the Third Geneva Convention. And from the outside, it looked as though the international community’s pledge to protect humans in future warfare would prove successful. Scarcely anyone could have predicted that, in ten short years, the world would be engaged in a second and far more violent war. A deadly war that would not only violate the Third Geneva Convention, but shatter it as genocides were carried out in Europe and the Far East by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Still, the greatest success of the Third Geneva Convention is the international dedication to protecting humans in warfare. Following World War II, framers of international law would meet again to pass the Fourth Geneva Convention—a document that still serves as the guiding rules of warfare in the 21st century.
Primary Source: 1929 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War
Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Geneva, 27 July 1929.
“Part 1: General Provisions” [Abridged]
PREAMBLE
Recognizing that, in the extreme event of a war, it will be the duty of every Power, to mitigate as far as possible, the inevitable rigours thereof and to alleviate the condition of prisoners of war;
Being desirous of developing the principles which have inspired the international conventions of The Hague, in particular the Convention concerning the Laws and Customs of War and the Regulations thereunto annexed,
Have resolved to conclude a Convention for that purpose and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:
(Here follow the names of Plenipotentiaries)
Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed is follows.
PART I : GENERAL PROVISIONS - ART. 1.
LAND;LIMITATION ART:
Article 1. The present Convention shall apply without prejudice to the stipulations of Part VII:
(1) To all persons referred to in Articles 1 [ Link ] , 2 [ Link ] and 3 [ Link ] of the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention
(IV) of 18 October 1907, concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, who are captured by the enemy.
(2) To all persons belonging to the armed forces of belligerents who are captured by the enemy in the course of operations of maritime or aerial war, subject to such exceptions (derogations) as the conditions of such capture render inevitable. Nevertheless these exceptions shall not infringe the fundamental principles of the present Convention; they shall cease from the moment when the captured persons shall have reached a prisoners of war camp.
PART I : GENERAL PROVISIONS - ART. 2.
Art. 2. Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or formation which captured them.
They shall at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence, from insults and from public curiosity.
Measures of reprisal against them are forbidden.
PART I : GENERAL PROVISIONS - ART. 3.
Art. 3. Prisoners of war are entitled to respect for their persons and honour. Women shall be treated with all consideration due to their sex.
Prisoners retain their full civil capacity.
PART I : GENERAL PROVISIONS - ART. 4.
Art. 4. The detaining Power is required to provide for the maintenance of prisoners of war in its charge.
Differences of treatment between prisoners are permissible only if such differences are based on the military rank, the state of physical or mental health, the professional abilities, or the sex of those who benefit from them.
From International Committee of the Red Cross
Attributions
The Holocaust and other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics. Ed. Helmut
Walser Smith. Vanderbilt University Press, 2002. 149-178.
Hull, Isabel V. Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and Practices of War in Imperial
Germany. Cornell University, 2005. 266-278.
Crowe, David M. War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice: A Global History. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Mitrović, Andrej. Serbia’s Great War: 1914-1918. London: Hurst & Company, 2007.
Reiss, Rodolphe Archibald. How Austria-Hungary Waged War in Serbia: Personal
Investigations of a Neutral. Librairie Armand Colin: Paris, 1915.
Reiss, Rodolphe Archibald. Report Upon the Atrocities Committed by the Austro
Hungarian Army during the First Invasion of Serbia. London: Simpkin, Marshall,
Hamilton, Kent & Company, Ltd. 1916.
Vick, Alison, "A Catalyst for the Development of Human Rights: 1914-1929." Virginia Tech. 2013. (Masters Thesis)
"(Geneva) Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 1929." Hosted by: International Committee of the Red Cross.
Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries - Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, 1929 (icrc.org)
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and of the author, Alison Vick
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Chinese Democracy
Overview
China During the 1920s
In the period following the turn of the 20th century, China experienced a push against European colonization. There was a movement of Chinese democracy and other European ideologies that started to grow during this period. Socialism in the 1920s came out of the movement that would eventually become the cornerstone of the Communist Revolution of the 1940s. The invasion of Japan would be the reason that the Chinese Revolution had the 1930s.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the role of the Great Depression on Chinese culture.
- Evaluate the impact of the Japanese invasion on China.
- Evaluate the role of the Japanese invasion on the political divisions within China.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Nanjing Decade: an informal name for the decade from 1927 (or 1928) to 1937 in the Republic of China; a period that began when Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took Nanjing from Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang halfway through the Northern Expedition in 1927 and declared it the national capital, despite the left-wing Nationalist government in Wuhan
The Nanjing Decade
During the Nanjing Decade of 1928 – 37, the Nationalists attempted to consolidate the divided society and reform the economy. The KMT was criticized for instituting totalitarianism, but claimed it was attempting to establish a modern democratic society by creating the Academia Sinica (today’s national academy of Taiwan), the Central Bank of China, and other agencies. In 1932, China sent its first team to the Olympic Games. Laws were passed and campaigns mounted to promote the rights of women. Improved communication also allowed a focus on social problems, including those of the villages (for example the Rural Reconstruction Movement). Simultaneously, political freedom was considerably curtailed because of the Kuomintang’s one-party domination through “political tutelage” and the violent shutting down of anti-government protests.
At the time, a series of massive wars also took place in western China, including the Kumul Rebellion, the Sino-Tibetan War, and the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang. Although the central government was nominally in control of the entire country, large areas remained under the semi-autonomous rule of local warlords, provincial military leaders, or warlord coalitions. Nationalist rule was strongest in the eastern regions around the capital Nanjing, but regional militarists retained considerable local authority.
The Fall of the Republic and Its Legacy: Taiwan
The bitter struggle between the KMT and the CPC continued, openly or clandestinely, through the 14-year-long Japanese occupation of various parts of the country (1931 – 1945). The two Chinese parties nominally formed a united front to oppose the Japanese in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 – 1945), which became part of World War II. Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, the war between the Nationalist forces and the CPC resumed after failed attempts at reconciliation and a negotiated settlement. By 1949, the CPC had established control over most of the country. When the Nationalist government forces were defeated by CPC forces in mainland China in 1949, they retreated to Taiwan along with Chiang and most of the KMT leadership, as well as a large number of their supporters. The Nationalist government had taken effective control of Taiwan at the end of World War II as part of the overall Japanese surrender, when Japanese troops in Taiwan surrendered to Republic of China troops.
Until the early 1970s, the Republic of China was recognized as the sole legitimate government of China by the United Nations and most Western nations, refusing to recognize the People’s Republic of China. However, in 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly and “the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” (and thus the ROC) were expelled from the UN and replaced as “China” by the PRC. In 1979, the United States switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing. The KMT ruled Taiwan under martial law until the late 1980s, with the stated goals of vigilance against Communist infiltration and preparation to retake mainland China. Therefore, political dissent was not tolerated.
Since the 1990s, the ROC went from one-party rule to a multi-party system thanks to a series of democratic and governmental reforms implemented in Taiwan. The first election for provincial governors and municipality Mayors was in 1994. Taiwan held the first direct presidential election in 1996.
Attributions
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: Officers of the Six Companies: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Officiers_of_the_Six_Companies_b.jpg
Boundless World History
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/communist-china/
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Interwar Africa
Overview
Africa in the Interwar Years
Africa in the interwar years (1920 – 1930s) reached a new height of European exploitation. Although Germany had lost its colonies of Togoland, Kamerun, Southwest Africa, and German East Africa, their former colonies were quickly divided and overtaken by the British and French. For their part, Africans would not govern themselves for several more decades, except for the Egyptians. The rest of the continent, particularly north and west Africa, continued to experience worker and resource exploitation by predominately British and French colonizers.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 and why it was successful.
- Evaluate European practices in Africa during the 1920s – 30s.
- Evaluate Pan-Africanism and its goals.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Egyptian Revolution of 1919: nationalist movement which led to Egypt’s independence
Marcus Garvey: Jamaican-born, African nationalist and leader of Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism: movement that promotes unity between all peoples of African descent
Egypt's Road to Independence
Since the 1800s, Egypt’s status had been complex and contested. At one point, it had been part of the Ottoman Empire, before breaking away. In the late 1800s, the British occupied the country and operated it as a protectorate of the British Empire. During World War I, the British had effectively occupied all of Egypt and declared martial law to use Egypt as a launchpad in their war against the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the course of the war, the British put significant demands on the Egyptians. They drafted half a million men into their army, requisitioned buildings, and supplies, and treated the Egyptians as second-class citizens. Although the war saw the demise of the Egyptians' former occupiers, the Ottomans, it saw the rise of Great Britain. Nationalism in Egypt spiraled upward against the British. Egyptians felt overwhelmingly betrayed by the British and denied rewards offered for their service in the war. In 1919, revolution broke out.
The Revolution and Independence
The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 was the only successful independence movement in Africa in the interwar era. Across the social classes and religions, Egyptians united in the name of overthrowing the British occupiers. Muslims and Christians stood side by side in the call for independence. Men and women alike protested the occupation of Egypt. At the head of the movement was the newly founded political party, Wafd. Comprised of academics and intellectuals, it was led by Sa’ad Zaghlul. Strikes, riots, and demonstrations broke out across the country. And the British felt forced to act. On March 8, 1919, they arrested Zaghlul and deported him to their island of Malta. Once there, he was kept as an exiled political prisoner.
This maneuver by the British sparked outrage and increased desire for Egyptian independence. Violence spread through Egypt, culminating in over 800 deaths in the last two weeks of March.
In 1922, the British agreed to Egypt’s Declaration of Independence. The former sultan, Fu’ad, became the new Egyptian king, an Egyptian parliament was established, a new constitution created, and Sa’ad Zaghlul returned from exile to become Egypt’s first prime minister. But despite the achievements made by the Egyptians, the British did not relinquish total control. They refused to leave the Suez Canal area. Similarly, they maintained a military presence to protect their interests in other parts of Egypt and maintained that they would militarily defend Egypt in the event it was attacked by foreign powers. In many ways, the British remained a powerful influence in Egypt until after World War II.
Exploitation of West and South Africa
West Africa
West Africa was prime colonization for Europeans because of its temperate climate, arable farmland, access to Atlantic seaports and rivers, as well as the fact that there were fewer diseases than in Central Africa. In the late 1800s, the British, French, and Germans had secured colonies in West Africa. With Germany’s loss of its colonies in 1918, the British and French immediately claimed the territory. The Africans, who were typically Muslim, were treated as second-class farmers and forced to scrape a living from poor farm plots. Famine and drought plagued the countryside. The sale of cash crops was typically reserved for white farmers, thus most of the money poured into European pockets. Historian Kevin Shillington summarizes the situation best: “During the 1920s and 1930s, African farmers were paid less for what they produced, but had to pay more for what they bought.”
Far more profitable than farming in West Africa was mining. European-owned companies poured into Guinea and Nigeria during the 1920s. Companies hired African, particularly Nigerian, miners to undertake the most dangerous jobs; in return, they provided the lowest possible wages.
South Africa
In the interwar years, the white governments of South Africa passed multiple laws that established strong segregation. Wealthy white farmers and white owners of mining companies had pressured the government to enact segregation. These laws were the early steps in establishing what, after World War II, would become apartheid.
In mining, the skilled labor positions were reserved for whites; whereas, black South Africans were forced to work as unskilled laborers. This created a situation where the best pay was reserved for white workers. Likewise, the best land in the country was reserved for white farmers.
Although black South Africans did resist the new government measures, they had little political influence. As a result, they founded their first political party: the African National Congress. Decades later, the party would become the political party of Nelson Mandela.
Pan-Africanism
In the 1920s, Africans experienced a surge of Pan-Africanism. This movement called for all peoples of African descent to unite to achieve economic and political independence. In the interwar years, the idea swept people in the Caribbean, Americas, and Africa. Four Pan-Africa conferences were held in Europe, most attended by internationally renowned writer W.E.B. Dubois.
Most famous of the interwar Pan-Africanists was a man who had never visited Africa, and yet, promoted the idea of “Africa for the Africans.” This man was a Jamaican-born intellectual and politician Marcus Garvey. He advocated for the expulsion of all Europeans from Africa, and a restoration of African political and economic power. Although his ideas resonated strongly, it would also be after World War II before Pan-Africanism saw any significant gains.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Shillington, Kevin. A History of Africa. 3rd Ed. Palgrave MacMillan, New York: 2012. 361-378.
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Middle East Between the World Wars
Overview
Overview
In the aftermath of the First World War the Middle East experienced nationalism, decolonization, and religious strife. These peoples challenged the priorities and values of the Allied Powers in their crafting of peace treaties. Those treaties instead of stabilizing the Middle East left uncertainty and continued instability. During the interwar period new nations emerged, each trying to find its place in the diverse complex of ethnic groups and religions. As part of this process of nation building the principle imperial powers, Britain and France, had to negotiate a new path for their imperial interests in a period of accelerating decolonization.
Ataturk and Turkish Independence
The occupation of the Ottoman Empire by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. This led to the Turkish War of Independence, which resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
Learning Objectives
Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Mustafa Kemal: a Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and founder of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President from 1923 until his death in 1938; instituted a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic policy changes that were designed to convert the new Republic of Turkey into a secular, modern nation-state; eventually came to be known as Ataturk
Background: Allied Occupation of Ottoman Empire
For the Ottoman Empire the fighting of World War I ended on October 30, 1918, with the Armistice of Mudros signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies; this brought hostilities in the Middle Eastern theater to a close. This armistice granted the Allies the right to occupy forts controlling the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, as well as the right to occupy any territory in case of a threat to security. On November 13, 1918, a French brigade entered the city to begin the Occupation of Constantinople and its immediate dependencies, followed by a fleet consisting of British, French, Italian, and Greek ships deploying soldiers on the ground the next day. A wave of seizures by the Allies took place in the following months.
Turkish National Movement
The occupation of parts of the old Ottoman empire by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish National Movement. The Movement was united around the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the authority of the Grand National Assembly set up in Ankara, which pursued the Turkish War of Independence. The Movement supported a progressively defined political ideology generally termed “Kemalism.” Kemalism called for the creation of a republic to represent the electorate, secular administration (laïcité) of that government, Turkish nationalism, a mixed economy with state participation in many sectors (as opposed to state socialism), and other forms of economic, political, social, and technological modernization.
Turkish War of Independence
Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, a military commander who distinguished himself during the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres. The war began after some parts of Turkey were occupied and partitioned following the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in World War I. The War (May 19, 1919 – July 24, 1923) was fought between the Turkish nationalists and the proxies of the Allies—namely Greece on the Western front, Armenia on the Eastern, and France on the Southern, along with the United Kingdom and Italy in Constantinople (now Istanbul). Few of the present British, French, and Italian troops were deployed or engaged in combat.
After a series of battles during the Greco-Turkish war, the Greek army advanced as far as the Sakarya River, just eighty kilometers west of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (GNA). On August 5, 1921, Mustafa Kemal was promoted to commander in chief of the forces by the GNA. The ensuing Battle of Sakarya was fought from August 23 to September 13, 1921, and it ended with the defeat of the Greeks. After this victory, on September 19, 1921, Mustafa Kemal Pasha was given the rank of Mareşal and the title of Gazi by the Grand National Assembly.
The Allies, ignoring the extent of Kemal’s successes, hoped to impose a modified version of the Treaty of Sèvres as a peace settlement on Ankara, but the proposal was rejected. In August 1922, Kemal launched an all-out attack on the Greek lines at Afyonkarahisar in the Battle of Dumlupınar, and Turkish forces regained control of Smyrna on September 9, 1922. The next day, Mustafa Kemal sent a telegram to the League of Nations saying that the Turkish population was so worked up that the Ankara Government would not be responsible for massacres.
By September 18, 1922, the occupying armies had been expelled, and the Ankara-based Turkish government, which had declared itself the legitimate government of the country on April 23, 1920, proceeded with the process of building the new Turkish nation. On November 1, 1922, the Turkish Parliament in Ankara formally abolished the Sultanate, ending 623 years of monarchical Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923, led to international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed “Republic of Turkey” as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in Ankara, the country’s new capital. The Lausanne treaty stipulated a population exchange between Greece and Turkey in which 1.1 million Greeks left Turkey for Greece in exchange for 380,000 Muslims transferred from Greece to Turkey. On March 3, 1924, the Ottoman Caliphate was officially abolished and the last Caliph was exiled.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Presidency
As president Kemal introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of the Ottoman empire. For the first 10 years of the new regime, the country saw a steady process of secular Westernization through Atatürk’s reforms, which included education; the discontinuation of religious and other titles; the closure of Islamic courts; the replacement of Islamic canon law with a secular civil code modeled after Switzerland’s and a penal code modeled after Italy’s; recognition of gender equality, including the grant of full political rights for women on December 5, 1934; language reform initiated by the newly founded Turkish Language Association, including replacement of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet with the new Turkish alphabet derived from the Latin alphabet; the law outlawing the fez; and the law on family names, which required that surnames be exclusively hereditary and familial, with no reference to military rank, civilian office, tribal affiliation, race, and/or ethnicity.
The British Empire in the Middle East
During the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, the British promised the international Zionist movement their support in recreating the historic Jewish homeland in Palestine via the Balfour Declaration, a move that created much political conflict, which is still present today.
Learning Objectives
Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Zionism: Jewish national revival movement in reaction to anti-Semitic and exclusionary nationalist movements in Europe; emerging during the late nineteenth century, its goal was the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine
Balfour Declaration: a letter dated November 1917 from the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, pledging British support for a Jewish state
British Mandate for Palestine: a geopolitical entity under British administration, carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I (British civil administration in Palestine operated from 1920 until 1948.)
During World War I, continued Arab disquiet over Allied intentions led in 1918 to the British “Declaration to the Seven” and the “Anglo-French Declaration,” the latter promising “the complete and final liberation of the peoples who have for so long been oppressed by the Turks, and the setting up of national governments and administrations deriving their authority from the free exercise of the initiative and choice of the indigenous populations.”
The British were awarded three mandated territories by the League of Nations after WWI: Palestine, Mesopotamia (later Iraq), and control of the coastal strip between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. Faisal was installed as King of Iraq; he was a son of Sharif Hussein (who helped lead the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire). Transjordan provided a throne for another of Hussein’s sons, : Abdullah. Mandatory Palestine was placed under direct British administration, and the Jewish population was allowed to increase, initially under British protection. Most of the Arabian Peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn Saud, who created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
The British Empire and Palestine
British support for an increased Jewish presence in Palestine was primarily geopolitical, though idealistically embedded in 19th-century evangelical Christian feelings that the country should play a role in Christ’s Second Coming. Early British political support was precipitated in the 1830s and 1840s, as a result of the Eastern Crisis after Muhammad Ali occupied Syria and Palestine. Though these calculations had lapsed as the attempts of Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, to obtain international support for his project failed, WWI led to renewed strategic assessments and political bargaining regarding the Middle and Far East.
Zionism is Jewish national revival movement that emerged during the late nineteenth century in reaction to anti-Semitic and exclusionary nationalist movements in Europe at that time. Its goal was the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel, roughly corresponding to Palestine, Canaan, or the Holy Land. Soon after this, most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired state in Palestine, then controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
Zionism was first discussed at the British Cabinet level on November 9, 1914, four days after Britain’s declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire. David Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, discussed the future of Palestine. After the meeting Lloyd George assured Herbert Samuel—fellow Zionist and President of the Local Government Board—that “he was very keen to see a Jewish state established in Palestine.” George spoke of Zionist aspirations for a Jewish state in Palestine and of Palestine’s geographical importance to the British Empire. Samuel wrote in his memoirs: “I mentioned that two things would be essential—that the state should be neutralized, since it could not be large enough to defend itself, and that the free access of Christian pilgrims should be guaranteed…. I also said it would be a great advantage if the remainder of Syria were annexed by France, as it would be far better for the state to have a European power as neighbour than the Turk.”
James Balfour of the Balfour Declaration, explaining the historic significance and context of Zionism, declared that: “The four Great Powers are committed to Zionism. And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.”
Through British intelligence officer T. E. Lawrence (aka: Lawrence of Arabia), Britain supported the establishment of a united Arab state covering a large area of the Arab Middle East in exchange for Arab support of the British during the war. Thus, the United Kingdom agreed in the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence that it would honor Arab independence if they revolted against the Ottomans, but the two sides had different interpretations of this agreement. In the end the UK and France divided up the area under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, an act of betrayal in the eyes of the Arabs. Further confusing the issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, promising British support for a Jewish “national home” in Palestine. At the war’s end the British and French set up a joint “Occupied Enemy Territory Administration” in what had been Ottoman Syria. The British achieved legitimacy for their continued control by obtaining a mandate from the League of Nations in June 1922. The formal objective of the League of Nations Mandate system was to administer parts of the defunct Ottoman Empire, which had been in control of the Middle East since the 16th century, “until such time as they are able to stand alone.” The civil Mandate administration was formalized with the League of Nations’ consent in 1923 under the British Mandate for Palestine, which covered two administrative areas. As the Second World War approached, the British empire was invested in the separate and, at points, agendas of nation building in the Middle East among the various peoples therein.
The French Empire in the Middle East
After World War I, Syria and Lebanon became a French protectorate under the League of Nations Mandate System, a move that was met immediately with armed resistance from Arab nationalists. The French government, like the British government, was trying to use the mandate system to maintain an imperial presence in the Middle East. The French government encountered the same kinds of challenges from proponents of decolonization and nationalism as the British government. These forces for decolonization and nationalism were part of the larger stream of these movements across Africa, Asia, and in different ways, the Americas.
Learning Objectives
Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
League of Nations: an intergovernmental organization founded on January 10, 1920, as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War; the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
Officially, the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (1923 − 1946), was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War, which was meant to partition the Ottoman Empire, especially Syria and Lebanon. The Mandate system was considered the antithesis to colonialism, with the governing country acting as a trustee until the inhabitants were able to stand on their own, at which point the Mandate would terminate and an independent state would be born.
When first arriving in Lebanon, the French were received as liberators by the Christian community, but as they entered Syria, they were faced with a strong resistance. In response, the mandate region was subdivided into six states: Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawites (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921, modern-day Hatay), and the State of Greater Lebanon (1920), which became later the modern country of Lebanon. The drawing of those states was based in part on the sectarian makeup of Syria. However, nearly all the Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and the division it created, and there were numerous revolts in all of the Syrian states. Maronite Christians of Mount Lebanon, on the other hand, were a community with a dream of independence that was realized under the French. Greater Lebanon was the exception among the other newly formed states, in that its Christian citizens were not hostile to the French Mandate.
Although there were uprisings in the respective states, the French purposefully gave different ethnic and religious groups in the Levant their own lands in the hopes of prolonging their rule. During this time of world decolonization, the French hoped to focus on fragmenting the various groups in the region, so the local population would not focus on a larger nationalist movement to dispose of colonial rule. In addition, administration of colonial governments was heavily dominated by the French. Local authorities were given very little power and did not have the authority to independently decide policy. The small amount of power that local leaders had could easily be overruled by French officials. The French did everything possible to prevent people in the Levant from developing self-sufficient governing bodies. For instance, in 1930 France extended its constitution on to Syria.
Rise in Conflict
With the defeat of Ottomans in Syria, British troops under General Sir Edmund Allenby entered Damascus in 1918 accompanied by troops of the Arab Revolt led by Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca. The new Arab administration formed local governments in the major Syrian cities, and the pan-Arab flag was raised all over Syria. The Arabs hoped, with faith in earlier British promises, that the new state would include all the Arab lands stretching from Aleppo in northern Syria to Aden in southern Yemen. However, in accordance with the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France, General Allenby assigned the Arab administration only the interior regions of Syria (the eastern zone). On October 8, French troops disembarked in Beirut and occupied the Lebanese coastal region south to Naqoura (the western zone), replacing British troops there. The French immediately dissolved the local Arab governments in the region.
France demanded full implementation of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, with Syria under its control. On November 26, 1919, British forces withdrew from Damascus to avoid confrontation, leaving the Arab government to face France.
Unrest erupted in Syria when Faisal accepted a compromise with French Prime Minister Clemenceau and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann over Jewish immigration to Palestine. Anti-Hashemite manifestations broke out and Muslim inhabitants in and around Mount Lebanon revolted with fear of being incorporated into a new, mainly Christian state of Greater Lebanon, as part of France’s claim to these territories in the Levant was that France was a protector of the minority Christian communities.
On April 25, 1920, the supreme inter-Allied council, that was formulating the Treaty of Sèvres, granted France the mandate of Syria (including Lebanon), and granted Britain the Mandate of Palestine (including Jordan) and Iraq. Syrians reacted with violent demonstrations, and a new government headed by Ali Rida al-Rikabi was formed on May 9, 1920. The new government decided to organize general conscription and began forming an army.
On July 14, 1920, General Gouraud issued an ultimatum to Faisal, giving him the choice between submission or abdication. Realizing that the power balance was not in his favor, Faisal chose to cooperate. However, the young minister of war, Youssef al-Azmeh, refused to comply. In the resulting Franco-Syrian War, Syrian troops under al-Azmeh met French forces under General Mariano Goybet at the Battle of Maysaloun. The French won the battle in less than a day. Azmeh died on the battlefield along with many of the Syrian troops. Goybet entered Damascus on July 24, 1920.
End of the Mandate
With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French invaded and occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941, but it wasn’t until January 1, 1944, that it was recognized as an independent republic.
On September 27, 1941, France proclaimed, by virtue of and within the framework of the Mandate, the independence and sovereignty of the Syrian State. The proclamation said “the independence and sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon will not affect the juridical situation as it results from the Mandate Act.”
There were protests in 1945 over the slow French withdrawal; the French responded to these protests with artillery. In an effort to stop the movement toward independence, French troops occupied the Syrian parliament in May 1945 and cut off Damascus’s electricity. Training their guns on Damascus’s old city, the French killed 400 Syrians and destroyed hundreds of homes. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and the British forced the French to evacuate the last of its troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that was formed during the mandate.
Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s were marked by upheaval. The early years of independence were marked by political instability.
The Partitioning of Palestine
The UN Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations that recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish States. It was rejected by the Palestinians, leading to a civil war and the end of the British Mandate.
Learning Objectives
Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
League of Nations: an intergovernmental organization founded on January 10, 1920, as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War; the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
British Mandate for Palestine: a geopolitical entity under British administration, carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I (British civil administration in Palestine operated from 1920 until 1948.)
Background and Early Proposals for Partition
The League of Nations formalized British administration of Palestine as the Palestine Mandate in 1923. This mandate was part of the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. The British Mandate in Palestine reaffirmed the 1917 British commitment to the Balfour Declaration for the establishment in Palestine of a “National Home” for the Jewish people, with the prerogative to carry it out. A 1918 British census estimated that 700,000 Arabs and 56,000 Jews lived in Palestine.
During the Interwar period it became clear that the different groups in Palestine would not live in harmony. In 1937, following a six-month Arab General Strike and armed insurrection that aimed to pursue national independence, the British established the Peel Commission. The Jewish population had been attacked throughout the region during the Arab revolt, leading to the idea that the two populations could not be reconciled. The Commission concluded that the British Palestine Mandate had become unworkable, and recommended Partition into an Arab state linked to Transjordan, a small Jewish state, and a mandatory zone.
To address problems arising from the presence of national minorities in each area, the Commission suggested a partition—a land and population transfer involving the transfer of some 225,000 Arabs living in the envisaged Jewish state and 1,250 Jews living in a future Arab state, a measure deemed compulsory “in the last resort.” The Palestinian Arab leadership rejected partition as unacceptable, given the inequality in the proposed population exchange and the transfer of one-third of Palestine, including most of its best agricultural land, to recent immigrants. However, the Jewish leaders—Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion—persuaded the Zionist Congress to lend provisional approval to the Peel recommendations as a basis for further negotiations. In a letter to his son in October 1937, Ben-Gurion explained that partition would be a first step to “possession of the land as a whole.”
The British Woodhead Commission was set up to examine the practicality of partition. The Peel plan was rejected, and two possible alternatives were considered. In 1938 the British government issued a policy statement declaring that “the political, administrative and financial difficulties involved in the proposal to create independent Arab and Jewish States inside Palestine are so great that this solution of the problem is impracticable.” Representatives of Arabs and Jews were invited to London for the St. James Conference, which proved unsuccessful.
MacDonald White Paper of May 1939 declared that it was “not part of [the British government’s] policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State,” and sought to limit Jewish immigration to Palestine and restricted Arab land sales to Jews. However, the League of Nations commission held that the White Paper was in conflict with the terms of the Mandate as put forth in the past.
The outbreak of the Second World War suspended any further deliberations. The Jewish Agency hoped to persuade the British to restore Jewish immigration rights and cooperated with the British in the war against fascism. Aliyah Bet was organized to spirit Jews out of Nazi-controlled Europe despite British prohibitions. The White Paper also led to the formation of Lehi, a small Jewish organization that opposed the British.
After World War II, in August 1945 President Truman asked for the admission of 100,000 Holocaust survivors into Palestine, but the British maintained limits on Jewish immigration in line with the 1939 White Paper. The Jewish community rejected the restriction on immigration and organized an armed resistance. These actions and United States pressure to end the anti-immigration policy led to the establishment of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry. In April 1946, the Committee reached a unanimous decision for the immediate admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees from Europe into Palestine, a repeal of the White Paper restrictions of land sale to Jews, that the country be neither Arab nor Jewish, and the extension of U.N. Trusteeship. U.S. endorsed the Commission findings concerning Jewish immigration and land purchase restrictions, while the U.K. conditioned its implementation on U.S. assistance in case of another Arab revolt. In effect, the British continued to carry out White Paper policy. And the recommendations triggered violent demonstrations in the Arab states and calls for a Jihad and an annihilation of all European Jews in Palestine.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd, and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa), and Southern Arabia (‘Asir). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called “the predominant feature of Saudi culture,” with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called “the Land of the Two Holy Mosques” in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.
Learning Objectives
Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
The new kingdom was one of the poorest countries in the world, reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues. In 1938, vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Al-Ahsa region along the coast of the Persian Gulf, and full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the U.S.-controlled Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company). Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Saudi Arabia has since become the world’s largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the world’s second largest oil reserves and the sixth largest gas reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index, and it is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, lacking any significant service or production sector (apart from the extraction of resources). The country has attracted criticism for its restrictions on women’s rights and usage of capital punishment.
After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned by Britain and France. The Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state officially known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1949. Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a constitutional monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers.
The roots of the instability and violence in the Middle East go back to the settlements after the First World War. Conflicting agendas produced compromises unacceptable to many in the interested parties.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Boundless World History
"Partition of the Ottoman Empire"
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Challenges of Interwar Latin America
Overview
United States Good Neighbor Policy
Latin America experienced a significant turn in the middle to early 20th century. The majority of this turn was because of economic policies such as the Bracero Program and Import Substitution Industrialization. In many parts of the Latin American culture saw also a cultural and political programs.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the role of World War II on Latin America.
- Analyze the responses of Latin American leaders to the United States in the interwar period.
- Evaluate the Good Neighbor Policy on Latin America.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Bracero Program: a series of laws and diplomatic agreements initiated on August 4, 1942, that guaranteed basic human rights and a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour to temporary contract laborers traveling from Mexico to the United States
The Good Neighbor Policy
Manifest Destiny from the 19th century put forward a unique relationship that the United States was centrally interested in Latin America as a site of expansion and growth. Throughout the late 19th to early 20th centuries, Latin America was seen by the United States as part of a broader cultural and economic sphere. Latin American countries were to adhere to US policies and ideas. This is best illustrated with Cuba: the relationship established with the United States in the Cuban Constitution allows the United States to go to Cuba at any time they feel is necessary.
The interwar period changed this relationship between Latin America and the United States. Following World War I, the United States followed a policy of isolationism. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration changed this, when they started pushing for a policy known as the Good Neighbor Policy. The premise behind the policy was that a good neighbor does not go into someone’s house and try to fix problems; instead, a good neighbor will stand at a point and tell you that there are problems in your home. This resulted in a unique relationship between the United States and Latin American states.
The Good Neighbor Policy meant that Latin American states began to find a rhythm and rhyme that worked better for their own people and governments, as there was far less external pressure to deal with. The freedom to explore what made policy sense in Argentina or Cuba, without United States or other foreign interference, meant the development of unique policy goals in each of these states. At this juncture, many Latin American states experienced the opportunity to grow their own ideas and agendas.
The Good Neighbor Policy came about because of the economic downturn of the Great Depression, a depression that also affected Latin American nations. Many of the Latin American states suffered economically. Mexico, for example, struggled to find ways to find money and resources throughout this period. Chile and Peruvian goods did not find markets in this 1930s. While there was a bit of openness in culture and economics that happened in the 1930s, this was limited in scope and scale due to the economic collapse of the Great Depression. Though, out of that catastrophe came a unique economic model that many Latin American countries began to move towards.
In the colonial and 19th century period, Latin America was the site of production of raw materials to sell directly to Europe. This meant that Brazil grew massive amounts of coffee and sugar to sell to European markets. Bananas from Central America were sold directly to consumers in North America and Europe. While Europeans often were selling higher end finished products in return. The industrialized worker of Germany, for example, would sell machine guns to Chile. The problem is that these raw products were relatively cheap in comparison to the finished product’s price. This imbalance of trade caused a problem, because as more finished goods became a part of the market, Latin American states were struggling to keep up with purchasing them. The problem is how expensive cars would be while bananas are very inexpensive, this would mean that there was many bananas that it would take to purchase a car.
The limits of interference of US government meant that Latin America could start to explore how to make and manufacture their own materials. Many Latin America economists started to critically think about how to change this system of trade imbalance during the interwar period. Economist Raúl Prebisch began exploring the idea of Latin American governments pushing consumers to change their trade behaviors. The policy that Prebisch began to call for is known as Import Substitution Industrialization, or more commonly ISI. Prebisch argued that instead of buying finished goods, Latin American governments should start buying the machines to make their own finished goods. This would mean that, instead of buying cars from Italy or Germany, Argentines would buy the machines to make their own cars. This shift was an important one because this became the model of Latin American governments throughout the 1920s and 30s.
Mexico
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Democratic Current: a movement within the PRI founded in 1986 that criticized the federal government for reducing spending on social programs to increase payments on foreign debt (PRI members who participated in the Democratic Current were expelled from the party and formed the National Democratic Front (FDN).)
habeas corpus: a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention
import substitution industrialization: a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production
National Revolutionary Party: the Mexican political party founded in 1929 that held executive power within the country for an uninterrupted 71 years (It underwent two name changes during its time in power: once in 1938, to Partido de la Revolucion Mexican (PRM), and again in 1946, to Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
Corruption and Opposing Political Parties
As in previous regimes, the PRM retained its hold over the electorate due to massive electoral fraud. Toward the end of every president’s term, consultations with party leaders would take place and the PRM’s next candidate would be selected. In other words, the incumbent president would pick his successor. To support the party’s dominance in the executive branch of government, the PRM sought dominance at other levels as well. It held an overwhelming majority in the Chamber of Deputies, as well as every seat in the Senate and every state governorship.
As a result, the PRM became a symbol over time of corruption, including voter suppression and violence. In 1986, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas—the former Governor of Michoacan and son of the former president Lazaro Cardenas—formed the Democratic Current, which criticized the federal government for reducing spending on social programs to increase payments on foreign debt. Members of the Democratic Current were expelled from the party, and in 1987, they formed the National Democratic Front, or Frente Democratico Nacional (FDN). In 1989, the left wing of the PRM, now called Partido Revolucionario Institucional, or PRI, went on to form its own party called the Party of the Democratic Revolution. The conservative National Action Party, likewise, grew after 1976 when it obtained support from the business sector in light of recurring economic crises. The growth of both these opposition parties resulted in the PRI losing the presidency in 2000.
The Mexican Economic Miracle
The Mexican Economic Miracle refers to the country’s inward-focused development strategy, which produced sustained economic growth of 3-4 percent with modest 3 percent inflation annually from the 1940s until the 1970s.
Creating the Conditions for Growth
The reduction of political turmoil that accompanied national elections during and immediately after the Mexican Revolution was an important factor in laying the groundwork for economic growth. This was achieved by the establishment of a single, dominant political party that subsumed clashes between various interest groups within the framework of a unified party machine.
During the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas, significant policies were enacted in the social and political spheres that had major impacts on the economic policies of the country. For instance, Cardenas nationalized oil concerns in 1938. He also nationalized Mexico’s railways and initiated far-reaching land reform. Some of these policies were carried on, albeit more moderately, by Manuel Avila Camacho, who succeeded him to the presidency. Camacho initiated a program of industrialization in early 1941 with the Law of Manufacturing Industries, famous for beginning the process of import-substitution within Mexico. Then in 1946, President Miguel Aleman Valdes passed the Law for Development of New and Necessary Industries, continuing the trend of inward-focused development strategies.
Growth was sustained by Mexico’s increasing commitment to primary education for its general population. The primary school enrollment rate increased threefold from the late 1920s through to the 1940s, making economic output more productive by the 1940s. Mexico also made investments in higher education during this period, which encouraged a generation of scientists and engineers to enable new levels of industrial innovation. For instance, in 1936 the Instituto Politecnico Nacional was founded in the northern part of Mexico City. Also in northern Mexico, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and High Education was founded in 1942.
World War II
Mexico benefited substantially from World War II by supplying labor and materials to the Allies. For instance, in the U.S. the Bracero Program was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements initiated on August 4, 1942, that guaranteed basic human rights and a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour to temporary contract laborers who came to the United States from Mexico. Braceros—meaning manual laborer, literally “one who works using his arms”—were intended to fill the U.S. labor shortage in agriculture that was occurring because farmers were drafted into service. The program outlasted the war and offered employment contracts to 5 million braceros in 24 U.S. states, making it the largest foreign worker program in U.S. history. Mexico also received cash payments for its contributions of materials useful to the war effort, which infused its treasury with reserves. There was a large economic resources that helped to build up after the war, Mexico was able to embark on large infrastructure projects.
Camacho used part of the accumulated savings from the war to pay off foreign debts, which improved Mexico’s credit substantially and increased investors’ confidence in the government. The government was also in a better position to more widely distribute material benefits from the Revolution, given the robust revenues from the war effort. Camacho used funds to subsidize food imports that affected urban workers. Mexican workers also received high salaries during the war, but due to the lack of consumer goods, spending did not increase substantially. The national development bank, Nacional Financiera, was founded under Camacho’s administration and funded the expansion of the industrial sector.
Import-Substitution and Infrastructure Projects
The economic stability of the country, high credit rating, increasingly educated work force, and savings from the war provided excellent conditions under which to begin a program of import substitution industrialization. In the years following World War II, President Miguel Aleman Valdes (1946 – 52) instituted a full-scale import-substitution program that stimulated output by boosting internal demand. The government raised import controls on consumer goods but relaxed them on capital goods such as machinery. Capital goods were then purchased using international reserves accumulated during the war and used to produce consumer goods domestically. One industry that was particularly successful was textile production. Mexico became a desirable location for foreign transnational companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and Sears to establish manufacturing branches during this period. The share of imports subject to licensing requirements rose from 28 percent in 1956 to more than 60 percent on average during the 1960s and approximately 70 percent during the 1970s. Industry accounted for 22 percent of total output in 1950, 24 percent in 1960, and 29 percent in 1970.Meanwhile, the share of total output arising from agriculture and other primary activities declined during the same period.
The Mexican government promoted industrial expansion through public investment in agricultural, energy, and transportation infrastructure. Cities grew rapidly after 1940, reflecting the shift of employment towards industrial and service centers rather than agriculture. To sustain these population changes, the government invested in major dam projects to produce hydroelectric power, supply drinking water to cities and irrigation water to agriculture, and control flooding. By 1950, Mexico’s road network had also expanded to 21,000 kilometers, some 13,600 of which were paved.
Mexico’s strong economic performance continued into the 1960s when GDP growth averaged around seven percent overall and approximately three percent per capita. Consumer price inflation also only averaged about three percent annually. Manufacturing remained the country’s dominant growth sector, expanding seven percent annually and attracting considerable foreign investment. By 1970, Mexico diversified its export base and became largely self-sufficient in food crops, steel, and most consumer goods. Although imports remained high, most were capital goods used to expand domestic production.
Brazil
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Brazilian Miracle: a period of exceptional economic growth in Brazil during the rule of the Brazilian military government, which reached its peak during the tenure of President Emilio Garrastazu Medici from 1969 to 1973 (During this time, average annual GDP growth was close to 10%.)
coronelismo: the Brazilian political machine during the Old Republic that was responsible for the centralization of political power in the hands of locally dominant oligarchs, known as coronels, who would dispense favors in return for loyalty
latifúndios: an extensive parcel of privately owned land, particularly landed estates that specialized in agriculture for export
The Old Republic
Governance in Brazil’s Old Republic wavered between state autonomy and centralization. The First Brazilian Republic, or Old Republic, covers a period of Brazilian history from 1889 to 1930 during which it was governed a constitutional democracy. Democracy, however, was nominal in the republic. In reality, elections were rigged and voters in rural areas were pressured to vote for their bosses’ chosen candidates. If that method did not work, the election results could still be changed by one-sided decisions of Congress’s verification of powers commission (election authorities in the República Velha were not independent from the executive and the Legislature, but dominated by the ruling oligarchs). As a result, the presidency of Brazil during this period alternated between the oligarchies of the dominant states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. The regime is often referred to as “café com leite,” or “coffee with milk,” after the respective agricultural products of the two states.
Brazil’s Old Republic was not an ideological offspring of the republics of the French or American Revolutions, although the regime would attempt to associate itself with both. The republic did not have enough popular support to risk open elections and was born of a coup d’etat that maintained itself by force. The republicans made Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca president (1889 – 91) and after a financial crisis, appointed Field Marshal Floriano Vieira Peixoto the Minister of War to ensure the allegiance of the military.
Rule of the Landed Oligarchies
The history of the Old Republic is dominated by a quest to find a viable form of government to replace the preceding monarchy. This quest swung Brazil back and forth between state autonomy and centralization. The constitution of 1891 established the United States of Brazil and granted extensive autonomy to the provinces, now called states. The federal system was adopted, and all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government in the constitution were delegated to the states. Over time, extending as far as the 1920s, the federal government in Rio de Janeiro was dominated and managed by a combination of the more powerful Brazilian states: Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and to a lesser extent Pernambuco and Bahia.
The sudden elimination of the monarchy left the military as Brazil’s only viable, dominant institution. As a result, the military developed as a national regulatory and interventionist institution within the republic. Although the Roman Catholic Church maintained a presence, it remained primarily international in its personnel, doctrine, liturgy, and purposes. The Army began to eclipse other military institutions, such as the Navy and the National Guard. However, the armed forces, were divided over their status, relationship to the political regime, and institutional goals. Therefore, the lack of military unity and disagreement among civilian elites regarding the military’s role in society prevented the establishment of a long-term military dictatorship within the country.
The Constituent Assembly that drew up the constitution of 1891 was a battleground between those seeking to limit executive power, which was dictatorial in scope under President Deodoro da Fonseca, and the Jacobins—radical authoritarians who opposed the coffee oligarchy and wanted to preserve and intensify presidential authority. The constitution established a federation governed supposedly by a president, a bicameral National Congress, and a judiciary. However, real power rested in the hands of regional patrias and local potentates, called “colonels”. There was a constitutional system as well as the real system of unwritten agreements (coronelismo) among the colonels. Under coronelism, local oligarchies chose state governors, who selected the president.
This informal but real distribution of power emerged as a result of armed struggles and bargaining. The system consolidated the state oligarchies around families that were members of the old monarchical elite, and to provide a check to the Army, the state oligarchies strengthened the navy and state police. In larger states, state police evolved into small armies.
In the final decades of the 19th century, the United States, much of Europe, and neighboring Argentina expanded the right to vote. Brazil, however, moved to restrict access to the polls under the monarchy and did not correct the situation under the republic. By 1910, only 627,000 eligible voters could be counted among a total population of 22 million. Throughout the 1920s, only between 2.3% and 3.4% of the total population could vote.
The middle class was far from active in political life. High illiteracy rates went hand in hand with the absence of universal suffrage or a free press. In regions far from major urban centers, news could take four to six weeks to arrive. In this context, a free press created by European immigrant anarchists started to develop during the 1890s and 1900s and spread widely, particularly in large cities.
Latifundio Economies
Around the start of the 20th century, the vast majority of Brazil’s population lived on plantation communities. Because of the legacy of Ibero-American slavery, abolished as late as 1888 in Brazil, there was an extreme concentration of landownership reminiscent of feudal aristocracies: 464 great landowners held more than 270,000 km² of land (latifúndios), while 464,000 small and medium-sized farms occupied only 157,000 km². Large estate owners used their land to grow export products like coffee, sugar, and cotton, and the communities who resided on his land would participate in the production of these cash crops. For instance, most typical estates included the owner’s chaplain and overseers, indigent peasants, sharecroppers, and indentured servants. As a result, Brazilian producers tended to neglect the needs of domestic consumption, and four-fifths of the country’s grain needs were imported.
Brazil’s dependence on factory-made goods and loans from technologically, economically, and politically advanced North Atlantic countries retarded its domestic industrial base. Farm equipment was primitive and largely non-mechanized. Peasants tilled the land with hoes and cleared the soil through the inefficient slash-and-burn method. Meanwhile, living standards were generally squalid. Malnutrition, parasitic diseases, and lack of medical facilities limited the average life span in 1920 to 28 years. Without an open market, Brazilian industry could not compete against the technologically advanced Anglo-American economies. In this context, the Encilhamento (a “boom and bust” process that first intensified, and then crashed, in the years between 1889 and 1891) occurred, the consequences of which were felt in all areas of the Brazilian economy for many decades following.
During this period, Brazil did not have a significantly integrated national economy. The absence of a big internal market with overland transportation, except for mule trains, impeded internal economic integration, political cohesion, and military efficiency. Instead, Brazil had a grouping of regional economies that exported their own specialty products to European and North American markets. The Northeast exported its surplus cheap labor but saw its political influence decline in the face of competition from Caribbean sugar producers. The wild rubber boom in Amazônia declined due to the rise of efficient Southeast Asian colonial plantations following 1912. The national-oriented market economies of the South were not dramatic, but their growth was steady, and by the 1920s, that growth allowed Rio Grande do Sul to exercise considerable political leverage. Real power resided in the coffee-growing states of the Southeast—São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro—that produced the most export revenue. Those three and Rio Grande do Sul harvested 60% of Brazil’s crops, turned out 75% of its industrial and meat products, and held 80% of its banking resources.
Struggles for Reform
Support for industrial protectionism increased during the 1920s. Under considerable pressure from the growing middle class, a more activist, centralized state adapted to represent the new bourgeoisie’s interests. A policy of state intervention, consisting of tax breaks, lowered duties, and import quotas, expanded the domestic capital base. During this time, São Paulo was at the forefront of Brazil’s economic, political, and cultural life. Known colloquially as a “locomotive pulling the 20 empty boxcars” (a reference to the 20 other Brazilian states) and Brazil’s industrial and commercial center to this day, São Paulo led the trend toward industrialization with foreign revenues from the coffee industry.
With manufacturing on the rise and the coffee oligarchs imperiled by the growth of trade associated with World War I, the old order of café com leite and coronelismo eventually gave way to the political aspirations of the new urban groups: professionals, government and white-collar workers, merchants, bankers, and industrialists. Prosperity also contributed to a rapid rise in the population of working class Southern and Eastern European immigrants—a population that contributed to the growth of trade unionism, anarchism, and socialism. In the post-World War I period, Brazil was hit by its first wave of general strikes and the establishment of the Communist Party in 1922. However, the overwhelming majority of the Brazilian population was composed of peasants with few if any ties to the growing labor movement. As a result, social reform movements would crop up in the 1920s, ultimately culminating in the Revolution of 1930.
Years Under the Military Regime
Brazilian society experienced extreme oppression under the military regime despite general economic growth during the Brazilian Miracle.
The Brazilian military government was an authoritarian military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from April 1, 1964 to March 15, 1985. It began with the 1964 coup d’etat led by armed forces against the administration of the President Joao Goulart, who had previously served as Vice President and assumed the office of the presidency following the resignation of democratically-elected Janio Quadros. The military revolt was fomented by the governors of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, and Guanabara. The coup was supported by the Embassy and State Department of the United States. The fall of President Goulart worried many citizens. Many students, Catholics, Marxists, and workers formed groups that opposed military rule. A minority even engaged in direct armed struggle, although the vast majority of the resistance supported political solutions to the mass suspension of human rights. In the first few months after the coup, thousands of people were detained, and thousands of others were removed from their civil service or university positions.
The military dictatorship lasted for almost 21 years despite initial pledges to the contrary. In 1967, it enacted a new, restrictive constitution that stifled freedom of speech and political opposition. The regime adopted nationalism, economic development, and anti-communism as its guidelines.
Establishing the Regime
Within the Army, agreement could not be reached as to a civilian politician who could lead the government after the ouster of President Joao Goulart. On April 9, 1964, the coup leaders published the First Institutional Act, which greatly limited the freedoms of the 1946 constitution. Under the act, the President was granted authority to remove elected officials from office, dismiss civil servants, and revoke political rights of those found guilty of subversion or misuse of public funds for up to 10 years. Three days after the publication of the act, Congress elected Army Chief of Staff, Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco to serve as president for the remainder of Goulart’s term. Castelo Branco had intentions of overseeing radical reforms to the political-economic system, but he refused to remain in power beyond the remainder of Goulart’s term or to institutionalize the military as a governing body. Although he intended to return power to elected officials at the end of Goulart’s term, competing demands radicalized the situation.
Military hardliners wanted to completely purge the left-wing and populist influences for the duration of Castelo Branco’s reforms. Civilians with leftist leanings criticized Castelo Branco for the extreme actions he took to implement reforms, whereas the military hardliners felt Castelo Branco was acting too lenient. On October 27, 1965, after two opposition candidates won in two provincial elections, Castelo Branco signed the Second Institutional Act, which set the stage for a purge of Congress, removing objecting state governors and expanding the President’s arbitrary powers at the expense of the legislative and judiciary branches. This not only provided Castelo Branco with the ability to repress the left, but also provided a legal framework for the hard-line authoritarian rules of Artur da Costa e Silva (1967 – 69) and Emilio Garrastazu Medici (1969 – 74).
Rule of the Hardliners
Castelo Branco was succeeded to the presidency by General Artur da Costa e Silva, a hardliner within the regime. Experimental artists and musicians formed the Tropicalia movement during this time, and some major popular musicians such as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Velsos were either arrested, imprisoned, or exiled. The military government had already been using various forms of torture as early as 1964 in order to gain information as well as intimidate and silence potential opponents. This radically increased after 1968.
Widespread student protests also abounded during this period. In response, on December 13, 1968, Costa e Silva signed the Fifth Institutional Act, which gave the president dictatorial powers, dissolved Congress and the state legislatures, suspended the constitution, ended democratic government, suspended habeas corpus, and imposed censorship.
On August 31, 1969, Costa e Silva suffered a stroke. Instead of his vice president assuming the office of the presidency, all state power was assumed by the military, which then chose General Emilio Garrastazu Medici, another hardliner, as president.
During his presidency, Medici sponsored the greatest human rights abuses of the time period. Persecution and torture of dissidents, harassment against journalists, and press censorship became ubiquitous. A succession of kidnappings of foreign ambassadors in Brazil embarrassed the military government. Reactions, such as anti-government manifestations and guerrilla movements, generated increasing repressive measures in turn.
By the end of 1970, the official minimum wage went down to US $40 a month, and as a result, the more than one-third of the Brazilian workforce that made minimum wage lost approximately half their purchasing power in relation to 1960 levels.
Nevertheless, Medici was popular because his term was met with the largest economic growth of any Brazilian President, a period of time popularly known as the Brazilian Miracle. The military entrusted economic policy to a group of technocrats led by Minister of Finance Delfim Netto. During these years, Brazil became an urban society with 67% of people living in cities. The government became directly involved in the economy, investing heavily in new highways, bridges, and railroads. Steel mills, petrochemical factories, hydroelectric power plants, and nuclear reactors were also built by large state-owned companies like Eletrobras and Petrobras. To reduce reliance on imported oil, the ethanol industry was heavily promoted.
By 1980, 57% of Brazil’s exports were industrial goods compared to 20% in 1968. Additionally, average annual GDP growth was close to 10%. Comparatively, during President Goulart’s rule, the economy had been nearing a crisis, with annual inflation reaching 100%. Additionally, Medici presented the First National Development Plan in 1971, which aimed at increasing the rate of economic growth, particularly in the Northeast and Amazonia. Brazil also won the 1970 Football World Cup, promoting national pride and Brazil’s international profile.
Attributions
Attributions
Title Image
Wikimedia Commons. Getuilo Vargas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get%C3%BAlio_Vargas#/media/File:Getuliovargas1930.jpg
Adapted from:
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/mexico/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/brazil/
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:50.914553
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87982/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87984/overview
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The Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War, and the Formation of the Soviet Union
Overview
The Russian Revolution: October 1917
On October 25, 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in a successful revolt against the ineffective Provisional Government, an event known as the October Revolution. The Revolution resulted not only in the dissolution of Russia’s Provisional Government but also the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and members of the royal family. The monarchy was then replaced with a communist government that ruled with an intolerant, and often violent, fist for over seventy years. This event remains the seminal turning point in Russian history and for much of Eastern Europe in the twentieth century.
Learning Objectives
- Explain the key events and people of the Russian Revolution of October 1917
- Examine the long-term consequences and legacies of the Russian Revolution
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Vladimir Lenin: lead revolutionary and head of the Bolshevik party during the October Russian Revolution in 1917
Leon Trotsky: head of the Petrograd Soviet; an intellectual socialist and eventual righthand man to Lenin
soviets: small, locally-elected councils of men with ties to socialist ideas supporting workers, soldiers, and peasantry
Bolsheviks: political party of Vladimir Lenin that was considered extreme, and later became the basis of the Russian communist party
July Days: four to five days in mid-July 1917 when soldiers, sailors, and workers held armed protests against the Provisional Government
“Peace, Land, Bread!”: Lenin’s famous slogan that won the heart and support of the Russian peasantry during his “April Theses” speech in April 1917
October Revolution: successful Russian Revolution that overthrew the democratic Provisional Government and established the Bolsheviks as a military dictatorship
Execution of the royal family: plan hatched by Lenin and the Bolsheviks to eliminate any chance of a restoration of the imperial family in Russia
Ipatiev House: site where the tsar and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks
Background: Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, forever remembered by his pseudonym, Lenin, was born some four-hundred miles southeast of Moscow in 1870 in the city of Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk), Russia. Lenin grew up in a middle-class home and excelled in school. Before reaching adulthood, though, his comfortable lifestyle endured two personal catastrophes that, perhaps, shaped his future career. His father died unexpectedly from a brain bleed when Lenin was a teenager. Not long after, Lenin’s older brother, Alexander, was arrested and later executed for conspiring to assassinate the Tsar.
Historians often cite these events as decisive turning points in young Lenin’s life. Ones that inspired the increasing revolutionary attitude that materialized during his time at Kazan University. Exceedingly intelligent, Lenin eventually attended law school. His passion, however, resided in the words of communism’s founder, Karl Marx.
Lenin’s revolutionary activity began in earnest around the turn of the century. He moved to Saint Petersburg, married a Marxist schoolteacher, and began writing anti-monarchist, Marxist pieces. Notably, he wrote for the Marxist paper, Iskra (Spark in English). During his time writing for Iskra he adopted the pseudonym, “N. Lenin.” His activities ultimately resulted in several temporary exiles, notably to Zurich, Switzerland. But by the time of his exile, Lenin had recruited a strong group of supporters in Russia. One that would continue throughout his exile, and grow stronger during World War I.
The February Revolution
In many ways, February Revolution of 1917 was the opening act in the larger Russian Revolution that would occur in October 1917. For over two years, Russian urban populations had suffered from reduced to meager food and fuel rations because of Russian participation in World War I. In February 1917, women in Saint Petersburg led a protest for increased rations and government reform. The protests quickly gained momentum as people from all walks of life joined the revolt. Saint Petersburg’s streets filled with demonstrators. With the tsar at the front, Tsarina Alexandra was left to handle the growing crisis. Instead of confronting or comforting the crowd, Alexandra remained inside her palace with her children.
Enormous strikes of hundreds of thousands of workers erupted across the city. From afar, Nicholas attempted to send his guards and policemen to quell the rebellion. Instead, most of his forces sided with the peasants. On March 15, 1917, Nicholas II abdicated. By doing so, the power in Russia fell from the hands of an imperial dynasty to a shaky Provisional Government.
Importantly, while the Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky initially acted as the governing body responsible for foreign affairs, a smaller group was gaining momentum in Russia: the soviets. These groups were small, usually local councils comprised of elected officials. These officials were characterized as anti-monarchal socialists who represented the goals of the people. Notably, Saint Petersburg was home to the Petrograd Soviet. At its head was a man who later became a close ally of Lenin—Leon Trotsky. As the Revolution gained momentum, so too did the power and popularity of the Soviets, as well as the most radical of the socialist movements, which was led by the Bolsheviks and headed by Vladimir Lenin.
Vladimir Lenin’s return to Russia from his exile in Zurich, Switzerland is one of legend. News of the February Revolution had reached him, and he deemed it the right moment for a socialist state to take hold in Russia. But the question remained: how could he return to Russia from Switzerland?
After several failed efforts, Lenin found an unlikely solution in the form of the German government. Eager to see Russia knocked out of the war and correctly believing that Lenin could help churn up the revolution in Russia, the Germans proposed a deal. They offered him safe passage from Zurich through Germany in a sealed train car that carried other Russian revolutionaries. The train passed into Sweden and Finland. Then Lenin slipped back into Russia in disguise. The German gamble would soon pay off as Lenin and his associates stirred up far more discontent and rebellion than the thousands of mutinying Russian soldiers at the front.
On April 16, 1917, Lenin delivered a speech from Finland Station in Saint Petersburg titled the “April Theses.” In this speech, he highlighted the goals for his political party, the Bolsheviks. Among his demands was the claim that all power be handed over to the Soviets. He emerged as a champion of the workers, farmers, sailors, and soldiers by declaring, “Peace, Land, and Bread!" Neither he, nor his party, supported Russian war efforts. Instead, they supported peace, a redistribution of land among the working class, and improved diets for Russia’s suffering population. Unsurprisingly, as support for Lenin’s party grew, the popularity of the Provisional Government quickly diminished.
The July Days
The summer of 1917 proved far more challenging for Russia than anyone expected. With the tsar’s abdication, three-hundred years of imperial rule had ended overnight. The shaky Provisional Government made attempts to implement democratic rule, but they also chose to remain a committed ally in World War I. This decision likely caused their ultimate downfall.
Russians across the country were exhausted and tired of the costs of World War I. Historians have since estimated that nearly two million Russian soldiers were killed in the war, while nearly five million were wounded. Combined these figures suggest that over half of Russia’s army was a casualty in World War I—a far higher figure than any other army in the war. Moreover, the war had exhausted Russia’s natural resources.
In July, mobs of sailors, soldiers, and workers banded together to protest the Provisional Government’s decision to remain in the war. These armed demonstrations were known later as the July Days.
The goal of demonstrators was to overthrow the Provisional Government—which the working class feared would still put too much government power in the hands of a few, educated elites. But due to disorganization among political factions, the coup failed. Lenin, the head of the Bolshevik Party, was temporarily forced to flee over the border into Finland.
The October Revolution
By the fall of 1917, Russian food and fuel scarcity ravaged St. Petersburg. Exhaustion and anger permeated every walk of society. For Lenin and the Bolsheviks, it was a perfect recipe for a revolution.
Lenin slipped across the border from Finland and met with the man who would become his righthand—Leon Trotsky. As head of the Petrograd Soviet, Trotsky knew more about the city and its people than Lenin did. Together, they organized the foundation of the Russian Revolution.
On October 25, 1917, the Bolsheviks organized forces and led an attack on the Provisional Government. Alexander Kerensky tried to organize forces to counter the attack but failed to find enough soldiers. Confronted by superior numbers, Kerensky was forced to flee for his life. The Provisional Government collapsed. Bolshevik forces stormed the tsar’s former residence, the Winter Palace, and seized innumerable priceless treasures, while simultaneously destroying all symbols associated with the imperial rule of the Romanovs. In a climactic moment, Lenin delivered a speech to a crowd that “all rule had passed to the Soviets.” Almost overnight, Russia had transformed from a fledgling democracy to a communist, military dictatorship unseen before (or since) in history. This dictatorship would later be revealed to the world as the Soviet Union.
On October 26, the Bolsheviks presented The Decree on Land. It allowed peasants to seize private land from the nobility and redistribute it among themselves. The Bolsheviks viewed themselves as representing an alliance of workers and peasants and memorialized that understanding with the hammer and sickle on the red flag of the Soviet Union. Other decrees resulted in the following:
- All private property was seized by the state.
- All Russian banks were nationalized.
- Private bank accounts were confiscated.
- The Church’s properties (including bank accounts) were seized.
- All foreign debts were repudiated.
- Control of the factories was given to the Soviets.
- Wages were fixed at higher rates than during the war, and a shorter, eight-hour working day was introduced.
The success of the October Revolution transformed the Russian state into a soviet republic. A coalition of anti-Bolshevik groups attempted to unseat the new government in the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1922, but they would prove horribly unsuccessful.
The Last Days of the Romanovs
In March 1917, the last Romanov tsar, Nicholas II, abdicated not only on behalf of himself, but also on behalf of his ailing, hemophiliac son, Alexei. His younger brother, Michael, also quickly refused the throne and was later murdered by Bolshevik supporters in the woods outside of Perm, near the Ural Mountains.
Nicholas remained under house arrest with his wife, children, and a handful of servants at their home—Tsarskoe Selo—for six months. In August 1917, Alexander Kerensky decided to move the family to a more secure location, far removed from the capital city. With effort, the Romanovs were transported to a former governor’s palace in Tobolsk, Siberia. For nearly nine months, the family enjoyed relative peace. The tsar and his children enjoyed short walks, reading, music, and even such menial chores as sawing wood. However, conditions for the royal family took a turn for the worse in late 1917 after the Bolsheviks seized power in Saint Petersburg.
Throughout all of this, the royal family remained steadfast in their Orthodox faith. Believing that their prayers would be answered and help would soon arrive. Their hopes were destined to be ill-founded. In April 1918, a seasoned Bolshevik guard prepared the family for a final relocation. This time, they would be moved right into the heart of Bolshevik territory. Though they did not know it, plans were made for the execution of the royal family.
In April 1918, the family arrived at what would be their final location, the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Secretly nicknamed the “House of Special Purpose,” the grandiose home was designated as the future execution site of the royal family. Indeed, the final days of the Romanov family were, as one historian described, a “living Hell.” Bolshevik guards painted over the family’s windows, restricting their view to the outside world. Walks were limited to half-an-hour in a courtyard, once a day. Dinners were served to the royal family after they’d been spat into. And lewd drawings and innuendos were presented to the Romanov daughters. Moreover, the family remained under the constant guard of their Bolshevik captors who restricted their every action.
In the early hours of July 17, 1918, Yakov Yurovsky, the chief Bolshevik guard, awoke the family and ordered them to get dressed. To quell their fears, he said the family was being transferred to a new location for their safety. The family was then led into the house cellar. Alexei, unable to walk due to a previous, severe hemophilia bleed, was carried by his father. The seven Romanovs then sat or stood with their servants and waited for instructions. Nearly an hour passed before the Bolshevik guards returned. This time, armed. Yakov Yurovsky said,
“Your friends have tried to save you. They have failed you. We now must shoot you.”
Reports indicate that the tsar, naïve to the end of his life, had only time to exclaim, “What? What?” before numerous shots were fired upon him. Nicholas and Alexandra died instantly. However, many of the untrained Bolshevik guards, little more than thugs, were uncomfortable executing the tsar’s children.
An almost mystical charm initially seemed to protect the daughters. Reports of the events indicate that bullets ricocheted off their dresses, and the executioners resorted to using bayonets and the butt-ends of their rifles to attempt to murder Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia. When that failed, Yurovsky and his lieutenant shot the daughters in the back of the head. Later, the executioners discovered the young women had sewn jewels into their dresses in such numbers that they had acted as bullet-proof vests. Yurovsky saw too, that amazingly Alexei had survived the execution. He walked to the “heir of all the Russias,” who still lay in his father’s arms, and savagely kicked the boy before shooting him twice in the back of the head. Similarly, each of the servants were brutally beaten and shot to death. The execution of the royal family had lasted far longer than planned. And the subsequent destruction and burial of the bodies in the Ural Mountains proved disorganized.
Almost immediately, rumors circulated that one of the children, likely Anastasia, had survived the massacre and escaped. The rumors escalated in 1988 when the remains of the tsar, his wife, and three of their daughters were excavated and positively identified through DNA analysis. In 2007, though, the rumors were definitively quashed when the remains of Alexei, and his sister (likely Marie) were discovered and positively identified through DNA analysis. In recognition for their devout faith, the Russian Orthodox Church has proclaimed the seven Romanovs, “passion bearers” or members of the faith who remain devout in the hour of their death. This was based on accounts of the family trying to make the sign of the cross as they met their brutal deaths.
Impact
The Russian Revolution is a pivotal event in modern history. It not only extinguished imperial rule in Russia but also experiments in democracy. The Bolshevik party would reorganize themselves and become the backbone of Soviet communism during the 1920s. Today, the legacies of the Russian Revolution remained mixed. While the rights of workers and the lower classes were touted as the future backbone of Russia, enacting those measures proved difficult. The country erupted into a violent civil war at the end of World War I, as well as engaged in equally brutal wars across parts of Eastern Europe, notably Poland and Ukraine. Moreover, the largest communist and military dictatorship in history would emerge in the shape of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Civil War and the Formation of the Soviet Union
The Russian Civil War, which erupted 1918 shortly after the October Revolution, was fought mainly between the “Reds,” led by the Bolsheviks, and the “Whites,” a politically diverse coalition of anti-Bolsheviks. An excessively brutal and bloody conflict, it ended in a Bolshevik victory in 1921. By the end of 1922, a pair of treaties had been signed between Russia and territories from present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia. Thus, the Soviet Union was born.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the course of the Russian Civil War and its legacies.
- Examine the reasons for the formation of the Soviet Union.
- Evaluate the pros and cons of the building of the Soviet Union.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Red Army: fighting force that supported Lenin, the Russian Revolution, and Bolshevism during the Russian Civil War
White Army: fighting force that did not support the Russian Revolution, Lenin, or Bolshevism during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War: excessively bloody civil war in Russia (1918 – 1921) between the Bolshevik Red Army and the anti-Bolshevik forces, known as the White Army
The Red Terror: brutal campaign of elimination and suppression carried out by the Bolsheviks against political enemies during the Russian Civil War
The White Terror: brutal campaign of elimination of Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War by the White Army, which included mass-murders
Soviet Union (USSR): formed in 1922, the union of the communist Russian state with territory from present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia, that expanded through the subsequent decades
Communism: a political, social, and economic movement and philosophy in which there are ideally no economic or social classes or private property and resources are owned equally by the people
Cheka: secret police of the Soviet Union that was infamous for its use of violence in the suppression of dissenters and political enemies during the Russian Civil War and after
New Economic Plan (NEP): Soviet economic program in which the Russian state would control all significant industry and financial agencies, while individuals could own small plots of land and engage in low-level trade for personal benefit
Kulaks: Russian peasant farmers who were considered “wealthy” by the Bolsheviks and targeted as enemies of the communist state
war communism: Bolshevik economic practice in the Civil War that allowed the state to seize grain and crop yields to feed the Red Army
The Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War (1917 – 1922) was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire fought immediately after the Russian Revolution of 1917 during which many groups vied to determine Russia’s future. The two largest combatant groups were the Red Army, fighting for the Bolshevik form of socialism, and the loosely allied forces known as the White Army, which included groups with diverse interests. Some favored monarchism, while others favored capitalism or alternative forms of socialism. The White Army had support from Great Britain, France, the U.S., and Japan, while the Red Army possessed internal support, which ultimately proved much more effective.
Background
In 1917, Russia was a massive, multi-ethnic country that struggled to prosper under tsarist rule; additionally, it suffered enormously in World War I. It is perhaps, no wonder that the country would quickly dissolve into civil war following the chaos of the October Revolution, as agendas and vying viewpoints clashed.
Lenin won support of the workers and small-time farmers by declaring, “Peace, Land, Bread!” And in 1918, Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ceded significant Russian territory over to Germany, including the Baltic states. Many Russians who had supported the Revolution of 1917 turned against the Bolsheviks following the ratification of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This division sparked the Russian Civil War.
For Lenin and his associates, “civil war” was an inevitable step in constructing a communist state, just as class-conflict was a critical step of Marxist theory. For Lenin and the Bolsheviks, it was a step that would inflict mass suffering and casualties, but one that was essential in securing their state. In Bolshevik theory, civil war would root-out the “enemies of the people,” such as monarchists, foreigners, and capitalists. When the war ended, only true people of the communist state would remain. Only then could the state operate in harmony.
At the heart of their conflict was the war on the kulaks—Russian farmers who were considered “wealthy” because the had larger farms than their neighbors. Many of Lenin’s inner circle believed the kulaks should be eradicated. To the Bolsheviks, these were people who triumphed over their neighbors for personal profit and supported capitalism. In reality, the kulaks typically were not much better off than many of their neighbors. While most Russian farmers worked on a farm for survival and subsistence, the kulaks might own their own farm of ten or twelve acres and have a few more cows or pigs than the average peasant. But that did not stop the Bolsheviks from waging war on them.
War on the Battlefield
War erupted in Russia between the “Reds” and “Whites” almost immediately following the October Revolution and escalated after the ratification of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Each side had specific advantages.
For the White Army, their strongest advantage was the (limited) support from abroad. Western nations such as England and the United States were democratic and anxious that the Bolshevik’s communist revolution could spread across Europe if it proved successful in Russia. Possibly, it could even spread to the United States were socialism had a small but strong following, thus upending democratic and capitalist values. American, English, and Japanese troops fought on the side of the White Army along Russia’s periphery borders, most notably in far eastern Russia near Vladivostok. But while well-intentioned, the Allies were exhausted from fighting the Germans in World War I. As a result, their military efforts were minimal and had the ultimate effect of leaving the White Army to fight on its own.
The Red Army, by contrast, had limited outside support. However, under the careful Organization of Leon Trotsky, the Red Army was exceedingly disciplined and organized. Moreover, it largely was supported by the Russian peasantry. Volunteers and conscripted soldiers swelled the size of the Red Army to over five million at the end of the war.
For over three years, the two sides clashed across the Russian landscape, notably in present-day Ukraine and Belarus, the Baltic states, Georgia, and far-eastern Russia. Mass casualties resulted among soldiers and civilians alike as the rules of warfare dissolved and terror raged on both sides.
The Red Terror
Civil war engulfed Russia immediately following the October Revolution. The two dominant sides of the war were the Red and White Armies. But Lenin had to worry about more than winning a war against a rival army on the battlefield. He also worried about political dissenters among the civilians. Internal, political enemies constituted a significant threat for him. To combat this threat, Lenin created secret police—the Cheka.
In August 1918, Lenin narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. This close call gave him the pretext he needed to increase the power of the Cheka. In fact, the agency operated with almost unlimited power. Lenin advocated openly for the agency to use terror and violence to destroy enemies of Bolshevism indiscriminately. His telegram to fellow Bolshevik leaders instructed, “Hang no fewer than one-hundred well-known kulaks, rich-bags, blood-suckers (and make sure the hanging takes place in full view of the people).”
By the end of 1918 alone, the Cheka officially reported the execution of nearly 13,000 people. Historians suspect the number to be significantly higher, possibly in the hundreds of thousands.
Headed by Lenin’s close associate, Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Cheka acted with brutal force. Not restricted to simply identifying anti-Bolsheviks, the organization waged war against all “enemies of the people.” This included enemies on and off the battlefield. They carried out mass executions, arrests, and imprisonments. Anyone who could potentially be classified as anti-Bolshevik (or anti-communism) was targeted, including intellectuals, church clergy, the middle class, and monarchists. The agency increased its activity and persecution of the opposition as the Russian Civil War continued.
The White Terror
While the “Red Terror” is remembered because of the Bolshevik victory in the Civil War, there was also a “White Terror” on the battlefield. The “White Terror” were wartime atrocities perpetrated by soldiers in the White Army against the Red Army, civilians, socialists, and revolutionaries; particularly in Eastern Russia.
Estimates vary widely on the casualties inflicted on Red Army soldiers and civilians during the White Terror. Some figures suggest twenty-thousand perished, while other numbers suggest the casualties were in the hundreds of thousands. Most of these deaths resulted from mass executions and indiscriminate killings.
Notably, the White Army targeted Jews as part of the White Terror. Seen as the natural allies of the Bolsheviks because of communist ideology, the White Army carried out mass executions and killings of Jews in the regions of present-day Ukraine and Georgia.
The Effects of "War Communism"
In 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks introduced a method for sustaining their war effort known as “war communism.” This allowed the Bolsheviks to seize grain and farm yields to feed the Red Army. But it had the unintended, negative effect of forcing urban workers to the countryside to help farm and feed the growing army. As a result, production of industrial goods decreased dramatically. And while the Red Army remained fed, Russian and Ukrainian civilians and farmers starved. In 1921, a massive famine broke out and killed an estimated five million people, mostly civilians. It would not be the last famine wrought by Soviet economic planning. Resistance emerged among the working class, but with his powerful Cheka at his beckoning call, Lenin brutally suppressed all dissent. By the end of the Civil War, between 7 and 12 million people had perished due to the fighting and famine. And the casualties were mostly civilians.
Conclusion of the Civil War
The Red Army defeated the White Armed Forces of South Russia in Ukraine in 1919. The remains of the White forces were beaten at the island of Crimea in the Black Sea and evacuated in late 1920. Lesser battles of the war continued for two more years. Minor skirmishes with the remnants of the White forces in the Far East continued into 1923.
Formation of the Soviet Union
The government of the Soviet Union was formed in 1922 with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian republics. It was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), who increasingly developed a totalitarian regime, especially during the reign of Joseph Stalin (1924 – 1953).
Creation of the USSR and Early Years
On December 29, 1922, a conference of delegations from Russia, Transcaucasia, Ukraine, and Byelorussia (Belarus) approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). On February 1, 1924, the USSR was recognized by the British Empire. The same year, a Soviet Constitution was approved, legitimizing the union.
An intensive restructuring of the economy, industry, and politics of the country began in the early days of Soviet power in 1917. A large part of this was done according to the Bolshevik Initial Decrees—government documents signed by Vladimir Lenin. One of the most prominent breakthroughs was a plan that envisioned a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total electrification of the country. The plan was developed in 1920 and covered a 10- to 15-year period. It included the construction of a network of 30 regional power stations, including ten large hydroelectric power plants and numerous electric-powered large industrial enterprises. The plan became the prototype for subsequent Five-Year Plans and was fulfilled by 1931.
In 1921, the Bolsheviks had abandoned their war communism economic plan. In its place emerged the New Economic Policy (NEP). The peasants were freed from wholesale levies of grain and allowed to sell their surplus produce in the open market. Commerce was stimulated by permitting private retail trading. However, the state continued to be responsible for all major business ventures, including banking, transportation, heavy industry, and public utilities.
Although the left opposition among the Communists criticized the rich peasants, or kulaks, who benefited from the NEP, the program proved highly beneficial, reviving the economy. The NEP would later come under increasing opposition from within the party following Lenin’s death in early 1924.
Significance
From 1917 – 1922, Russia was in complete turmoil. The tsarist regime was forever destroyed, exercises in democracy eliminated, and strongman Vladimir Lenin became the face of the Bolshevik effort to establish a communist nation. The Russian Civil War erupted and produced excessive and extreme violence wherever the Red and White Armies waged war; and civilians bore the brunt of the violence on both sides of the conflict. The war marked an ominous start for a new government that claimed to be representing the interests of the peasants. For Lenin and his inner circle though, excessive violence was a necessary step to secure a true, communist nation. While Lenin is responsible for many of the agencies and policies that perpetrated such violence, the Soviet Union would experience a far more ruthless military dictator under Lenin’s successor—Joseph Stalin.
Attributions
All images from Wikimedia Commons
Cole, Joshua and Carol Symes. Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. 3rd Ed. W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 2020. 862-4; 879-881.
Service, Robert. A History of Modern Russia: From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin. Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 2003. 101-122.
Boundless World History, “The Russian Revolution”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-russian-revolution/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Splintering of Eastern Europe: Poland and Ukraine
Overview
Poland
With regards to European History, there is no region more complex and nuanced than the borderlands, sometimes called the “frontier lands”; these are Eastern European countries that are located between Germany and Russia. Two of the most prominent countries in the history of this region are Poland and Ukraine. Both countries have rich histories full of ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. Simultaneously, both countries have fought for autonomy and survival for centuries—sometimes between one another, sometimes between themselves and foreign occupiers: Germany and the Soviet Union. With shifting politics and borders, these countries experienced excessive violence in the twentieth century. But despite their shared border and status as “borderlands,” the histories of Poland and Ukraine are starkly different but ever intertwined. In this way, both countries serve as benchmarks for conflicts that have persisted into the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how both the West and Russia responded to Poland and Ukraine during the interwar era (1919 – 1939).
Key Terms / Key Concepts
borderlands: countries in Eastern Europe that are located between Russia and Germany
Polish-Ukrainian Conflict: conflict between Poland and Ukraine in 1918 – 1919 over the territories of Galicia and Volhynia
Galicia and Volhynia: territories on the Polish-Ukrainian borders that were heavily fought over because of oil and agrarian resources
Polish-Soviet War: major war between Poland and the Soviet Union (1918 – 1921) in which Poland stopped the communists from spreading their revolutionary ideology across Europe
Battle of Warsaw: decisive turning point for the Poles in the Polish-Soviet War
Antisemitism: anti-Jewish ideology
Pogrom: physical attacks on Jewish communities that often result in arrests, beatings, murders, and seizure of Jewish property
Polonization: attempt by Poles to minimize Jewish culture in Poland and promote ethnic Polish culture, which focused on Catholicism, cuisine, dress, and language
Poland
For centuries, Poland has played an integral part economically, politically, and militarily in Central-Eastern Europe. Just east of Germany, it is historically rich in agricultural production, coal, and natural resources. Poland is equally rich in its cultural diversity. The country has historically been ethnically Slavic and religiously Catholic, but also the home to some of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Historically, Poland has been targeted for exploitation and violent conflict within its borders and with its closest neighbors.
Background
During the late nineteenth century through World War I, Poland did not exist as a country. For this reason, Poles fought on both sides in World War I, although predominately with the Allies. During the war, the lands of present-day Poland were some of the primary regions of conflict on the Eastern Front. The war devastated Polish communities economically and socially, leaving the peasants with little to survive on.
When the Allies won the war in 1918, England, France, and the United States insisted that Poland, which had once been a sovereign nation, regain their former land and become an independent nation once more. President Woodrow Wilson was so committed to the restoration of an independent Poland that he devoted principle #13 to argue for it in his famous Fourteen Points. Its borders were created from lands that were, at that point, part of the three strong empires that surrounded it: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
On paper, the Allies’ support for Poland’s independence appeared altruistic. And perhaps, some of the western politicians supported the movement based on altruistic, humanitarian principles. Behind closed doors, though, western politicians supported the re-establishment of an independent Poland to counter the threat growing in Eastern Europe—the communist Bolsheviks. Drawing on their history, the Allies (correctly) assumed that the Poles would not willingly join with the Bolsheviks. An independent Poland, supported by the Western Allies, would act as a buffer zone between Russia and Western Europe, thus reducing the threat that Lenin’s revolution would sweep across Europe.
Regardless of the motivation, Poland regained its independence following the end of World War I in late 1918. From afar, the Western Allies knew they had been right on two points: Lenin was on the move to seize Europe’s borderlands, and Poland would resist the Soviet tide to the last man.
Second Polish Republic
In late 1918, the Second Polish Republic was born. Following World War I and the collapse of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires, political and economic instability reigned across the borderlands. Poland did not escape these social disruptions. As a country, though, it did achieve something enviable to many of the other borderland countries—independence supported by Western Allies, which involved restoration of their former territory.
Throughout the 1920s, Poland struggled to stay afloat financially, particularly after the Great Depression. Poverty was high, especially in the eastern part of the country. Inflation was rampant. Despite their independence, social tensions were elevated due to the instability within the country and the external threats it faced. Much of the land that fell into Polish hands at the end of World War I was deeply contested by all their Eastern neighbors. Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine all believed that borders of the Second Polish Republic incorporated territory that belonged to their nations. As a result of these disputes, Poland engaged in numerous conflicts throughout the 1920s, including wars against Lenin and the Soviets, as well as a war with their next-door neighbor, newly-born Ukraine.
Polish-Ukrainian Conflict
As World War I ended, conflict between Poland and its eastern neighbor, the newly independent Ukraine, escalated into military action. In October 1918, the two countries attacked one another for possession of the lands known as Galicia and Volhynia. These regions lay between the Polish and Ukrainian borders. Both sides sought to gain control of the region. Because of its oil reserves, Galicia was especially important to both nations. In contrast, Volhynia remained largely rooted in agriculture and animal husbandry, which are also important resources because of the enormous amount of food that could be produced in the area.
Poland defeated the Ukrainian troops in the conflict by the summer of 1919 due to better organization, discipline, and Western support. To their delight, the Poles retained control of Galicia and Volhynia. However, the Polish government treated the Ukrainian people who lived in the territories as second-class citizens, which ensured a lingering tension. Furthermore, the Poles did not anticipate the horror that would result from their possession of the two territories, as they became zones of intense fighting during World War II.
Polish-Soviet War
Poland engaged in minor wars with all of its eastern neighbors during the interwar era. But by far the most significant threat remained the communist Soviet Union. As the Western Allies predicted, Lenin was keen to spread his communist revolution across Europe, and possibly topple democracies in the western half of the continent.
Following Germany’s defeat in World War I, the Russians annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and moved to claim territory in central Europe for the Soviet Union. Poland was believed by both the Russians, and the Western Powers alike, to be the one country which could halt the surging red tide. Therefore, it is not surprising that Lenin set his sites on taking control of the nation.
The Poles had no interest in losing their independence, culture, or religion to the Bolsheviks. Battles raged between the Catholic Poles and the seemingly “godless” Red Army. They mounted a dramatic offensive that resulted in their securing territory throughout Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland by early 1920.
The Polish army experienced several significant defeats as the Red Army advanced through Lithuania toward Warsaw. Before the Russians could secure the capital city, the Poles launched a massive defense at the Battle of Warsaw. The massive Polish defense of the city repelled the Russians and forced a ceasefire.
In spring 1921, the Poles had decisively won the Polish-Soviet War. The Peace Treaty of Riga was signed, securing Polish territory in eastern Europe. For the time, Poland had expelled the Russian communists from its lands and intended to remain a democratic nation.
Antisemitism and Polonization
Instability in the borderlands was due to not only external threats but also the disparities among civilians and communities. Active attempts were made to create a Polish identity based on Catholicism, as well as the Polish language and culture. Historically, Polish lands were rich in ethnic diversity. Jews were the largest of the minority groups to live in Poland. They had developed large communities called shtetls throughout the country. For centuries, the Poles and the Jews had developed a workable, if not always harmonious, relationship that enabled them to work and live among one another. However, during the interwar era Polish attitudes shifted dramatically toward their Jewish neighbors—particularly in the poorer parts of the country. Antisemitism spiked across the country. Poles began to circulate the idea that their country and people had suffered so intensely during World War I because of Jewish collaboration with occupying forces. Moreover, they saw the Jews as natural allies of the Russian communists. Thus, in the interwar era, the Poles launched a campaign of Polonization in Galicia and other regions that had large Jewish communities.
During the Polish-Soviet War, and through the early 1920s, Poles engaged in pogroms across the country. These attacks on Jews resulted in hundreds of arrests, widespread murders of Jews, and seizure of Jewish property. While the attacks did not come close to matching the murderous regime of the Nazis in the 1940s, they did signal hostility between Poles and Jews that would persist into World War II to disastrous effect.
Significance
During the interwar years, Poland achieved independence that always seemed under threat. Political, social, and economic strife produced the allusion that the democratic government stood on a narrow precipice and that it could fall if the wind blew too hard. And yet, despite their setbacks and instability, the Poles repelled the Bolsheviks in 1921. Thus, they stopped Lenin’s attempt to spread the communist revolution across Europe. In the process of halting Soviet expansion, Poland created enemies and allies that would become important in World War II.
Ukraine
In the twenty-first century, no Eastern European nation has received such attention or has taken such a place of importance as Ukraine. This country, the largest European nation (other than Russia), is peculiar in its duality. On the surface, it is a country of sweeping landscapes, and a nation of agrarianism. Beneath the pastoral scene though is a country that has been fraught with political tension for over a hundred years.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how both the West and Russia responded to Poland and Ukraine during the interwar (1919 – 1939) era
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Ukrainian People’s Republic: independent Ukrainian state from 1917 – 1921 based in Kyiv
West Ukrainian People’s Republic: short-lived Ukrainian state based in Lviv from fall 1918 to summer 1919
Soviet-Ukrainian War: war between Ukrainian government and forces in the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Russian Red Army (1918 – 1921) that ended in a Russian victory
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic: name for the Ukrainian republic governed by Russia from 1922 – 1921
Background of Ukraine
People have inhabited the present-day country of Ukraine for millennia. Historians generally cite the establishment of Ukrainian people in Eastern Europe in the late 800s with the settlement of the Kyivan Rus—Slavic peoples descended from eastern Viking tribes. Indeed, the Kyvian Rus peoples played a significant role in the Middle Ages, prior to the Mongol invasion. During this time, the basis for the modern Ukrainian language developed, and along with it, a particular sense of an ethnic Ukrainian culture Following the defeat of the Mongols, Ukrainians found themselves in a region with constantly shifting political borders—sometimes belonging to the Poles and Lithuanians, other times to the Russians.
World War I
During World War I, most of the lands where Ukrainians lived were in the Russian Empire. There were, however, significant Ukrainian populations living in the territory of Galicia—a region that was part of Austria-Hungary in 1914. Because of this split, Ukrainian troops fought on both sides of the war throughout World War I, although higher numbers of troops fought on the side of Russia and the Allies.
Like many ethnic groups, the Ukrainians saw the collapse of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and German Empires in 1917 – 1918 as a gateway to independence based on ethnic borders. Similarly, they hoped for support from Western democracies, such as Poland had received.
The Two Ukraines
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, nationalist Ukrainians established an independent government in the city of Kyiv, located at that time in Russian territory. This government proclaimed independence for the Ukrainian People's Republic. The new country would establish its borders based on ethnic Ukrainian populations and loosely model their government on socialist principles.
After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, a second nationalist Ukrainian group established the West Ukrainian People's Republic with its capital at Lviv, a city in Galicia. This situation resulted in two separate, briefly independent, Ukraines. Each had their own ideology but advocated for Ukrainian independence and promoted nationalism.
Very quickly, the West Ukrainian People’s Republic government claimed control over the highly contested and desired region of Galicia. This set the fragile Ukrainian state on a collision course with their significantly stronger neighbor, Poland. War for control over Galicia erupted in late 1918, and ended within a year with a Polish victory in the Polish-Ukrainian Conflict. The Polish triumph resulted in the collapse of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic.
Fighting for Survival
With the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic’s collapse in 1919, there was little opportunity for a large and united Ukraine. Even in the larger state of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, division was high. In the western borderlands, Poland remained in control of Galicia. Internal fighting for control of Ukrainian-inhabited lands persisted for two additional years.
Unlike Poland, which had received political support for the reestablishment of its borders from Western allies, Ukraine received no support. Instead, Western countries raised eyebrows at the potentially socialist state that shared a border with Russia. While Poland had strong allies, Ukraine was left to stand alone against Polish and Russian enemies.
Russia also eyed the politically weak, Ukrainian People’s Republic. It not only lacked strong infrastructure but also a strong military because much of the Ukrainian’s fighting force had perished in World War I.
From 1918 to 1921, the Bolsheviks launched campaigns to destroy the Ukrainian People’s Republic and annex its lands into Soviet territory. This campaign pitted the Ukrainian nationalists in Kyiv against the Russian Red Army in the Soviet-Ukrainian War. With no allies, and significantly under-gunned in comparison to the Russians, the Ukrainians capitulated in 1921. In four years, Ukrainian dreams of an independent country were erased. In place of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, Lenin established a pro-Russian, communist government and annexed all of the Ukrainian lands not claimed by the Poles.
With the Russian victory, Lenin and the Bolshevik party annexed the majority of Ukrainian lands into a constituent republic based on Ukrainian ethnicity and named the new republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This new state, joined with Russia, formed the basis of the Soviet Union.
Life for Ukrainians under Russian rule proved challenging. On the one hand, the Russians encouraged “Ukrainization” of the land by encouraging the widespread use of the Ukrainian language in schools, public offices, and in publications. But Joseph Stalin’s rise to power in Russia soon ended the golden age of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, as life for Ukrainians became harsher and increasingly violent.
Legacy
Ukraine’s history during the early twentieth century is simultaneously inspiring and tragic. It lacked the military strength and alliances with the West that Poland had; therefore, it could not successfully repel the Russian Red Army. And yet, regardless of its political and military defeats, the Ukrainian people never relinquished their ethnic pride.
Attributions
All Images from Wikimedia Commons
Prusin, Alexander V. The Lands Between: Conflict in the East European Borderlands, 1870-1992. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2010. 72-97; 98; 110; 115.
Snyder, Timothy. The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999. New Haven, Yale University Press: 2003. 133-142.
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Communism and the Man of Steel: The Rise of Joseph Stalin, 1922-1938
Overview
Russia under Stalin: 1922-1938
It is ironic that the most iconic Russian of the twentieth century was not Russian by birth. Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, later known as Joseph Stalin, was born in the Caucasus Mountains of the neighboring country, Georgia. His rise to power in the Bolshevik party was unexpected, and his rule as the Soviet leader surpassed both Lenin’s and his successors in length. During Stalin’s time in office, he enacted numerous changes in domestic policies during the 1930s, oversaw Russian involvement in World War II, and instigated nearly a decade of Cold War tensions between Russia and the United States.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the key programs developed by Stalin in the 1920s and 1930s.
- Evaluate Stalin’s rise to power.
- Analyze how Stalin’s policies as leader of the Soviet Union differed from Lenin’s.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Joseph Stalin: Secretary General of the Soviet Union from 1922/24 – 1953.
Grigori Zinoviev: initially, a political ally of Stalin and member of the troika that helped defeat Trotsky during his attempt to succeed Lenin
Lev Kamenev: initially, a political ally of Stalin and member of the troika that helped defeat Trotsky during his attempt to succeed Lenin
Nikolai Bukharin: editor of the Bolshevik paper, Pravda, and initial close ally of Stalin
First Five-Year Plan: state-dictated economic policy (1928 – 33) that relied heavily on forced labor on collective farms, as well as requisitioning, to meet agricultural quotas
Collectivization: policy of the Five-Year Plans in which the state forced peasant farmers to give up individual farms and move onto large, collective farms with industrial machinery for mass agricultural output
Gulags: series of hundreds of prison camps through the Soviet Union known for their forced labor and harsh conditions and treatment of prisoners
Kazakh: a person from Kazakhstan in Central-Asia
Holodomor: artificial famine in Ukraine (1931 – 3) that occurred through Soviet practices and resulted in the deaths of over three million Ukrainians
dekulakization: brutal practice of the Russians in which they arrested, executed, or exiled “wealthy” peasant farmers
NKVD: the organization responsible for daily police and secret police activities that carried out excessive violence during the Great Purge
Great Purge: two-years in which the NKVD, acting under Stalin’s orders, executed over one million people considered “enemies of the state”
show trial: a trial where the verdict is already known and the case is carried out for spectacle before a court audience
Stalin's Soviet Union in the 1920s
Background: Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin was born to a poor, working-class family near Tbilisi, Georgia in the late 1870s. The only child to survive to adulthood, Stalin’s father reportedly was an abusive alcoholic who took his frustrations out on his wife and son. Years later, historians speculated that the abuse influenced Stalin’s general psyche and actions as head of the Soviet Union. When his father died, Stalin’s mother found the money to send her son to seminary school. Despite his academic talents, Stalin quickly rebelled against the traditional school, learned Russian, and found inspiration through the writing and activities of the Bolsheviks.
As a young man, he initially did not measure up to the other Bolsheviks of the 1910s. His counterparts considered him poorly educated, a poor speaker, and overly “Asiatic” in his volatile temper and behavior. Stalin, was, however, valued for his skills as an organizer, as well as for his ruthless treatment of political enemies. Unfortunately for his rivals, Stalin was also a master strategist and knew how to oust his comrades in the pursuit of moving up the political ladder.
Scramble for Succession
By 1921, it was evident that a successor must be chosen because of Lenin’s failing health. He had suffered two strokes (and would suffer a third before he died in 1924). A handful of prominent Bolshevik leaders vied for the position of successor to Vladimir Lenin; Stalin being one of them. Increasingly, Stalin, who was General Secretary of the Communist Party, tried to press closer to Lenin’s side. In most matters, Stalin idolized Lenin, despite their disagreements. By 1922, he had taken on the role of determining who would be allowed to see Lenin during his convalescence. And yet, the closer Stalin pressed to Lenin, the more Lenin seemed to push him away. A year before his death, Lenin described Stalin as not good for the party because of his excessive crudeness. Privately, he advocated for Leon Trotsky to be his successor. Trotsky was a skilled orator, politician, and intelligent statesman who had been closely involved with Lenin since the days of the October Revolution.
The death of Lenin sparked a scramble for succession as leader of the Soviet Union. Leon Trotsky was the favorite choice of Lenin, but he was despised by Stalin and disliked by two other prominent Bolsheviks: Lev Kamenev and Grigori Zinoviev. Together with Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev formed a troika (political alliance) where the three acted as the governing head of the Soviet Union to block Trotsky’s ascension to power. Trotsky was forced into exile. Eventually, he made his way to Mexico—only to be murdered by one of Stalin’s henchmen in 1940.
Political squabbling continued, and Stalin had no intention of sharing power with Zinoviev and Kamenev. Their troika dissolved following Trotsky’s defeat. Both men lost faith in Stalin. During the Great Purge of 1936, both men would die before a firing squad ordered by their former ally.
Complex negotiations and party support instilled Stalin as Lenin’s sole successor and head of the Soviet Union in 1924. He quickly turned his attention to transforming agrarian Russia into a society of steel and industry.
Domestic Policies
At the time of Stalin’s ascension to power, Russia was still overwhelmingly an agrarian nation. The First World War had shown how technologically inferior Russia was to its Western counterparts. Stalin sought to change that and transform the country overnight. Chief among his goals was the death of the New Economic Policy that Lenin began. Although he would not publicly advocate for the policy’s demise because Lenin had backed it, Stalin would strategically find ways to dissolve the plan that called for a mixed economy (partially state-run, partially capitalist). In its place he would put a program that helped transform Russia, but at the highest human cost.
The First Five-Year Plan
Under Lenin’s New Economic Program, farmers had been forced to sell grain to the state but could also engage in private sales. A balance of state and private farming had ensued. Stalin sought to erase that in 1928 based on his plan to increase agricultural output to feed the rapidly-increasing urban population who worked in the factories.
To achieve this goal, Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan. This program eliminated private farming. Farms were merged into large, government-run collective farms across the Soviet Union. Moreover, each farm was required to meet government quotas for grain and meat. Stalin enacted these radical measures by excessive use of force. The “kulaks” (private farmers) emerged again as the public enemy of the Bolshevik regime.
A central goal of Stalin’s program was to dekulakize the Soviet Union. Kulaks were vaguely defined as the “more prosperous farmers.” And Stalin waged war on them as part of the Bolshevik philosophy of class struggle. In the 1920s, a “prosperous farmer” could have been a private farmer with a large farm and high production yields. Usually, it meant a farmer who was more prosperous than the neighbor nextdoor. In such cases, a kulak might be classified as a farmer with eight acres, instead of one. Or seven cows instead of one.
Once again, Stalin used force to suppress “the enemy.” Kulaks were targeted by the state police for arrest, seizure of property, exile, and in some cases, execution. Across the board, farmers saw wages reduced and higher state quotas emerge. Resistance to such measures were severely punished. Neighbors turned against one another. Class struggle became not only a Bolshevik principle on paper but also daily practice under Stalin.
The first year of Stalin’s new program showed that despite the collectivized farms, agrarian shortages still prevailed. To counter this, Stalin continued his war on the kulaks and encouraged the poorest classes to do the same. Requisitioning—the government seizure and redistribution of goods—ruled the day. Across Russia, farmers and Bolsheviks alike targeted the kulaks. Government officials would arrive at their homes and seize grain and farm animals. Often, these kulaks were shot or exiled to one of Stalin’s infamous chain of gulags across Russia.
Two ethnic groups suffered especially during Stalin’s First Five-Year Plan: Ukrainians and Kazakhs. Kazakhstan was a Soviet ethnic state in central Asia. Although the Kazakhs were farmers, they were typically nomadic farmers. Unaccustomed to permanent settlement, they knew very little about producing cereal crops, much less vast yields of barley, wheat, and rye. Stalin deployed the Red Army to handle the situation. Kazakh farmers who resisted were shot. Those who did not produce high enough yields were shot. Threats and seizures of farm yields ensued. It is estimated that between 1.3 and1.8 million Kazakhs died during the First Five-Year Plan because of widespread famine, malnutrition, disease, and executions.
Ukraine experienced a similar situation. As an ethnic state within the Soviet Union, Ukraine was rich in agrarian resources. Ukrainian farmers prospered, even under the NEP. But unsurprisingly, these prosperous farmers who were considered somewhat distant and lesser cousins of the Russians, were targeted by Stalin for being kulaks and, by extension, “class enemies.” In 1932, the Red Army sealed the border between Ukraine and Russia, prohibiting travel. Then the army moved from one Ukrainian village to another, seizing grain stores and livestock, often indiscriminately murdering the inhabitants. With the kulaks eliminated, the peasants were forced to produce yields that met state quotas. The situation devolved. With the Red Army murdering citizens and seizing crop yields and livestock, the Ukrainian people quickly perished. Those who were not murdered frequently succumbed to malnutrition and starvation as a devastating famine swept through the countryside.
The debate about the nature of the famine that swept over Ukraine in the late 1930s remains. It is often called the Holodomor. The name literally translates to “death inflicted by starvation.” Scholars continue to debate and analyze the Great Famine, to determine if Stalin intentionally murdered the Ukrainian people or if the event was an unintentional byproduct of Soviet agricultural practices. Regardless, conservative estimates claim that 3.5 million Ukrainians died between 1932 – 1933; while others suggest the real number of deaths is nearer to 8 million.
Still, not everyone approved of Stalin’s measures. His former close ally, Nikolai Bukharin, who edited the Bolshevik paper, the Pravda, strongly opposed Stalin. Russians themselves also opposed the measures of collectivization. By the early 1930s, several thousand people had rallied in opposition to Stalin. In response, Stalin deployed the Red Army, including the artillery, to subdue the population. It would not be the last time this happened; rather it was the start of severe measures against anyone Stalin perceived as opposition.
Industrialization
Background
Under Lenin, the Bolsheviks had encouraged class conflict to such an extent that it severely impacted industry. Workers turned on their employers and businesses and factories shut down. Thus, the party had stepped in and transformed private businesses into state-owned and regulated industries. This produced only marginal economic recovery. And when Stalin took power he understood Russia still lagged a hundred years behind its Western counterparts.
Stalin's Industrialization Campaign
Stalin’s goal for the Soviet Union was to transform it into an industrialized nation on par with the West. On some levels, he came close to achieving it. In twenty years, Russia had been transformed from an agrarian society into an industrialized one. The quality of Russian-made goods remained, however, exceptionally poor in comparison to Western goods.
To finance his industrialization project, Stalin decreed that all profits made from the collectivization process would be used to build factories. Peasants flocked to the city in search of opportunity and work. Heavy industry thrived. Women entered the workforce in droves. In a single decade, women workers comprised nearly forty percent of the Russian workforce. The Russian economy was slowly recovering from years of turmoil.
The Great Terror
Background: Murder of Sergei Kirov
Stalin’s personality had always been described as “harsh,” “brutal,” and “crude” by his Bolshevik comrades. Lenin considered him the most brutal of all comrades and “too crude” for the party’s good. Moreover, Stalin seemed to find the chaos and violence of revolution fascinating. Atop this, Stalin had paranoia that increased enormously over the years. Reportedly, Stalin adopted a paranoia of being assassinated. But a single event in 1934 catapulted his paranoia into his most severe repression of the Russian people.
In December 1934, one of Stalin’s discontented citizens walked into the office of Sergei Kirov, a leading Bolshevik politician in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and a close friend to Stalin. The young man, Leonid Nikolaev, shot Kirov at point-blank range, killing him. For Stalin, the action was far more than the loss of a comrade. It represented a threat on the Bolshevik party, as well as to himself. He responded swiftly. The young assassin was seized and summarily executed. More importantly, Stalin gave the NKVD, head of the police and the secret police, power to arrest and execute enemies of the state freely. Stalin’s Great Purge had begun.
The Great Purge
Purging Political Rivals
Kirov’s death signaled to Stalin that there were enemies within the government, and worse, within his inner circle of comrades. Because Kirov’s assassin had supported Stalin’s old adversary, Grigori Zinoviev, Stalin seized Zinoviev and his partner, Lev Kamenev. He asserted that the two men were behind Kirov’s assassination. Following nearly two years of political maneuvers, Zinoviev and Kamenev were put on a show trial. The court confirmed their guilt and the following morning, the two men who had once worked as Stalin’s allies were executed by firing squad.
Next on Stalin’s list of targets was his former friend, Nikolai Bukharin. The two men had split over Stalin’s economic policies. Ever-paranoid, Stalin accused Bukharin of being a spy and of plotting against him. The trumped-up charges worked. Bukharin was imprisoned, put on show trial before the court, and declared guilty. Before his execution, Bukharin wrote a note to Stalin in which he referred to his friend by his old pseudonym, “Koba, why do you need me to die?”
In addition to purging his political rivals, Stalin believed that the Bolshevik party should be purged at the local level. For two years, the NKVD arrested and executed alleged enemies of the state. These victims included not only politicians, but also members of the military, members of ethnic groups, and clerics. By the end of 1938, over a million people had been murdered as part of Stalin’s “Great Purge.”
Impact
Not every measure undertaken by Stalin and the Bolsheviks was murderous and ill-fated, but they were all undertaken with the intent of creating a totalitarian state. In his transformation of the Russian state, Stalin promoted literacy and compulsory education—at state-run schools. In his first decade as head of the Soviet Union, Stalin ensured that his communist party controlled all education, entertainment, media, businesses, and agriculture. Those who resisted were arrested, executed, or exiled. In his quest for complete control of the Soviet Union, Stalin proved he was exactly what his Bolshevik comrades had claimed years ago—the harshest of them all. And he was proud of it.
Attributions
All images from Wikimedia Commons
Service, Robert. A History of Modern Russia: From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin. Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 2003. 169-234.
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.068085
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87987/overview
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Culture in the 20’s
Overview
Culture in the 20's
The economy of the United States boomed in the decade following World War I. The development of a consumer driven economy in the United States changed American culture dramatically, as well as cultures across the world, even those of Germany and Japan.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how the social, political, and military costs of World War I fostered geographic and demographic shifts around the world.
- Assess the impact of the development of a consumer driven economy on culture.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Consumer Revolution: an economic shift that took off in the United States in the 1920s in which consumer spending drives economic growth (The causes of this consumer revolution were rising incomes among the urban working class and innovations in technology.)
hyperinflation: occurs when a country experiences very high and usually accelerating rates of inflation, rapidly eroding the real value of the local currency and causing the population to minimize their holdings of local money by switching to relatively stable foreign currencies; the general price level within an economy increases rapidly as the official currency loses real value
The Counsumer Revolution
In the decade of the 1920s the world recovered from the devastation of the Great War and enjoyed a period of economic growth due largely to the unparalleled economic expansion in the United States as a result of the Consumer Revolution. The United States was the first nation in the world where consumer spending was driving economic growth. Americans were purchasing a host of new consumer products (i.e., cars, radios. refrigerators, cigarette lighters) in record numbers. Mass demand for these goods boosted production at factories and created a massive number of new jobs.
The causes of this consumer revolution were rising incomes among the urban working class and innovations in technology. Since the late 19th century, wages for workers had steadily increased, as the economy expanded. World War I accelerated wage increases due to labor shortages during this war. As the wealth and size of the working class expanded, so did their ability to purchase consumer goods.
During this period manufacturers also embraced new technology that allowed them to produce more goods and sell them to consumers in mass at prices that they could afford. For example, Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company in 1908 sold the first Model T automobile, which was the first car that people other than the very wealthy could afford. In 1913, Ford introduced the moving assembly line into his factories to expand production and lower costs. Ford was then able to lower the price of his cars, so that more Americans could buy them. Between 1920 and 1929 the number of cars in the United States jumped from 8 million to 23 million. Ford Motor Company and its primary competitor, General Motors, were both headquartered in the city of Detroit, which became known as the "Motor City."
Another booming business in this period was the radio industry. The Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi invented the first radio in 1897. In 1919 the General Electric Company founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to manufacture and sell radios to the public. In 1920, the first radio station began broadcasting in Detroit. By 1922 the number of radio stations in the United States had jumped to 522. In 1926 RCA created the first national network of radio stations: the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The very next year, a rival radio network emerged: the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS). Radio stations paid for their programs, which included broadcasting music, sporting events, and dramas, by selling advertising to businesses that wanted to exploit this new medium to sell their consumer products. For example, the founder of CBS, William Paley (1901 – 1990) saw radio as a new way to advertise the cigars manufactured by his family business.
The wealth generated by this economic boom enabled American banks to invest overseas and promote an economic recovery. In the 1920s, New York City with its Wall Street banks replaced London as the world's financial center. After World War I, American investors feared that the economic collapse of Germany would prevent Germany from paying its reparations to France and the United Kingdom, which in turn would prevent British and French banks from paying off the loans that they had received from American banks during World War I. In 1924, after urging France to withdraw from the Ruhr Valley, the Vice-President of the United States, Charles Dawes—an eminent Wall Street banker—proposed that France and the United Kingdom negotiate with Germany to set up a way for Germany to pay its reparations without bankrupting Germany. Under the Dawes Plan, Germany slowly paid off its war reparations in series of fixed payments. At this time Wall Street banks also begin investing heavily in German banks. This influx of capital into Germany from the United States ended hyperinflation in Germany and allowed the German economy to recover and grow again. Germany's economic recovery and the flow of reparation payments to France and the United Kingdom from Germany enabled the economies of these countries to expand as well.
Culture of Consumption
“Change is in the very air Americans breathe, and consumer changes are the very bricks out of which we are building our new kind of civilization,” announced marketing expert and home economist Christine Frederick in her influential 1929 monograph, Selling Mrs. Consumer. The book, which was based on one of the earliest surveys of American buying habits, advised manufacturers and advertisers on how to capture the purchasing power of women, who, according to Frederick, accounted for 90 percent of household expenditures. Aside from granting advertisers insight into the psychology of the “average” consumer, Frederick’s text captured the tremendous social and economic transformations that had been wrought over the course of her lifetime.
Indeed, the America of Frederick’s birth looked very different from the one she confronted in 1929. The consumer change she studied had resulted from the industrial expansion of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the discovery of new energy sources and manufacturing technologies, industrial output flooded the market with a range of consumer products such as ready-to-wear clothing, convenience foods, and home appliances. By the end of the nineteenth century, output had risen so dramatically that many contemporaries feared supply had outpaced demand and that the nation would soon face the devastating financial consequences of overproduction. American businessmen attempted to avoid this catastrophe by developing new merchandising and marketing strategies that transformed distribution and stimulated a new culture of consumer desire.
The department store stood at the center of this early consumer revolution. By the 1880s, several large dry-goods houses blossomed into modern retail department stores. These emporiums concentrated a broad array of goods under a single roof, allowing customers to purchase shirtwaists and gloves alongside toy trains and washbasins. To attract customers, department stores relied on more than variety. They also employed innovations in service (such as access to restaurants, writing rooms, and babysitting) and spectacle (such as elaborately decorated store windows, fashion shows, and interior merchandise displays). Marshall Field & Co. was among the most successful of these ventures. Located on State Street in Chicago, the company pioneered many of these strategies, including establishing a tearoom that provided refreshment to the well-heeled female shoppers who composed the store’s clientele. Reflecting on the success of Field’s marketing techniques, Thomas W. Goodspeed, an early trustee of the University of Chicago, wrote, “Perhaps the most notable of Mr. Field’s innovations was that he made a store in which it was a joy to buy.” The joy of buying infected a growing number of Americans in the early twentieth century as the rise of mail-order catalogs, mass-circulation magazines, and national branding further stoked consumer desire.
The automobile industry also fostered the new culture of consumption by promoting the use of credit. By 1927, more than 60 percent of American automobiles were sold on credit, and installment purchasing was made available for nearly every other large consumer purchase. Spurred by access to easy credit, consumer expenditures for household appliances, for example, grew by more than 120 percent between 1919 and 1929. Henry Ford’s assembly line, which advanced production strategies practiced within countless industries, brought automobiles within the reach of middle-income Americans and further drove the spirit of consumerism. By 1925, Ford’s factories were turning out a Model-T every ten seconds. Americans owned more cars than Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy combined. In the late 1920s, 80 percent of the world’s cars drove on American roads.
Culture of Escape
As transformative as steam and iron had been in the previous century, gasoline and electricity—embodied most dramatically for many Americans in automobiles, film, and radio—propelled not only consumption but also the famed popular culture in the 1920s. Edgar Burroughs, author of the Tarzan series, claimed “We wish to escape [. . .] the restrictions of manmade laws, and the inhibitions that society has placed upon us.” Burroughs authored a new Tarzan story nearly every year from 1914 until 1939. “We would each like to be Tarzan,” he said. “At least I would; I admit it.” Like many Americans in the 1920s, Burroughs sought to challenge and escape the constraints of a society that seemed more industrialized with each passing day.
Just like Burroughs, Americans escaped with great speed. The public wrapped itself in popular culture, whether through the automobile, Hollywood’s latest films, jazz records produced on Tin Pan Alley, or the hours spent listening to radio broadcasts of Jack Dempsey’s prizefights. One observer estimated that Americans belted out the silly musical hit “Yes, We Have No Bananas” more than “The Star Spangled Banner” and all the hymns in all the hymnals combined.
As the automobile became more popular and more reliable, more people traveled more frequently and attempted greater distances. Women increasingly drove themselves to their own activities, as well as those of their children. Vacationing Americans sped to Florida to escape northern winters. In order to serve and capture the growing number of drivers, Americans erected gas stations, diners, motels, and billboards along the roadside. Automobiles themselves became objects of entertainment: nearly one hundred thousand people gathered to watch drivers compete for the $50,000 prize of the Indianapolis 500.
Meanwhile, the United States dominated the global film industry. By 1930, as moviemaking became more expensive, a handful of film companies took control of the industry. Immigrants, mostly of Jewish heritage from central and Eastern Europe, originally “invented Hollywood” because most turn-of-the-century middle- and upper-class Americans viewed cinema as lower-class entertainment. After their parents emigrated from Poland in 1876, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner (who were, according to family lore, given the name when an Ellis Island official could not understand their surname) founded Warner Bros. In 1918, Universal, Paramount, Columbia, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) were all founded by or led by Jewish executives. Aware of their social status as outsiders, these immigrants (or sons of immigrants) purposefully produced films that portrayed American values of opportunity, democracy, and freedom. Americans fell in love with the movies. Whether it was the surroundings, the sound, or the production budgets, weekly movie attendance skyrocketed from sixteen million in 1912 to forty million in the early 1920s.
Not content with distributing thirty-minute films in nickelodeons, film moguls produced longer, higher-quality films and showed them in palatial theaters that attracted those who had previously shunned the film industry. But as filmmakers captured the middle and upper classes, they maintained working-class moviegoers by blending traditional and modern values. Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 epic The Ten Commandments depicted wild revelry, for instance, while still managing to celebrate a biblical story.
Moguls and entrepreneurs soon constructed picture palaces. Samuel Rothafel’s Roxy Theater in New York held more than six thousand patrons who could be escorted by a uniformed usher past gardens and statues to their cushioned seat. In order to show The Jazz Singer (1927), the first movie with synchronized words and pictures, the Warners spent half a million to equip two theaters. While some asserted that sound was a passing fancy, Warner Bros.’ assets, which increased from just $5,000,000 in 1925 to $230,000,000 in 1930, tell a different story.
Hungarian immigrant William Fox, founder of Fox Film Corporation, declared that “the motion picture is a distinctly American institution” because “the rich rub elbows with the poor” in movie theaters. With no seating restriction, the one-price admission was accessible for nearly all white Americans—as African Americans were either excluded or segregated.
han 60 percent of moviegoers, packing theaters to see Mary Pickford, nicknamed “America’s Sweetheart,” who was earning one million dollars a year by 1920 through a combination of film and endorsements contracts. Pickford and other female stars popularized the “flapper,” a woman who favored short skirts, makeup, and cigarettes.
As Americans went to the movies more and more, at home they had the radio. Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic wireless (radio) message in 1901, but radios in the home did not become available until around 1920, when they boomed across the country. Around half of American homes contained a radio by 1930. Radio stations brought entertainment directly into the living room through the sale of advertisements and sponsorships, from The Maxwell House Hour to the Lucky Strike Orchestra. Soap companies sponsored daytime dramas so frequently that an entire genre—“soap operas”—was born, providing housewives with audio adventures that stood in stark contrast to common chores. Though radio stations were often under the control of corporations like the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) or the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), radio programs were less constrained by traditional boundaries in order to capture as wide an audience as possible, spreading popular culture on a national level.
Radio exposed Americans to a broad array of music. Jazz, a uniquely American musical style popularized by the African-American community in New Orleans, spread primarily through radio stations and records. The New York Times had ridiculed jazz as “savage” because of its racial heritage, but the music represented cultural independence to others. As Harlem-based musician William Dixon put it, “It did seem, to a little boy, that . . . white people really owned everything. But that wasn’t entirely true. They didn’t own the music that I played.” The fast-paced and spontaneity-laced tunes invited the listener to dance along. “When a good orchestra plays a ‘rag,’” dance instructor Vernon Castle recalled, “one has simply got to move.” Jazz became a national sensation, played and heard by both white and Black Americans. Jewish Lithuanian-born singer Al Jolson—whose biography inspired The Jazz Singer and who played the film’s titular character—became the most popular singer in America.
The 1920s also witnessed the maturation of professional sports. Play-by-play radio broadcasts of major collegiate and professional sporting events marked a new era for sports, despite the institutionalization of racial segregation in most. Suddenly, Jack Dempsey’s left crosses and right uppercuts could almost be felt in homes across the United States. Dempsey, who held the heavyweight championship for most of the decade, drew million-dollar gates and inaugurated “Dempseymania” in newspapers across the country. Red Grange, who carried the football with a similar recklessness, helped popularize professional football, which was then in the shadow of the college game. Grange left the University of Illinois before graduating to join the Chicago Bears in 1925. “There had never been such evidence of public interest since our professional league began,” recalled Bears owner George Halas of Grange’s arrival.
Perhaps no sports figure left a bigger mark than did Babe Ruth. Born George Herman Ruth, the “Sultan of Swat” grew up in an orphanage in Baltimore’s slums. Ruth’s emergence onto the national scene was much needed, as the baseball world had been rocked by the so-called Black Sox Scandal in which eight players allegedly agreed to throw the 1919 World Series. Ruth hit fifty-four home runs in 1920, which was more than any other team combined. Baseball writers called Ruth a superman, and more Americans could recognize Ruth than they could then-president Warren G. Harding.
After an era of destruction and doubt brought about by World War I, Americans craved heroes who seemed to defy convention and break boundaries. Dempsey, Grange, and Ruth dominated their respective sports, but only Charles Lindbergh conquered the sky. On May 21, 1927, Lindbergh concluded the first ever nonstop solo flight from New York to Paris. Armed with only a few sandwiches, some bottles of water, paper maps, and a flashlight, Lindbergh successfully navigated over the Atlantic Ocean in thirty-three hours. Some historians have dubbed Lindbergh the “hero of the decade,” not only for his transatlantic journey but because he helped to restore the faith of many Americans in individual effort and technological advancement. In a world so recently devastated by machine guns, submarines, and chemical weapons, Lindbergh’s flight demonstrated that technology could inspire and accomplish great things. Outlook Magazine called Lindbergh “the heir of all that we like to think is best in America.”
The decade’s popular culture seemed to revolve around escape. Coney Island in New York marked new amusements for young and old. Americans drove their sedans to massive theaters to enjoy major motion pictures. Radio towers broadcasted the bold new sound of jazz, the adventures of soap operas, and the feats of amazing athletes. Dempsey and Grange seemed bigger, stronger, and faster than any who dared to challenge them. Babe Ruth smashed home runs out of ball parks across the country. And Lindbergh escaped the earth’s gravity and crossed an entire ocean. Neither Dempsey nor Ruth nor Lindbergh made Americans forget the horrors of World War I and the chaos that followed, but they made it seem as if the future would be that much brighter.
The New Woman
The rising emphasis on spending and accumulation nurtured a national ethos of materialism and individual pleasure. These impulses were embodied in the figure of the flapper, whose bobbed hair, short skirts, makeup, cigarettes, and carefree spirit captured the attention of American novelists such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis. Rejecting the old Victorian values of desexualized modesty and self-restraint, young “flappers” seized opportunities for the public coed pleasures offered by new commercial leisure institutions, such as dance halls, cabarets, and nickelodeons, not to mention the illicit blind tigers and speakeasies spawned by Prohibition. In this way, young American women had helped usher in a new morality that permitted women greater independence, freedom of movement, and access to the delights of urban living. In the words of psychologist G. Stanley Hall, “She was out to see the world and, incidentally, be seen of it.” Such sentiments were repeated in an oft-cited advertisement in a 1930 edition of the Chicago Tribune: “Today’s woman gets what she wants. The vote. Slim sheaths of silk to replace voluminous petticoats. Glassware in sapphire blue or glowing amber. The right to a career. Soap to match her bathroom’s color scheme.”
As with so much else in the 1920s, however, sex and gender were in many ways a study in contradictions. It was the decade of the “New Woman,” and one in which only 10 percent of married women—although nearly half of unmarried women—worked outside the home. It was a decade in which new technologies decreased time requirements for household chores, and one in which standards of cleanliness and order in the home rose to often impossible standards. It was a decade in which women finally could exercise their right to vote, and one in which the often thinly bound women’s coalitions that had won that victory splintered into various causes. Finally, it was a decade in which images such as the “flapper” gave women new modes of representing femininity, and one in which such representations were often inaccessible to women of certain races, ages, and socioeconomic classes.
Women undoubtedly gained much in the 1920s. There was a profound and keenly felt cultural shift that, for many women, meant increased opportunity to work outside the home. The number of professional women, for example, significantly rose in the decade. But limits still existed, even for professional women. Occupations such as law and medicine remained overwhelmingly male, and most female professionals were in professions in which women traditionally held many of the positions, such as teaching school children and nursing. And even within these fields, it was difficult for women to rise to leadership positions.
A woman’s race, class, ethnicity, and marital status all had an impact on both the likelihood that she worked outside the home and the types of opportunities that were available to her. While there were exceptions, for many minority women, work outside the home was not a cultural statement but rather a financial necessity (or both), and physically demanding, low-paying domestic service work continued to be the most common job type. Young, working-class white women were joining the workforce more frequently, too, but often in order to help support their struggling mothers and fathers and often in low-paying jobs.
For young, middle-class, white women—those most likely to fit the image of the carefree flapper—the most common workplace was the office. These predominantly single women increasingly became clerks, jobs that had been primarily male earlier in the century. But here, too, there was a clear ceiling.
While entry-level clerk jobs became increasingly held by women, jobs at a higher, more lucrative level remained dominated by men. Further, rather than changing the culture of the workplace, the entrance of women into lower-level jobs primarily changed the coding of the jobs themselves. Such positions simply became “women’s work.”
Finally, as these middle-class white women grew older and married, social changes became even subtler. Married women were, for the most part, expected to remain in the domestic sphere as homemakers. And while new patterns of consumption gave them more power and, arguably, more autonomy, new household technologies and philosophies of marriage and child-rearing increased expectations, further tying these women to the home.
Of course, the number of women in the workplace cannot exclusively measure changes in sex and gender norms. Attitudes towards sex, for example, continued to change in the 1920s, a process that had begun decades before. This, too, had significantly different impacts on different social groups. But for many women—particularly young, college-educated white women—an attempt to rebel against what they saw as a repressive Victorian notion of sexuality led to an increase in premarital sexual activity.
Meanwhile, especially in urban centers such as New York, the gay community flourished. While gay males had to contend with the increased policing of their daily lives, especially later in the decade, they generally lived more openly in such cities than they would be able to for many decades following World War II. At the same time, for many lesbians in the decade, the increased sexualization of women brought new scrutiny to same-sex female relationships previously dismissed as harmless friendships.
Ultimately, the most enduring symbol of the changing notions of gender in the 1920s remains the flapper. And indeed, that image was a “new” available representation of womanhood in the 1920s. But it is just that: a representation of womanhood of the 1920s. There were many women in the decade of differing races, classes, ethnicities, and experiences, just as there were many men with different experiences. For some women, the 1920s were a time of reorganization, new representations, and new opportunities. For many, it was a decade of confusion, contradiction, new pressures, and struggles new and old.
Germany and Japan in the 1920s
The United States in the 1920s cast a large shadow across Europe and east Asia and exerted a strong cultural influence. Even Germany and Japan in this decade experimented with democracy and enjoyed friendly relations with the United States. In both countries, however, democracy died in the following decade in the wake of the Great Depression.
Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914 and immediately sought to expand its sphere of influence in China and the Pacific. It succeeded to some extent, taking over a number of German colonial holdings in the region. However, although Japan belonged to the victors of World War I, the Japanese were excluded from the prestigious club of world powers and were instead grouped with smaller, less influential countries.
In 1919, Japan proposed a clause on racial equality to be included in the League of Nations Covenant at the Paris Peace Conference. The clause was rejected by several Western countries and was not forwarded for larger discussion at the full meeting of the conference. In the coming years, the rejection was an important factor in turning Japan away from cooperation with the West and towards nationalistic policies.
All these events released a surge of Japanese nationalism and resulted in the end of collaboration diplomacy, which supported peaceful economic expansion. The implementation of a military dictatorship and territorial expansionism were considered the best ways to protect the Yamato-damashii, or what Japanese saw as their spiritual and cultural values.
Japan and Democracy
In the 1920s, Japan witnessed a development of democratic trends, including the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1925. This period of expanding democracy coincided with the decade of the 1920s when Japan and the United States enjoyed strong economic ties, as the United States was one of Japan’s primary markets for its manufactured goods. However, pressure from the conservative right forced the passage of the Peace Preservation Law of 1925, along with other anti-radical legislation. The Act curtailed individual freedom in Japan and outlawed groups that sought to alter the system of government or to abolish private ownership. The extreme leftist movements that had been galvanized by the Russian Revolution were subsequently crushed and scattered. Historians consider these developments to be critical to the end of democratic changes in Japan.
In response to post-World War I disarmament efforts, a movement opposing the idea of limiting the size of Japanese military grew within the junior officer corps. On May 15, 1932, the naval officers, aided by Army cadets and right-wing civilians, staged a coup that aimed to overthrow the government and to replace it with military rule (known as the May 15th Incident). Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by 11 young naval officers. The following trial and popular support of the Japanese population led to extremely light sentences for the assassins, strengthening the rising power of Japanese militarism and weakening democracy and the rule of law in Japan.
The Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic is an unofficial historical designation for the German state between 1919 and 1933. The name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place. The official name of the state was still Deutsches Reich; it had remained unchanged since 1871. In English the country was usually known simply as Germany.
In its 14 years, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism (with paramilitaries – both left- and right-wing); and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War. The people of Germany blamed the Weimar Republic rather than their wartime leaders for the country’s defeat and for the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, the Weimar Republic government successfully reformed the currency, unified tax policies, and organized the railway system.
A national assembly was convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for the Deutsches Reich was written and adopted on August 11, 1919. Weimar Germany eliminated most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles; it never completely met its disarmament requirements and eventually paid only a small portion of the war reparations (by twice restructuring its debt through the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan). Under the Locarno Treaties, Germany accepted the western borders of the republic, but continued to dispute the Eastern border.
Challenges and Reasons for Failure
The reasons for the Weimar Republic’s collapse are the subject of continuing debate. It may have been doomed from the beginning since even moderates disliked it and extremists on both the left and right loathed it, a situation referred to by some historians, such as Igor Primoratz, as a “democracy without democrats.”
Germany had limited democratic traditions, and Weimar democracy was widely seen as chaotic. Weimar politicians had been blamed for Germany’s defeat in World War I through a widely believed theory called the “Stab-in-the-back myth,” which contended that Germany’s surrender in World War I had been the unnecessary act of traitors, and thus the popular legitimacy of the government was on shaky ground. As normal parliamentary lawmaking broke down and was replaced around 1930 by a series of emergency decrees, the decreasing popular legitimacy of the government further drove voters to extremist parties.
The Republic in its early years was already under attack from both left- and right-wing sources. The extreme left accused the ruling Social Democrats of betraying the ideals of the workers’ movement by preventing a communist revolution, and they sought to overthrow the Republic and do so themselves. Various right-wing sources opposed any democratic system, preferring an authoritarian, autocratic state like the 1871 Empire. To further undermine the Republic’s credibility, some right-wingers (especially certain members of the former officer corps) also blamed an alleged conspiracy of Socialists and Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I.
The Weimar Republic had some of the most serious economic problems ever experienced by any Western democracy in history. Rampant hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and a large drop in living standards were primary factors. By fall 1922, Germany found itself unable to make reparations payments since the price of gold was now well beyond what it could afford. Also, the German currency, the mark was by now practically worthless, making it impossible for Germany to buy foreign exchange or gold using paper marks. In the first half of 1922, the mark stabilized at about 320 marks per dollar. Instead, reparations were to be paid in goods such as coal. In January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr, the industrial region of Germany in the Ruhr Valley, to ensure reparations payments. Inflation was exacerbated when workers in the Ruhr went on a general strike and the German government printed more money to continue paying for their passive resistance. By November 1923, the US dollar was worth 4,2 trillion German marks. In 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion marks.
From 1923 to 1929, there was a short period of economic recovery. An infusion of capital from Wall Street banks in the United States helped the German economy to rebuild in this period. The Liberal Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in Germany in this era of economic prosperity. However, the Great Depression of the 1930s led to a worldwide recession. Germany was particularly affected because it depended so heavily on American loans. In 1926, about 2 million Germans were unemployed, which rose to around 6 million in 1932. Many blamed the Weimar Republic. That was made apparent when political parties on both right and left wanting to disband the Republic altogether made any democratic majority in Parliament impossible.
The reparations damaged Germany’s economy by discouraging market loans, which forced the Weimar government to finance its deficit by printing more currency, causing rampant hyperinflation. In addition, the rapid disintegration of Germany in 1919 by the return of a disillusioned army, the rapid change from possible victory in 1918 to defeat in 1919, and the political chaos may have caused a psychological imprint on Germans that could lead to extreme nationalism, later epitomized and exploited by Hitler. It is also widely believed that the 1919 constitution had several weaknesses, making the eventual establishment of a dictatorship likely, but it is unknown whether a different constitution could have prevented the rise of the Nazi Party.
Attributions
Title Image
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JudgeMagazine2Jan1926.webp
Judge Magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from:
http://www.americanyawp.com/text/22-the-twenties/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
https://oer2go.org/mods/en-boundless/creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/index.html
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/rebuilding-europe/
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.123199
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87988/overview
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The Great Depression
Overview
Political Impact of the Great Depression
The poverty and misery among the working class due to the Great Depression stirred up fears of social revolution and Communist influence among the middle class in industrialized countries. In many European countries military dictatorships arose to maintain order and to fight Communism. Industrialized countries with a long tradition of Liberal government avoided social revolution during the Great Depression and maintained their democratic forms of government, but underwent sweeping reforms, which resulted in the development of the so-called “Welfare State.”
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the worldwide reactions of nations to the global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Corporatism: a 20th century political ideology which sought to organize society into corporate groups based on their common interests, such as agricultural, labor, military, business, scientific, or guild associations
Estado Novo: the "New State" in Portugal; was Roman Catholic, anti-Communist, and dedicated to preserving Portugal's overseas empire
Fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe; the belief that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties
Iron Guard: the name most commonly given to the far-right movement and political party in Romania, from 1927 into the early part of World War II; was ultra-nationalist, antisemitic, anti-communist, anti-capitalist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith; members were called “Greenshirts” because of the predominantly green uniforms they wore
Welfare State: a form of government in the 20th century that uses its power to tax and spend to provide a "safety net" for its citizens negatively impacted by a capitalist economy
The Rise of Fascism across Europe
The conditions of economic hardship caused by the Great Depression brought about significant social unrest around the world, leading to a major surge of fascism and, in many cases, the collapse of democratic governments. The events of the Great Depression resulted in an international surge of fascism and the creation of several fascist regimes or regimes that adopted fascist policies. Fascist propaganda blamed the problems of the long depression of the 1930s on minorities and scapegoats. Fascist governments often blamed nations’ problems on “Judeo-Masonic-Bolshevik” conspiracies, left-wing internationalism or “communists”, and the presence of immigrants. According to historian Philip Morgan, “the onset of the Great Depression…was the greatest stimulus yet to the diffusion and expansion of fascism outside Italy.” Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, and Portugal were among the nations that dealt with strong fascist movements during this time.
Hungary
In 1920 Conservative Anti-Communists in Hungary organized a National Assembly and announced the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. France and the United Kingdom, however, strongly opposed the restoration of the former Hapsburg king Charles, so the National Assembly appointed a Hungarian aristocrat and war hero, Miklos Horthy to be "Regent" of the kingdom. Horthy continued to serve as head of state until 1945 and enjoyed support from conservative Roman Catholics, aristocratic landowners, and the Hungarian middle class that were opposed to the Communist threat. Hungarian fascist Gyula Gömbös rose to power as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1932 and attempted to entrench his Party of National Unity throughout the country. Gömbös created an eight-hour workday and a 48-hour work week in industry, sought to entrench a corporatist economy, and pursued claims to territories belonging to Hungary’s neighbors.
Romania
With the onset of the Great Depression, the king of Romania, Carol II, assumed dictatorial powers with the support of the army due to the threat of Communism The fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania gained political support after 1933, securing representation in the Romanian government. An Iron Guard member assassinated Romanian prime minister Ion Duca. The Iron Guard was a far-right movement and political party in Romania, from 1927 into the early part of World War II. Its supporters were ultra-nationalist, antisemitic, anti-communist, anti-capitalist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith. Iron Guard members were called “Greenshirts” because of the predominantly green uniforms they wore
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia briefly had a significant fascist movement called the Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists (ORJUNA); ORJUNA supported Yugoslavism (the unity of all “Southern Slavs”: Serbs, Croats, Slovenes). The Kingdom of Serbia after 1918 became the "Kingdom of the Southern Slavs" or Yugoslavia as Serbia annexed former territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, along with the tiny principality of Montenegro. This new state was quite diverse and included Serbian Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholic Croats and Slovenes, and Bosnian Muslims. Forging a sense of unity was a difficulty task. ORJUNA also supported the creation of a corporatist economy, opposed democracy, and took part in violent attacks on communists. The group was opposed to the Italian government due to Yugoslav border disputes with Italy. ORJUNA was dissolved in 1929 when the King of Yugoslavia, Alexander, banned political parties and created a royal dictatorship; ORJUNA supported the King’s decision.
Portugal
In Portugal, a former economist, Antonio Salazar, emerged as military dictator in 1932, following the military overthrow of Portugal's First Republic in 1926 (Portugal had deposed its last king, Manuel II in 1910). Salazar's envisioned an Estado Novo ("New State") that was Roman Catholic, anti-Communist, and dedicated to preserving Portugal's overseas empire in Africa (modern Angola and Mozambigue). Salazar remained in power in Portugal until he fell into a coma in 1968 and died.
The Welfare State
Industrialized countries with a long tradition of Liberal government—such as the United Kingdom, France, and the United States—avoided social revolution during the Great Depression and maintained their democratic forms of government, but underwent sweeping reforms, which resulted in the development of the so-called Welfare State. In the 1930s John Maynard Keynes—a British economist—studied these economic developments and these government policies. He determined that governments could effectively regulate a market economy through taxation and government spending (i.e., public works projects such as roads and dams), which put cash into the hands of the masses and thereby promoted consumer spending and economic growth. According to Keynes, governments should go into debt to pay for government spending that boosts the economy. Keynes's economic theories would become the basis for government policies among industrialized countries for decades following World War II.
In these industrialized states, the government used its power to tax and spend to provide a "safety net" for its citizens who were negatively impacted by the economic downturn. A market economy continued to operate in these states, but governments taxed upper income citizens at a higher rate than those with lower incomes, and then regulated the economy by providing financial support and assistance to those with lower incomes. For example, in 1936, the Popular Front in France—a coalition of Liberal, Socialist, and Communist Parties—won elections under the leadership of Léon Blum, who was a Socialist; afterwards, they passed laws to mandate a 40-hour work week and a minimum wage. Additionally, they recognized the right of labor unions to represent workers and go on strike.
In the United States, the Democratic Party, under the leadership of Franklin Roosevelt, won control of the government in elections in 1932, and proceeded to pass a whole series of laws, which became known as The New Deal. The Social Security Act, passed in 1935, mandated that all employers pay into a fund to provide pensions for the elderly, as well as provide unemployment insurance. The Wagner Act of 1935 recognized the right of workers to organize unions. The Fair Labor Standards Act, established in 1938, instituted a minimum wage. By the end of the 1930s, Roosevelt and his Democratic Congresses had presided over a transformation of the American government: Before World War I, the American national state, though powerful, had been a “government out of sight.” After the New Deal, Americans came to see the federal government as a potential ally in their daily struggles, whether finding work, securing a decent wage, getting a fair price for agricultural products, or organizing a union.
The population of the United Kingdom suffered less than other countries from the impact of the Great Depression due to the earlier passage of the National Insurance Act in 1911. This act mandated that employers pay a tax to the government to provide unemployment insurance for their workers. Consequently, when unemployment rates skyrocketed in the United Kingdom due to the Great Depression, unemployed workers still received an income from the government. As government debts mounted, the United Kingdom in 1931 went off the gold standard, so that the government could print paper money to pay its debts without this currency being backed by government gold reserves.
Attributions
Title Image
Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone, 1931 - National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-rise-of-fascism/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87989/overview
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Spanish Civil War
Overview
The Spanish Civil War
The onset of the Great Depression destabilized the economy of Spain and resulted in the collapse of the Spanish monarchy in 1931. After the establishment of a Republic, civil war erupted between Communists and Socialists on the left and the Spanish army on the right under the leadership of Francisco Franco. By 1939 Franco defeated his enemies and established a military dictatorship.
Learning Objectives
- Examine the development of Franco’s Fascist Spain.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Falangism: a Fascist movement founded in Spain in 1933; the one legal party in Spain under the regime of Franco
Francisco Franco: a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death (He took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic after winning the Civil War, and was in power until 1978, when the Spanish Constitution of 1978 went into effect.)
personality cult: when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and at times worshipful image, often through unquestioned flattery and praise
Spanish Civil War: a war from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans (loyalists to the democratic, left leaning and relatively urban Second Spanish Republic along with Anarchists and Communists) and forces loyal to General Francisco Franco (Nationalists, Falangists, and Carlists - a largely aristocratic conservative group)
Francisco Franco: El Caudillo
Francisco Franco (December 4, 1892 – November 20, 1975) was a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death. As a conservative and a monarchist military officer, he opposed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in 1931. With the 1936 elections, the conservative Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. This Popular Front was an alliance between Spanish Liberals and Communists. Intending to overthrow the republic, Franco worked with other like-minded generals in attempting a failed coup that precipitated the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). With the death of the other generals during this war, Franco quickly became his faction’s only leader. After securing his position as military dictator, Franco eventually in 1947, restored the Spanish monarchy in name only with himself as regent.
During the Civil War, Franco gained military support from various regimes and groups, especially Nazi Germany and the Fascist Italy. The opposition—or the Republican side—was supported by Spanish communists and anarchists, as well as the Soviet Union, Mexico, and the International Brigades. These brigades included volunteers from around the world who supported the Republic.
Leaving half a million people dead, the war was eventually won by Franco in 1939. He established a military dictatorship, which he defined as a totalitarian state. Franco proclaimed himself Head of State and Government under the title El Caudillo, a term similar to Il Duce (Italian) for Benito Mussolini and Der Führer (German) for Adolf Hitler. Under Franco, Spain became a one-party state, as the various conservative and royalist factions were merged into the fascist party and other political parties were outlawed.
Franco’s regime committed a series of violent human rights abuses against the Spanish people, which included the establishment of concentration camps and the use of forced labor and executions, mostly against political and ideological enemies, causing an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths in more than 190 concentration camps over the course of his 36 years as dictator (1939 – 1975). During the last several decades of his regime, the number of executions declined considerably
During World War II, Spain sympathized with its fellow Fascist European states, the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. Spain’s entry into the war on the Axis side was prevented largely by British Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6) efforts that included up to $200 million in bribes for Spanish officials to keep the regime from getting involved. Franco was also able to take advantage of the resources of the Axis Powers, while choosing to avoid becoming heavily involved in the Second World War.
Ideology of Francoist Spain
The consistent points in Francoism included authoritarianism, nationalism, national Catholicism, militarism, conservatism, anti-communism, and anti-liberalism. The Spanish State was authoritarian. It suppressed non-government trade unions and all political opponents across the political spectrum often through police repression. Most country towns and rural areas were patrolled by pairs of Guardia Civil—a military police made up of civilians, which functioned as a chief means of social control. Larger cities and capitals were mostly under the heavily armed Policía Armada, commonly called grises due to their grey uniforms.
The Spanish state also enjoyed the broad support of the Roman Catholic Church. Many traditional Spanish Roman Catholics were relieved that Franco’s forces had crushed the atheistic, anti-clerical (anti-priests), Communists. Franco was also the focus of a personality cult which taught that he had been sent by Divine Providence to save the country from chaos and poverty.
Franco’s Spanish nationalism promoted a unitary national identity by repressing Spain’s cultural diversity. Bullfighting and flamenco were promoted as national traditions, while those traditions not considered Spanish were suppressed. Franco’s view of Spanish tradition was somewhat artificial and arbitrary: while some regional traditions were suppressed, Flamenco, an Andalusian tradition, was considered part of a larger, national identity. All cultural activities were subject to censorship, and many were forbidden entirely, often in an erratic manner.
Francoism professed a strong devotion to militarism, hypermasculinity, and the traditional role of women in society. A woman was to be loving to her parents and brothers and faithful to her husband, as well as reside with her family. Official propaganda confined women’s roles to family care and motherhood. Most progressive laws passed by the Second Republic were declared void. Women could not become judges, testify in trial, or become university professors.
The Civil War had ravaged the Spanish economy. Infrastructure had been damaged, workers killed, and daily business severely hampered. For more than a decade after Franco’s victory, the economy improved little. Franco initially pursued a policy of autarky, cutting off almost all international trade. The policy had devastating effects, and the economy stagnated. Only black marketeers could enjoy an evident affluence.
Up to 200,000 people died of starvation during the early years of Francoism, a period known as Los Años de Hambre (the Years of Hunger). This period coincided with the ravages of World War II (1939 – 1945).
Falangism: Spanish Fascism
Falangism was the official fascist ideology of Franco’s military dictatorship. Falangism was the political ideology of the Falange Española de las JONS when this political party was formed in Spain in 1934. Afterwards in 1937, Franco reformed this party as the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (both known simply as the “Falange”). This new party remained the official party of the Spanish state until the collapse of this fascist regime soon after Franco’s death in 1975, Under the leadership of Franco, many of the more radical elements of Falangism considered fascist were diluted, and the party largely became an authoritarian, conservative ideology connected with Francoist Spain. Opponents of Franco’s changes to the party’s ideology included former Falange leader Manuel Hedilla. Falangism placed a strong emphasis on Catholic religious identity, though it held some secular views on the Church’s direct influence in society, as it believed that the state should have the supreme authority over the nation. Falangism emphasized the need for authority, hierarchy, and order in society. Falangism was also anti-communist, anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, and anti-liberal. Under Franco’s leadership, however, the Falange abandoned its original anti-capitalist tendencies, declaring the ideology to be fully compatible with capitalism.
The Falange’s original manifesto, the “Twenty-Seven Points,” declared that Falangism supported the unity of Spain and the elimination of regional separatism that existed among the Basques and Catalans of Northwestern and Northeastern Spain. This manifesto established a dictatorship led by the Falange and used violence to regenerate Spain. It also promoted the revival and development of the Spanish Empire overseas and championed a social revolution to create a national syndicalist economy. Syndicalists hoped to transfer the ownership and control of the means of production (i.e., factories) and distribution to state controlled workers' unions. This new economy was to mutually organize and control economic activity, agrarian reform, industrial expansion, while respecting private property except for nationalizing credit facilities (i.e., banks) to prevent capitalist usury (charging interest on loans). It criminalized strikes by employees and lockouts by employers as illegal acts. Falangism supported the state to have jurisdiction of setting wages. The Franco-era Falange supported the development of workers cooperatives (employee-owned businesses) such as the Mondragon Corporation in 1956, because it bolstered the Francoist claim of the nonexistence of an oppressed working class in Spain during his rule. The Mondragon Corporation still operates in Spain today, but the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista dissolved in 1977 soon after Franco’s death in 1975.
Attributions
Title Image
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Condor_Legion_marching_during_the_Spanish_Civil_War.jpg
Photo of a victory parade of Spanish national troops and the German Condor Legion in honor of General Francisco Franco in the festively decorated streets of Ciudad de Leon, Castile and Leon on May 22, 1939 - Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-rise-of-fascism/
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.186064
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/87991/overview
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Rise of Totalitarian Regimes
Overview
Totalitarianism
One of the most disturbing developments of the Interwar Period, between the two world wars, was the rise of totalitarian regimes across the world. Totalitarianism emerged because of widespread dissatisfaction over the outcome and aftermath of the First World War, in conjunction with the exploitation of the impulse toward political democratization occurring across the world totalitarian leaders. These leaders seized control of countries around the world, playing to popular dissatisfaction, toward the end of pursuing their agendas of national and personal aggrandizement. The rise of such regimes, particularly in Italy, Japan, and Germany, led to disastrous consequences for humanity, first and foremost being the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
totalitarianism: an approach to government defined by a central authority exercising complete control over a society
Benito Mussolini: fascist leader of World War II Italy and early fascist leader of post-WWI Europe
Adolf Hitler: Nazi leader of World War II Germany, responsible for the Holocaust
Totalitarianism
After World War I totalitarianism emerged as an approach to government in nations across Eurasia. It was a reaction to the dissatisfaction felt by many citizens in nations where it took hold, including most notably Germany, Italy, and Japan. Totalitarianism is distinct from the absolutist governments of early modern Europe and is defined by the executive branch of a national government, usually the monarchy, enjoying complete control over the government, but not the society. Totalitarianism is also marked by a number of different characteristics, including authoritarianism, national and/or ethnic chauvinism, personality cults, and an industrialized approach to governance. The political developments and organizational and technological advances growing out of the Industrial Revolution made totalitarianism possible. Ironically, the most significant political development that contributed to the rise of totalitarian was the grant of nominal universal male suffrage. Totalitarian leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler exploited this development, arguing that each had the mandate of his people. Before these developments and advances, during the early modern era, absolutist rulers such as Louis XIV of France could not conceive of totalitarian control over their countries. During the Interwar period totalitarianism took a number of different forms, including fascism and statism, in a range of attitudes toward the governed, from benign to malignant.
Fascism
Fascism is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, characterized by one-party totalitarian regimes, which were run by charismatic dictators, as well as involved glorification of violence, and racist ideology. The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I, then spread to other European countries. Opposed to liberalism, communism, and anarchism, fascism is usually placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, which holds that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.
liberalism - ideology based on the concept of equality of opportunity which emerged in early modern Europe, developed by participants in the Enlightenment, This ideology has become one of the principle ideologies in political and economic discourse, along with a basis for a number of national political parties.
communism: a political, social, and economic movement and philosophy in which there are ideally no economic or social classes or private property and resources are owned equally by the people. Karl Marx developed this ideology, with Friedrich Engels, during the mid-nineteenth century in response to the Industrial Revolution.
totalitarianism: an approach to government defined by a central authority exercising complete control over a society
autarky: the economic and political concept of self-sufficiency
Benito Mussolini: fascist leader of World War II Italy and early fascist leader of post-WWI Europe
Factors and Developments underlying the Emergence of Totalitarian Regimes
A number of factors and developments in the aftermath of World War I fueled the emergence of totalitarian regimes during the twenties and thirties. First, those countries which did succumb to totalitarianism, on both sides, were disappointed in the ending this conflict from them. Second, many, if not most supporters, sought simple and easy solutions to complex problems. Third, totalitarian rulers possessed charisma, even if it appealed to negative emotions.
Fascist Ideologies
Fascists saw World War I as a revolution that brought massive changes to the nature of war, society, the state, and technology. The advent of total war and the total mass mobilization of belligerent societies had broken down the distinction between civilians and combatants. A “military citizenship” arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war. The war resulted in the rise of a powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines and providing economic production and logistics to support them, as well as having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens.
In the early twentieth century fascists believed that liberal democracy was obsolete, and they regarded the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and respond effectively to economic difficulties. Such a state had to be led by a strong leader—such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party—to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society. Fascism rejected assertions that violence was automatically negative in nature; on the other hand, it viewed political violence, war, and imperialism as means that could achieve national rejuvenation. Fascists advocated a mixed economy with the principal goal of achieving autarky (self-sufficiency) through protectionist and interventionist economic policies.
Reaching its apex during the twenties and thirties, fascism was repudiated by the end of the Second World War because of its association with the Axis Powers. Since the end of World War II in 1945, few parties have openly described themselves as fascist, and the term is instead now usually used pejoratively by political opponents. The terms neo-fascist or post-fascist are sometimes applied more formally to describe parties of the far right with ideologies similar to or rooted in 20th century fascist movements.
Early History of Fascism
The historian Zeev Sternhell has traced the ideological roots of fascism back to the 1880s, and in particular to the fin-de-siècle (French for “end of the century”) theme of that time. This ideology was based on a revolt against materialism, rationalism, positivism, bourgeois society, and democracy. The fin-de-siècle generation supported emotionalism, irrationalism, subjectivism, and vitalism. The fin-de-siècle mindset saw civilization as being in a crisis that required a massive and total solution. Its intellectual school considered the individual only one part of the larger collectivity, which should not be viewed as an atomized numerical sum of individuals. They condemned the rationalistic individualism of liberal society and the dissolution of social links in bourgeois society.
The term fascist comes from the Italian word fascismo, derived from fascio meaning a bundle of rods, ultimately from the Latin word fasces. This was the name given to political organizations in Italy known as fasci—groups similar to guilds or syndicates. At first, it was applied mainly to organizations on the political left. The Fascists came to associate the term with the ancient Roman fasces or fascio littorio—a bundle of rods tied around an axe, an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrate carried by his lictors, which could be used for corporal and capital punishment at his command. The symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is difficult to break.
After the end of the World War I, fascism rose out of relative obscurity into international prominence, with fascist regimes forming most notably in Italy, Germany, and Japan, the three of which would be allied in World War II. Fascist Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy in 1922, and Adolf Hitler had successfully consolidated his power in Germany by 1933.
Rise of Fascism in Italy
After the First World War Italy became the first major European power to embrace fascism, with Benito Mussolini leading the way. Italy was one of a number of nations around the world which came under the control of various forms of totalitarian governments. Italy foreshadowed the emergence of fascism in other countries, and Mussolini became a model for other totalitarian leaders in Europe, including General Francisco Franco in Spain and Adolf Hitler in Germany.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Benito Mussolini: fascist leader of World War II Italy and early fascist leader of post-WWI Europe
Francisco Franco: a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death (He took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic after winning the Civil War, and was in power 1978, when the Spanish Constitution of 1978 went into effect.)
Adolf Hitler: Nazi leader of World War II Germany, responsible for the Holocaust
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, which holds that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Italian political left split over the war. While the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) opposed the war, a number of Italian revolutionary syndicalists supported war against Germany and Austria-Hungary on the grounds that their reactionary regimes had to be defeated to ensure the success of socialism. Angelo Oliviero Olivetti formed a pro-interventionist fascio called the Fasci of International Action in October 1914. Benito Mussolini, upon expulsion from his position as chief editor of the PSI’s newspaper Avanti! for his anti-German stance, joined the interventionist cause in a separate fascio.
The fascists and the Italian political right held common ground: both held Marxism in contempt, discounted class consciousness, and believed in the rule of elites. Italian fascists began to accommodate themselves to Italian conservatives by making major alterations to its political agenda—abandoning its previous populism, republicanism, and anticlericalism, while adopting policies in support of free enterprise, and accepting the Roman Catholic Church and the monarchy as institutions in Italy. Fascists identified their primary opponents as the majority of socialists on the left who had opposed intervention in World War I.
The first meeting of the Fasci of Revolutionary Action was held on January 24, 1915 and was led by Benito Mussolini. This group first used the term “fascism.” During the first meeting of this group in January 1915, Mussolini declared that it was necessary for Europe to resolve its national problems—including national borders of Italy and elsewhere—“for the ideals of justice and liberty for which oppressed peoples must acquire the right to belong to those national communities from which they descended.” Attempts to hold mass meetings were ineffective, and the organization was regularly harassed by government authorities and socialists.
In the next few years, the relatively small group took various political actions. To appeal to Italian conservatives, fascism adopted policies such as promoting family values, including policies designed to reduce the number of women in the workforce by limiting the woman’s role to that of a mother. The fascists banned literature on birth control and increased penalties for abortion in 1926, declaring both crimes against the state.
Though fascism adopted a number of positions designed to appeal to reactionaries, the Fascists sought to maintain fascism’s revolutionary character, with Angelo Oliviero Olivetti saying “Fascism would like to be conservative, but it will [be] by being revolutionary.” The Fascists supported revolutionary action and committed to secure law and order to appeal to both conservatives and syndicalists.
Mussolini and Fascist Italy
Prior to fascism’s accommodation of the political right, Fascism had been a small, urban, northern Italian movement that had about a thousand members. After aligning itself with Italian conservatives, the fascist party rose to prominence using violence and intimidation. In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in Milan, which became the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party) two years later. In 1920, militant strike activity by industrial workers reached its peak in Italy. Mussolini and the Fascists took advantage of the situation by allying with industrial businesses and attacking workers and peasants in the name of preserving order and internal peace in Italy. The Fascist movement’s membership soared to approximately 250,000 by 1921, with the New National Fascist Party (PNF) Mussolini organized in 1921.
Italian fascism, under Mussolini’s control, was rooted in Italian nationalism and the desire to restore and expand Italian territories. Italian fascists deemed such territorial expansion necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength, as well as to avoid succumbing to decay. They claimed that modern Italy is the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy, and historically they supported the creation of an Italian Empire to provide spazio vitale (“living space”) for colonization by Italian settlers and to establish control over the Mediterranean Sea.
Domestically Italian Fascism promoted a corporatist economic system, whereby employer and employee syndicates were linked together in associations to collectively represent the nation’s economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. This economic system intended to resolve class conflict through collaboration between the classes.
Fascists Under Mussolini Seize Power
Mussolini’s Fascist movement took control of the Italian government in 1922, ruling Italy until 1943. Fascist paramilitaries first struck at political opponents in a wave of strikes against socialist offices, along with the homes of socialist leaders. Included in their targets were the headquarters of socialist and Catholic labor unions in Cremona. The Fascists then escalated their strategy by violently occupying a number of northern Italian cities. Along with occupation, the Fascists imposed Italianization upon German-speaking people in Trent and Bolzano. After seizing these cities, the Fascists made plans to take Rome. The Fascists met little serious resistance from authorities in these strikes and occupations, which emboldened them in their next step to take control of Rome.
On October 24, 1922, the Fascist party held its annual congress in Naples, where Mussolini ordered Blackshirts to take control of public buildings and trains, as well as converge on three points around Rome. The Fascists managed to seize control of several post offices and trains in northern Italy while the Italian government, led by a left-wing coalition, was internally divided and unable to respond to the Fascist advances. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy thought the risk of bloodshed in Rome to disperse the Fascists was too high. Victor Emmanuel III decided to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy. Mussolini arrived in Rome on October 30 to accept the appointment. Fascist propaganda aggrandized this event, known as “March on Rome,” as a “seizure” of power because of Fascists’ heroic exploits.
Mussolini in Power
Upon becoming Prime Minister of Italy, Mussolini had to form a coalition government, because the Fascists did not have control over the Italian parliament. Consequently, little drastic change in government policy occurred initially. Repressive police actions were limited at the beginning of Mussolini’s tenure as well. In addition, Mussolini’s coalition government pursued economically liberal policies under the direction of liberal finance minister Alberto De Stefani, a member of the Center Party, including balancing the budget through deep cuts to the civil service.
The Fascists’ first attempt to entrench Fascism in Italy began with the Acerbo Law, which guaranteed a plurality of the seats in parliament to any party or coalition list in an election that received 25% or more of the vote. Through considerable Fascist violence and intimidation, the list won a majority of the vote, allowing many seats to go to the Fascists. In the aftermath of the election, a crisis and political scandal erupted after Socialist Party deputy Giacomo Matteoti was kidnapped and murdered by a Fascist. The liberals and the leftist minority in parliament walked out in protest in what became known as the Aventine Secession.
During the latter half of the twenties Mussolini progressively solidified his totalitarian control over the government and the country. On January 3, 1925, Mussolini addressed the Fascist-dominated Italian parliament and declared that he was personally responsible for what happened, but insisted that he had done nothing wrong. He proclaimed himself dictator of Italy, assuming full responsibility over the government and announcing the dismissal of parliament. From 1925 to 1929, Mussolini’s fascists further solidified their control over the government and the country by denying opposition deputies access to Parliament and expanding censorship. In a December 1925 decree it was announced that Mussolini was responsible solely to the King.
Between 1925 and 1927, Mussolini progressively dismantled virtually all constitutional and conventional restraints on his power, thereby solidifying his control over the government and the country. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini’s formal title from “president of the Council of Ministers” to “head of the government” (though he was still called “Prime Minister” by most non-Italian outlets). Thereafter, he began styling himself as Il Duce (the leader). He was no longer responsible to Parliament and could be removed only by the king. While the Italian constitution stated that ministers were responsible only to the sovereign, in practice it had become all but impossible to govern against the express will of Parliament. The Christmas Eve law ended this practice and made Mussolini the only person competent to determine the body’s agenda. This law transformed Mussolini’s government into a de facto legal dictatorship. Local autonomy was abolished, and podestàs appointed by the Italian Senate replaced elected mayors and councils.
Mussolini also extended his control over education, the press, and unions in Italy. All teachers in schools and universities had to swear an oath to defend the fascist regime. Newspaper editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one without a certificate of approval from the fascist party could practice journalism. These certificates were issued in secret; Mussolini thus skillfully created the illusion of a “free press.” The trade unions were also deprived of independence and integrated into what was called the “corporative” system. The aim, although never completely achieved, was inspired by medieval guilds and was meant to place all Italians in various professional organizations or corporations under clandestine governmental control.
Totalitarianism in Japan
During the 1920s and the 1930s, a growing number of Japanese embraced political totalitarianism, ultranationalism, and militarism, in a mixture resembling fascism, culminating in militaristic leaders of the Army and Navy taking control of the Japanese government. As part of this process the Japanese government embarked upon an ambitious and aggressive effort to expand the Japanese empire westward across east Asia and eastward across the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, this led to Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, the dismantling of the Japanese empire, and the end of Japan’s authoritarian government.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
totalitarianism: an approach to government defined by a central authority exercising complete control over a society
militarism: the belief or the desire of a government or people for a country to maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests; the glorification of the military; the ideals of a professional military class; the “predominance of the armed forces in the administration or policy of the state"
statism: the belief that the state should control either economic or social policy or both, sometimes taking the form of totalitarianism, but not necessarily. It is effectively the opposite of anarchism
Showa era: period in Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) from 1926 to 1989
Treaty of Versailles: the most important of the peace treaties that ended World War I, which was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, which holds that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.
League of Nations: an intergovernmental organization founded on January 10, 1920, as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War; the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
Statism in Japan
Statism in Japan was a totalitarian political ideology which developed from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 into the 1930s. It is sometimes also referred to as Japanese fascism or Shōwa nationalism, after Japanese Emperor Showa (or Hirohito), who reigned as the emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989. The period of Hirohito’s reign is also known as the Showa era. This statist movement dominated Japanese politics during the first part of the Shōwa period. It is characterized by a mixture of ideas including chauvinistic Japanese nationalism, militarism, and “state capitalism.”. Contemporary Japanese political philosophers and thinkers developed and advanced these ideas as part of their vision for Japan as an authoritarian and homogenous society with an empire that would stretch across the eastern half of Asia and the Pacific Ocean, making Japan one of the world’s leading powers.
Development of Statist Ideology
One of the catalysts for the development of statist ideology in Japan after World War I was the discriminatory treatment of Japan by Western Allied Powers. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I did not recognize the Empire of Japan’s territorial claims to the same extent that it did British and French imperial territorial claims. Subsequent international naval treaties between Western powers and the Empire of Japan, signed in Washington, D.C. in 1921 and in London in 1930, imposed prejudicial limitations on Japanese naval shipbuilding that put the Imperial Japanese Navy at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the British, the French, and the U.S. Navies. These measures were correctly considered by many in Japan as refusal by the Western powers to consider Japan an equal partner, as well as a part of a pattern of prejudicial treatment that Japan had had to endure at the hands of the Western power in its efforts to secure recognition as a world power since the 1868 Meiji Restoration.
These treaties provoked a surge of nationalism among many Japanese, who saw the discriminatory provisions as a threat to Japanese interests. Consequently, ultranationalist leaders pushed for an end to Japanese participation in such conciliatory diplomacy that put the Japanese empire at a disadvantage. During the 1920s a growing number of Japanese came to reject economic, strategic, military, and diplomatic cooperation with the U.S. and European powers as prejudicial to Japanese interests. By 1931 many in Japan had come to accept military dictatorship and aggressive territorial expansion as the best ways to protect Japan.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the supporters of Japanese statism used the slogan Showa Restoration, which implied that a new resolution was needed to replace the existing political order dominated by corrupt politicians and capitalists, with one which (in their eyes), would fulfill the original goals of the Meiji Restoration of direct Imperial rule via military proxies. Early Shōwa statism is sometimes given the retrospective label “fascism,” but this was not a self-appellation and it is not entirely clear that the comparison is accurate. When authoritarian tools of the state such as the Kempeitai were put into use in the early Shōwa period, they were employed to protect the rule of law under the Meiji Constitution from perceived enemies on both the left and the right. This included the Ministry of Home Affairs arresting left-wing political dissidents beginning in 1930. From 1930 through 1933 the Ministry made over 30,000 such arrests.
Nationalist Politics during the Shōwa Period
Left-wing groups had been subject to violent suppression by the end of the Taishō period, and radical right-wing groups, inspired by fascism and Japanese nationalism, rapidly grew in popularity. The extreme right became influential throughout the Japanese government and society, notably within the Kwantung Army, a Japanese army stationed in China along the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railroad. During the Manchurian Incident of 1931, radical army officers bombed a small portion of the South Manchuria Railroad and, falsely attributing the attack to the Chinese, invaded Manchuria. The Kwantung Army conquered Manchuria and set up the puppet government of Manchukuo there without permission from the Japanese government. International criticism of Japan following the invasion led to Japan withdrawing from the League of Nations.
The withdrawal from the League of Nations meant that Japan was politically isolated. Japan had no strong allies and its actions had been internationally condemned, while internally popular nationalism was booming. Local leaders such as mayors, teachers, and Shinto priests were recruited by the various movements to indoctrinate the populace with ultra-nationalist ideals. They had little time for the pragmatic ideas of the business elite and party politicians. Their loyalty lay to the emperor and the military. In March 1932 the “League of Blood” assassination plot and the chaos surrounding the trial of its conspirators further eroded the rule of democratic law in Shōwa Japan. In May of the same year, a group of right-wing Army and Navy officers succeeded in assassinating Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. The plot fell short of staging a complete coup d’état, but effectively ended rule by political parties in Japan.
Japan’s expansionist vision grew increasingly bold. Many of Japan’s political elite aspired to have Japan acquire new territory for resource extraction and settlement of surplus population. These ambitions led to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. After their victory in the Chinese capital, the Japanese military committed the infamous Nanking Massacre. The Japanese military failed to defeat the Chinese government led by Chiang Kai-shek and the war descended into a bloody stalemate that lasted until 1945. Japan’s stated war aim was to establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a vast pan-Asian union under Japanese domination. Hirohito’s role in Japan’s foreign wars remains a subject of controversy, with various historians portraying him as either a powerless figurehead or an enabler and supporter of Japanese militarism.
The United States opposed Japan’s invasion of China and responded with increasingly stringent economic sanctions intended to deprive Japan of the resources to continue its war in China. Japan reacted by forging an alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940, known as the Tripartite Pact, which worsened its relations with the U.S. In July 1941, the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands froze all Japanese assets when Japan completed its invasion of French Indochina by occupying the southern half of the country, further increasing tension in the Pacific.
Decline of Democracy in Europe between the World Wars
The development of fascism in Italy, Germany, and Spain occurred in the larger context of the decline of democracy in Europe. The conditions of economic hardship caused by the Great Depression brought about significant social unrest around the world, leading to a major surge of fascism and in many cases, the collapse of democratic governments in Europe.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, which holds that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.
Beer Hall Putsch: a failed coup attempt by the Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler to seize power in Munich, Bavaria, during November 8 – 9, 1923 (About two thousand men marched to the center of Munich where they confronted the police, resulting in the death of 16 Nazis and four policemen.)
Adolf Hitler: Nazi leader of World War II Germany, responsible for the Holocaust
Initial Surge of Fascism
The March on Rome, through which Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy, brought Fascism international attention. One early admirer of the Italian Fascists was Adolf Hitler, who, less than a month after the March, had begun to model himself and the Nazi Party upon Mussolini and the Fascists. The Nazis, led by Hitler and the German war hero Erich Ludendorff, attempted a “March on Berlin” modeled upon the March on Rome, which resulted in the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in November 1923. The Nazis briefly captured Bavarian Minister President Gustav Ritter von Kahr and announced the creation of a new German government to be led by a triumvirate of von Kahr, Hitler, and Ludendorff. The Beer Hall Putsch was crushed by Bavarian police, and Hitler and other leading Nazis were arrested and detained until 1925.
Another early admirer of Italian Fascism was Gyula Gömbös—leader of the Hungarian National Defence Association (known by its acronym MOVE) and a self-defined “national socialist.” In 1919 Gömbös spoke of the need for major changes in property and in 1923 stated the need for a “March on Budapest.”
Though it was opposed to the Italian government due to Yugoslav border disputes with Italy, Yugoslavia briefly had a significant fascist movement: the Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists (ORJUNA). ORJUNA supported Yugoslavism and the creation of a corporatist economy, as well as opposed democracy and took part in violent attacks on communists. ORJUNA was dissolved in 1929 when the King of Yugoslavia banned political parties and created a royal dictatorship, though ORJUNA supported the King’s decision.
Amid a political crisis in Spain involving increased strike activity and rising support for anarchism, Spanish army commander Miguel Primo de Rivera engaged in a successful coup against the Spanish government in 1923 and installed himself as a dictator as head of a conservative military junta that dismantled the established party system of government. Upon achieving power, Primo de Rivera sought to resolve the economic crisis by presenting himself as a compromise arbitrator figure between workers and bosses, and his regime created a corporatist economic system based on the Italian Fascist model. A variety of para-fascist governments that borrowed elements from fascism were formed during the Great Depression, including those of Greece, Lithuania, Poland, and Yugoslavia. In Lithuania in 1926, Antanas Smetona rose to power and founded a fascist regime under his Lithuanian Nationalist Union.
The Great Depression and the Spread of Fascism
The events of the Great Depression resulted in an international surge of fascism and the creation of several fascist regimes and regimes that adopted fascist policies. According to historian Philip Morgan, “the onset of the Great Depression…was the greatest stimulus yet to the diffusion and expansion of fascism outside Italy.” Fascist propaganda blamed the problems of the long depression of the 1930s on minorities and scapegoats: “Judeo-Masonic-bolshevik” conspiracies, left-wing internationalism, and the presence of immigrants.”
In Germany, it contributed to the rise of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which resulted in the demise of the Weimar Republic and the establishment of the fascist regime under the leadership of Adolf Hitler: Nazi Germany. With the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to power in 1933, liberal democracy was dissolved in Germany, and the Nazis mobilized the country for war, with expansionist territorial aims against several countries. In the 1930s the Nazis implemented racial laws that deliberately discriminated against, disenfranchised, and persecuted Jews and other racial and minority groups.
The Great Depression contributed to the growth of fascist movements elsewhere in Europe. Hungarian fascist Gyula Gömbös rose to power as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1932 and attempted to entrench his Party of National Unity throughout the country; he created an eight-hour workday and a 48-hour work week in industry, sought to entrench a corporatist economy, and pursued irredentist claims on Hungary’s neighbors. The fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania soared in political support after 1933, gaining representation in the Romanian government. An Iron Guard member assassinated Romanian prime minister Ion Duca.
During the February 6, 1934 crisis, France faced the greatest domestic political turmoil since the Dreyfus Affair when the fascist Francist Movement and multiple far-right movements rioted en masse in Paris against the French government, resulting in major political violence.
Totalitarianism beyond Europe
Fascism also expanded its influence outside Europe, especially in East Asia, the Middle East, and South America. In China, Wang Jingwei’s Kai-tsu p’ai (Reorganization) faction of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China) supported Nazism in the late 1930s. In Japan, a Nazi movement called the Tōhōkai was formed by Seigō Nakano. The Al-Muthanna Club of Iraq was a pan-Arab movement that supported Nazism and exercised its influence in the Iraqi government through cabinet minister Saib Shawkat, who formed a paramilitary youth movement.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the global challenge to liberalism by totalitarianism through the movements of communism, fascism, and National Socialism.
- Evaluate the factors that led to the global depression in the 1930s.
- Compare and contrast the reactions of nations worldwide to this global depression.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, which holds that liberal democracy is obsolete and that the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state is necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.
National Socialism: fascist and totalitarian ideology associated with Adolf Hitler, also known as Nazism, characterized by antisemitism, anticommunism, and scientific racism
Several, mostly short-lived fascist governments and prominent fascist movements were formed in South America during this period. Argentine President General José Félix Uriburu proposed that Argentina be reorganized along corporatist and fascist lines. Peruvian president Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro founded the Revolutionary Union in 1931 as the state party for his dictatorship; it was later taken over by Raúl Ferrero Rebagliati who sought to mobilize mass support for the group’s nationalism in a manner akin to fascism. Ferrero even started a paramilitary Blackshirts arm as a copy of the Italian group, although the Union lost heavily in the 1936 elections and faded into obscurity. In Paraguay in 1940, Paraguayan President General Higinio Morínigo began his rule as a dictator with the support of pro-fascist military officers, appealed to the masses, exiled opposition leaders, and only abandoned his pro-fascist policies after the end of World War II. The Brazilian Integralists, led by Plínio Salgado, claimed as many as 200,000 members, although following coup attempts it faced a crackdown from the Estado Novo of Getúlio Vargas in 1937. In the 1930s, the National Socialist Movement of Chile gained seats in Chile’s parliament and attempted a coup d’état that resulted in the Seguro Obrero massacre of 1938.
Fascism in its Epoch
Fascism in its Epoch is a 1963 book by historian and philosopher Ernst Nolte, widely regarded as his magnum opus and a seminal work on the history of fascism. The book, translated into English in 1965 as The Three Faces of Fascism, argues that fascism arose as a form of resistance to and a reaction against modernity. Nolte subjected German Nazism, Italian Fascism, and the French Action Française movements to a comparative analysis. Nolte’s conclusion was that fascism was the great anti-movement: it was anti-liberal, anti-communist, anti-capitalist, and anti-bourgeois. In Nolte’s view, fascism was the rejection of everything the modern world had to offer and was an essentially negative phenomenon. Nolte argued that fascism functioned at three levels: in the world of politics as a form of opposition to Marxism, at the sociological level in opposition to bourgeois values, and in the “metapolitical” world as “resistance to transcendence” (“transcendence” in German can be translated as the “spirit of modernity”). In regard to the Holocaust, Nolte contended that because Adolf Hitler identified Jews with modernity, the basic thrust of Nazi policies towards Jews had always aimed at genocide: “Auschwitz was contained in the principles of Nazi racist theory like the seed in the fruit.” Nolte believed that for Hitler, Jews represented “the historical process itself.”
Attributions
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Boundless World History
"The Rise of Fascism"
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Francoist Spain. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Francisco Franco. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Falangism. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falangism. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
March_on_Rome.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#/media/File:March_on_Rome.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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Fascism. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Fascism and ideology. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism_and_ideology. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Fascism In Its Epoch. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism_In_Its_Epoch. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
March_on_Rome.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#/media/File:March_on_Rome.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Hitlermusso2_edit.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#/media/File:Hitlermusso2_edit.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
400px-Emperor_Shu014dwa_Army_1938-1-8.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showa_period#/media/File:Emperor_Showa_Army_1938-1-8.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88049/overview
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Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Overview
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria and the Beginning of World War II
When did World War II begin? For the U.S. it began officially in 1941. For Europe in 1939. For Asia, and the world as a whole, it began with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 18 September 1931. While this invasion marked the beginning of World War II, for Japan it was another stage in the expansion of the Japanese empire which began with the Meiji Restoration. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria represented a new stage in Japanese expansion, growing out of the control of the Japanese government by chauvanistic nationalists and militarists with a vision of Japanese control over the eastern half of Asia and the Pacific Ocean out through the Hawaiian islands. Along with strategic importance of Manchuria to Japanese imperial ambitions, it also held useful resources for the Japanese economy.
Learning Objective
- Identify key features of Japanese politics and territorial expansion prior to the outbreak of World War II, including the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- Explain why and how the Japanese invasion of Manchuria occurred, and assess the historic significance and impact of this invasion, particularly in World War II.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Kwantung Army - Japanese field army that invaded Manchuria in 1931, without the authorization of the Japanese government, an action that reflected the militarization of Japan
Manchukuo - puppet state created by the Kwantung Army
Manchurian Incident: a staged event engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the Japanese invasion in 1931 of northeastern China, known as Manchuria
League of Nations: an intergovernmental organization founded on January 10, 1920, as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War; the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals as stated in its Covenant included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
Japan had been pursuing expansion into Manchuria since the 1890s, defeating China in 1895 and Russia in 1905 in limited wars as part of these efforts. On 18 September 1931 the Japanese force in Manchuria, the Kwantung Army, invaded Manchuria on the pretense of protecting Japanese interests in Manchuria. Manchuria was then under Chinese control, but Japan held certain interests within Manchuria by various treaties. The Kwantung Army had been formed in 1906 as part of the effort to expand the Japanese presence in northeast Asia. Kwantung refers to the territory in Manchuria that Japan took from China in the 1894-5 war.
To provide an excuse for invading Manchuria on September 18, members of the Kwantung Army blew up a small section of the South Manchurian Railway, for which the Kwantung Army had responsibility, otherwise known as the Manchurian Incident. The Kwantung Army then carried out a campaign to take control of Manchuria, which ended successfully for the Kwantung Army in February 1932. The Kwantung Army then created the puppet state of Manchukuo to legitimize its conquest, placing the last Chinese emperor, Puyi, on its throne.
Along with initiating World War II, this invasion marked the militarists taking control of the Japanese government. The Kwantung Army carried out the conquest of Manchuria without the authorization of the Japanese government. Because of the growing strength of nationalistic and militaristic army and navy officers within the Japanese government during the twenties and early thirties, and because of the constitutional requirement that the army and the navy be represented in the Japanese cabinet, the civilian government not only had to accept the Kwantung Army's invasion of Manchuria, it also had to support the Army's and the Navy's program for expanding the Japanese Army. Tragically, in the classic and literal definition of this word, militarists remained in control of the Japanese government and the Japanese war effort until the detonation of a second atomic bomb over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, ending Japan's war.
Along with marking the beginning of World War II, the Kwantung Army's invasion of Manchuria also contributed to the end of the League of Nations. In response to this invasion the League formed the Lytton Commission, named after the British politician and lord who led it, to investigate. The Commission released its report in October 1932, stating that Japan was the aggressor, the invasion had been wrong, and Manchuria should be returned to China. In March 1933 Japan formally withdrew from the League, further weakening it then already in decline.
The Japanese Invasion of China and the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41
By 1937, Japan controlled Manchuria and it was also ready to move deeper into China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937 provoked full-scale war between China and Japan, known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communists suspended the civil war they were then engaged in so that they could form a nominal alliance against Japan. And the Soviet Union quickly lent support to Chinese troops by providing large amounts of material.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key features of Japanese politics and territorial expansion prior to the outbreak of World War II, including the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- Assess the historic significance and impact of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Second Sino-Japanese War: 1937-45 War between China and Japan that was one of the component wars of World War II
Chiang Kai-shek: leader of Chinese Nationalist forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Nanjing Massacre - Japanese mass murder of an estimated 200,000 Chinese in December 1937 through January 1938 after the Japanese capture of that city
In August 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to fight about 300,000 Japanese troops in Shanghai, but, after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push the Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanjing in December 1937, where they conducted the Nanjing Massacre.
In March 1938, Chinese Nationalist forces won their first victory at Taierzhuang, but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Japan deployed about 350,000 troops to invade Wuhan and captured it in October. The Japanese achieved major military victories, but world opinion at the time—in particular in the United States—condemned Japan, especially after the Panay incident.
In 1939, Japanese forces tried to push into the Soviet Far East from Manchuria. They were soundly defeated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol by a mixed Soviet and Mongolian force led by Georgy Zhukov. This stopped Japanese expansion to the north; meanwhile, Soviet aid to China ended as a result of the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact at the beginning of its war against Germany.
In September 1940, Japan decided to cut China's only land line to the outside world by seizing French Indochina, which was controlled at the time by Vichy France. Japanese forces broke their agreement with the Vichy administration and fighting broke out, ending in a Japanese victory. On 27 September 1940 Japan signed a military alliance with Germany and Italy, becoming one of the three main Axis Powers.
The war entered a new phase with the unprecedented defeat of the Japanese at the Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang, 1st Battle of Changsha, Battle of Kunlun Pass, and Battle of Zaoyi. After these victories, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive in early 1940; however, due to its low military-industrial capacity, China was repulsed by the Imperial Japanese Army in late March 1940. In August 1940, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China; in retaliation, Japan instituted the "Three Alls Policy" ("Kill all, Burn all, Loot all") in occupied areas to reduce human and material resources for the communists.
By 1941 the conflict had become a stalemate. Although Japan had occupied much of northern, central, and coastal China, the Nationalist Government had retreated to the interior with a provisional capital set up at Chungking, while the Chinese communists remained in control of base areas in Shaanxi. In addition, Japanese control of northern and central China was somewhat tenuous, in that Japan was usually able to control railroads and the major cities ("points and lines"), but did not have a major military or administrative presence in the vast Chinese countryside. The Japanese found its aggression against the retreating and regrouping Chinese army was stalled by the mountainous terrain in southwestern China, while the Communists organized widespread guerrilla and saboteur activities in northern and eastern China behind the Japanese front line.
Japan sponsored several puppet governments. However, Japanese policies of brutality toward the Chinese population, of not yielding any real power to these regimes, and of supporting several rival governments failed to make any of them a viable alternative to the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek. Conflicts between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces vying for territory control behind enemy lines culminated in a major armed clash in January 1941, effectively ending their co-operation.
Japanese strategic bombing efforts mostly targeted large Chinese cities, such as Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing, with around 5,000 raids from February 1938 to August 1943 in the latter case. Japan's strategic bombing campaigns devastated Chinese cities extensively, killing 260,000 – 350,934 non-combatants.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Title Image - Japanese troops entering Tsitsihar, 19 November 1932. Attribution: English: Osaka Mainichi war cameramen日本語: 大阪毎日従軍寫眞班撮影, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_troops_entering_Tsitsihar.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Wikipedia
"Japanese Invasion of Manchuria"
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Manchuria
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Wikipedia.com. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Thorne, Christopher. "Viscount Cecil, the Government and the Far Eastern Crisis of 1931." Historical Journal 14, no. 4 (1971): 805–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2638108 online].
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- Coogan, Anthony (1994). Northeast China and the Origins of the Anti-Japanese United Front. Modern China, Vol. 20, No. 3 (July 1994), pp. 282-314: Sage Publications.
- Matsusaka, Yoshihisa Tak (2003). The Making of Japanese Manchuria, 1904-1932. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-01206-6.
- Guo, Rugui (2005-07-01). Huang Yuzhang (ed.). 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 [China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations]. Jiangsu People's Publishing House. ISBN 7-214-03034-9.
- 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 [China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01.
- 第二部分：从“九一八”事变到西安事变“九一八”事变和东北沦陷 ["9/18" Emergency and Northeast falls to the enemy]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.
- 第二部分：从“九一八”事变到西安事变事变爆发和辽宁 吉林的沦陷 [The emergency erupts with Liaoning, Jilin falling to the enemy]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27.
- "Wehoo.net" 第二部分：从“九一八”事变到西安事变江桥抗战和黑龙江省的失陷 [River bridge defense and Heilongjiang Province falls to the enemy]. wehoo.net.[dead link]
- 第二部分：从“九一八”事变到西安事变锦州作战及其失陷 [The Jinzhou battle and its fall to the enemy]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27.
- 第二部分：从“九一八”事变到西安事变哈尔滨保卫战 [The defense of Harbin]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01.
- 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 [China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations]. wehoo.net. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01.
"Second Sino-Japanese War"
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Wikipedia.com. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Bayly, C. A., and T. N. Harper. Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941–1945. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005. xxxiii, 555p. ISBN 0-674-01748-X.
- Bayly, C. A., T. N. Harper. Forgotten Wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. xxx, 674p. ISBN 978-0-674-02153-2.
- Benesch, Oleg. "Castles and the Militarisation of Urban Society in Imperial Japan," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 28 (Dec. 2018), pp. 107–134.
- Buss, Claude A. War And Diplomacy in Eastern Asia (1941) 570pp online free
- Duiker, William (1976). The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam, 1900–1941. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0951-9.
- Gordon, David M. "The China–Japan War, 1931–1945" Journal of Military History (January 2006). v. 70#1, pp, 137–82. Historiographical overview of major books from the 1970s through 2006
- Guo Rugui, editor-in-chief Huang Yuzhang,中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations (Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 2005) ISBN 7-214-03034-9. On line in Chinese: 中国抗战正向战场作战记
- Hastings, Max (2009). Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-307-27536-3.
- Förster, Stig; Gessler, Myriam (2005). "The Ultimate Horror: Reflections on Total War and Genocide". In Roger Chickering, Stig Förster and Bernd Greiner, eds., A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937–1945 (pp. 53–68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83432-2.
- Hsiung, James Chieh; Levine, Steven I., eds. (1992), China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 0-87332-708-X. Reprinted: Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2015. Chapters on military, economic, diplomatic aspects of the war.
- Huang, Ray (31 January 1994). 從大歷史的角度讀蔣介石日記 (Reading Chiang Kai-shek's Diary from a Macro History Perspective). China Times Publishing Company. ISBN 957-13-0962-1.
- Annalee Jacoby and Theodore H. White, Thunder out of China, New York: William Sloane Associates, 1946. Critical account of Chiang's government by Time magazine reporters.
- Jowett, Phillip (2005). Rays of the Rising Sun: Japan's Asian Allies 1931–45 Volume 1: China and Manchukuo. Helion and Company Ltd. ISBN 1-874622-21-3. – Book about the Chinese and Mongolians who fought for the Japanese during the war.
- Hsu, Long-hsuen; Chang Ming-kai (1972). History of the Sino-Japanese war (1937–1945). Chung Wu Publishers. ASIN B00005W210.
- Lary, Diana and Stephen R. Mackinnon, eds. The Scars of War: The Impact of Warfare on Modern China. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2001. 210p. ISBN 0-7748-0840-3.
- Laureau, Patrick (June 1993). "Des Français en Chine (2ème partie)" [The French in China]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (4): 32–38. ISSN 1243-8650.
- MacKinnon, Stephen R., Diana Lary and Ezra F. Vogel, eds. China at War: Regions of China, 1937–1945. Stanford University Press, 2007. xviii, 380p. ISBN 978-0-8047-5509-2.
- Macri, Franco David. Clash of Empires in South China: The Allied Nations' Proxy War with Japan, 1935–1941 (2015) online
- Mitter, Rana (2013). Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937–1945. HMH. ISBN 978-0-547-84056-7.
- Peattie, Mark. Edward Drea, and Hans van de Ven, eds. The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945 (Stanford University Press, 2011); 614 pages
- Quigley, Harold S. Far Eastern War 1937 1941 (1942) online free
- Steiner, Zara. "Thunder from the East: The Sino-Japanese Conflict and the European Powers, 1933=1938": in Steiner, The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933–1939 (2011) pp 474–551.
- Stevens, Keith (March 2005). "A token operation: 204 military mission to China, 1941–1945". Asian Affairs. 36 (1): 66–74. doi:10.1080/03068370500039151. S2CID 161326427.
- Taylor, Jay (2009). The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the struggle for modern China. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03338-2.
- Van de Ven, Hans, Diana Lary, Stephen MacKinnon, eds. Negotiating China's Destiny in World War II (Stanford University Press, 2014) 336 pp. online review
- van de Ven, Hans (2017). China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China, 1937–1952. London: Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017: Profile Books. ISBN 9781781251942.
- Wilson, Dick (1982). When Tigers Fight: The story of the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-76003-X.
- Zarrow, Peter (2005). "The War of Resistance, 1937–45". China in War and Revolution 1895–1949. London: Routledge.
- China at war, Volume 1, Issue 3. China Information Committee. 1938. p. 66. Retrieved 21 March 2012. Issue 40 of China, a collection of pamphlets. Original from Pennsylvania State University. Digitized 15 September 2009
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.274668
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88051/overview
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Hitler's Prewar Territorial Gains
Overview
Hitler's Territorial Gains: 1935-1938
In 1935, two years after coming to power in Germany, Hitler began preparing Germany to seize territory in Europe. Against provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, he remilitarized Germany. The draft was reintroduced in Germany in the spring of 1935, and Hitler further expanded the German Navy and the German Air Force. Over the next three years, Hitler carried out a series of incremental conquests, testing the tolerance of Great Britain and France.
Learning Objectives
Explain the significance of Hitler's acquisition of European territories between 1935-1938
Evaluate the significance of the Allies' policy of appeasement
Key Terms / Key Concepts
annexation of Austria: the incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany's Third Reich in March 1938.
appeasement: a diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict
Munich Conference: in September 1938, an internationally-agreed upon settlement permitting Nazi Germany’s annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country’s borders mainly inhabited by German speakers
Rhineland: a strip of land along Germany's western border with France, Belgium, Holland that is rich in natural resources and industries
Saarland: a small pocket of territory in present-day southwest territory rich in natural resources and industry
Hitler's Prewar Conquests
The Saarland and Rhineland
By 1935, the German military had grown exponentially. Hitler turned his attention to western Germany. Under the provisions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany had lost control of two of the most industralized, and resource-rich areas along their western border: the Saarland, and the Rhineland. Historically German territory rich in coal and iron deposits, as well as heavy industry, Hitler wanted to reclaim them.
Under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany had lost much of its territory along its western border. The Saarland, a small territory in Germany's southwest, was carved away. It operated under the joint rule of the League of Nations but was primarily controlled by the French, who also controlled its resource and industrial production. In 1933, the Nazis began applying pressure to the people to rejoin Germany. Two years later, a referendum was held. To the shock of Western European nations, and the Germans alike, the people of the Saarland voted overwhelming to rejoin Germany. Thus, the Saarland was restored to Germany, becoming Hitler's first territorial acquisition. It would set the stage for his subsequent advances.
In 1935, another development took place that would give Hitler the context he needed to reclaim his main target, the Rhineland. France and the Soviet Union signed a pact assuring one another mutual assistance if either were attacked by a foreign nation. This thinly-veiled action in effect said, "Germany, if you attack either of our nations, then you will have to fight both Russia and France." Hitler was outraged but used the treaty to his advantage.
In the spring of 1936, under the pretext of protecting Germany from a French threat, Hitler sent troops to reoccupy Germany's Rhineland. This was undertaken in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which demanded complete demilitarization of the region. But the act was bold and unexpected, and it caught the British and French surprised and unprepared. They watched and questioned the situation. Ultimately, neither nation did anything. Hitler, thus, secured his second territorial goal in only one year, and he had done so with no decisive response from the British and French. Their inaction bolstered his courage to proceed with further territorial expansion, and his goal of uniting all German peoples.
The Annexation of Austria
Like Germany, Austria suffered significantly during the Great Depression and endured its own political struggles. Austrians also created their own branch of the Nazis, and the Austrian Nazis became enormously popular and influential. Hitler, himself an Austrian by birth, dreamed of uniting Germany and Austria into one German state. The two countries shared languages, many cultural features, as well as economic ties. After a failed coup four years earlier, German and Austrian Nazis began working together to create one German state. Hitler and his cabinet applied political pressure on the sitting Austrian government. The Austrian government also faced with growing discontent internally. Ultimately, they refused to willingly capitulate to Hitler's pressure. On March 12, 1938, the Nazis invaded Austria. Overwhelmingly, they were welcomed by the Austrian people. Such fanfare followed the Nazi invasion that twenty-four later, Hitler formally annexed Austria into his German Reich (empire).
For their parts, Britain and France continued to watch and consider the annexation of Austria. What should they do? How should they respond? Again, their sluggishness and inactivity would only encourage further expansion by Hitler and the Nazis.
The Sudetenland Crisis
The success of the annexation of Austria emboldened Hitler. He spoke loudly of its triumph, and of uniting German peoples. However, he also spoke of the need to reunite all German peoples under one enormous, German empire, his Third Reich. Once again, he set his eyes on a target. This time, it was the Sudetenland. The Sudetenland is the present-day Czech Republic, just south and east of Germany. In 1938, it was a part of Czechoslovakia--a multiethnic nation that was home to a large German minority population. It was also a region rich in natural resources such as coal, which would be essential to fueling a war, and industry. Under the pretext of uniting Germans, Hitler began a campaign to annex the Sudetenland. Germans who lived there, he argued, were mistreated by the dysfunctional Czechoslovakian government, and needed to return home. In May 1938, he verbally launched his campaign to attack Czechoslovakia and annex the Sudetenland. War seemed immienent.
British and French fears about Hitler's growing power and territorial acquisitions prompted them to take action. In September 1938, the British and French leaders agreed to meet with Hitler in the German city, Munich, to negotiate with him about his Sudetenland demands. Fascist Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, also joined in the negotiations at the Munich Conference in late September 1938. Neither the Czechs, not the Soviet Union, were present at the conference. Instrumental in the negotiations was British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. A confirmed pacifist, he believed that war with Germany must be avoided at all costs. During the negotiations, Chamberlain became the main voice for launching a policy of appeasement. Rather than confront Hitler militarily, Chamberlain argued successfully that the British and French should allow Hitler to occupy parts of the Sudetenland in exchange for peace in Europe. Moreover, the agreement was made that Germany would pursue no further territorial acquisitions. The four heads of state shook hands, and Chamberlain returned to England, and said of the conference, "We have achieved peace for our time."
German soldiers occupied the Sudetenland in October 1938. The following spring, Hitler pushed beyond the boundaries of the Sudetenland given to him at the Munich Conference. In March 1939, German troops entered the capital city of the Sudetenland, Prague. Six months later, they would invade Poland and launch Europe into a Second World War.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.296418
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88053/overview
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Mussolini’s Prewar Territorial Gains
Overview
Mussolini's Territorial Expansion
In a secret speech to the Italian military leadership in January 1925, Mussolini argued that Italy needed to win spazio vitale (vital space). As such, his ultimate goal was to join “the two shores of the Mediterranean and of the Indian Ocean into a single Italian territory.” Thus, Mussolini envisioned Italy would once again be restored as major, global power as it had been in the days of the Roman Empire.
Learning Objectives
- Identify Mussolini's territorial expansions
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Albania: small, European country in the Balkans, just north of Greece
Ethiopia: country in far eastern Africa
spazio vitale: Mussolini's concept of "vital space," and used as justification for Italian conquests
The Italians in Ethiopia and Albania
In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. On the surface, the invasion looked random. Why would Italy set its sites on taking a country in east Africa? There were, however, a few reasons driving Mussolini. Firstly, he recalled the miserable defeat the Italians had suffered against the Ethiopians in the 1896 war. Italy had tried to claim Ethiopia during the "Scramble for Africa," and failed miserably. Secondly, it remained one of the only independent nations in Africa in the 1930s. Almost all of the rest of the continent remained under British, French, and Spanish colonial rule. Lastly, Mussolini hoped to conquer Ethiopia, then follow up his success by conquering other small nations around the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.
In 1936, the Italians invaded Ethiopia. More than 200,000 Italian troops fought in the campaign to conquer Ethiopia. While the Ethiopians tried to resist, they were severely outgunned and lacked radios and other technological advancements. Within a year, the Italians had claimed victory and proclaimed the Italian King, Victor Emmanuel, Emperor. Still, conflict continued between the Ethiopians and Italians until 1939. This proved a resource drain for the Italians, who increasingly relied on their alliance with Nazi Germany to protect them at home.
In April 1939, Italy launched an invasion of Albania. Again, the maneuver seemed peculiar. Albania was a small country in the Balkans with very little political sway in global affairs. Why did Mussolini want to seize it? Firstly, because of the country's position on the Adriatic Sea. Albania had several significant ports which could offer the Italians control of the Adriatic. Secondly, Albania had once been part of the Roman Empire. Therefore, Mussolini believed that reclaiming it would also help restore Italian influence. Lastly, Mussolini felt enormous pressure to expand Italian influence following Hitler's successes in annexing Austria. Afraid that Italy was falling behind Germany in terms of its military and political power, Mussolini was determined to conquer territories. Within a few days of the invasion, Albania capitulated to the Italians. The Albanian king was deposed, and the Italian King, Victor Emmanuel, became the king of Albania. Mussolini's plan had worked.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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Technology of a Modern War
Overview
Technology in World War II
Technology played a significant role in World War II. Some of the technologies used during the war were developed during the interwar years of the 1920s and 1930s, much was developed in response to needs and lessons learned during the First World War, while others were beginning to be developed as the war ended. Many wars had major effects on the technologies that we use in our daily lives. However, compared to previous wars, World War II had the greatest effect on the technology and devices that are used today. Technology also played a greater role in the conduct of World War II than in any other war in history, and had a critical role in its outcome.
Learning Objectives
Identify, explain, and assess the impact of the new technologies of the Second World War.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
atomic bomb: explosive device powered by nuclear fission, first developed by the United States through the Manhattan Project
jet aircraft: jet-powered military aircraft developed by Britain, Germany, Japan, and the United States
V-2 rocket: ballistic missile developed by Germany during World War II
Summary of World War II Technological Developments
During WWII. many types of technology were customized for military use, and major developments occurred across several fields including:
Weaponry: ships, vehicles, submarines, aircraft, tanks, artillery, small arms; and biological, chemical, and atomic weapons
Logistical support: vehicles necessary for transporting soldiers and supplies, such as trains, trucks, tanks, ships, and aircraft
Communications and intelligence: devices used for navigation, communication, remote sensing, and espionage
Medicine: surgical innovations, chemical medicines, and techniques
Rocketry: guided missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles, and automatic aircraft
World War II was the first war where military operations were conducted to obtain intelligence on the enemy's technology and widely targeted the research efforts of the enemy. This included the exfiltration of Niels Bohr from German-occupied Denmark to Britain in 1943; the sabotage of Norwegian heavy water production; and the bombing of Peenemunde; the Bruneval Raid for German radar; and Operation Most III for the German V-2.
Interwar Period
In the aftermath of World War I nations responded in a variety of ways to the question of rearming for the next war. Military investments differed by nation between WWI and WWII. In August 1919 the British Ten Year Rule declared the government should not expect another war within ten years. Consequently, they conducted very little military research and development (R&D). In contrast, Germany and the Soviet Union were dissatisfied powers who, for different reasons, cooperated with each other on military R & D. The Soviets offered Weimar Germany facilities deep inside the USSR for building and testing arms and for military training, well away from Treaty inspectors' eyes. In return, they asked for access to German technical developments, as well as for assistance in creating the Red Army General Staff. In the late 1920s, Germany helped the Soviet industry begin to modernize and to assist in the establishment of tank production facilities at the Leningrad Bolshevik Factory and the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory. This cooperation would break down when Hitler rose to power in 1933.
The failure of the 1932 World Disarmament Conference marked the beginning of the arms race immediately preceding World War II. In France the lesson of World War I was translated into the Maginot Line, which was supposed to hold a line at the border with Germany, was a product of French R&D based on the static warfare on the Western Front during WWI. The Maginot Line did achieve its political objective of ensuring that any German invasion had to go through Belgium ensuring that France would have Britain as a military ally. France and Russia had more, and much better, tanks than Germany in 1940, right before they clashed. As in World War I, the French generals expected that armor would mostly serve to help infantry break the static trench lines and storm machine gun nests. They thus spread the armor among their infantry divisions, ignoring the new German doctrine of blitzkrieg based on fast, coordinated movement using concentrated armor attacks, against which the only effective defense was mobile anti-tank guns, as the old infantry antitank rifles were ineffective against the new medium and heavy tanks.
Air power was a major concern of Germany and Britain between the wars. Commercial trade in aircraft engines continued, with Britain selling hundreds of its best designs to German firms, who used them in the first generation of their aircraft and then improved on them for use in German military aircraft. These new inventions in aircraft parts aided German successes in World War II.
Germany was at the forefront of internal combustion engine development. The laboratory of Ludwig Prandtl at University of Göttingen was the world center of aerodynamics and fluid dynamics in general, until its dispersal after the Allied victory. This contributed to the German development of jet aircraft and of submarines with improved underwater performance.
Induced nuclear fission was discovered in Germany in 1939 by Otto Hahn, as well as expatriate Jews in Sweden. Germany lagged in this area because many of the scientists needed to develop nuclear power had escaped or migrated to other countries due to Nazi anti-Jewish and anti-intellectual policies.
Scientists have been at the heart of warfare and their contributions have often been decisive. As Ian Jacob—the wartime military secretary of Winston Churchill—famously remarked on the influx of refugee scientists into Allied nations (including 19 Nobel laureates): "the Allies won the [Second World] War because our German scientists were better than their German scientists".
Allied Cooperation
The Allies of World War II cooperated extensively in the development and manufacture of new and existing technologies to support military operations and intelligence gathering during the Second World War. There are various ways in which the allies cooperated, including the American Lend-Lease scheme, the development of hybrid weapons such as the Sherman Firefly, and the British Tube Alloys nuclear weapons research project, which was absorbed into the American-led Manhattan Project. Several technologies invented in Britain proved critical to the military and were widely manufactured by the Allies during the Second World War.
Weaponry
Military weapons technology experienced rapid advances during World War II; over six years there was a disorientating rate of change in combat in everything from aircraft to small arms. Indeed, the war began with most armies utilizing technology that had changed little from World War I, and in some cases, had remained unchanged since the 19th century. For instance, cavalry, trenches, and World War I-era battleships were normal in 1940, ; however, within only six years armies around the world had developed jet aircraft, ballistic missiles, and even atomic weapons in the case of the United States.
Aircraft
In the Western European Theatre of World War II, air power became crucial throughout the war, both in tactical and strategic operations (respectively, battlefield and long-range). Superior German aircraft, aided by ongoing introduction of design and technology innovations, allowed the German armies to initially overrun Western Europe with great speed in 1940, largely assisted by lack of Allied aircraft, which in many cases lagged in design and technical development during the slump in research investment after the Great Depression. Aircraft saw rapid and broad development during the war to meet the demands of aerial combat and address lessons learned from combat experience. From the open cockpit airplane to the sleek jet fighter, many different types were employed, often designed for very specific missions. Aircraft were used in anti-submarine warfare against German U-Boats, by the Germans to mine shipping lanes, and by the Japanese against previously formidable Royal Navy battleships such as HMS Prince of Wales.
Since the end of World War I, the French Air Force had been badly neglected, as military leaders preferred to spend money on ground armies and static fortifications to fight another World War I-style war. As a result, by 1940, the French Air Force had only 1562 planes and was together with 1070 RAF planes facing 5,638 Luftwaffe fighters and fighter-bombers. Most French airfields were located in north-east of France, and were quickly overrun in the early stages of the campaign. Subsequently, the Luftwaffe was able to achieve air superiority over France in 1940, giving the German military an immense advantage in terms of reconnaissance and intelligence.
German aircraft rapidly achieved air superiority over France in early 1940, allowing the Luftwaffe to begin a campaign of strategic bombing against British cities. Utilizing France's airfields near the English Channel the Germans were able to launch raids on London and other cities during the Blitz, with varying degrees of success. The Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom possessed some very advanced fighter planes, such as Spitfires and Hurricanes, but these were not useful for attacking ground troops on a battlefield, and the small number of planes dispatched to France with the British Expeditionary Force were destroyed fairly quickly.
After World War I, the concept of massed aerial bombing—"The bomber will always get through"—had become very popular with politicians and military leaders seeking an alternative to the carnage of trench warfare, and as a result, the air forces of Britain, France, and Germany had developed fleets of bomber planes to enable this. However, France's bomber wing was severely neglected, while Germany's bombers were developed in secret as they were explicitly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. German industrial production actually rose continuously from 1940 to 1945, despite the best efforts of the Allied air forces to cripple industry.
Despite the abilities of Allied bombers, though, Germany was not quickly crippled by Allied air raids. At the start of the war the vast majority of bombs fell miles from their targets, as poor navigation technology ensured that Allied airmen frequently could not find their targets at night. The bombs used by the Allies were very high-tech devices, and mass production meant that the precision bombs were often made sloppily, so they failed to explode.
The practical jet aircraft age began just before the start of the war with the development of the Heinkel He 178—the first true turbojet. Late in the war the Germans brought in the first operational Jet fighter—the Messerschmitt Me 262. However, despite their seeming technological edge, German jets were often hampered by technical problems, such as short engine lives, and the Me 262 had an estimated operating life of just ten hours before failing.
German jets were also overwhelmed by Allied air superiority, frequently being destroyed on or near the airstrip. The first and only operational Allied jet fighter of the war—the British Gloster Meteor—saw combat against German V-1 flying bombs but did not significantly distinguish from top-line, late-war piston-driven aircraft.
Fuel
As with other resources, the Allies possessed quantitative superiority over the Axis nations in petroleum production. During the Axis countries had serious shortages of petroleum from which to make liquid fuel. These shortages drove Axis conquest efforts in the Middle East and east Asia. Germany also was able to mitigate somewhat this shortage through a process to make synthetic fuel from coal. Consequently, synthesis factories were principal targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II.
Vehicles
The Treaty of Versailles had imposed severe restrictions upon Germany constructing vehicles for military purposes; in response, throughout the 1920s and 1930s, German arms manufacturers and the Wehrmacht had begun secretly developing tanks. As these vehicles were produced in secret, their technical specifications and battlefield potential were largely unknown to the European Allies until the war actually began.
French and British Generals believed that a second war with Germany would be fought in the same way as WWI had been – static trench warfare. Fighting on the Western Front was marked by hundreds of thousands of casualties in campaigns that lasted months for territorial gains of only a few hundred square miles, such as the Battle of the Somme, which lasted four and a half months, cost both sides close to a million casualties, and gained the British just under one hundred square miles. Beginning in WWI both sides invested in thickly armored, heavily armed vehicles, including tanks and self-propelled vehicles, designed to cross shell-damaged ground and trenches under fire, ending static trench warfare. At the same time the British also developed faster but lightly armored cruiser tanks to range behind the enemy lines.
Communication technology also varied between nations. Only a handful of French tanks had radios, and these often broke as the tank lurched over uneven ground. German tanks were, on the contrary, all equipped with radios, allowing them to communicate with one another throughout battles, while French tank commanders could rarely contact other vehicles.
World War II marked the first full-scale war when mechanization played a significant role. This meant that both men and materials would be transported by motorized vehicles, as opposed to animals or people. Most nations did not begin the war equipped for this. Even the vaunted German Panzer forces relied heavily on non-motorized support and flank units in large operations. While Germany recognized and demonstrated the value of concentrated use of mechanized forces, they never had these units in enough quantity to supplant traditional units. However, the British also saw the value in mechanization. For them it was a way to enhance an otherwise limited manpower reserve. The U.S. as well sought to create a mechanized army. For the United States, it was not so much a matter of limited troops, but instead a strong industrial base that could afford such equipment on a great scale.
The most visible vehicles of the war were the tanks, forming the armored spearhead of mechanized warfare. Their impressive firepower and armor made them the premier fighting machine of ground warfare. However, the large number of trucks and lighter vehicles that kept the infantry, artillery, and others moving were massive undertakings also.
Ships
Naval warfare changed dramatically during World War II, with the ascent of the aircraft carrier to the premier vessel of the fleet, as well as the impact of increasingly capable submarines on the course of the war. The development of new ships during the war was somewhat limited due to the protracted time period needed for production, but important developments were often retrofitted to older vessels. While the Germans were able to develop advanced types of submarines, this development came into service too late and after nearly all the experienced crews had been lost.
In addition to aircraft carriers, destroyers were advanced as well. For instance, the Imperial Japanese Navy introduced the Fubuki-class destroyer. The Fubuki class set a new standard not only for Japanese vessels but also for destroyers around the world. At a time when British and American destroyers had changed little from their un-turreted, single-gun mounts and light weaponry, the Japanese destroyers were bigger, more powerfully armed, and faster than any similar class of vessel in the other fleets. The Japanese destroyers of World War II are said to be the world's first modern destroyer.
Submersibles, or submarines, played an even greater role in WWII than they had in WWI. German U-boats came close to cutting off the flow of supplies from the U.S. and Canada to Britain in 1942, before Allied ships and aircraft brought an end to the Battle of the Atlantic. U.S. submarines were more successful against the Japanese in the Pacific, cutting off the flow of soldiers and supplies to Japanese-held islands. Both sides improved submersibles during the war, including with devices such as snorkels and more effective torpedoes. The success of submersibles on both sides in the war ensured their place in the planning of naval warfare in future conflicts.
The most important shipboard advances were in the field of anti-submarine warfare. Driven by the desperate necessity of keeping Britain supplied, technologies for the detection and destruction of submarines were advanced at high priority. The use of ASDIC (SONAR) became widespread and so did the installation of shipboard and airborne radar. The Allies’ breaking of the German Ultra code also contributed to the defeat of German U-boats.
Firearms, Artillery,and Bombs
The actual weapons (guns, mortars, artillery, bombs, and other devices) were as diverse as the participants and objectives. A large array was developed during the war to meet specific needs that arose, but many traced their early development prior to World War II. Torpedoes began to use magnetic detonators; compass-directed, programmed and even acoustic guidance systems; and improved propulsion. Fire-control systems continued to develop for ships' guns and came into use for torpedoes and anti-aircraft fire. Human torpedoes and the Hedgehog were also developed.
Small Arms Development
World War II saw the establishment of the reliable semi-automatic rifle—such as the American M1 Garand—and, more importantly, of the first widely used assault rifles—named after the German sturmgewehrs of the late war. Machine guns also improved. However, despite being overshadowed by self-loading/automatic rifles and sub-machine guns, bolt-action rifles remained the mainstay infantry weapon of many nations during World War II, most likely due to manufacturing and training issues for more advanced weapons. When the United States entered World War II, there were not enough M1 Garand rifles available to American forces, which forced the US to start producing more M1903 rifles in order to act as a "stop gap" measure until sufficient quantities of M1 Garands were produced.
Atomic Bomb
The massive research and development demands of the war included the Manhattan Project, the effort to quickly develop an atomic bomb or a nuclear fission warhead. It was perhaps the most profound military development of the war, and it had a great impact on the scientific community, among other things, as well as led to the creation of a network of national laboratories in the United States.
While only the U.S. had succeeded in developing atomic weapons during WWII, other countries tried. The British started their own nuclear weapons program in 1940, being the first country to do so. But, due to the potential radioactive fallout, the British considered the idea morally unacceptable and put it on hold until after the war. The Empire of Japan was also developing an atomic Bomb. However, it floundered due to lack of resources despite gaining interest from the government.
The invention of the atomic bomb meant that a single aircraft could carry a weapon so powerful it could burn down entire cities, making conventional warfare against a nation with an arsenal of atomic bombs a suicidal move; this means possession of the bomb worked as a deterrent to foreign aggression.
There was also a German nuclear energy project, including talk of an atomic weapon. But it failed for a variety of reasons, most notably German Antisemitism. Half of continental theoretical physicists did much of their early study and research in Germany —including Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, and Robert Oppenheimer; they were either Jewish or married to a Jewish person. (Erwin Schrödinger had also left Germany for political reasons.) When they left Germany, the only leading nuclear physicist left in Germany was Heisenberg, who apparently dragged his feet on the project, or at best lacked the high morale that characterized the Los Alamos work.
In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote the now infamous Einstein-Szilard letter to President Franklin Roosevelt. The letter informed Roosevelt of what the Germans were doing to develop atomic capabilities and encouraged the president to directly and secretly invest in developing this technology. This letter contributed to FDR’s decision to proceed with the Manhattan Project.
Following the conclusion of the European Theater in May 1945, two atomic bombs produced as part of the Manhattan Project were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 by U.S. developed and built strategic B29 bombers toward the end of forcing Japan to surrender. The success of these bombs brought a final end to the war, and made the U.S. world’s first super power, defined by possession of a nuclear arsenal.
The strategic importance of the bomb, as well as its even more powerful fusion-based successors, did not become fully apparent until the United States lost its monopoly on the weapon in the post-war era. The Soviet Union developed and tested their first fire weapon in 1949, based partially on information obtained from Soviet espionage in the United States. Competition between the two superpowers played a large part in the development of the Cold War. The strategic implications of such a massively destructive weapon still reverberate in the 21st century.
Rocketry
Rocketry advanced markedly during World War II, as illustrated most visibly by the German glide bombs, the V-1 flying bomb, and the V-2 rocket. V-1 and V-2 rockets took the lives of many civilians in London during 1944 and 1945. These weapons were precursors to "smart" weapons. The V-1, also known as the buzz bomb, was an automatic aircraft that would be known as a "cruise missile" today. The V-1 was developed at Peenemünde Army Research Center by the Nazi German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. During initial development it was known by the codename "Cherry Stone." The first of the so-called Vergeltungswaffen series designed for terror bombing of London, the V-1 was fired from launch facilities along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts. The first V-1 was launched at London on 13 June 1944), one week after (and prompted by) the successful Allied landings in Europe. At its peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired toward south-east England—9,521 in total. This firing decreased in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was captured by Allied forces. After this, the V-1s were directed at the port of Antwerp and other targets in Belgium, with 2,448 V-1s being launched. The attacks stopped when the last launch site was overrun on 29 March 1945.
The V-2 was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile with liquid-propellant rocket engine was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a "vengeance weapon" that was designed to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings of German cities. The V-2 rocket was also the first artificial object to cross the boundary of space. This was the first step into the space age as its trajectory took it through the stratosphere, higher and faster than any aircraft. This later led to the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Wernher Von Braun led the V-2 development team and later emigrated to the United States where he contributed to the development of the Saturn V rocket, which took men to the moon in 1969.
Medicine
Both sides also made remarkable medical advances during the war. Penicillin was first mass-produced and used during the war. The widespread use of mepacrine (Atabrine) for the prevention of malaria, sulfanilamide, blood plasma, and morphine were also among chief wartime medical advancements. Advances in the treatment of burns, including the use of skin grafts, mass immunization for tetanus, and improvements in gas masks also took place during the war. The use of metal plates to help heal fractures began during the war.
When World War II ended in 1945, the small arms that were used in the conflict still saw action in the hands of the armed forces of various nations and guerrilla movements during and after the Cold War era. Nations like the Soviet Union and the United States provided many surplus, World War II-era small arms to a number of nations and political movements during the Cold War era as a pretext to producing more modern infantry weapons.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Title Image - July 1945 Trinity atmosphere nuclear test. Attribution: The Official CTBTO Photostream, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Probided by: Wikipedia. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_atmospheric_nucleat_test_-_July_1945_-_Flickr_-_The_Official_CTBTO_Photostream.jpg. License: CC-BY-2.0.
Wikipedia
"Technology durig World War II"
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_during_World_War_II
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Boundless.com. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
World War II Technology. Provided by: Wikipedia. Location: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_during_World_War_II. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Roberts, Susan A.; Calvin A. Roberts (2006). New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826340030.
- ^ Gasiorowski, Zygmunt J. (1958). The Russian Overture to Germany of December 1924. The Journal of Modern History 30 (2), 99–117.
- ^ Dyakov, Yu. L. & T. S. Bushueva. The Red Army and the Wehrmacht. How the Soviets Militarized Germany, 1922–1933, and Paved the Way for Fascism. New York: Prometheus Books, 1995.
- ^ Dominic Selwood (29 January 2014). "The man who invented poison gas". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
- ^ Roberts, Eric (16 March 2004). "British Technology and the Second World War". Stanford University. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Paul Kennedy, Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide in the Second World War (2013)
- ^ James W. Brennan, "The Proximity Fuze: Whose Brainchild?," U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (1968) 94#9 pp 72–78.
- ^ Septimus H. Paul (2000). Nuclear Rivals: Anglo-American Atomic Relations, 1941–1952. Ohio State U.P. pp. 1–5. ISBN 9780814208526.
- ^ James Phinney Baxter III (Official Historian of the Office of Scientific Research and Development), Scientists Against Time (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1946), page 142.
- ^ "Jet Fighters: Inside & Out", Jim Winchester, 2012.
- ^ "Meteor I vs V1 Flying Bomb", Nijboer, Donald.
- ^ Parshall and Tully, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. p. 336.
- ^ (PDF). Dennis C. Fakley https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/00416632.pdf. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
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(help) - ^ "The History of the UK Nuclear Weapons Programme". Nuclear-info.org. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ Macintyre, Ben (10 December 2010). "Bravery of thousands of Poles was vital in securing victory". The Times. London. p. 27.
- ^ Magazine, Smithsonian. "The Brief History of the ENIAC Computer". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Computer History". www.cs.kent.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
- ^ "Discovery and Development of Penicillin: International Historic Chemical Landmark". Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "Nursing History: The History of WWII Medicine for Schools". NurseGroups.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Trueman, C.N. (16 Jun 2019). "Medicine And World War Two". The History Learning Site. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Tobey, Raymond E. (23 February 2018). "Advances in Medicine During Wars". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Foreign Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
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September 1939: The Invasion of Poland
Overview
World War II Begins in Europe
Poland is a relatively large county in Eastern Europe famous for its natural resources and agricultural production, as well as its industrial output. Its shifting borders have caused it to be both an aggressor, and more recently, a victim of geography. During World War II, it was invaded by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Despite being drastically outmanned and outgunned on both sides, the Poles fiercely resisted the invasions for nearly a month—just ten days shorter than France resisted the German invasion of 1940. Throughout the war, Poland would be an epicenter of extreme violence, war crimes, death camps, and barbaric conflicts between neighbors up and down its eastern border. Its history in World War II remains simultaneously complex and nuanced. Yet, there can be no doubt that Poland demonstrated remarkable heroics throughout the war—militarily and through the more than 7,000 Polish civilians who risked their lives to save Jewish neighbors.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the origins and background of the German-Soviet Division of Poland.
- Understand the complex, brutal invasions of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1939.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Wehrmacht: German military during World War II
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact: neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on August 23, 1939
Invasions of Poland: during September of 1939, when Poland was invaded by Germany from the North, South, and West; and the Soviet Union from the East
Blitzkrieg: German “lightning war” strategy that is highly mobile, and simultaneously uses airplanes, army, artillery, and tanks to eliminate a target
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Background: Germany, the USSR, and their Mutual Desire for Poland
Since the re-establishment of Poland as a sovereign nation at the end of World War I, both Germany and Russia had contested its right to exist. Historically, Poland’s territory had belonged, in part, to Germany and Russia from the mid-1800s until the First World War. Rich in resources, both sides wanted to reclaim Poland.
In the 1930s, Hitler’s desire to expand “living space” for the German people increased. The Allies, time and again, appeased Hitler by allowing him to annex territories such as Austria and the Sudetenland. The British and French governments drew the line, though, at the idea of Germany annexing Polish territory. This, they declared would result in a war declaration on Germany.
Similarly, Russia also had kept its eye on Poland since the end of World War I. Stalin wished to expand his influence in Europe and reclaim territory he believed rightfully belonged to him. Like Hitler, he also saw Poland as a country rich in agriculture and natural resources that would help fuel the Soviet war effort.
The Poles were fiercely independent, democratic, Catholic, and historically resistant to Russian occupation of their lands. Tragically, neither Hitler nor Stalin felt anything but contempt for the Polish people. For Hitler, all Slavic people were lesser humans. “Brutish and backward,” they were one tier above the Jews in the Nazi racial hierarchy. They also stood in the way of Hitler’s dreams of a great German race that would occupy all of Europe. For Stalin, the Poles were historic enemies of Russia, despite shared cultural and linguistic ties. As a result, when Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union, the Polish people would become targets for mass-execution, arrests, forced labor, and victims of war crimes.
Temporary Allies
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on August 23, 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop (Germany) and Vyacheslav Molotov (Russia), respectively. The pact clarified the spheres of interest between the two powers. It remained in force for nearly two years until the German government of Adolf Hitler launched an attack on the Soviet positions in Eastern Poland during Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941.
The clauses of the Nazi-Soviet Pact provided a written guarantee of non-belligerence by each party towards the other and a declared commitment that neither government would ally itself to or aid an enemy of the other party. In addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a secret protocol that divided territories of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Romania into German and Soviet “spheres of influence,” anticipating “territorial and political rearrangements” of these countries.
Poland Invaded: September 1939
Wieluń is a quiet, unassuming town of a little more than 20,000 people in south-central Poland. Around 5:00 a.m. on September 1, 1939, the Poles awoke to a horrible screaming sound: columns of diving German, Stuka aircraft. The screams followed with massive explosions and human screams, as victims were injured, caught fire, or killed. By the end of the bombing, over 150 civilians had perished; the town nearly destroyed. And, for the first time in military history, aircraft was used to terrorize and level a city; marking the start of World War II. By the end of September, nearly all of Western Poland had experienced the same type of aerial bombardment as Wieluń. The German Wehrmacht invaded not only by air, but also by land. This style of combat came to be known as a blitzkrieg.
Although comparatively small, the Polish army hastily formed a defense of the country. Drastically outmatched and outgunned, they could not withstand the German onslaught for long. Before their defeat, however, the Polish army put up a remarkable defense of their capital city, Warsaw. For over three weeks, they held-out against the Wehrmacht as attacks came by both air and land. By the end of September, the German air force (Luftwaffe) had dropped over 560 tons of bombs and 72 tons of firebombs on Warsaw. More than 25,000 civilians and 6,000 Polish soldiers had perished. The Germans did not stop with the bombing of cities and towns. Stuka aircraft strafed fleeing civilians, including elderly, women, and children. Polish men were frequently rounded-up and shot. Poland had historically had a very high Jewish population. During the initial invasion, the Jews were especially targeted and shot. Once Nazi occupation of Poland was completed, the Jews would be systematically rounded-up and forced into ghettoes, and later concentration or death camps.
Some Poles fled east in fear of the German invasion, hoping to find refuge in the eastern portions of the country. Little did they suspect that there was not one, but two invasions of Poland. On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Much of the Polish resistance had been crushed by the German Wehrmacht. When the Red Army began its invasion, they were met by a nearly crippled Polish army, and a host of defenseless civilians. Instead of liberators, the Poles quickly discovered that the Soviet Red Army meant to occupy their country, also. Although initially less brutal than the Germans in their tactics, the Poles understood that they could not trust the Russians either.
Over the course of nearly two succeeding years, the Soviets arrested over 100,000 Poles for various, usually invented, charges. Most were deported to the brutal, Soviet gulags where they engaged in forced labor, received minimal rations and health care, and were exposed to savage winters. Another 8,000 Poles were executed. Tens of thousands more were forcibly drafted into the Red Army. Moreover, the Soviet NKVD (Secret Police/Military) tediously monitored Polish communications and activities. Infamously in the spring of 1940, the Soviets rounded-up over 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia. They were executed, primarily in the Katyn Forest outside of Smolensk. The corpses were thrown into mass graves. First discovered by the Germans during the war, the Soviets vehemently denied they had murdered the Polish officers. Instead, they presented it as a German war crime. Only in the late 1990s and early 2000s did the truth of the Polish officers emerge.
Significance of the Invasions
Poland suffered disproportionately during the initial months of World War II. Little did the Poles, or Polish Jews, know that the terrors they had endured in 1939 would only worsen as the war progressed. And yet, while Poland was militarily defeated and occupied by the Nazis by the end of September, their underground resistance movement remained strong. They had a government in exile in London, and a growing group of resistance fighters and partisans who would from the legendary Polish home army: the Armia Krajowa.
Attributions
All Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, New York: 2010. 114-128.
Boundless World History
“German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/german-soviet-treaty-of-friendship/
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The United States, 1939-1941: Neutrality?
Overview
The Arsenal of the Allies: The United States
In December 1940, Franklin Roosevelt announced that the United States would be the “arsenal of democracy” during one of his fireside chats. In this speech, he urged Americans to support the democratic Allies in their fight against the Nazis—fascist oppressors who stood in direct opposition to democracy. Moreover, Roosevelt announced that the United States would provide goods and products essential to the Allies’ war effort. In large, the neutral United States rallied behind Roosevelt’s words. While most Americans were not in favor of getting entangled in another European war, the majority agreed that supplying the British with military products was essential. As the war in Europe increased in its scope and violence, so too did the industrial output on the American homefront. When the United States was drawn into World War II on the side of the Allies in 1941, every facet of society became devoted to helping the war effort. Indeed, the United States had become the world’s “arsenal of democracy.”
Learning Objectives
- Understand the significance of American industrial production during the World War II years.
- Identify and explain the significance of the Lend-Lease Act.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Bonds: a loan made to an investor; primary way of financing World War II in the United States
Cash and Carry: 1939 American policy that allowed Allied countries to come to the United States and purchase military equipment with cash
Lend-Lease Act: 1941 American program that agreed to “lend, lease, or otherwise dispose of” military and food aid to Allied nations
Liberty Ships: commercial naval ships that were converted to be auxiliary warships during World War II
War Production Board: American agency that governed war production during World War II
The Role of the Neutral United States
From the outset of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt was a staunch Anglophile. He admired many things about England and had developed a close relationship with the young and inexperienced king, George VI. Warm and engaging, Roosevelt was also paternal, and some historians describe his relationship with King George VI as almost father to son. Likewise, Roosevelt developed a close relationship with England’s future prime minister, Winston Churchill. When war erupted in Europe in the autumn of 1939, Roosevelt desperately wished to help the British. A master politician, he understood that the American public remembered too-well, the horrors of World War I. The people were overwhelmingly against becoming involved in another European war. For this reason, Roosevelt would have to become crafty in how he helped the Allies.
Cash and Carry
Following Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Roosevelt passed the Fourth Neutrality Act. This gave the United States the ability to trade arms with foreign nations provided that the countries came to America to retrieve the arms and paid for them in cash. This policy was quickly dubbed Cash and Carry. From Roosevelt’s perspective, the act served two immediate purposes: it galvanized American production and businesses; and it also allowed the British to purchase military equipment from the United States to bolster their defenses and war effort.
Lend-Lease
Following the fall of France, and the Battle for Britain, Roosevelt was committed to helping the Allies even more. In March 1941, Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act. This allowed the President “to lend, lease, sell, or barter arms, ammunition, food, or any ‘defense article’ or any ‘defense information’ to ‘the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.'” In practicality, the Lend-Lease Act allowed the President to give military products and food to the Allies with little thought of their return or compensation. Through the Lend-Lease Act, the U.S. sent military equipment, including airplanes and heavy artillery, to England, Free France, the Soviet Union, and other Allied nations; however, most products went to England. Because of the Lend-Lease Act, skirmishes erupted in the Atlantic between U.S. cruisers and German U-boats because the Germans perceived the act as the unofficial alliance between the United States and England, as well as the Western Allies.
In England, the act was hailed as helping save the British war effort. Planes, tanks, trucks, ammunition, helmets, and even food was sent to England. Similarly, the United States sent shipments of military equipment and food to the Soviet Union in the fall of 1941, following Germany’s invasion. By all accounts, the Lend-Lease program helped the Allies win the war. As Roosevelt predicted, the program also helped galvanize American industries and businesses. However, the United States received little compensation for the delivery of the military and food shipments. And very little of the military equipment was returned after the war.
The United States Homefront during World War II
Once the United States formally entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. government took strong measures to convert the economy to meet the demands of war. And these demands imposed by the U.S. participation in World War II turned out to be the most effective measure in battling the long-lasting consequences of the Great Depression. Government programs continued to recruit workers; however, this time the demand was fueled not by the economic crisis, but by massive war demands. Production sped up dramatically, closed factories reopened, and new ones were established, which created millions of jobs in both private and public sectors as industries adjusted to the nearly insatiable needs of the military. Famously, under the “miracle man” Henry J. Kaiser, Liberty Ships were produced at the rate of one every three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Companies worked around the clock to produce war materials at a similar rate. By the end of 1943, two-thirds of the American economy had been integrated into the war effort.
War Production Board
The most powerful of all war-time organizations whose task was to control the economy was the War Production Board (WPB), established by President Roosevelt on January 16, 1942. Its purpose was to regulate the production of materials during World War II in the United States. The WPB converted and expanded peacetime industries to meet war needs, allocated scarce materials vital to war production, established priorities in the distribution of materials and services, and prohibited nonessential production. It rationed such commodities as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, paper, and plastics.
The WPB and the nation’s factories affected a great turnaround. Military aircraft production, which totaled 6,000 in 1940, jumped to 85,000 in 1943. Factories that made silk ribbons now produced parachutes, automobile factories now built tanks, typewriter companies converted to machine guns, undergarment manufacturers sewed mosquito netting, and a roller coaster manufacturer converted to the production of bomber repair platforms. The WPB ensured that each factory received the materials it needed to produce the most war goods in the shortest time. Between 1942 and 1945, WPB supervised the production of $183 billion worth of weapons and supplies, about 40% of the world's output of munitions.
Rationing
The greatest challenge of such massive war-related production was the permanent scarcity of resources. In response to it, the U.S. government, similarly to other states engaged in the war, introduced severe rationing measures. Tires were the first item to be rationed; there was a shortage of rubber for tires since the Japanese quickly conquered the rubber-producing regions of Southeast Asia. Throughout the war, rationing of gasoline was motivated by a desire to conserve rubber, as much as by a desire to conserve gasoline. A national speed limit of 35 miles per hour was imposed to save fuel and rubber for tires. Automobile factories stopped manufacturing civilian models by early February 1942, when they converted to producing tanks, aircraft, weapons, and other military products, with the United States government as the only customer. As of March 1, 1942, dog food could no longer be sold in tin cans; therefore, manufacturers switched to dehydrated versions. As of April 1, 1942, anyone wishing to purchase a new toothpaste tube, then made from metal, had to turn in an empty one. By June 1942, companies also stopped manufacturing metal office furniture, radios, phonographs, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and sewing machines for civilians.
Sugar was the first consumer commodity rationed, with all sales ended on April 27, 1942. Coffee was rationed nationally on November 29, 1942. By the end of 1942, ration coupons were used for nine other items. Typewriters, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, silk, nylon, fuel oil, stoves, meat, lard, shortening and food oils, cheese, butter, margarine, processed foods (canned, bottled, and frozen), dried fruits, canned milk, firewood and coal, jams, jellies, and fruit butter were rationed by November 1943. Scarce medicines, such as penicillin, were rationed by triage officers in the U.S. military during World War II.
Many American families helped reduce the demands put on farmers by planting victory gardens. These private kitchen gardens were in homes, but also in public spaces such as parks. They supplemented, rather than replaced the fruits, vegetables, and herbs consumed by Americans. Moreover, they helped increase patriotism among families and the community.
Labor
The unemployment problem caused by the Great Depression ended with the mobilization for war, hitting an all-time low of 700,000 in fall 1944. Greater wartime production created millions of new jobs, while the draft reduced the number of young men available for civilian jobs. There was a growing labor shortage in war centers, with sound trucks going street by street begging for people to apply for war jobs. So great was the demand for labor that millions of retired people, housewives, and students entered the labor force, lured by patriotism and wages. The shortage of grocery clerks caused retailers to convert from service at the counter to self-service. Before the war, most groceries, dry cleaners, drugstores, and department stores offered home delivery service, but the labor shortage, as well as gasoline and tire rationing, caused most retailers to stop delivery. They found that requiring customers to buy their products in person increased sales.
Because of the unprecedented labor demands, groups that were historically excluded from the labor market, particularly African Americans and women, received access to jobs. However, even the existing circumstances did not end discrimination, especially against the workers of color.
Financing the War
As the U.S. entered World War II, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. began planning a national defense bond program to finance the war. Morgenthau advocated for a voluntary loan system and began planning a national defense bond program in the fall of 1940. The intent was to unite the attractiveness of the baby bonds that had been implemented in the interwar period with the patriotic element of the Liberty Bonds from the first World War. Bonds became the main source of war financing, covering what economic historians estimate to be between 50% and 60% of war costs.
The Bond System
The War Finance Committee was placed in charge of supervising the sale of all bonds, and the War Advertising Council promoted voluntary compliance with bond buying. The government appealed to the public through popular culture. Contemporary art was used to help promote the bonds, such as the Warner Brothers theatrical cartoon, “Any Bonds Today?” Norman Rockwell’s painting series, “The Four Freedoms,” toured in a war bond effort that raised $132 million. Bond rallies were held throughout the country with celebrities, usually Hollywood film stars, to enhance the bond advertising effectiveness. The Music Publishers Protective Association encouraged its members to include patriotic messages on the front of their sheet music, like “Buy U.S. Bonds and Stamps.” Over the course of the war, 85 million Americans purchased bonds, totaling approximately $185.7 billion.
Global Impact
The United States in World War II was not only the “arsenal for democracy,” but also the “breadbasket for democracy.” German occupation had caused much of the Soviet Union to be malnourished and underfed. Even Joseph Stalin confessed that American efforts in the war had helped the Soviet Union enormously. By the end of the war, the United States had shipped nearly 18,000,000 tons of products to the Soviet Union alone. And tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment to England, the Soviet Union, Free France, China, and other Allied countries. From 1939-41, the United States remained technically and legally, neutral. But its actions suggested that it was never truly neutral, and always on the side of the Allies.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Boundless U.S. History
“Preparing the Economy for War”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/preparing-the-economy-for-war/
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Neutral Nations in World War II
Overview
Choosing Neutrality: Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
Although most European countries chose to support either the Allies, or the Axis Powers in World War II, a handful remained neutral for various reasons. Often those reasons were economic and political. In addition to the few European nations, most Latin American countries also countries also chose neutrality in World War II.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the nations which were neutral durling all or part of World War II, explain the reasons for the neutrality of each, outline the course of the neutrality of each, and assess the historic impact and significance of the neutrality of each.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Francisco Franco: a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death (He took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic after winning the Civil War, and was in power until 1978, when the Spanish Constitution of 1978 went into effect.)
Thirty Years War: a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, growing out of the Protestant Reformation
NATO: an intergovernmental military alliance signed on April 4, 1949 and including the five Treaty of Brussels states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom) plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
Warsaw Pact: a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
Spain
Although Spain was under the fascist government of General Francisco Franco, it remained neutral during the Second World War. Neither the Allied nor the Axis Powers in the European Theater relished the prospects of opening another front in order to force Spain into action. Moreover, after the Spanish Civil War Franco’s fascist government was in no position to participate in the war as a belligerent.
At the beginning of World War II, Franco had considered joining the Axis Powers, but his demands for an alliance with Germany proved too much for Hitler. Franco favored Hitler’s and Mussolini’s governments ideologically and believed that Italy and Germany that would protect Spain.
Through 1943 the Allies treated Franco’s government delicately. The Allies provided Spain with the food and raw materials needed to keep its economy running. In return, Franco’s government did not threaten British access to Gibraltar on the southern tip of Spain. British possession of Gibraltar allowed the Allies to maintain control over the Mediterranean Sea and win the Battle of the Atlantic against German U-boats. Both were necessary for Allied victory in the European Theater.
Sweden
Geography, iron ore deposits, and the imperatives of the Allied Powers and Germany were the reasons for Swedish neutrality. Ideologically Sweden supported the Allies, but with the German conquest of Denmark and Norway in the spring of 1940; and because of its own small military at that time, Sweden had to accept neutrality and even provide Germany with iron ore.
As the Allied war effort progressed against Germany after 1944 and as the Swedish military grew more powerful, the Swedish government acted more assertively in dealing with a weakening Germany. This included denying German military demands in the last year of the war. After WWII, Sweden maintained its neutral and non-aligned orientation in the Cold War.
Switzerland
Swiss neutrality was guaranteed in part by its mountainous geography, which served to partially isolate it from its neighbors. Switzerland had been neutral in the First World War and had a tradition of neutrality in European wars going back to the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century. In addition, Switzerland had a small but effective military, which would have made conquest by either side costly. Despite these advantages Swiss leaders feared a possible German invasion throughout the war
Both sides tolerated Switzerland as a venue for covert intelligence operations and secure banking transactions. Throughout the war refugees streamed into Switzerland, including Jews escaping Hitler’s genocide, members of the French resistance to Hitler’s occupation of France, and various groups of partisans from Italy. After the war Switzerland continued its policy of neutrality in the Cold War between NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact alliance.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Title Image - map of Allied, Axis, and neutral nations during World War II. Attribution: Yonghokim, Joaopais + Various (See below.), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_participants_in_World_War_II.png .License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Wikipedia
"Neutral powers during World War II"
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_powers_during_World_War_II
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Wikipedia.com. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Estonian Neutrality Law of December 1st, 1938
- ^ Neiburgs, Uldis. "Soviet occupation". Latvijas Okupācijas muzejs. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ Liekis, Šarūnas (2010). 1939: The Year that Changed Everything in Lithuania's History. New York: Rodopi. pp. 119–122. ISBN 978-9042027626.
- ^ Egido León, Ángeles (2005). "Franco y la Segunda Guerra Mundial". Ayer. 57 (1): 105. JSTOR 41325295.
- ^ Egido León 2005, p. 116.
- ^ Egido León 2005, p. 122.
- ^ Moradiellos, Enrique (2016). "España y la segunda guerra mundial, 1939-1945: entre resignaciones neutralistas y tentaciones beligerantes" (PDF). In Carlos Navajas Zubeldia & Diego Iturriaga Barco (ed.). Siglo. Actas del V Congreso Internacional de Historia de Nuestro Tiempo. Logroño: Universidad de la Rioja. pp. 72–73.
- ^ Did Swedish Ball Bearings Keep the Second World War Going? Re‐evaluating Neutral Sweden’s Role
- ^ Jan Romein (1962). The Asian Century: A History of Modern Nationalism in Asia. University of California Press. p. 382.
- ^ "Inside Tibet". National Archives and Records Administration via Youtube. 1943. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ Allied Relations and Negotiations With Turkey, US State Department, pp. 6-8
- ^ Allén Lascano, Luís C. (1977). Argentina y la gran guerra, Cuaderno 12. «La Soberanía», Todo es Historia, Buenos Aires
- ^ Jump up to:a b Carlos Escudé: Un enigma: la "irracionalidad" argentina frente a la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe, Vol. 6 Nº 2, jul-dic 1995, Universidad de Tel Aviv
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Galasso, Norberto (2006). Perón: Formación, ascenso y caída (1893-1955), Colihue, ISBN 950-581-399-6
- ^ "Wings of Thunder – Wartime RAF Veterans Flying in From Argentina". PR Newswire. 6 April 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
- ^ Golson, Eric (2016). "Neutrality in War". Economic History of Warfare and State Formation. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. pp. 259–278. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1605-9_11. ISBN 9789811016042.
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An Axis Europe, 1939 – 1942
Overview
The War in Western Europe: 1940-2
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. England and France quickly declared war on Germany for the act of aggression. Despite the war declarations, though, very little combat occurred between the Germans and the Allies for the first six months of World War II, aside from minor skirmishes on the border of France and Germany. For this reason, newspapers began to call World War II, the “Phoney War.” Then in the spring of 1940, Germany launched all-out blitzkrieg invasions of much of Western Europe, including Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Between spring 1940 and early 1943, it looked as if Germany might indeed win World War II because of its superior technology, style of warfare, and military command. Despite the grim outlook, the Allies always hung on, determined to see the war to its bitter end.
Learning Objectives
- Examine the factors that led to Nazi Germany’s occupation of much of Western Europe in 1940
- Analyze the Allies’ responses to Nazi occupation of much of Western Europe
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Battle of Britain: aerial war between Britain and Germany from June – October, 1940 that resulted in a narrow British victory
Dunkirk evacuation: between May 26 and June 4, 1940, during World War II, the critical evacuation of over 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France
Fall of France: French surrender to the Germans on June 22, 1940
Maginot Line: line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapon installations that France constructed on the French side of its borders with Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg during the 1930s to deter German attack
RAF: Royal Air Force of Great Britain
The Blitz: the heavy bombing of London and other British civilian targets by the German air force in the fall of 1940
Vichy France: the French collaborationist government from 1940 – 44 in the southern half of France
“We Shall Fight on the Beaches”: powerful speech by Winston Churchill delivered after the evacuation of Dunkirk that committed Britain to see the war to its end
Nazi-Dominated Europe: 1940 – 1942
Background
During the 1930s, the French constructed the Maginot Line, a series of fortifications along their border with Germany. This line was designed to deter a German invasion across the Franco-German border and funnel an attack into Belgium, where it would be met by the best divisions of the French Army. The area immediately to the north of the Maginot Line was covered by the heavily wooded Ardennes region, which French General Philippe Pétain declared to be “impenetrable” as long as “special provisions” were taken. The French commander-in-chief, Maurice Gamelin, also believed the area to be of limited threat, noting that it “never favored large operations.” With this in mind, the French Ardennes area was left lightly defended.
The initial plan for the German invasion of France called for an encirclement attack through the Netherlands and Belgium, avoiding the Maginot Line. Erich von Manstein, then Chief of Staff of the German Army Group A, prepared the outline of a different plan and submitted it to the German High Command. His plan suggested that Panzer tank divisions should attack through the Ardennes, then establish bridges on the Meuse River and rapidly drive to the English Channel. The Germans would thus cut off the Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. This part of the plan later became known as the Sichelschnitt (“sickle cut”). After meeting with him on February 17, Adolf Hitler approved a modified version of Manstein’s ideas, today known as the Manstein Plan. Rather than engaging the Maginot Line head-on, the German army simply went around it.
The Invasion of France and the Low Countries
In April 1940, Germany successfully conquered and occupied Denmark in a day. Norway also soon fell to the Nazis. On May 10, 1940, Germany attacked Belgium and the Netherlands. Using tanks, their Stuka airplanes, and troops, the Germans quickly defeated Belgium and the Netherlands, setting up occupational governments after they conquered the countries. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent troops to bolster the failing armies of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. But the German blitzkrieg strategy, combined with superior military equipment, quickly overran the Allied armies. By mid-May, they had forced the Allies to the English Channel and encircled them. Defeat seemed imminent. The best course of action, the Allied commands determined, was an evacuation at the French port city of Dunkirk, located six miles south of the Belgian border.
The Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation was one of the most dramatic, and remarkable moments for the Allies on the Western Front. The operation occurred after most of the surviving Belgian, British, and French armies were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. With the Nazi occupation of much of Western Europe, the rescue of these troops was essential. They were almost all that remained of the Allied forces, and the only significant resistance to Nazi Germany and its allies. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the events in France “a colossal military disaster,” saying “the whole root and core and brain of the British Army” had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured.
Beginning on May 26, 1940, the evacuation at Dunkirk began. Its goal was to rescue the 400,000 British, French, and Belgian soldiers trapped at the port. While the Allied soldiers waited, the German Stuka airplanes relentlessly bombed and strafed them, and bodies littered the beach. The British navy sent destroyers. The French sent additional destroyers, but neither country had enough ships to rescue the number of men awaiting them on the French coast. In a desperate plea, the British called on private sailors, fishermen, and anyone who owned a private boat to join the effort to rescue “the boys” trapped in France. More than 800 private vessels set sail between May 26 and June 4. Of the roughly 400,000 soldiers awaiting evacuation, nearly 340,000 were brought safely across the Channel to England. By luck, combined effort, and the ingenious, quick planning of the British, the Allied forces had been evacuated, but not defeated. Churchill commemorated the Dunkirk evacuation with a speech titled “We shall Fight on the Beaches”; his speech remains one of the strongest of the war because it presented strength and resignation at a point when the Allies were at their lowest.
…We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…
The Fall of France
As Churchill noted, an evacuation is not a victory. The Allies had been saved from complete destruction by the success at Dunkirk, but the war still raged. Most of Western Europe, and much of Eastern Europe, was under Nazi authority. Not long after their arrival in England, the thousands of French troops who were evacuated at Dunkirk were refreshed and redeployed to fight against the Nazis. Even across the English Channel, it was easy to understand that France could not withstand the German onslaught. On June 18, the Germans claimed Paris—only a month after their invasion began. By June 22, the French government had lost the will to fight. Utterly defeated, they surrendered to the Nazis. In a cruel twist of fate, the cease-fire was signed by the French in the very same train car, in the very same corner of France, in which the Germans had been forced to sign the 1918 cease-fire with France that ended World War I. Hitler himself decided upon the location to demonstrate Germany’s triumph over France.
Vichy France
Following the cease-fire, France was divided into two zones. The northern half of France, including Paris, was occupied and administered by Nazi Germany. The southern half operated under an independent French government headed by World War I hero, Marshal Philippe Pétain. This government bartered for independence in exchange for cooperating with the Nazis. Commonly, the southern government became known as Vichy France, and widely despised by the Allies for its collaboration with the Nazis, which included the arrests and deportations of French Jews. The government operated until June 1944, when the Allies successfully occupied all of France. In addition to the southern half of the country, Vichy France also governed in the French colonies in North Africa and the Mediterranean—an important point when the Allies launched invasions of North Africa.
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was an air war that occurred when the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attacks from June to October 1940. It is described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces.
The primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to push Britain into a negotiated peace settlement. In July 1940, the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports, and shipping centers, such as Portsmouth. On August 1, the Luftwaffe was directed to achieve air superiority over RAF with the aim of incapacitating RAF Fighter Command. Twelve days later, it shifted the attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure. As the battle progressed, the Luftwaffe also targeted factories involved in aircraft production and strategic infrastructure, eventually deploying terror bombs on areas of political significance and civilians.
By preventing the Luftwaffe’s air superiority over the UK, the British forced Adolf Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a proposed amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain. However, Nazi Germany continued bombing operations on Britain, which became known as The Blitz.
Beginning September 7, 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, almost half of them in London. Ports and industrial centers outside London were also attacked. The main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was bombed, causing nearly 4,000 deaths. The North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found secondary target, was subjected to 86 raids; this resulted in a conservative estimate of 1,200 civilians killed and 95 percent of its housing stock destroyed or damaged. Other ports were also bombed, as were major British industrial cities.
The failure to destroy Britain’s air defenses to force an armistice (or even outright surrender) is considered the Nazis’ first major defeat in World War II and a crucial turning point in the conflict. Several reasons have been suggested for the failure of the German air offensive. The Luftwaffe’s High Command did not develop a strategy for destroying British war industry; instead of maintaining pressure on any of them, it frequently switched from one type of industry to another. Neither was the Luftwaffe equipped to carry out strategic bombing; the lack of a heavy bomber and poor intelligence on British industry denied it the ability to prevail.
By the end of 1940, much of Western and Northern Europe was under German occupation. And for the next two years, most of Europe remained either allied to or under control of the Nazis. England remained the sole member of the Allies to be free of the Nazi yoke, protected by its ocean borders and German interests in Eastern Europe. The fall and winter of 1940 were perhaps the bleakest for the Allies, but it also solidified their will to fight to the end. Little could they suspect that the “end” would not come until more than four years later, in 1945.
The War in Eastern Europe: Operation Barabarossa, 1941
In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. This act broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and it opened the largest land theater of war in history. It also resulted in the most brutal of the European campaigns with millions of military and civilian casualties.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the significance of Operation Barbarossa.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Operation Barbarossa: the codename for Nazi Germany’s World War II invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on June 22, 1941
Hunger Plan: Nazi policy to seize food and agricultural products from the Soviets to feed German soldiers during their invasion of the Soviet Union
Einsatzgruppen: killing squad responsible for the execution of Jews, Poles, and Soviet POWs
Operation Typhoon: codename for the German plan to attack Moscow
Battle of Moscow: fierce battle for the Russian capital that ultimately resulted in a narrow Russian victory and a German stalemate
Setting the Stage for the Invasion
In the two years leading up to the invasion, Germany and Russia signed political and economic pacts for strategic purposes. Nevertheless, on December 18, 1940, Hitler authorized an invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, began on June 22, 1941. Over the course of the operation, about four million Axis soldiers invaded the Soviet Union along the 1,800-mile front, the largest invasion force in the history of warfare. In addition to troops, the Germans employed some 600,000 motor vehicles and between 600,000 and 700,000 horses. The operation transformed the perception of the Soviet Union from aggressor to victim and marked the beginning of the rapid escalation of the war, both geographically and in the formation of the Allied coalition.
The Germans did win resounding victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the Soviet Union, mainly in Ukraine, both inflicting and sustaining heavy casualties. However, despite their successes, the German offensive stalled on the outskirts of Moscow and was subsequently pushed back by a Soviet counteroffensive. The Red Army repelled the Wehrmacht’s strongest blows and forced the unprepared Germany into a war of attrition. The Germans would never again mount a simultaneous offensive along the entire strategic Soviet-Axis front. The failure of the operation drove Hitler to demand further operations inside the USSR of increasingly limited scope.
The failure of Operation Barbarossa was a turning point in the fortunes of the Third Reich. Most importantly, the operation opened up the Eastern Front, to which more forces were committed than in any other theater of war in world history. The Eastern Front became the site of some of the largest battles, most horrific atrocities, and highest casualties for Soviets and Germans alike, all of which influenced the course of both World War II and the subsequent history of the 20th century. The German forces captured millions of Soviet prisoners of war who were not granted protections stipulated in the Geneva Conventions. A majority never returned. Germany deliberately starved the prisoners to death as part of a “Hunger Plan” that aimed to reduce the population of Eastern Europe and then re-populate it with ethnic Germans. Over a million Soviet POWs and Jews were murdered by Einsatzgruppen death squads and gassing as part of the Holocaust.
Overview of the Battles
The initial phase of the German ground and air attack completely destroyed the Soviet organizational command and control within the first few hours, paralyzing every level of command from the infantry platoon to the Soviet High Command in Moscow. Therefore, Moscow failed to grasp the magnitude of the catastrophe that confronted the Soviet forces in the border area. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko called for a general counteroffensive on the entire front “without any regards for borders” that both men hoped would sweep the enemy from Soviet territory. Timoshenko’s order was not based on a realistic appraisal of the military situation at hand and resulted in devastating casualties.
Four weeks into the campaign, the Germans realized they had grossly underestimated Soviet strength. German operations were slowed to allow for resupply and adapt strategy to the new situation. Hitler had lost faith in battles of encirclement as large numbers of Soviet soldiers had escaped. He now believed he could defeat the Soviets by economic damage, depriving them of the industrial capacity to continue the war. That meant seizing the industrial center of Kharkov, the Donbass, and the oil fields of the Caucasus in the south, as well as the speedy capture of Leningrad, a major center of military production, in the north.
Operation Typhoon—the drive to Moscow—began on October 2. After a German victory in Kiev, the Red Army no longer outnumbered the Germans and no more trained reserves were available. The Germans initially won several important battles, and the German government now publicly predicted the imminent capture of Moscow and convinced foreign correspondents of a pending Soviet collapse. To defend Moscow, Stalin could field 800,000 men in 83 divisions, but no more than 25 divisions were fully effective. On December 2, the German army advanced to within 15 miles of Moscow and could see the spires of the Kremlin, but by then the first blizzards had already begun. A reconnaissance battalion also managed to reach the town of Khimki, about 5 miles away from the Soviet capital. It captured the bridge over the Moscow-Volga Canal as well as the railway station, which marked the farthest eastern advance of German forces. But in spite of the progress made, the Wehrmacht was not equipped for winter warfare, and the bitter cold caused severe problems for their guns and equipment. Further, weather conditions grounded the Luftwaffe from conducting large-scale operations. And newly created Soviet units near Moscow then numbered over 500,000 men; these newly formed units launched a massive counterattack on December 5 as part of the Battle of Moscow that pushed the Germans back over 200 miles. By late December 1941, the Germans had lost the Battle of Moscow, and the invasion had cost the German army over 830,000 casualties in killed, wounded, captured, or missing in action.
Operation Barbarossa was the largest military operation in human history—more men, tanks, guns, and aircraft were committed than had ever been deployed before in a single offensive. Seventy-five percent of the entire German military participated. The invasion opened the Eastern Front of World War II, the largest theater of war during that conflict, which witnessed titanic clashes of unprecedented violence and destruction for four years that resulted in the deaths of more than 26 million people. More people died fighting on the Eastern Front than in all other fighting across the globe during World War II. Damage to both the economy and landscape was enormous for the Soviets as approximately 1,710 towns and 70,000 villages were annihilated.
Attributions
All Images Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Boundless World History
“World War II: Axis Powers”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-european-front/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Churchill, Winston. “We Shall Fight on the Beaches.” June1940. https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/
“Operation Barbarossa”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/operation-barbarossa/
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War in the Colonies
Overview
World War II in the Colonies
Although the Second World War was a struggle between the Axis and the Allied Powers over the aggression of the former, it also involved the colonies of each. In this respect, WWII became indirectly about decolonization and imperialism, as each side sought to exploit anti-colonial feelings among peoples in the colonies of the other side. World War II laid bare the double standards and hypocrisy of those nations claiming to fight for freedom and sovereignty while struggling to maintain their own empires.
Learning Objective
Explain the role of colonies in the Second World War, and assess the role of the war in the continued decolonization movements.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: International organization established by the Japanese government to make the Japanese empire appear as a confederation of equal nations
Britain
Among the Allied and Axis Powers, the United Kingdom was the most concerned about its colonies during World War II, for economic and strategic reasons. The United Kingdom relied on dominions in the Commonwealth, such as Canada, for food, among other products. To protect the trade routes of its empire, Britain had to protect its colonial presence in Egypt, Gibraltar, and India, which were the keys to maintaining its access to the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Maintaining its colonial empire was also critical to the United Kingdom’s identity as a leading world power.
British colonial considerations influenced the conduct of the Allies war effort in Europe and Africa. The British and the U.S., partly on the insistence of the British government, chose to drive the Germans out of north Africa in 1942 before opening a second front in northern France. With the Germans expelled from north Africa in 1943 the British government then pushed for striking at the Germans through Italy, before opening a second front, which eventually occurred in 1944. A number of U.S. leaders would have preferred to open the second front in either 1942 or 1943, and they were displeased with the timetable for a second front being determined by British colonial interests.
United States
The U.S. also had to wrestle with its own double standards of fighting to free peoples conquered by the Axis Powers while ignoring its own imperial past, including the conquest of northern Mexico in the 1846-7 war against that nation, and its acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in the 1898 war against Spain, among other acquisitions during the nineteenth century, such as Hawaii. Although the U.S. government eventually admitted northern Mexico and Hawaii as states, the indigenous peoples of these states still face treatment as subject peoples today. While the Philippines secured national independence after World War II, Guam and Puerto Rico remain territories, without a number of rights that states enjoy. The Roosevelt Administration also had to ignore the discrimination against African Americans and Asian Americans by European Americans, as well as the fact that the United States had placed Americans of Japanese descent in concentration camps that they referred to as “internment camps.”
Japan
Japan made the most explicit effort to appeal to colonies of the Allied Powers in Asia and the Pacific through its own imperial vehicle: the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese marketed this organization as a path to national independence for various peoples of Asia under Japanese auspices. It was actually a thinly veiled rhetorical cover for Japan’s expanding empire. First announced by the Japanese foreign minister in 1940, the Japanese government used it to attract the Asian colonies of Allied Powers, such as Australia, Burma, India, Malaya, New Guinea, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Thailand. The Co-Prosperity Sphere collapsed with Japan’s defeat.
The Japanese also sought to appeal more directly to the nationalist feelings of the peoples of the Western colonies in the Pacific and southeast Asia, including the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Toward this end the Japanese tried to construct a supra-nationalism that would stretch across east and south Asia, that would develop under Japanese nationalism, and culminate with Japan as the dominant Asian power.
Germany
The Nazis were also able to exploit the nationalist aspirations and resentment of various groups under Soviet control. A number of people in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Ukraine welcomed the Nazis as liberators, either because of their hatred of Joseph Stalin’s oppression and/or their own ideological inclinations, particularly opposition to Stalin’s brand of communism.
Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed no significant engagements between the Allied and the Axis Powers in World War II. But activists for national independence for various African colonies saw the Second World War as an opportunity to renew their efforts. In January 1944 Free French leaders hosted a conference in Brazzaville, the capital of French Equatorial Africa, toward the end of satisfying the demands of nationalists in French Africa. Following the war most of the European colonies in Africa successfully pursued national independence.
World War II accelerated and strengthened decolonization movements by further weakening the imperial powers, particularly Britain and France, and strengthening the resolve of indigenous nationalists in the colonies. Former colonies that secured their independence after WWII included Algeria, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam. A number of these nations had to do so through force, particularly against France and the United Kingdom, both ostensibly fighting to free peoples conquered by the Axis Powers.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Title Image - "Searchlights pierce the night sky during an air-raid practice on Gibraltar, 20 November 1942." Attributions: Dallison G W (Lieut), War Office official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Searchlights_on_the_Rock_of_Gibraltar,_1942.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Boundless World History
"The Pacific War"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-pacific-war/
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Boundless.com. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- World War II. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Attack on Pearl Harbor. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_Japanese_planes_view.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor#/media/File:Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_Japanese_planes_view.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Pacific War. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Battle of Midway. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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- Guadalcanal Campaign. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_Japanese_planes_view.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
"The End of the War"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-end-of-the-war/
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- Normandy landings. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Operation Overlord. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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- Yalta Conference. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Denazification. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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- World War II. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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- Yalta_Conference_1945_Churchill,_Stalin,_Roosevelt.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R77767,_Berlin,_Rotarmisten_Unter_den_Linden.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Ebensee_concentration_camp_prisoners_1945.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Potsdam Agreement. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Potsdam Conference. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Yalta_Conference_1945_Churchill,_Stalin,_Roosevelt.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- 640px-Potsdam_big_three.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Agreement#/media/File:Potsdam_big_three.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Pacific War. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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- Atomic_bombing_of_Japan.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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Turning the Tide in Europe
Overview
Operation Torch
From 1939 – 1942, an Axis victory in Europe seemed a very real possibility. Nazi Germany, bolstered by its ally Italy, as well as occupied nations in Europe, seemed destined to win the war. And yet, the Germans also seemed overextended. In fall 1942, the Germans were knocked out of their positions in North Africa during Operation Torch—led by the United States. The following summer, the Allies would claim Sicily and make their way into Europe through Italy. By winter of 1943, the Soviet Red Army forced the German army to retreat, slowly but surely, toward Berlin. And then in the summer of 1944, the Allies would make good on a promise to Stalin to open up a second front in Europe. When the invasion of Normandy occurred in June 1944, the German army was stretched as it fought a multifront war to the west, east, and south. By the summer of 1944, the war had turned in favor of the Allies, as Germany crumbled from within and without. Despite the advances made by the Allies, the last years of the war would prove hard fought for them as the fighting devolved into total war across the European continent.
Learning Objectives
- Examine why the Allies chose to invade North Africa and Sicily.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Operation Husky: the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 1943
Operation Torch: Allied invasion of North Africa in the fall of 1942
Tunisia: country in North Africa occupied by the Germans during World War II; location of much of the combat in North Africa
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War.
The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops. The goal was to eliminate the Axis Powers in North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943. U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943; however, he agreed to support British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Operation Torch launched on November 8, 1942 and was completed on November 11. To reduce German and Italian forces, Allied forces landed in North Africa, under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. In fact, Vichy French forces, collaborators with the Germans, put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies. Soon though, the Allies had overwhelmed the Vichy French forces. The Allied landings prompted the Nazi occupation of Vichy France. Sensing that an Allied victory was imminent, the Vichy army in North Africa switched sides and joined the Allies in fighting against the Germans and Italians.
Tunisian Campaign
Following the Operation Torch landings, the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops who had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities.
By the beginning of March, the British army reached the Tunisian border. The Germans discovered they were outflanked, outmanned, and outgunned. The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defense in late March. The British First Army in central Tunisia launched their main offensive in mid-April to squeeze the Axis forces until their resistance in Africa collapsed. The Axis forces surrendered on May 13, 1943, yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army. This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. They would fight the Allies in Sicily and Italy the next year. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.
Operation Husky
The Allied invasion of Sicily, code named Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, during which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large amphibious and airborne operation followed by a six-week land operation and began the Italian Campaign.
Background
After the defeat of the Axis Powers in North Africa in May 1943, there was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to invade Italy, which in November 1942 he called “the soft underbelly of the Axis.” Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and Churchill believed an invasion would remove Italy as an opponent, as well as the influence of Axis forces in the Mediterranean Sea, which would open the area to Allied traffic. This would reduce the shipping capacity needed to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East at a time when the disposal of Allied shipping capacity was in crisis, as well as increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, it would tie down German forces. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, had been pressing Churchill and Roosevelt to open a “second front” in Europe, which would lessen the German Army’s focus on the Eastern Front, where the bulk of Soviet forces were fighting in the largest armed conflict in history.
Operation Husky - An Allied Victory
A combined British-Canadian-Indian-American invasion of Sicily began on July 10, 1943, with both amphibious and airborne landings at the Gulf of Gela, under the command of American General Patton, as well as north of Syracuse under British General Montgomery. The original plan contemplated a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina, with the Americans in a supporting role along Britain’s left flank. However, when the British Eighth Army was held up by stubborn defenses in the rugged hills south of Mount Etna, Patton amplified the American role by a wide advance northwest. This was followed by an eastward advance north of Etna towards Messina, supported by a series of amphibious landings on the north coast, which propelled Patton’s troops into Messina shortly before the first elements of Eighth Army. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but they had succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland by August 17, 1943. Through this offensive, Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare, and mass airborne drops.
Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, located on the eastern boundary of Europe. It has been described as the biggest defeat in the history of the German Army and a decisive turning point in the downfall of Hitler in World War II. It was fought from August 1942 until February 1943.
Learning Objectives
Evaluate why the Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point of World War II in favor of the Allies.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
The Battle of Stalingrad: a battle between the Russian Red Army and the Germans, as well as their allies, that occurred in the industrial city of Stalingrad, Ukraine from August 1942 until February 1943
Overview
For the first three years of World War II, Nazi Germany dominated Europe. An Axis victory seemed likely. By tooth and claw, the British and Soviets had held on, bolstered significantly by supplies delivered by the United States. Weather had slowed the German advance into the Soviet Union. Their men were unprepared for the severe cold of the Russian winters, as well as the horrible mud and biting pests that would occur when the snow melted and the Russian spring came. The pressure put on German supply lines was crippling. To continue their advance, the Germans knew they needed oil and gas resources. Moreover, they needed a crippling victory over the Soviets. With these thoughts in mind, the German army drove toward the industrial center of Stalingrad—“Stalin’s city,” which is present-day Volgograd, Russia.
From its outset, the Battle of Stalingrad was marked by constant close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids. The Red Army mounted a far fiercer defense of the city than the Germans and their Hungarian and Romanian allies accounted for. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting, as both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River.
The Battle of Stalingrad is often regarded as one of the single largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare; nearly 2.2 million troops fought in the battle and 1.7 – 2 million were wounded, killed, or captured. The heavy losses inflicted on the German Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war and a turning point in the European theater of World War II. For this battle, German forces had withdrawn a vast military force from the West to replace their losses in the East, weakening their position on the Western Front, while never regaining the initiative on the Eastern Front.
Significance
The German public was not officially told of the impending disaster until the end of January 1943; positive media reports had ended in the weeks before the announcement of failure. And Stalingrad marked the first time that the Nazi government publicly acknowledged a failure in its war effort. The battle proved not only the first major setback for the German military but also a crushing, unprecedented defeat where German losses were almost equal to those of the Soviets. Prior losses of the Soviet Union were generally three times as high as the German ones. On January 31, regular programming on German state radio was replaced by a broadcast of the somber Adagio movement from Anton Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, followed by the announcement of the defeat at Stalingrad. But this did not lead the Germans to believe that they could not win the war, as on 18 February, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels gave the famous Sportpalast speech in Berlin, encouraging the Germans to accept a total war that would claim all resources and efforts from the entire population.
Stalingrad has been described as not only the biggest defeat in the history of the German Army but also as the turning point on the Eastern Front, in the war against Germany overall, and the entire Second World War. Before Stalingrad, the German forces went from victory to victory on the Eastern Front, with only a limited setback in the winter of 1941 – 42. After Stalingrad, they won no decisive battles, even in summer. The Red Army had the initiative and the Wehrmacht was in retreat. A year of German gains had been wiped out. Germany’s Sixth Army had ceased to exist, and the forces of Germany’s European allies, except Finland, had been shattered. In a speech on November 9, 1944, Hitler himself blamed Stalingrad for Germany’s impending doom.
Impact
Today there are some historians who downplay the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad, those who claim either the Battle of Moscow or the Battle of Kursk was more strategically decisive. But there is no denying that the destruction of an entire army—1 million Axis soldiers—and the frustration of Germany’s grand strategy made Stalingrad a watershed moment, especially for German demoralization, and Allied hope.
Germany’s defeat shattered its reputation for invincibility and dealt a devastating blow to morale. On January 30, 1943, his 10th anniversary of coming to power, Hitler chose not to speak. Joseph Goebbels read the text of his speech for him on the radio. The speech contained an oblique reference to the battle which suggested that Germany was now in a defensive war. The public mood was sullen, depressed, fearful, and war-weary. Germany was looking in the face of defeat. However, on the Soviet side there was an overwhelming surge in confidence and belief in victory. A common saying was: “You cannot stop an army which has done Stalingrad.” Stalin was feted as the hero of the hour and made a Marshal of the Soviet Union.
D-Day
The Allies, primarily the British and Americans, launched the largest amphibious invasion in history when they assaulted the German forces at Normandy the northern coast of France—on June 6, 1944. They were able to establish a beachhead after a successful “D-Day,” which is what they called the first day of the invasion. The human cost for obtaining this critical part of the French coast was exorbitantly high. More than 200,000 British, American, French, and Canadian troops were casualties of the invasion. Over 300,000 Germans became casualties. Despite the brutality of the invasion, the success of the Allies led to the liberation of France and, ultimately, allowed the Allies to attack the Germans on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the immediate success of the Normandy invasions.
- Analyze how the Normandy invasion helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
D-Day: June 6, 1944, the first day of the Normandy invasion
Liberation of France: defeat of German occupiers in France by the Allies in 1944
Normandy: coastal area of Northern France
Omaha Beach: one of the five beaches Allied troops landed on that was infamous for the high casualties of American soldiers
Operation Overlord: the codename for the invasion of Normandy
Operation Bodyguard: codename for the Allies’ ruse to trick the Germans before the Allied invasion of Normandy
D-Day: The Normandy Landings
Planning for Operation Overlord began in 1943. From the onset of planning, the Allies realized there was a significant challenge—concealing the fact that they were planning the largest invasion in history from the Germans. Afterall, the Germans still occupied France, including the coast. The Germans had excellent intelligence, and they expected an invasion. Only the English Channel separated England, where Allied forces were massing, from Nazi-occupied France. The challenge for the Allies was to successfully conceal their massive invasion. As luck would have it, the Germans remained over-extended on all fronts and the Allies had a plan.
In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, code named Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. They leaked enormous amounts of false information to the Germans of the impending invasion. The Allies then took the deception one step further. They created a fake invasion force north of their actual location. Dummy aircraft and landing craft, as well as inflatable tanks were put on display so that the Allied ruse would be believed.
As luck would have it, the Germans did fall for the Allied ploy. They sent the bulk of their defensive forces to the area around Calais. Nevertheless, the entire French coast was still heavily defended. Rows of steel hedgehogs lined the edge of the beach, half-concealed by the tide. Behind this defensive measure were rows of barbed wire and mines, and, above the beach, there were rows of machine gunners and flamethrowers.
The amphibious landings at Normandy were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault with the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight.
The amphibious invasion of D-Day was to begin on June 6, 1944. The night before, Franklin Roosevelt bolstered the support of troops by declaring, “The Eyes of the World are upon you.” For Roosevelt, as well as the rest of the military commanders, knew that the invasion would be brutal and the human cost almost unfathomable.
On the morning of June 6, the young men (mostly under the age of 25) were given a hearty, full breakfast at five in the morning. Although well-intentioned, the troops did not understand that their breakfast would soon work against them. They shipped out not long after and discovered the English Channel was excessively choppy. Soon, the men who had enjoyed breakfast were seasick. Shouldering as much as eighty pounds of gear on their backs, the Allied troops were to charge the descent from their landing craft, charge through the water, and attack the German positions on five beaches: Utah, Gold, Sword, Juno, and Omaha.
Allied infantry and armored divisions landed on the coast of France at 6:30 am. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha Beach, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialized tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until June 12; however, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months.
The Normandy invasion was extremely hard-fought but ultimately successful. Strategically, the campaign led to the loss of the German position in most of France and the secure establishment of a new major front. In the larger context, the Normandy invasion helped the Soviets on the Eastern Front, who were facing the bulk of the German forces, and to a certain extent contributed to the shortening of the conflict there.
Despite initial heavy losses in the assault phase, Allied morale remained high. Casualty rates among all the armies were tremendous. However, the success of the invasion led to several key events: Allied territory in continental France that allowed for easier shipment of troops and goods; the liberation of France, and later Belgium, Holland, and other countries; and the weakening of the German army. All of these developments would contribute to an Allied victory in World War II.
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. It focused on naval blockades and counter-blockades to prevent wartime supplies from reaching Britain or Germany.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how the Battle of the Atlantic affected the overall course of World War II.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Battle of the Atlantic: the Allied naval blockade of Germany, and Germany’s subsequent counter-blockade
Overview
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany’s subsequent counter-blockade.
As an island nation, the United Kingdom was dependent on imported goods. Britain required more than a million tons of imported material per week to be able to survive and fight. From 1942 on, the Germans sought to prevent the build-up of Allied supplies and equipment in the British Isles in preparation for the invasion of occupied Europe. Therefore, the defeat of the U-boat threat was a prerequisite for pushing back the Germans. Winston Churchill later remarked on the event,
The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome.
The name “Battle of the Atlantic” was coined by Winston Churchill in February 1941. It has been called the “longest, largest, and most complex” naval battle in history. It involved thousands of ships in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters, in a theater covering thousands of square miles of ocean. The situation changed constantly, with one side or the other gaining advantage as participating countries surrendered, joined, and even changed sides, and as new weapons, tactics, countermeasures, and equipment were developed by both sides. The Allies gradually gained the upper hand, overcoming German surface raiders by the end of 1942 and defeating the U-boats by mid-1943, though losses due to U-boats continued until war’s end.
U-Boat Strategy
Early in the war, the Germans believed they could bring Britain to her knees because of her dependence on overseas commerce. They began practicing a naval technique known as the Rudeltaktik (the so-called “wolf pack”), in which U-boats would spread out in a long line across the projected course of a convoy. Upon sighting a target, they would come together to attack en masse and overwhelm any escorting warships. While escorts chased individual submarines, the rest of the “pack” would be able to attack the merchant ships.
Significance in the War
The Germans failed to stop the flow of strategic supplies to Britain, resulting in the build-up of troops and supplies needed for the D-Day landings. Victory at sea was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied merchant ships (totaling 14.5 million gross tons) and 175 Allied warships were sunk; additionally, some 72,200 Allied naval and merchant seamen lost their lives. The Germans lost 783 U-boats and approximately 30,000 sailors, which was three-quarters of Germany’s 40,000-man U-boat fleet. With the German fleet effectively weakened, the Allies could transfer goods and troops to France, across the Atlantic and the North Sea.
Attributions
All Images Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
History of Western Civilization, II
“The North African Front”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-north-african-front/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The Sicilian Campaign”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-sicilian-campaign/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
“Conflict in the Atlantic”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/conflict-in-the-atlantic/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
“The Allies Gain Ground”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-allies-gain-ground/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The End of the War”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-end-of-the-war/
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.557882
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88060/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93365/overview
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Road to Allied Victory
Overview
The Tehran and Yalta Conferences
The Tehran Conference was a strategy meeting between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill that lasted from November 28 until December 1, 1943, in Tehran, Iran. It resulted in the Western Allies’ commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the significance and goals of the 1943 Tehran Conference.
- Evaluate the significance and goals of the 1945 Yalta Conference.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Big Three: the leaders of the main three Allied countries: the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, namely led by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin
Declaration of Liberated Europe: a declaration created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin during the Yalta Conference that gave the people of Europe the choice to “create democratic institutions of their own choice”
Tehran Conference: meeting of the Allied leaders of the U.S., U.K, and U.S.S.R. to discuss opening up a second front in Europe
The Yalta Conference: the meeting of the Big Three in February 1945 at Livadia, Crimea to discuss the restructuring of Europe when the war ended
The Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from November 28 to December 1, 1943. It was held in the Soviet Union’s embassy in Tehran, Iran and was the first World War II conference of the “Big Three” Allied leaders. Although the three leaders arrived with differing objectives, the main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the Western Allies’ commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany. The conference also addressed the Allies’ relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan, and the envisaged post-war settlement. A separate protocol signed at the conference pledged the Big Three to recognize Iran’s independence.
Proceedings
The conference was to convene at 4 p.m. on November 28, 1943. Stalin arrived early, followed by Roosevelt, who was brought in his wheelchair. It was here that Roosevelt, who had traveled 7,000 miles (11,000 km) to attend and whose health was already deteriorating, met Stalin for the first time. Churchill, walking with his General Staff from their accommodations nearby, arrived half an hour later.
The U.S. and Great Britain wanted to secure the cooperation of the Soviet Union in defeating Germany. Stalin agreed, but at a price: the U.S. and Britain would accept Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, support the Yugoslav Partisans, and agree to a westward shift of the border between Poland and the Soviet Union.
The leaders then turned to the conditions under which the Western Allies would open a new front by invading northern France, just as Stalin had pressed them to do since 1941. It was agreed that Operation Overlord—the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France—would occur by May 1944; Stalin agreed to support it by launching a concurrent major offensive on Germany’s eastern front to divert German forces from northern France.
The subjects of Iran and Turkey were also discussed in detail. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin all agreed to support Iran’s government. In addition, the Soviet Union was required to pledge support to Turkey if that country entered the war. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed that it would also be most desirable if Turkey entered on the Allies’ side before the year was out.
Despite accepting the previously mentioned arrangements, Stalin dominated the conference, using the prestige of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front to get his way. Roosevelt attempted to cope with Stalin’s onslaught of demands but was able to do little except appease him. Churchill argued for the invasion of Italy in 1943, then Overlord in 1944, on the basis that Overlord was physically impossible in 1943 and it would be unthinkable to do anything major until it could be launched in a realistic fashion.
Results
The Yugoslav Partisans were given full Allied support. The Communist Partisans under Tito took power in Yugoslavia as the Germans retreated from the Balkans.
Turkey’s president conferred with Roosevelt and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in November 1943 and promised to enter the war when it was fully armed. By August 1944 Turkey broke off relations with Germany. In February 1945, Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan, which may have been a symbolic move that allowed Turkey to join the future United Nations.
The invasion of France on June 6, 1944 took place about as planned, and the supporting invasion of southern France also occurred. The Soviets launched a major offensive against the Germans on June 22, 1944.
The Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, held February 4 – 11, 1945, was the meeting of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin to discuss Europe’s post-war reorganization. The Big Three met at Tsar Nicholas’ former palace in Livadia, Crimea. The Yalta conference was a crucial turning point in the Cold War.
The Conference
All three leaders attempted to establish an agenda for governing post-war Europe and keeping peace between post-war countries. However, by August 1944, Soviet forces were inside Poland and Romania as part of their drive west. And by the time of the Conference, Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukov’s forces were 40 miles from Berlin; consequently, Stalin felt his position at the conference was so strong that he could dictate terms. And this led to a more diplomatic approach from Roosevelt and Churchill. According to U.S. delegation member and future Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, “It was not a question of what we would let the Russians do, but what we could get the Russians to do.” But each leader certainly had their own agendas for the Yalta Conference.
Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the U.S. Pacific War against Japan, specifically for the planned invasion of Japan, and Soviet participation in the United Nations. Churchill pressed for free elections and democratic governments in Eastern and Central Europe (specifically Poland). And Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of political influence in Eastern and Central Europe, an essential aspect of the USSR’s national security strategy.
Poland was the first item on the Soviet agenda. Stalin stated that “For the Soviet government, the question of Poland was one of honor,” but he also viewed it as a matter of security because Poland had served as a historical corridor for forces attempting to invade Russia. In addition, Stalin stated that “because the Russians had greatly sinned against Poland,” “the Soviet government was trying to atone for those sins.” Stalin concluded that “Poland must be strong” and that “the Soviet Union is interested in the creation of a mighty, free and independent Poland.” Accordingly, Stalin stipulated that Polish government-in-exile demands were not negotiable: the Soviet Union would keep the territory of eastern Poland they had already annexed in 1939, and Poland was to be compensated by extending its western borders at the expense of Germany. Stalin promised free elections in Poland despite the Soviet-sponsored provisional government recently installed in Polish territories occupied by the Red Army.
The Declaration of Liberated Europe was a promise that allowed the people of Europe “to create democratic institutions of their own choice.” The declaration pledged, “the earliest possible establishment through free elections governments responsive to the will of the people.” This is similar to the statements of the Atlantic Charter, which says, “the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live.” Stalin broke the pledge by encouraging Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and many more countries to construct a Communist government instead of letting the people construct their own. These countries later became known as Stalin’s Satellite Nations.
Long-term Impact
The meeting of the Big Three at Tehran established the precedent of, “The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend.” Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin despised one another. Franklin Roosevelt, who had been Churchill’s close associate for years, was able to work with both men. If he did not win the friendship of Stalin, he did win his respect—something that his successors would never be able to achieve during the Cold War. Still, the three men worked together in order to come up with a viable plan to defeat Nazi Germany. It was the first of several critical meetings between the leaders of the chief nations of the Allies.
The Yalta Conference was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta had become a subject of intense controversy. To a degree, it has remained controversial.
Poland Fights Back: The Warsaw Uprising of 1944
Over the course of World War II, Poland and its people suffered enormously. In 1944, the Poles decided they had had enough of occupation and oppression by Nazi Germany. Despite being severely outgunned, the Poles undertook the largest resistance operation against Nazi oppression--the Warsaw Uprising.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the role of resistance in World War II.
- Analyze the significance and outcome of the Warsaw Uprising.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Polish Government in-exile: legitimate government of independent Poland that was evacuated to London at the start of the war
Polish Home Army: primary Polish resistance force during World War II, stationed underground throughout Poland
Warsaw Uprising: August – October 1944 attempt by the Polish Home Army to overthrow Nazi rule in Warsaw and reclaim Polish independence
Wola and Ochota: districts of Warsaw that suffered horrific actions by the Nazis and their allies during the Warsaw Uprising
Background
Following the 1939 invasion of Poland, the Polish government fled the country. They were rescued and brought to London, where they attempted to govern the Polish people from afar. For the duration of the war, the London-based government was named the Polish government-in-exile. In the wake of the government’s departure, and Poland’s occupation by the Germans and Soviets, the Polish Home Army was formed. Over the course of the war, it became the largest resistance force in Europe. It attracted people from all works of life who worked for the larger, Polish underground state. Members of the partisans worked as both intelligence gatherers and resistance fighters. Often, they hid in underground, covert locations and launched periodic attacks on the Germans during the occupation. In other instances, Home Army soldiers were Polish troops who had escaped to England early in the war, who were later redeployed; this included the group of Polish special ops forces called the Cichociemni—elite troops remembered still by their unit nickname: “The Silent Unseen.” By the summer of 1944, it was comprised of between 200,000 – 600,000 men and women. Increasingly, the Home Army was pro-Polish independence, which meant a deteriorating relationship with the Soviets.
In 1943, the Polish government-in-exile proposed that the Home Army should stage several small revolts throughout Poland as the Red Army advanced; and German defenses seemed strained. By the summer of 1944, the Red Army was closing in on Warsaw. The Allies had successfully opened up a second theater of war in Western Europe, which forced Germany to divide its forces, leaving its eastern armies weaker. News circulated among the Poles that a Polish-led uprising would soon take place. With the Red Army in sight, the Polish-government-in-exile negotiated with the Polish Home Army. A date was agreed upon, news circulated to the members of the Polish underground resistance, and preparations were made. Although poorly equipped in comparison to the Germans, Warsaw would fight back. The hope was that the Soviets would weaken the German armies, then support the Polish uprising when it occurred. That hope would be ill-founded.
The Uprising Begins
The Warsaw Uprising began at 5:00 PM on August 1. Across the city, soldiers took to the streets and launched coordinated attacks on German positions throughout Warsaw. Much of the city covertly helped the effort, either by transferring information or producing materials for the uprising. But from the outset of the uprising, the Poles stood little chance of defeating the Germans on their own. They had roughly three thousand personal guns at the start of the uprising, a handful of machine guns, and essentially no heavy military equipment. Although a few German tanks were seized, the reality remained that the Poles were drastically outgunned and their troops were unaccustomed to fighting prolonged battles throughout the day.
It is likely that the Poles understood they could not defeat the Germans on their own. They instead, believed that the rapidly advancing Soviet Red Army would come to their aid. Although the Poles and Russians had experienced deteriorating relationships since the war began, the Poles believed that their common enemy—the Nazis—would unite their cause. Instead, the Soviets remained just to the east of Warsaw and never offered ground or air support, despite having a nearby air base. The reasons for Soviet inactivity during the Warsaw Uprising is still questioned and debated by historians. Regardless, their inaction would be the undoing for the Warsaw Uprising. For six weeks, the Poles would fight almost entirely alone against the Germans.
The Poles initially secured positions throughout Warsaw in the early days of the uprising. Tragically, their early successes prompted some of the most severe retaliation by the Germans of the war. As the western front lines moved into the neighborhoods of Wola and Ochota on August 4, the Poles would witness horrors that they could scarcely have imagined.
The Wola and Ochota Massacres
The Poles living in Warsaw during the uprising endured deprivation and extreme violence. In response to Polish attacks, Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the German SS, ordered his troops to make an example of Warsaw and raze it to the ground. As historian Timothy Snyder discusses in his renowned work, Bloodlands, Special SS Commando Oskar Paul Dirlewanger was sent with other ruthless SS commanders to suppress the Poles.
Mass looting, mass rapes, and mass murder of civilians devastated the Polish districts of Wola and Ochota. The SS went from house to house, shooting civilians regardless of age or gender. Mass killings occurred wherever the Germans and their allies discovered sheltering Poles. Even the hospital workers were not spared. Nurses were raped, stripped of their clothing, and hung. Homes, factories, businesses, and bodies burned throughout Warsaw. At the end of the massacres, estimates of civilian casualties reached as high as 100,000. As Snyder discusses, the German force deployed against Polish civilians is indescribable. “If military casualties on both sides of the [Warsaw Uprising] are counted, the ratio of [Polish] civilian casualties to military dead is 1000:1.”
The Uprising Ends
Within weeks, the Polish civilians began to suffer not only from the violence of the uprising, but also from lack of food and clean water. The Polish Home Army realized that they were severely outgunned, and that Soviet troops would not be reinforcing them. Moreover, the Soviets had balked at the idea of Western Allies supplying aid to the Warsaw Uprising. British and American pilots did drop supplies to Warsaw, but their aid proved too little, too late. The Germans secured Warsaw. The city’s sixty-three-day battle for independence failed.
On October 2, 1944, the Poles surrendered to the Germans and were promised humane treatment. However, more than a thousand Home Army soldiers were sent to German labor camps. Others slipped silent and unseen into the population, ready to fight when the call again rang. But, in response to the uprising, Hitler had ordered that Warsaw be “razed to the ground.” Consequently, the remainder of Poles in Warsaw were forced from the city. Thousands were sent to labor camps, thousands of others were killed at Auschwitz and other camps, but several thousand were sent to various parts of the German Reich to work. By the end of 1944, Hitler’s goal to erase Warsaw off the global map was virtually complete. Roughly 85% of the city had been destroyed through combat, the Uprising, and German bombings. In January 1945 when the Red Army entered Warsaw, they were met with smoldering ruins and little more.
Significance in the War
The Warsaw Uprising was one of the most significant moments of resistance to Nazi Germany occupation in all of World War II. And yet, the consequences for the civilian population would have, almost assuredly, been significantly less had the uprising never occurred. Tens of thousands of Polish civilians became the targets of extreme violence by the Nazis and their allies in August 1944. Despite the loss, the Poles remained committed to the battle for their independence until they accepted that the Red Army would not help their cause, and they could not win alone. The legacy of the Uprising remains mixed. On the one hand, it resulted in the near destruction of the city and brutal murders of tens of thousands of its civilians. On the other hand, it marked a moment in history where an occupied people stood up together against the odds to fight against oppression. Most tragically, inaction on the part of the Allies, particularly the Soviets, resulted in the complete failure of the Warsaw Uprising. And for the Poles, the story of occupation did not end with the Nazis. Instead, they would face their historic occupier—the Russians—in 1945. Although far less brutal than the Nazis, the Russians quickly demonstrated that they could also impose harsh measures on any Pole who did not solidly support communist rule.
The Battle of the Bulge and Westward Push to Berlin
The war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the key events and circumstances that led to Germany’s unconditional surrender and the end of World War II in Europe.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Battle of Berlin: final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II when the Soviet Red Army invaded Berlin, Germany
Battle of the Bulge: last major German offensive battle on the Western Front in the winter of 1944 – 45
V-E Day: Victory in Europe Day; May 8, 1945
The Battle of the Bulge
The “Battle of the Bulge” earned its name from the initial success on side of the German army. In the early stage of the battle, the Germans cut a deep line of division between the Allies. On a map, the success of the German army’s advance appeared to “bulge” westward toward Belgium.
On December 16, 1944, Germany launched a last offensive campaign on the Western Front. The Germans advanced into the Ardennes Forest to in order to split the Western Allies, encircle large portions of Western Allied troops, and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp. The goal was to achieve a more leveraged peace settlement. The Germans initial phase of the battle caught the Allies totally by surprise and forced their retreat.
For the Americans, the Battle of the Bulge was the deadliest of the war. Fought during an unusually cold and snowy winter, Americans sustained over 100,000 casualties in just six weeks. Ultimately, the German advance halted due to a fuel shortages and Allied reinforcements. It was the last German offensive of World War II. For the next three and a half months, the Germans would retreat eastward toward the German border in preparation for an Allied assault on their homeland.
The Western Allied Invasion of Germany
The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theater of World War II. The Allied invasion of Germany started with the Western Allies crossing the River Rhine in March 1945 before overrunning all of western Germany—from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south—before the Germans surrendered on May 8, 1945. This is known as the “Central Europe Campaign” in United States military histories and is often considered the end of the second World War in Europe.
By the beginning of the Central Europe Campaign, Allied victory in Europe was inevitable. Having gambled his future ability to defend Germany on the Ardennes offensive and lost, Hitler had no strength left to stop the powerful Allied armies. The Western Allies still had to fight, often bitterly, for victory. Even when the hopelessness of the German situation became obvious to his most loyal subordinates, Hitler refused to admit defeat. Only when Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin headquarters bunker did he begin to perceive the inevitable final outcome.
The crossing of the Rhine, the encirclement and reduction of the Ruhr, and the sweep to the Elbe-Mulde line and the Alps all established the final campaign on the Western Front as a showcase for Allied superiority in maneuver warfare. These mobile forces made great thrusts to isolate pockets of German troops, which were mopped up by additional infantry following close behind. The Allies rapidly eroded any remaining ability to resist.
The Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin was the final major offensive of the European theater of World War II. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on March 20 under the newly appointed German commander, General Gotthard Heinrici. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city. On April 16, 1945, two Soviet Red Army groups attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. On April 20, 1945, the Red Army began shelling Berlin’s city center, while a unit of Ukrainian troops pushed from the south. Defenses in Berlin consisted of several depleted and disorganized Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, along with poorly trained Hitler Youth members. Within the next few days, the Red Army reached the city center, where close-quarter combat raged.
The city’s garrison surrendered to Soviet forces on May 2, but fighting continued to the northwest, west, and southwest of the city until the end of the war in Europe on May 8. In the final days of the war, German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets. They widely believed that the British and American soldiers would be more likely to treat them with respect than the Soviets. In contrast, the Germans feared brutal reprisals would be carried out against them if they surrendered to the Soviets.
V-E Day
On May 8 1945, the world celebrated V-E Day—or Victory in Europe Day. After almost six years of warfare and genocidal actions in Europe, Nazi Germany and its allies were defeated. And yet, just as the war in Europe ended, it intensified in the Pacific Theater of War. American and British troops, war-weary and ready for peace, anticipated that they would soon be transferred to an even more brutal theater of war than the one they had just won.
April 1945: The Deaths of FDR, Mussolini, and Hitler
In April 1945, three heads of state died: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler. All three had governed their countries for more than a decade. Each had a strong effect on their country. And two of them, Mussolini and Hitler, suffered unnatural deaths. Roosevelt, the oldest of the three, died of a stroke in his country home in Warm Springs, Georgia. In the final days of World War II, new leaders would attempt to hold their countries together.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the impact of the deaths of Hitler, Mussolini, and Roosevelt on their respective countries.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Claretta Petacci: Mussolini’s mistress who was arrested and executed with him
Eva Braun: Hitler’s long-time mistress who he married one day before their double suicide
Führerbunker: bunker in Berlin where Hitler committed suicide
Harry Truman: FDR’s vice president who succeeded him after Roosevelt’s death
Karl Dönitz: Grand Admiral of the German fleet who succeeded Hitler as head-of-state after Hitler’s suicide
Little White House: FDR’s home in Warm Springs, GA where he died of a massive stroke
Piazalle Loreto: city square in Milan where Mussolini and Petacci’s bodies were displayed
Walter Audisio: Communist partisan who is believed to have executed Mussolini
The Death of a President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an ill man from the beginning of his presidency. Despite his warm and cordial exterior, he was a lonely person who, despite appearances, was still largely paralyzed from contracting Polio at the age of 39. He also suffered from high blood pressure, stress, and exhaustion. In the spring of 1945, Roosevelt traveled to his private home in Warm Springs, Georgia, which was dubbed the “Little White House” because he spent a good amount of time there. The home was small and quaint for a man of Roosevelt’s pedigree. He had found comfort in the rural Georgia mountains, though. During his initial recovery from Polio, his home in Warm Springs had offered solace and tranquility. Less than a month before Germany’s surrender, Roosevelt traveled to his home in Warm Springs to rest.
On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt sat for a portrait before Elizabeth Shoumatoff, an acclaimed artist. Around noon, he announced, “I have a terrific headache.” The president then collapsed. Doctors arrived and found Roosevelt unconscious. Three hours later, the 32nd president of the United States was dead. Roosevelt’s physician diagnosed the president as having had a massive stroke. The portrait of Roosevelt, titled the Unfinished Portrait, still hangs in the Little White House. Beside it is a second, completed portrait based on Shoumatoff’s memories of the president.
The public mourning for Roosevelt was unprecedented. For many Americans, it was hard to recall a president before FDR, who had served for over twelve years. For others, Roosevelt had represented the leader who had guided the United States through two of its greatest crises: the Great Depression and World War II. He personified the American spirit in a way his predecessors had not. Despite his privileged background, he had touched the lives of many of America’s poor, forgotten, and ignored. Tens of thousands of mourners watched his funeral train as it slowly carried Roosevelt’s casket from Georgia to his family home in Hyde Park, New York. As requested, Roosevelt was buried in his family’s rose garden.
Upon Roosevelt’s passing, Vice President Harry Truman was appointed president of the United States. Truman, however, was well-aware of the public’s mood. Far from celebrating his new position, Truman encouraged the country to mourn for their president for thirty days and kept the flags at half-mast. Truman, despite his capable qualities, would find it impossible to live up to his predecessor’s popularity.
The Death of Mussolini
If Franklin Roosevelt’s death was sedate and honorable, Benito Mussolini’s death sixteen days later was far from it.
In 1943, Italy was losing the war. The Allies were quickly gaining ground in Sicily and would push up through the southern part of Italy. Moreover, Italian civilians were suffering from lack of food and fuel. Support for the war was crumbling, and Mussolini discovered his country no longer supported his dictatorship. In July 1943, Mussolini was voted out of power and into exile on an Italian island. In September, the Italians signed an armistice with the Allies.
When the armistice was signed, the Germans rushed into northern Italy to occupy it. The Germans also quickly rescued Mussolini and instilled him as a puppet-dictator in the Northern Italian state called the Italian Social Republic. Although Mussolini tried to remain strong, it was evident that he was controlled by his German liberators. Among other deeds, he aided in the round-up and execution of Italian Jews. In the spring of 1945, the Allies pressed into northern Italy. With the Germans in retreat, Mussolini faced a decision: to be handed over to the Allies to face war crimes or try to escape. Fatefully, he chose the latter.
Mussolini's Failed Escape and Death
With the Allies quickly advancing into northern Italy, the Germans were in rapid retreat. And Mussolini tried to escape before the Allies could capture him. On April 25, he and his mistress, Carletta Petacci, climbed into a truck. It was part of a convoy carrying fascists out of the city of Milan. Bad luck awaited Mussolini two days later. On April 27, a group of Italian communist partisans stopped the convoy. They hunted the trucks and found Mussolini and his mistress crouched against the door.
In captivity, Benito Mussolini spent what must have proved a restless night. While he and his mistress awaited their fate, his captors discussed the same issue. At last, it was decided that Mussolini should be shot. Accounts differ about the nature of Mussolini’s execution in several points. However, they agree that on the morning of April 28, he and his mistress were led outside and stood against a wall. There, they were both shot multiple times, likely by a communist partisan named Walter Audisio.
The following morning, the corpses of Mussolini and his mistress were driven to Piazalle Loreto, a central city square in Milan. There, they were strung up on meat hooks beside other fascists outside of a gas station for the Italian public to see. Crowds formed and soon, the corpses became targets for stone-throwers. The corpses were badly mangled before being taken down and buried in unmarked graves. It wasn’t until the 1950s that Mussolini’s corpse was buried in his family crypt.
Adolf Hitler's Final Days
On April 22, Hitler learned news that sent him into a fury of rage—the Russian Red Army had entered Berlin. There would be no counter-offensive, no attack that could repel the Russian invasion. Hitler resolved, according to witnesses to commit suicide rather than face the end before the Allies.
Around midnight of April 29, Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun. Later that day, Hitler heard of Mussolini’s violent death by his own people. The death of Mussolini deeply affected Hitler. Mussolini had been an early teacher, an ally, and a fellow fascist. And his own people had slaughtered him during his attempt to escape. Hitler decided not to risk the same fate.
Deep in his Führerbunker in Berlin, Hitler prepared to commit suicide. Sometime on April 30, Hitler shot himself in the head. His wife took cyanide. Their bodies were found, taken outside, and burned before the Soviets could recover them.
For the next week, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz was the German head-of-state. However, Berlin quickly fell to the Soviets, and the German people lost the will to fight. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies. The following day, people around the world celebrated Victory Day in Europe.
At the time of their respective deaths, it is likely that each of the three leaders knew how World War II would end in Europe. Roosevelt’s intimate conversations with Churchill and Stalin, as well as his military intelligence, suggested that he knew an Allied victory was close at hand. Mussolini had seen the Germans retreat from northern Italy, and the separate peace signed between Italy and the Allies. And Hitler knew that at the time of his death, the Red Army was upon him, fighting throughout the German capital. Although all three men had led their countries through World War II, none would live to see its conclusion in early May 1945. In all three cases, their passing signaled the end of an era in their respective countries and the start of a new one.
Primary Source: The Yalta Conference
February, 1945
Washington, March 24 - The text of the agreements reached at the Crimea (Yalta) Conference between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Generalissimo Stalin, as released by the State Department today, follows:
PROTOCOL OF PROCEEDINGS OF CRIMEA CONFERENCE
The Crimea Conference of the heads of the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which took place from Feb. 4 to 11, came to the following conclusions:
I. WORLD ORGANIZATION
It was decided:
1. That a United Nations conference on the proposed world organization should be summoned for Wednesday, 25 April, 1945, and should be held in the United States of America.
2. The nations to be invited to this conference should be:
(a) the United Nations as they existed on 8 Feb., 1945; and
(b) Such of the Associated Nations as have declared war on the common enemy by 1 March, 1945. (For this purpose, by the term "Associated Nations" was meant the eight Associated Nations and Turkey.) When the conference on world organization is held, the delegates of the United Kingdom and United State of America will support a proposal to admit to original membership two Soviet Socialist Republics, i.e., the Ukraine and White Russia.
3. That the United States Government, on behalf of the three powers, should consult the Government of China and the French Provisional Government in regard to decisions taken at the present conference concerning the proposed world organization.
4. That the text of the invitation to be issued to all the nations which would take part in the United Nations conference should be as follows:
"The Government of the United States of America, on behalf of itself and of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics and the Republic of China and of the Provisional Government of the French Republic invite the Government of -------- to send representatives to a conference to be held on 25 April, 1945, or soon thereafter , at San Francisco, in the United States of America, to prepare a charter for a general international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security.
"The above-named Governments suggest that the conference consider as affording a basis for such a Charter the proposals for the establishment of a general international organization which were made public last October as a result of the Dumbarton Oaks conference and which have now been supplemented by the following provisions for Section C of Chapter VI:
C. Voting
"1. Each member of the Security Council should have one vote.
"2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members.
"3. Decisions of the Security Council on all matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members, including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VIII, Section A and under the second sentence of Paragraph 1 of Chapter VIII, Section C, a party to a dispute should abstain from voting.'
"Further information as to arrangements will be transmitted subsequently.
"In the event that the Government of -------- desires in advance of the conference to present views or comments concerning the proposals, the Government of the United States of America will be pleased to transmit such views and comments to the other participating Governments."
Territorial trusteeship:
It was agreed that the five nations which will have permanent seats on the Security Council should consult each other prior to the United Nations conference on the question of territorial trusteeship.
The acceptance of this recommendation is subject to its being made clear that territorial trusteeship will only apply to
- (a) existing mandates of the League of Nations;
- (b) territories detached from the enemy as a result of the present war;
- (c) any other territory which might voluntarily be placed under trusteeship; and
- (d) no discussion of actual territories is contemplated at the forthcoming United Nations conference or in the preliminary consultations, and it will be a matter for subsequent agreement which territories within the above categories will be place under trusteeship.
[Begin first section published Feb., 13, 1945.]
II. DECLARATION OF LIBERATED EUROPE
The following declaration has been approved:
The Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States of America have consulted with each other in the common interests of the people of their countries and those of liberated Europe. They jointly declare their mutual agreement to concert during the temporary period of instability in liberated Europe the policies of their three Governments in assisting the peoples liberated from the domination of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems.
The establishment of order in Europe and the rebuilding of national economic life must be achieved by processes which will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice. This is a principle of the Atlantic Charter - the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live - the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have been forcibly deprived to them by the aggressor nations.
To foster the conditions in which the liberated people may exercise these rights, the three governments will jointly assist the people in any European liberated state or former Axis state in Europe where, in their judgment conditions require,
- (a) to establish conditions of internal peace;
- (b) to carry out emergency relief measures for the relief of distressed peoples;
- (c) to form interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population and pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of Governments responsive to the will of the people; and
- (d) to facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections.
The three Governments will consult the other United Nations and provisional authorities or other Governments in Europe when matters of direct interest to them are under consideration.
When, in the opinion of the three Governments, conditions in any European liberated state or former Axis satellite in Europe make such action necessary, they will immediately consult together on the measure necessary to discharge the joint responsibilities set forth in this declaration.
By this declaration we reaffirm our faith in the principles of the Atlantic Charter, our pledge in the Declaration by the United Nations and our determination to build in cooperation with other peace-loving nations world order, under law, dedicated to peace, security, freedom and general well-being of all mankind.
In issuing this declaration, the three powers express the hope that the Provisional Government of the French Republic may be associated with them in the procedure suggested.
[End first section published Feb., 13, 1945.]
III. DISMEMBERMENT OF GERMANY
It was agreed that Article 12 (a) of the Surrender terms for Germany should be amended to read as follows:
"The United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall possess supreme authority with respect to Germany. In the exercise of such authority they will take such steps, including the complete dismemberment of Germany as they deem requisite for future peace and security."
The study of the procedure of the dismemberment of Germany was referred to a committee consisting of Mr. Anthony Eden, Mr. John Winant, and Mr. Fedor T. Gusev. This body would consider the desirability of associating with it a French representative.
IV. ZONE OF OCCUPATION FOR THE FRENCH AND CONTROL COUNCIL FOR GERMANY.
It was agreed that a zone in Germany, to be occupied by the French forces, should be allocated France. This zone would be formed out of the British and American zones and its extent would be settled by the British and Americans in consultation with the French Provisional Government.
It was also agreed that the French Provisional Government should be invited to become a member of the Allied Control Council for Germany.
V. REPARATION
The following protocol has been approved:
Protocol
On the Talks Between the Heads of Three Governments at the Crimean Conference on the Question of the German Reparations in Kind
1. Germany must pay in kind for the losses caused by her to the Allied nations in the course of the war. Reparations are to be received in the first instance by those countries which have borne the main burden of the war, have suffered the heaviest losses and have organized victory over the enemy.
2. Reparation in kind is to be exacted from Germany in three following forms:
- (a) Removals within two years from the surrender of Germany or the cessation of organized resistance from the national wealth of Germany located on the territory of Germany herself as well as outside her territory (equipment, machine tools, ships, rolling stock, German investments abroad, shares of industrial, transport and other enterprises in Germany, etc.), these removals to be carried out chiefly for the purpose of destroying the war potential of Germany.
- (b) Annual deliveries of goods from current production for a period to be fixed.
- (c) Use of German labor.
3. For the working out on the above principles of a detailed plan for exaction of reparation from Germany an Allied reparation commission will be set up in Moscow. It will consist of three representatives - one from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, one from the United Kingdom and one from the United States of America.
4. With regard to the fixing of the total sum of the reparation as well as the distribution of it among the countries which suffered from the German aggression, the Soviet and American delegations agreed as follows:
"The Moscow reparation commission should take in its initial studies as a basis for discussion the suggestion of the Soviet Government that the total sum of the reparation in accordance with the points (a) and (b) of the Paragraph 2 should be 22 billion dollars and that 50 per cent should go to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."
The British delegation was of the opinion that, pending consideration of the reparation question by the Moscow reparation commission, no figures of reparation should be mentioned.
The above Soviet-American proposal has been passed to the Moscow reparation commission as one of the proposals to be considered by the commission.
VI. MAJOR WAR CRIMINALS
The conference agreed that the question of the major war criminals should be the subject of inquiry by the three Foreign Secretaries for report in due course after the close of the conference.
[Begin second section published Feb. 13, 1945.]
VII. POLAND
The following declaration on Poland was agreed by the conference:
"A new situation has been created in Poland as a result of her complete liberation by the Red Army. This calls for the establishment of a Polish Provisional Government which can be more broadly based than was possible before the recent liberation of the western part of Poland. The Provisional Government which is now functioning in Poland should therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad. This new Government should then be called the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity.
"M. Molotov, Mr. Harriman and Sir A. Clark Kerr are authorized as a commission to consult in the first instance in Moscow with members of the present Provisional Government and with other Polish democratic leaders from within Poland and from abroad, with a view to the reorganization of the present Government along the above lines. This Polish Provisional Government of National Unity shall be pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot. In these elections all democratic and anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates.
"When a Polish Provisional of Government National Unity has been properly formed in conformity with the above, the Government of the U.S.S.R., which now maintains diplomatic relations with the present Provisional Government of Poland, and the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States of America will establish diplomatic relations with the new Polish Provisional Government National Unity, and will exchange Ambassadors by whose reports the respective Governments will be kept informed about the situation in Poland.
"The three heads of Government consider that the eastern frontier of Poland should follow the Curzon Line with digressions from it in some regions of five to eight kilometers in favor of Poland. They recognize that Poland must receive substantial accessions in territory in the north and west. They feel that the opinion of the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity should be sought in due course of the extent of these accessions and that the final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should thereafter await the peace conference."
VIII. YUGOSLAVIA
It was agreed to recommend to Marshal Tito and to Dr. Ivan Subasitch:
- (a) That the Tito-Subasitch agreement should immediately be put into effect and a new government formed on the basis of the agreement.
- (b) That as soon as the new Government has been formed it should declare:
- (I) That the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation (AVNOJ) will be extended to include members of the last Yugoslav Skupstina who have not compromised themselves by collaboration with the enemy, thus forming a body to be known as a temporary Parliament and
- (II) That legislative acts passed by the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation (AVNOJ) will be subject to subsequent ratification by a Constituent Assembly; and that this statement should be published in the communiqué of the conference.
IX. ITALO-YOGOSLAV FRONTIER - ITALO-AUSTRIAN FRONTIER
Notes on these subjects were put in by the British delegation and the American and Soviet delegations agreed to consider them and give their views later.
X. YUGOSLAV-BULGARIAN RELATIONS
There was an exchange of views between the Foreign Secretaries on the question of the desirability of a Yugoslav-Bulgarian pact of alliance. The question at issue was whether a state still under an armistice regime could be allowed to enter into a treaty with another state. Mr. Eden suggested that the Bulgarian and Yugoslav Governments should be informed that this could not be approved. Mr. Stettinius suggested that the British and American Ambassadors should discuss the matter further with Mr. Molotov in Moscow. Mr. Molotov agreed with the proposal of Mr. Stettinius.
XI. SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
The British delegation put in notes for the consideration of their colleagues on the following subjects:
- (a) The Control Commission in Bulgaria.
- (b) Greek claims upon Bulgaria, more particularly with reference to reparations.
- (c) Oil equipment in Rumania.
XII. IRAN
Mr. Eden, Mr. Stettinius and Mr. Molotov exchanged views on the situation in Iran. It was agreed that this matter should be pursued through the diplomatic channel.
[Begin third section published Feb. 13, 1945.]
XIII. MEETINGS OF THE THREE FOREIGN SECRETARIES
The conference agreed that permanent machinery should be set up for consultation between the three Foreign Secretaries; they should meet as often as necessary, probably about every three or four months.
These meetings will be held in rotation in the three capitals, the first meeting being held in London.
[End third section published Feb. 13, 1945.]
XIV. THE MONTREAUX CONVENTION AND THE STRAITS
It was agreed that at the next meeting of the three Foreign Secretaries to be held in London, they should consider proposals which it was understood the Soviet Government would put forward in relation to the Montreaux Convention, and report to their Governments. The Turkish Government should be informed at the appropriate moment.
The forgoing protocol was approved and signed by the three Foreign Secretaries at the Crimean Conference Feb. 11, 1945.
E. R. Stettinius Jr.
M. Molotov
Anthony Eden
AGREEMENT REGARDING JAPAN
The leaders of the three great powers - the Soviet Union, the United States of America and Great Britain - have agreed that in two or three months after Germany has surrendered and the war in Europe is terminated, the Soviet Union shall enter into war against Japan on the side of the Allies on condition that:
- 1. The status quo in Outer Mongolia (the Mongolian People's Republic) shall be preserved.
- 2. The former rights of Russia violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904 shall be restored, viz.:
- (a) The southern part of Sakhalin as well as the islands adjacent to it shall be returned to the Soviet Union;
- (b) The commercial port of Dairen shall be internationalized, the pre-eminent interests of the Soviet Union in this port being safeguarded, and the lease of Port Arthur as a naval base of the U.S.S.R. restored;
- (c) The Chinese-Eastern Railroad and the South Manchurian Railroad, which provide an outlet to Dairen, shall be jointly operated by the establishment of a joint Soviet-Chinese company, it being understood that the pre-eminent interests of the Soviet Union shall be safeguarded and that China shall retain sovereignty in Manchuria;
- 3. The Kurile Islands shall be handed over to the Soviet Union.
It is understood that the agreement concerning Outer Mongolia and the ports and railroads referred to above will require concurrence of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The President will take measures in order to maintain this concurrence on advice from Marshal Stalin.
The heads of the three great powers have agreed that these claims of the Soviet Union shall be unquestionably fulfilled after Japan has been defeated.
For its part, the Soviet Union expresses it readiness to conclude with the National Government of China a pact of friendship and alliance between the U.S.S.R. and China in order to render assistance to China with its armed forces for the purpose of liberating China from the Japanese yoke.
Joseph Stalin
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Winston S. Churchill
February 11, 1945.
Attributions
All Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, New
York: 2010. 298-305.
History of Western Civilization, II.
“The Tehran Conference”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-tehran-conference/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The Yalta Conference”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-yalta-conference/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The Allied Push to Berlin”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-allied-push-to-berlin/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
"The Yalta Conference." February 1945. Hosted by: Yale Law School/Lillian Goldman Law Library.
The Avalon Project : Yalta (Crimea) Conference (yale.edu)
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Japanese Expansion November 1941 to June 1942
Overview
The title image is of a battleship sinking during the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor.
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Japanese Expansion November 1941 to June 1942
The Pacific War component of the Second World War was part of the larger effort at imperial expansion by the Japanese and was the culmination of the colonial rivalry among Japan, Russia, the United States, and various European powers for control of the Pacific Oceans and islands therein. It is one of the numerous conflicts into which World War II is divided, and it was most closely related to the Japanese war efforts in eastern and southern Asia. The Pacific War constituted the largest geographic theater of World War II, being fought in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans and known as the Pacific War.
Learning Objectives
Discuss the significance of Pearl Harbor and the early campaigns in the Pacific theater and connect the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima with the greater American “island hopping” strategy.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Pacific Theater: a major theater of the war between the Allies and Japan defined by the Allied powers’ Pacific Ocean Area command
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: an imperialist propaganda concept created by the Japanese government to disguise and/or rationalize Japanese conquest of the Pacific and portions of Asia
Pearl Harbor: site of main U.S. military complex in Hawaii, and target of Japanese attack on 7 December 1941, as part of larger Japanese offensive to take control of the Pacific Ocean
Background of the Pacific War
The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 when the Japanese invaded Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese initiated their offensive against Thailand; the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong; and United States military and naval bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines.
Summary of the Pacific War
The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis powers: Germany and Italy. This conflict was marked by naval battles across the Pacific and land campaigns on numerous Pacific islands. The war culminated in massive Allied air raids over Japan, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accompanied by the Soviet Union's declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria and other territories on 9 August 1945, causing the Japanese to announce an intent to surrender on 15 August 1945. The formal surrender of Japan ceremony took place aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. After the war, Japan lost all rights and titles to its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific, and its sovereignty was limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies. Japan's Shinto Emperor relinquished much of his authority and his divine status through the Shinto Directive in order to pave the way for extensive cultural and political reforms.
Names for the War
Naming this war has been a challenge because of how it overlaps with World War II conflicts in Asia. In Allied countries during the war, the "Pacific War" was not usually distinguished from World War II in general; it was simply known as the War against Japan. In the United States, the term Pacific Theater was widely used, although this was a misnomer in relation to the Allied campaign in Burma, the war in China, and other activities within the South-East Asian Theater. However, the US Armed Forces considered the China-Burma-India Theater to be distinct from the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during the conflict.
Japan used the name Greater East Asia War, as chosen by a cabinet decision on 10 December 1941, to refer to both the war with the Western Allies and the ongoing war in China. This name was released to the public on 12 December, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving their independence from the Western powers through armed forces of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident into the Greater East Asia War.
During the Allied military occupation of Japan (1945 – 52), these Japanese terms were prohibited in official documents, although their informal usage continued. The conflict eventually became officially known as the Pacific War. In Japan, the term Fifteen Years' War is also used, to refer to all the fighting in which Japanese forces participated from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945.
Participants
Allies
The major Allied participants were China, the United States, and the British Empire, but other nations assisted these allies in some fashion. China had already been engaged in a war against Japan since 1937. The United States and its territories, including the Philippine Commonwealth, entered the war after being attacked by Japan. The British Empire was also a major belligerent consisting of British troops along with large numbers of colonial troops from the armed forces of India, Burma, Malaya, Fiji, Tonga, in addition to troops from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The Dutch government-in-exile (as possessor of the Dutch East Indies) also participated. All of these were members of the Pacific War Council. Mexico provided some air support, and Free France sent the naval vessels Le Triomphant and the Richelieu. From 1944 the French commando group Corps Léger d'Intervention also took part in resistance operations in Indochina. French Indochinese forces faced Japanese forces in a coup in 1945. The commando corps continued to operate after the coup until liberation. Some active pro-allied guerrillas in Asia included the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army, the Korean Liberation Army, the Free Thai Movement, the Việt Minh, and the Hukbalahap.
The Soviet Union fought two brief, undeclared border conflicts with Japan in 1938 and 1939, then remained neutral through the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941, until August 1945 when it (and Mongolia) joined the rest of the Allies and invaded the territory of Manchukuo, China, Inner Mongolia, the Japanese protectorate of Korea, as well as Japanese-claimed territory such as South Sakhalin.
Axis Powers and Aligned States
The Axis-aligned states which assisted Japan included the authoritarian government of Thailand, which formed a cautious alliance with the Japanese in 1941, when Japanese forces issued the government with an ultimatum following the Japanese invasion of Thailand. Also involved were members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which included the Manchukuo Imperial Army and Collaborationist Chinese Army of the Japanese puppet states of Manchukuo (consisting of most of Manchuria), and the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime (which controlled the coastal regions of China). In the Burma campaign, the anti-British Indian National Army of Free India and the Burma National Army of the State of Burma, among others, were active and fighting alongside their Japanese allies.
Other units assisted the Japanese war effort in their respective territories. Japan conscripted many soldiers from its colonies of Korea and Taiwan. Collaborationist security units were also formed in Hong Kong (reformed ex-colonial police), Singapore, the Philippines (also a member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), the Dutch East Indies (the PETA), British Malaya, British Borneo, former French Indochina (after the overthrow of the French regime in 1945) (the Vichy French had previously allowed the Japanese to use bases in French Indochina beginning in 1941, following an invasion) as well as Timorese militia.
Germany and Italy both had limited involvement in the Pacific War. The German and the Italian navies operated submarines and raiding ships in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, notably the Monsun Gruppe. The Italians had access to concession territory naval bases in China, which was later ceded to collaborationist China by the Italian Social Republic in late 1943. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declarations of war, both navies had access to Japanese naval facilities.
Theaters
Between 1942 and 1945, the Allies and Japan divided the Pacific War into several areas of conflict, including the central Pacific, the south Pacific, and the southwest Pacific. These areas overlapped with the China-Burma-India Theater—the Allies name for the area of fighting against the Japanese across south and east Asia. In the Pacific, the Allies divided operational control of their forces between two supreme commands, known as Pacific Ocean Areas and Southwest Pacific Area. In 1945, for a brief period just before the Japanese surrender, the Soviet Union and Mongolia engaged Japanese forces in Manchuria and northeast China.
The Imperial Japanese Navy did not integrate its units into permanent theater commands. The Imperial Japanese Army, which had already created the Kwantung Army to oversee its occupation of Manchukuo and the China Expeditionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, created the Southern Expeditionary Army Group at the outset of its conquests of South East Asia. This headquarters controlled the bulk of the Japanese Army formations that opposed the Western Allies in the Pacific and South East Asia.
Background
War between Japan and the U.S. was a possibility each nation had been planning for since the 1920s, and serious tensions began with Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Over the next decade, Japan continued to expand into China, leading to all-out war between those countries in 1937. Japan spent considerable effort trying to isolate China and achieve sufficient resource independence to attain victory on the mainland; the “Southern Operation” was designed to assist these efforts.
From December 1937, events such as the Japanese attack on USS Panay, the Allison incident, and the Nanking Massacre swung public opinion in the West sharply against Japan. Fearing Japanese expansion, the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France provided loan assistance for war supply contracts to the Republic of China.
The U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan in July 1941 following Japanese expansion into French Indochina after the fall of France, in part because of new American restrictions on domestic oil consumption. This caused the Japanese to proceed with plans to take the Dutch East Indies, an oil-rich territory. On August 17, Roosevelt warned Japan that the U.S. was prepared to take steps against Japan if it attacked “neighboring countries.” The Japanese were faced with the option of either withdrawing from China and losing face or seizing and securing new sources of raw materials in the resource-rich, European-controlled colonies of Southeast Asia.
The Japanese attack had two major aims. First, it was intended to destroy important American fleet units, thereby preventing the Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, which would enable and enabling Japan to conquer Southeast Asia without interference. Second, it was meant to intimidate the U.S. into negotiating for terms favorable to Japan.
Japanese Offensives, 1941 – 42
Following prolonged tensions between Japan and the Western powers throughout most of 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army launched simultaneous surprise attacks on a number of United States and British colonial possessions across the Pacific and east Asia on 7 December 1941 (8 December in Asia/West Pacific time zones). The targets of the first wave of Japanese attacks included the American territories of Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island, as well as the British territories of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Concurrently, Japanese forces invaded southern and eastern Thailand; they were resisted for several hours, before the Thai government signed an armistice and entered an alliance with Japan. Although Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire, the declaration was not delivered until after the attacks began.
Subsequent attacks and invasions followed during December 1941 and early 1942, leading to the occupation of American, British, Dutch and Australian territories and air raids on the Australian mainland. The Allies suffered many disastrous defeats in the first six months of the war.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the centerpiece of the Japanese offensive against the U.S. It was a carrier-based air strike on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu that was conducted without explicit warning, and it crippled the US Pacific Fleet. The attack knocked eight American battleships out of action, destroyed 188 American aircraft, and caused the deaths of 2,403 Americans.
The Japanese had gambled that the United States, when faced with such a sudden massive blow and so much loss of life, would agree to a quick negotiated settlement and allow Japan free rein in Asia. This gamble did not pay off. American losses were not as expansive as initially thought: the American aircraft carriers, which would prove to be more important than battleships, were at sea. Additionally, vital naval infrastructure (fuel oil tanks, shipyard facilities, and a power station), submarine base, and signals intelligence units were unscathed. Even more detrimental to the Japanese plan was the fact the bombing happened while the US was not officially at war, which caused a wave of outrage across the United States. Japan's fallback strategy, relying on a war of attrition to make the US come to terms, was beyond the Imperial Japanese Navy's capabilities.
On December 8, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and The Netherlands declared war on Japan, followed by China and Australia the next day. Four days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. These German and Italian war declarations on the U.S. are widely agreed to have been strategic blunders, as they negated both the benefit Germany gained by Japan's distraction of the US and the reduction in aid to Britain, which both Congress and Hitler had managed to avoid during over a year of mutual provocation.
South-East Asian campaigns of 1941–42
Thailand, with its territory already serving as a springboard for the Malayan Campaign, surrendered within 5 hours of the Japanese invasion. The government of Thailand formally allied with Japan on 21 December. To the south, the Imperial Japanese Army had seized the British colony of Penang on 19 December, encountering little resistance.
Hong Kong was attacked on 8 December; even though Canadian forces and the Royal Hong Kong Volunteers played an important part in the defense of Hong Kong, it fell on 25 December 1941. Japanese forces captured U.S. bases on Guam and Wake Island about the same time. British, Australian, and Dutch forces, already drained of personnel and material by two years of war with Germany, as well as heavily committed elsewhere, were unable to provide much more than token resistance to the battle-hardened Japanese.
As part of a Japanese air attack Japanese aircraft sank two major British warships, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, off Malaya on 10 December 1941.
Following the Declaration by United Nations (the first official use of the term United Nations) on 1 January 1942, the Allied governments appointed the British General Sir Archibald Wavell to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a supreme command for Allied forces in Southeast Asia. This gave Wavell nominal control of a huge force, albeit thinly spread over an area from Burma to the Philippines to northern Australia. On 15 January, Wavell moved to Bandung in Java to assume control of ABDACOM. Other areas, including India, Hawaii, and the rest of Australia remained under separate local commands.
In January 1942, Japanese forces invaded British Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and captured Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and Rabaul. After being driven out of Malaya, Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore, but they were forced to surrender to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, at which time about 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch personnel became prisoners of war. The pace of conquest was rapid, as Bali and Timor also fell in February. The rapid collapse of Allied resistance left the "ABDA area" split in two. Wavell resigned from ABDACOM on 25 February, handing control of the ABDA Area to local commanders and returning to the post of Commander-in-Chief, India.
Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft had all but eliminated Allied air power in Southeast Asia and were making air attacks on northern Australia, beginning with a psychologically devastating but militarily insignificant bombing of the city of Darwin on 19 February, which killed at least 243 people.
Philippines
At the Battle of the Java Sea in late February and early March, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) inflicted a resounding defeat on the main ABDA naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman. The Dutch East Indies campaign subsequently ended with the surrender of Allied forces on Java and Sumatra. Two months later Japanese forces completed their conquest of the Philippines, taking more than 80,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines prisoner. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines, had already withdrawn to Australia, where he assumed his new post as Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific. The US Navy, under Admiral Chester Nimitz, had responsibility for the rest of the Pacific Ocean. This divided command had unfortunate consequences for the commerce war, and consequently, the Allied war effort in the Pacific, by then under U.S. control. The U.S. assumed this responsibility in the Pacific War because of its geographic proximity to the Pacific, its overwhelming superiority in human and material resources, and its status as the leading Allied Power in this theater.
Australia
In late 1941, as the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor, most of Australia's best forces were committed to the fight against Axis forces in the Mediterranean Theatre. Australia was ill-prepared for an attack, lacking armaments, modern fighter aircraft, heavy bombers, and aircraft carriers. While still calling for reinforcements from Churchill, the Australian Prime Minister John Curtin called for U.S. support with a historic announcement on 27 December 1941.
Many Australians were captured by the Japanese, and at least 8,000 died as prisoners of war.
The Australian Government ... regards the Pacific struggle as primarily one in which the United States and Australia must have the fullest say in the direction of the democracies' fighting plan. Without inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom.
— Prime Minister John Curtin
Australia had been shocked by the speedy and crushing collapse of British Malaya and the fall of Singapore, in which around 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured and became prisoners of war. Curtin predicted the "battle for Australia" would soon follow. The Japanese established a major base in the Australian Territory of New Guinea, beginning with the capture of Rabaul on 23 January 1942. On 19 February 1942, Darwin suffered a devastating air raid, the first time the Australian mainland had been attacked. Over the following 19 months, Australia was attacked from the air almost 100 times.
Two battle-hardened Australian divisions were moved from the Middle East for Singapore. Churchill wanted them diverted to Burma, but Curtin insisted on a return to Australia. In early 1942 elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy proposed an invasion of Australia. The Imperial Japanese Army opposed the plan, and it was rejected in favor of a policy of isolating Australia from the United States via blockade by advancing through the South Pacific. The Japanese decided upon a seaborne invasion of Port Moresby, capital of the Australian Territory of Papua, which would put all of Northern Australia within range of Japanese bomber aircraft.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur to formulate a Pacific defense plan with Australia. Curtin agreed to place Australian forces under the command of MacArthur, who became Supreme Commander, South West Pacific. MacArthur moved his headquarters to Melbourne in March 1942, and American troops began massing in Australia. Enemy naval activity reached Sydney in late May 1942, when Japanese midget submarines launched a raid on Sydney Harbour. On 8 June 1942, two Japanese submarines briefly shelled Sydney's eastern suburbs and the city of Newcastle.
Japanese Advance until mid-1942
In early 1942, the governments of smaller powers began to push for an inter-governmental Asia-Pacific war council, based in Washington, DC. A council was established in London, with a subsidiary body in Washington. However, the smaller powers continued to push for an American-based body. The Pacific War Council was formed in Washington, on 1 April 1942, with representatives from the U.S., Britain, China, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Canada. Representatives from India and the Philippines were later added. The council never had any direct operational control, and any decisions it made were referred to the US-UK Combined Chiefs of Staff, which was also in Washington. Allied resistance, at first symbolic, gradually began to stiffen. Australian and Dutch forces led civilians in a prolonged guerilla campaign in Portuguese Timor.
Japanese Strategy and the Doolittle Raid
Having accomplished their objectives during the First Operation Phase with ease, the Japanese now turned to the second. Japan planned the Second Operational Phase to expand Japan's strategic depth by adding eastern New Guinea, New Britain, the Aleutians, Midway, the Fiji Islands, Samoa, and strategic points in the Australian area. However, limited resources and U.S. naval intervention in March 1942 stopped Japanese expansion across the south Pacific toward Australia. This intervention, along with the U.S. Doolittle bombing raid against Tokyo in April 1942, provoked Japanese leaders to try a series of riskier offensives against the U.S. naval presence in the central Pacific, specifically at Midway Island.
Attributions
Images Courtesy of Wikipedia Commonds
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Boundless World History
"The Pacific War"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-pacific-war/
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War in the Pacific: Midway to Okinawa
Overview
1942-43: Allies take the Initiative in the Pacific - Coral Sea to Guadalcanal
In early 1942, the governments of smaller powers began to push for an inter-governmental Asia-Pacific war council, based in Washington, DC. A council was established in London, with a subsidiary body in Washington. However, the smaller powers continued to push for an American-based body. The Pacific War Council was formed in Washington, on 1 April 1942, with representatives from the U.S., Britain, China, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Canada. Representatives from India and the Philippines were later added. The council never had any direct operational control, and any decisions it made were referred to the US-UK Combined Chiefs of Staff, which was also in Washington. Allied resistance, at first symbolic, gradually began to stiffen. Australian and Dutch forces led civilians in a prolonged guerilla campaign in Portuguese Timor.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the significance of Pearl Harbor and the early campaigns in the Pacific theater and connect the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima with the greater American “island hopping” strategy.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942 naval battle in which the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers and the initiative in the Pacific War. This battle demonstrated the dominance of air power in World War II
Guadalcanal Campaign: Aug 1942-February 1943 campaign between U.S. and Japanese forces for control of this south Pacific island. U.S. victory ended Japanese offensive operations in the Pacific, and put Japan on the defensive for the rest of the Pacific War.
Having accomplished their objectives during the First Operation Phase with ease, the Japanese now turned to the second. Japan planned the Second Operational Phase to expand Japan's strategic depth by adding eastern New Guinea, New Britain, the Aleutians, Midway, the Fiji Islands, Samoa, and strategic points in the Australian area. However, limited resources and U.S. naval intervention in March 1942 stopped Japanese expansion across the south Pacific toward Australia. This intervention, along with the U.S. Doolittle bombing raid against Tokyo in April 1942, provoked Japanese leaders to try a series of riskier offensives against the U.S. naval presence in the central Pacific, specifically at Midway Island.
Admiral Yamamoto now perceived that it was essential to complete the destruction of the United States Navy, which had begun at Pearl Harbor. He proposed to achieve this by attacking and occupying Midway Atoll—an objective he thought the Americans would be certain to fight for, as Midway was close enough to threaten Hawaii. A month before the June 1942 Battle of Midway U.S. and Japanese naval forces fought the Battle of the Coral Sea. Although the outcome of the Battle of the Coral Sea in the southwest Pacific was not conclusive, U.S. forces did succeed in stopping the Japanese campaign to capture Australia.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first naval battle fought in which the ships involved never sighted each other, with attacks solely by aircraft. During this battle, Japan attacked Port Moresby—the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. From the Allied point of view, if Port Moresby fell, the Japanese would control the seas to the north and west of Australia and could isolate the country. Although they managed to sink a carrier, the battle was a disaster for the Japanese. Not only was the attack on Port Moresby halted, which constituted the first strategic Japanese setback of the war, but all three Japanese carriers that were committed to the battle would now be unavailable for the operation against Midway.
After Coral Sea, the Japanese had four operational fleet carriers—Sōryū, Kaga, Akagi, and Hiryū, and they believed that the Americans had a maximum of two—Enterprise and Hornet. Saratoga was out of action, undergoing repair after a torpedo attack, while Yorktown had been damaged at Coral Sea and was believed by Japanese naval intelligence to have been sunk. She would, in fact, sortie for Midway after just three days of repairs to her flight deck, with civilian work crews still aboard, in time to be present for the next decisive engagement.
Midway
Admiral Yamamoto viewed the operation against Midway as the potentially decisive battle of the war, which could lead to the destruction of American strategic power in the Pacific; this, the Japanese felt, would open the door for a negotiated peace settlement with the United States, favorable to Japan. Through strategic and tactical surprise, the Japanese felt they could knock out Midway's air strength and soften it for a landing by 5,000 troops. After the quick capture of the island, the Combined Fleet would lay the basis for the most important part of the operation. Yamamoto hoped that the attack would lure the Americans into a trap. Midway was to be bait for the US Navy which would depart Pearl Harbor to counterattack after Midway had been captured. When the Americans arrived, he would concentrate his scattered forces to defeat them.
An important aspect of the Japanese scheme was Operation AL, which was the plan to seize two islands in the Aleutians while the attack on Midway was happening. Contradictory to persistent myth, the Aleutian operation was not a diversion to draw American forces from Midway, as the Japanese wanted the Americans to be drawn to Midway, rather than away from it. However, in May, US intelligence codebreakers discovered the planned attack on Midway. At the conclusion of this battle U.S. naval forces had sunk all four Japanese carriers involved in the battle, at a loss of one U.S. carrier. In the aftermath of this battle Japanese forces lost the strategic initiative in the Pacific War, never to regain it.
New Guinea and the Solomons
Japanese land forces continued to advance in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action in New Guinea, against a Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track, towards Port Moresby and over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges. The militia, worn out and severely depleted by casualties, were relieved in late August by regular troops from the Second Australian Imperial Force, who were returning from action in the Mediterranean theater. In early September 1942 Japanese marines attacked a strategic Royal Australian Air Force base at Milne Bay, near the eastern tip of New Guinea. They were beaten back by Allied forces (primarily Australian Army infantry battalions and Royal Australian Air Force squadrons, with United States Army engineers and an anti-aircraft battery in support). On New Guinea, the Japanese on the Kokoda Track were within sight of the lights of Port Moresby but were ordered to retreat to the northeastern coast. Australian and US forces attacked their fortified positions and after more than two months of fighting in the Buna–Gona area finally captured the key Japanese beachhead in early 1943. This was first on land defeat of Japanese forces in the war.
Guadalcanal
At the same time major battles raged in New Guinea, U.S. and Japanese forces fought for control of Guadalcanal, in the Guadalcanal Campaign. With Japanese and U.S. forces occupying various parts of the island, over the following six months both sides poured resources into an escalating battle of attrition on land, at sea, and in the sky. US air cover based at Henderson Field ensured American control of the waters around Guadalcanal during daytime, while superior night-fighting capabilities of the Imperial Japanese Navy gave the Japanese the upper hand at night. By late 1942, Japanese headquarters had decided to make Guadalcanal their priority. Contrarily, the US Navy hoped to use their numerical advantage at Guadalcanal to defeat large numbers of Japanese forces there and progressively drain Japanese manpower. Ultimately nearly 20,000 Japanese died on Guadalcanal compared to just over 7,000 Americans. In February 1943, after a six-month campaign of attrition, the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal.
Allied Offensives 1943-44
Midway proved to be the last great naval battle for two years. The United States used the ensuing period to turn its vast industrial potential into increased numbers of ships, planes, and trained aircrew. At the same time, Japan lacked an adequate industrial base or technological strategy, a good aircrew training program, and adequate naval resources and commerce defense; this, of course, caused them to fall further and further behind. In strategic terms the U.S. began a long movement across the Pacific, seizing select islands. Not every Japanese stronghold had to be captured; some, like Truk, Rabaul, and Formosa, were neutralized by air attack and bypassed. The goal was to get close to Japan itself, then launch massive strategic air attacks, improve the submarine blockade, and finally (only if necessary) execute an invasion.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the significance of Pearl Harbor and the early campaigns in the Pacific theater and connect the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima with the greater American “island hopping” strategy.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
island-hopping: U.S. strategy of seizing select Pacific islands in the war effort against the Japanese in the Pacifc Theater
In its drive westward across the Pacific the US Navy did not seek out the Japanese fleet for a decisive battle. Because of superiority in resources the U.S. could advance westward across the Pacific through attrition, specifically relying on submarines to sink Japanese transports. The Japanese could only stop the U.S. advance with victory in a large-scale naval attack and battle. Oil shortages, brought about by submarine attacks, made such a battle impossible.
Allied Offensives on New Guinea and up the Solomons
The Allies then seized the strategic initiative for the first time during the War in the South Western Pacific. And, in June 1943, they launched a series of amphibious invasions to recapture the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Ultimately, isolating the major Japanese forward base at Rabaul. These landings prepared the way for the final stage of Nimitz's island-hopping campaign towards Japan.
Allied Submarines in the Pacific War
US submarines, as well as some British and Dutch vessels, played a major role in defeating Japan in the Pacific Theater, even though submarines made up a small proportion of the Allied navies—less than two percent in the case of the US Navy; they operated from bases at Cavite in the Philippines (1941 – 42); Fremantle and Brisbane, Australia; Pearl Harbor; Trincomalee, Ceylon; Midway; and later Guam. Submarines strangled Japan by sinking its merchant fleet, intercepting many troop transports, and cutting off nearly all the oil imports essential to weapons production and military operations. By early 1945, Japanese oil supplies were so limited that its fleet was virtually stranded. Allied submarine operations were an important component of the island-hopping strategy employed against the Japanese in the Pacific War.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the significance of Pearl Harbor and the early campaigns in the Pacific theater and connect the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima with the greater American “island hopping” strategy.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Pacific Theater: a major theater of the war between the Allies and Japan defined by the Allies Powers' Pacific Ocean Area command
island-hopping: U.S. strategy of seizing select Pacific islands in the war effort against the Japanese in the Pacific Theater
The Japanese military claimed its defenses sank 468 Allied submarines during the war. In reality, only 42 American submarines were sunk in the Pacific due to hostile action, with 10 others lost in accidents or as the result of friendly fire. The Dutch lost five submarines due to Japanese attack or minefields, and the British lost three.
American submarines accounted for 56% of the Japanese merchantmen sunk; mines or aircraft destroyed most of the rest. American submariners also claimed 28% of Japanese warships destroyed. Furthermore, they played important reconnaissance roles, as at the battles of the Philippine Sea (June 1944) and Leyte Gulf (October 1944) (and, coincidentally, at Midway in June 1942), when they gave accurate and timely warning of the approach of the Japanese fleet. Submarines also rescued hundreds of downed fliers, including future US president George H. W. Bush.
Allied submarines did not adopt a defensive posture and wait for the enemy to attack. Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, in retribution against Japan, Roosevelt promulgated a new doctrine: unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan. This meant sinking any warship, commercial vessel, or passenger ship in Axis-controlled waters, without warning and without aiding survivors. At the outbreak of the war in the Pacific, Dutch admiral Conrad Helfrich, who was in charge of the naval defense of the East Indies, gave instructions to wage war aggressively. His small force of submarines sank more Japanese ships in the first weeks of the war than the entire British and US navies together, an exploit which earned him the nickname “Ship-a-day Helfrich.”
While Japan had a large number of submarines, they did not make a significant impact on the war. In 1942, the Japanese fleet submarines performed well, knocking out or damaging many Allied warships. However, Imperial Japanese Navy (and pre-war US) doctrine stipulated that only fleet battles, not guerre de course (commerce raiding), could win naval campaigns. So, while the US had an unusually long supply line between its west coast and frontline areas, leaving it vulnerable to submarine attack, Japan used its submarines primarily for long-range reconnaissance and only occasionally attacked US supply lines. The Japanese submarine offensive against Australia in 1942 and 1943 also achieved little.
As the war turned against Japan, IJN submarines increasingly served to resupply strongholds which had been cut off, such as Truk and Rabaul. In addition, Japan honored its neutrality treaty with the Soviet Union and ignored American freighters shipping millions of tons of military supplies from San Francisco to Vladivostok, much to the consternation of its German ally.
The US Navy, by contrast, relied on commerce raiding from the outset. However, the problem of Allied forces surrounded in the Philippines, during the early part of 1942, led to diversion of boats to "“guerrilla submarine" ” missions. Basing in Australia placed boats under Japanese aerial threat while en route to patrol areas, reducing their effectiveness, and Nimitz relied on submarines for close surveillance of enemy bases. Furthermore, the standard issue Mark 14 torpedo and its Mark VI exploder both proved defective, problems which were not corrected until September 1943. Worst of all, before the war, an uninformed US Customs officer had seized a copy of the Japanese merchant marine code (called the “maru code” in the USN), not knowing that the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had broken it. The Japanese promptly changed it, and the new code was not broken until 1943. Thus, only in 1944 did the US Navy begin to use its 150 submarines to maximum effect: installing effective shipboard radar, replacing commanders deemed lacking in aggression, and fixing the faults in the torpedoes.
Japanese commerce protection was “shiftless beyond description,” and convoys were poorly organized and defended compared to Allied ones. These issues were a product of flawed IJN doctrine and training, a fact concealed by American faults as much as Japanese overconfidence. The number of American submarines patrols (and sinkings) rose steeply: 350 patrols / 180 ships sunk in 1942, 350 / 335 in 1943, and 520 / 603 in 1944. By 1945, sinkings of Japanese vessels had decreased because so few targets dared to venture out on the high seas. In all, Allied submarines destroyed 1,200 merchant ships, which equates to about five million tons of shipping. Most were small cargo carriers, but 124 were tankers bringing desperately needed oil from the East Indies. Another 320 were passenger ships and troop transports. At critical stages of the Guadalcanal, Saipan, and Leyte campaigns, thousands of Japanese troops were killed or diverted from where they were needed. Over 200 warships were sunk, ranging from many auxiliaries and destroyers to one battleship and no fewer than eight carriers.
Underwater warfare was especially dangerous; of the 16,000 Americans who went out on patrol, 3,500 (22%) never returned; this was the highest casualty rate of any American force in World War II. The Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee assessed US submarine credits. The Japanese losses were higher: 130 submarines in all.
Final Allied Offensives in the Pacific, 1944-45
During the final stage of the U.S. approach toward Japan, U.S. forces in the south Pacific proceeded toward the Philippines, while U.S. forces in the central Pacific proceeded toward Japan itself. The Allies sought the unconditional surrender of Japan, while incurring the smallest number of casualties among their own forces possible. These efforts went along with the Allied efforts to drive the Japanese out of Asia. In the Pacific Theater the main U.S. operations were the Philippines and the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the significance of Pearl Harbor and the early campaigns in the Pacific theater and connect the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima with the greater American “island hopping” strategy.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns: U.S. campaigns for theses Japanese-held islands near the Japanese home islands in the first half of 1945 the length and heavy casualties of each hinting at the high cost of an invasion of the Japanese home islands, which led to the decision to detonate atomic bombs over Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
Potsdam Declaration: Allied statement of surrender terms to be imposed on Japan, drafted at the 17 July-2 August 1945 Potsdam Conference of Allied leaders
The main objective was to liberate the Philippines Luzon—the largest and most populous island in that archipelago. In all, ten US divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest campaign of the Pacific War, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France. Other Allied forces in the Luzon campaign included a Mexican fighter squadron, as part of the Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (FAEM—"Mexican Expeditionary Air Force”); this squadron was attached to the 58th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Force that flew tactical support missions. 80 percent of the 250,000 Japanese troops defending Luzon, died. And the remainder of the Philippine islands were liberated by Allied forces in April 1945. In one sense the war for Japan ended when the last remaining Japanese soldier in the Philippines—Hiroo Onoda—surrendered on 9 March 1974.
Iwo Jima
Although the Marianas were secure and American bases firmly established, the long 1,200 miles (1,900 km) range from the Marianas meant that B-29 aircrews on bombing missions over Japan found themselves ditching in the sea if they suffered severe damage and were unable to return home. Attention focused on the island of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, about halfway between the Marianas and Japan. American planners recognized the strategic importance of the island, which was only 5 miles (8.0 km) long, 8 square miles (21 km2) in area and had no native population. The island was used by the Japanese as an early-warning station against impending air raids on Japanese cities. Additionally, Japanese aircraft based on Iwo Jima were able to attack the B-29s on their bombing missions on route to their missions and on the returning leg home, and even to attack installations in the Marianas themselves. The capture of Iwo Jima would provide emergency landing airfields to repair and refuel crippled B-29s in trouble on their way home and a base for P-51 fighters escorts for the B-29s. Iwo Jima could also provide a base from which land-based air support could protect the US Naval fleets as they moved into Japanese waters along the arc descending from Tokyo through the Ryukyu Islands.
In response to the U.S. advance toward Iwo Jima the Japanese strengthened their defenses on Iwo Jima with additional bunkers, hidden guns, and underground passageways during the latter half of 1944. The Japanese were determined to make the Americans pay a high price for Iwo Jima and were prepared to defend it to the death. The Japanese commander on Iwo Jima, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, knew that he could not win the battle, but he hoped to slow the U.S. advance on Japan by inflicting heavy casualties on U.S. forces. By the end of 1944 a number of Japanese leaders didn’t expect to triumph over the Americans, but they sought to improve Japan’s bargaining position in peace negotiations by slowing the U.S. advance. In February, a total of 21,000 Japanese troops were deployed on Iwo Jima.
The American operation to capture the island (“Operation Detachment”) involved three Marine divisions of the V Amphibious Corps, which was a total of 70,647 troops under the command of Holland Smith. From mid-June 1944, Iwo Jima came under American air and naval bombardment, this continued until the days leading up to the invasion.
An intense naval and air bombardment preceded the landing but did little more than drive the Japanese further underground, making their positions impervious to enemy fire. The hidden guns and defenses survived the constant bombardment virtually unscathed. U.S. conquest of the island took from February 19 through March 26, 1945, at a cost of 6,821 Americans killed and 19,207 wounded. The Japanese losses totaled well over 20,000 men killed, with only 1,083 prisoners taken.
Okinawa
The largest and bloodiest battle fought by the Americans against the Japanese came at Okinawa. The seizure of islands in the Ryukyus was to have been the last step before the actual invasion of the Japanese home islands. Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, was located some 340 miles (550 km) from the island of Kyushu—the most southerly of the main Japanese islands The capture of Okinawa would provide airbases for B-29 bombers to intensify aerial bombardment of Japan and for direct land-based air support of the invasion of Kyushu. The islands could also open the way for tightening the blockade of Japanese shipping and be used as a staging area and supply base for any invasion of the home islands.
Over 75,000 Japanese troops defended Okinawa, augmented by thousands of civilians. 183,000 troops participated in the U.S. conquest of Okinawa. The British Pacific Fleet also operated as a separate unit from the American task forces in the Okinawa operation. Its objective was to strike airfields on the chain of islands between Formosa and Okinawa, to prevent the Japanese reinforcing the defenses of Okinawa from that direction.
The Allied operation to capture Okinawa began with a week-long bombardment in late March 1945. The land campaign took three months, beginning on April 1 and not being formally declared over until July 2. The battle for Okinawa proved costly and lasted much longer than the Americans had originally expected. The Japanese had skillfully utilized terrain to inflict maximum casualties. Total American casualties were 49,451, including 12,520 dead or missing and 36,631 wounded. Japanese casualties were approximately 110,000 killed, and 7,400 were taken prisoner. 94% of the Japanese soldiers died along with many civilians. Kamikaze attacks also sank 36 ships of all types, damaged 368 more and led to the deaths of 4,900 US sailors, for the loss of 7,800 Japanese aircraft.
The Borneo campaign of 1945 was the last major campaign in the South West Pacific Area. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and air forces, centered on the US 7th Fleet under Admiral Thomas Kinkaid. The Australian First Tactical Air Force and the US Thirteenth Air Force also played important roles in the campaign. Although the campaign was criticized in Australia at the time, and in subsequent years as pointless or a “waste of the lives,” it did achieve a number of objectives: increasing the isolation of significant Japanese forces occupying the main part of the Dutch East Indies, capturing major oil supplies, and freeing Allied prisoners of war, who were being held in deteriorating conditions. At one of the very worst sites, around Sandakan in Borneo, only six of some 2,500 British and Australian prisoners survived the tortuous conditions of their captivity.
Landings in the Japanese Home Islands (1945)
Hard-fought battles on the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and others resulted in horrific casualties on both sides,. Of the 117,000 Okinawan and Japanese troops defending Okinawa, 94 percent died. Faced with the loss of most of their experienced pilots, the Japanese increased their use of kamikaze tactics in an attempt to create unacceptably high casualties for the Allies. The US Navy proposed to force a Japanese surrender through a total naval blockade and air raids. Many military historians believe that the Okinawa campaign led directly to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a means of avoiding the planned ground invasion of the Japanese mainland. This view is explained by Victor Davis Hanson:
because the Japanese on Okinawa ... were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off, and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion. This means presented itself, with the advent of atomic bombs, which worked admirably in convincing the Japanese to sue for peace [unconditionally], without American casualties.
Towards the end of the war, a new command for the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific was created to oversee all US strategic bombing in the hemisphere, under United States Army Air Forces General Curtis LeMay. This happened because the role of strategic bombing came to be seen as more important. B-29 firebombing raids took out nearly half of the built-up areas of 67 cities, which caused Japanese industrial production to plunge. For example, on 9 – 10 March 1945 General Curtis LeMay oversaw Operation Meetinghouse, which saw 300 Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers drop 1,665 tons of bombs on the Japanese capital, mostly 500-pound E-46 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bombs. This attack is seen the most destructive bombing raid in history and killed between 80,000 – 100,000 people in a single night, as well as destroyed over 270,000 buildings and left over 1 million residents homeless. In the ten days that followed, almost 10,000 bombs were dropped destroying 31% of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe.
LeMay also oversaw Operation Starvation, in which the inland waterways of Japan were extensively mined by air, which disrupted the small amount of remaining Japanese coastal sea traffic. On 26 July 1945, the President of the United States Harry S. Truman, the Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek and the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face “prompt and utter destruction.”
Attributions
Images Courtesy of Wikipedia Commonds
Title Image - photo of the burning Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu in the Battle of Midway. Attribution: Naval History & Heritage Command, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway#/media/File:Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Hiryu_adrift_and_burning_on_5_June_1942_(NH_73065).jpg. License: Creative Commons CC0 License.
Boundless World History
"The Pacific War"
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Guadalcanal Campaign. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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"The End of the War"
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War in China, Burma, India
Overview
War in the China/Burma/India Theater, 1942-43
One of the major theaters in the Second World War was the China-Burma-India Theater, a designation given to the areas of fighting in Burma and India between Japanese and Allied forces. The fighting in this theater was related to the fighting between Japanese and Chinese forces in China and Japanese and Allied forces in the Pacific. Two of the key factors in the defeat of the Axis Powers as a whole and Japan in particular were the greater resources of and cooperation among the Allies, on display in the China Burma India Theater. The British dispatched a field army and the U.S. other forces to assist Burmese and Indian forces in their efforts against the Japanese, and to augment Chinese efforts against the Japanese in the CBI Theater. The Germans and the Italians, on the other hand, could not provide aid to the Japanese. The course of the war in this theater also illustrated a number of the complexities in the Second World War, particularly resentment felt by people in Burma and India toward the Allies, feelings that the Japanese tried to exploit, as illustrated by the creation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Allied victory in the China-Burma-India Theater finally represented the existential nature of World War II, with the ultimate disintegration of the Japanese war effort.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key features of Japanese politics and territorial expansion prior to the outbreak of World War II, including the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- Outline the course of World War II from 1941 through 1945 in the China-Burma-India Theater.
- Assess the historic significance and impact of World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
China-Burma-India Theater: name for the Asian theater in World War, with most of the fighting in these three countries
In March and April 1942, a powerful IJN carrier force launched a raid against British bases in the Indian Ocean. IJN carrier aircraft struck British Royal Navy bases in Ceylon and sank the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, along with other Allied ships. The attack forced the Royal Navy to withdraw to the western part of the Indian Ocean, and this paved the way for a Japanese assault on Burma and India.
In Burma, the British, under intense pressure, made a fighting retreat from Rangoon to the Indo-Burmese border. This cut the Burma Road, which was the western Allies' supply line to the Chinese Nationalists. In March 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force started to attack Japanese forces in northern Burma. On 16 April, 7,000 British soldiers were encircled by the Japanese 33rd Division during the Battle of Yenangyaung and rescued by the Chinese 38th Division, led by Sun Li-jen.
As the Chinese war effort progress against Japan through the alliance of Chinese Nationalists and Communists, cooperation between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists, waned, particularly from its zenith in the June-October 1938 Battle of Wuhan, and the relationship between the two had gone sour as both attempted to expand their areas of operation in occupied territories. The Japanese exploited this lack of unity to press ahead in their offensives.
On 2 November 1943, Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Imperial Japanese 11th Army, deployed the 39th, 58th, 13th, 3rd, 116th and 68th Divisions, a total of around 100,000 troops, to attack Changde. During the seven-week Battle of Changde, the Chinese forced Japan to fight a costly campaign of attrition. Although the Imperial Japanese Army initially successfully captured the city, the Chinese 57th Division was able to pin them down long enough for reinforcements to arrive and encircle the Japanese. The Chinese then cut Japanese supply lines, provoking a retreat and Chinese pursuit. During the battle, Japan used chemical weapons.
Although Japan, Germany, and Italy were nominally allies, there was little cooperation between the three, particularly between Japan and either Germany or Italy because of the distance of the Asian theaters from the European and North African theaters. In practice, there was little coordination between Japan and Germany until 1944, by which time the Allies had the Axis Powers on the defensive..
Cairo Conference
On 22 November 1943 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and ROC Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, met in Cairo, Egypt to discuss a strategy to defeat Japan. The meeting was known as the Cairo Conference and concluded with the Cairo Declaration. This conference was one of a succession of wartime conferences among the Allied leaders toward the end of adjusting their strategies and cooperation as their war efforts progress against the Axis Powers.
Burma 1942–1943
In the aftermath of the Japanese conquest of Burma, there was widespread disorder and pro-Independence agitation in eastern India, as well as a disastrous famine in Bengal that ultimately caused up to 3 million deaths. In spite of these uprisings and issues, as well as inadequate lines of communication, British and Indian forces attempted limited counter-attacks in Burma in early 1943. An offensive in Arakan failed, shamefully in the view of some senior officers, while a long-distance raid mounted by the Chindits under Brigadier Orde Wingate suffered heavy losses. This was publicized to bolster Allied morale, and it provoked the Japanese to mount major offensives themselves the following year.
In August 1943 the Allies formed a new South East Asia Command (SEAC) to take over strategic responsibilities for Burma and India from the British India Command, under Wavell. In October 1943 Winston Churchill appointed Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten as the Supreme Commander of the SEAC, and the British and Indian Fourteenth Army was formed to face the Japanese in Burma. Under Lieutenant General William Slim, its training, morale, and health greatly improved. The American General Joseph Stilwell, who also was deputy commander to Mountbatten and commanded US forces in the China Burma India Theater, directed aid to China and prepared to construct the Ledo Road to link India and China by land. In 1943, the Thai Phayap Army invasion headed to Xishuangbanna at China, but they were driven back by the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
War in the China/Burma/India Theater, 1944-45
The war in the China-Burma-India Theater continued into 1944 with both sides taking the offensive. Utlimately, Allied cooperation and logistical superiority would triumph over the Japanese war effort.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key features of Japanese politics and territorial expansion prior to the outbreak of World War II, including the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- Outline the course of World War II from 1941 through 1945 in the China-Burma-India Theater.
- Assess the historic significance and impact of World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
China-Burma-India Theater: name for the Asian theater in World War, with most of the fighting in these three countries
Japanese Counteroffensives in China, 1944
In mid-1944 Japan mobilized over 500,000 men and launched a massive operation across China, which was their largest offensive of World War II. The goal of Ichi-Go was connecting Japanese-controlled territory in China and French Indochina and capturing airbases in southeastern China where American bombers were based. During this time, about 250,000 newly American-trained Chinese troops under Joseph Stilwell and Chinese expeditionary force were forcibly locked in the Burmese theater by the terms of the Lend-Lease Agreement. Though Japan suffered about 100,000 casualties, these attacks—the biggest in several years—gained much ground for Japan before Chinese forces stopped the incursions in Guangxi. Despite major tactical victories, the operation overall failed to provide Japan with any significant strategic gains. A great majority of the Chinese forces were able to retreat out of the area and later come back to attack Japanese positions at the Battle of West Hunan. Japan was not any closer to defeating China after this operation, and the constant defeats the Japanese suffered in the Pacific meant that Japan never got the time and resources needed to achieve final victory over China.
This unsuccessful Japanese offensive also created a great sense of social confusion in the areas of China that it affected. Chinese Communist guerrillas were able to exploit this confusion to gain influence and control of greater areas of the countryside in the aftermath of Ichi-go.
Japanese Offensive in India, 1944
After the Allied setbacks in 1943, the South East Asia command prepared to launch offensives into Burma on several fronts. In the first months of 1944, while the Chinese and American troops of the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) were extending the Ledo Road from India into northern Burma, the XV Corps began an advance along the coast in Arakan Province. In February 1944 the Japanese mounted a local counterattack in Arakan. After early Japanese success, this counterattack was defeated when the Indian divisions of XV Corps stood firm, relying on aircraft to drop supplies to isolated forward units until reserve divisions could relieve them.
The Japanese responded to the Allied attacks by launching an offensive of their own into India in the middle of March, across the mountainous and densely forested frontier. This attack, codenamed Operation U-Go, was advocated by Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi—the recently promoted commander of the Japanese Fifteenth Army. Imperial General Headquarters permitted it to proceed, despite misgivings at several intervening headquarters. Although several units of the British Fourteenth Army had to fight their way out of encirclement, by early April they had concentrated around Imphal in the Manipur state of India. A Japanese division which had advanced to Kohima in Nagaland cut the main road to Imphal, but they failed to capture the whole of the defenses at Kohima. During April, the Japanese attacks against Imphal failed, while fresh Allied formations drove the Japanese from the positions they had captured at Kohima.
As many Japanese had feared, Japan's supply arrangements could not maintain its forces. Once Mutaguchi's hopes for an early victory were thwarted, his troops, particularly those at Kohima, starved. During May, while Mutaguchi continued to order attacks, the Allies advanced southwards from Kohima and northwards from Imphal. The two Allied attacks met on 22 June, breaking the Japanese siege of Imphal. The Japanese finally broke off the operation on 3 July. They had lost over 50,000 troops, mainly to starvation and disease. This represented the worst defeat suffered by the Imperial Japanese Army to that date.
Although the advance in Arakan had been halted to release troops and aircraft for the Battle of Imphal, the Americans and Chinese had continued to advance in northern Burma, aided by the Chindits operating against the Japanese lines of communication. In the middle of 1944 the Chinese Expeditionary Force invaded northern Burma from Yunnan. They captured a fortified position at Mount Song] By the time campaigning ceased during the monsoon rains, the Northern Combat Area Command had secured a vital airfield at Myitkyina (August 1944), which eased the problems of air resupply from India to China over "The Hump".
Allied Offensives in Burma, 1944–1945
In late 1944 and early 1945, the Allied South East Asia Command launched offensives into Burma, intending to recover most of the country, including the capital Rangoon, before the onset of the monsoon in May. The offensives were fought primarily by British Commonwealth, Chinese, and United States forces against the forces of Imperial Japan, who were assisted to some degree by Thailand, the Burma National Army and the Indian National Army. The British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from the United Kingdom, British India, and Africa.
The Indian XV Corps advanced along the coast in Arakan Province, at last capturing Akyab Island after failures to do so in the two previous years. They then landed troops behind the retreating Japanese, inflicting heavy casualties; this led to the capture of Ramree Island and Cheduba Island off the coast, where they established airfields that were used to support the offensive into Central Burma.
The Chinese Expeditionary Force captured Mong-Yu and Lashio, while the Chinese and American Northern Combat Area Command resumed its advance in northern Burma. In late January 1945, these two forces linked up with each other at Hsipaw. The Ledo Road was completed, linking India and China, but it was too late in the war to have any significant effect.
The Japanese Burma Area Army attempted to forestall the main Allied attack on the central part of the front by withdrawing their troops behind the Irrawaddy River. Lieutenant General Heitarō Kimura—the new Japanese commander in Burma—, hoped that the Allies' lines of communications would be overstretched trying to cross this obstacle. However, the advancing British Fourteenth Army under Lieutenant General William Slim switched its axis of advance to outflank the main Japanese armies.
During February, the Fourteenth Army secured bridgeheads across the Irrawaddy on a broad front. On 1 March, these units captured the supply center of Meiktila, throwing the Japanese into disarray. While the Japanese attempted to recapture Meiktila, XXXIII Corps captured Mandalay. The Japanese armies were heavily defeated, and, with the capture of Mandalay, the Burmese population and the Burma National Army (which the Japanese had raised) turned against the Japanese.
During April, the Fourteenth Army advanced 300 miles (480 km) south towards Rangoon—the capital and principal port of Burma, but it was delayed by Japanese rearguards 40 miles (64 km) north of Rangoon at the end of the month. In May the Fourteenth Army occupied Rangoon, already abandoned by Japanese forces, and linked up with Fourteenth Army five days later, securing the Allies' lines of communication.
The Japanese forces which had been bypassed by the Allied advances attempted to break out across the Sittaung River during June and July to rejoin the Burma Area Army, which had regrouped in Tenasserim in southern Burma. They suffered 14,000 casualties, half their strength. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma. Only 1,700 Japanese soldiers surrendered and were taken prisoner.
The Allies were preparing to make amphibious landings in Malaya when word of the Japanese surrender arrived. Concurrently, that spring the Chinese managed to repel a Japanese offensive in Henan and Hubei. Afterwards, Chinese forces retook Hunan and Hubei provinces in South China. In August 1945, Chinese forces successfully retook Guangxi.
Ironically, in light of Japan’s stated goal of claiming to free Asian peoples from European imperialism, the defeat of Japan in World War II in Asia paved the way for decolonization across Asia, with the appearance of a number of new nations, such as India and Pakistan. In a related development Japan’s defeat ended the truce between Chinese communists and nationalists, culminating in the emergence of the latest incarnation of Chinese civilization in 1949: the People’s Republic of China.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Title Image - photo M4A4 Sherman tank in east Burma, taken 1943 or 1944. Attribution: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Sherman.jpg. License: Creative Commons CC0 License.
Wikipedia
"China Burma India Theater"
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Burma_India_Theater
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Wikipedia.com. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Rossi, J.R. (1998). "The Flying Tigers – American Volunteer Group – Chinese Air Force". AVG.
- ^ Bliss K. Thorne, The Hump: The Great Military Airlift of World War II (1965)
- ^ Michael Schaller, The U.S. Crusade in China, 1938–1945 (1982)
- ^ Barbara W. Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911–45 (1971) ch 10
- ^ Jump up to:a b Donovan Webster, The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China–Burma–India Theater in World War II (2003)
- ^ Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911–45 (1971) ch. 12–14
- ^ Bernstein, Richard (2014). China 1945 : Mao's revolution and America's fateful choice (First ed.). New York. pp. 39–44. ISBN 9780307595881.
- ^ Central Intelligence Agency. Behind Japanese Lines in Burma: The Stuff of Intelligence Legend (2001). Retrieved 30 May 2012.
- ^ Peers, William R. and Dean Brelis. Behind the Burma Road: The Story of America’s Most Successful Guerrilla Force. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1963, back cover.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Chapter XIX: The Second Front and the Secondary War The CBI: January–May 1944. The Mounting of the B-29 Offensive in Maurice Matloff References Page 442
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Slim 1956, pp. 205–207.
- ^ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Roll of Honour, Britain at War, The Air Forces in Burma http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Cemeteries/Rangoon_Memorial/html/air_forces_in_burma.htm
- ^ Masters, John. The Road Past Mandalay, Bantam Press (1979), pp. 146–148 and 308–309
- ^ Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation: Overseas Commands – Iraq, India and the Far East Archived 6 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Jump up to:a b Mountbatten, Admiral Lord Louis, Address to the Press, August 1944 http://www.burmastar.org.uk/aug44mountbatten.htm Archived 29 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Adrian Fort, Archibald Wavell: The Life and Death of the Imperial Servant (2009)
- ^ Edward Young, Merrill's Marauders (2009)
- ^ assault on Myitkyina town Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wedemeyer, Albert C. (1958). Wedemeyer Reports! Autobiography.
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.754465
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"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
"author": null
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88064/overview
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War Crimes: The Pacific
Overview
Pacific War Crimes
The Holocaust is widely remembered around the world. However, there were other WWII war crimes, and the lesser remembered and discussed ones were committed by the Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater during World War II. These are of critical importance because they took place over a longer period of time (1933 – 1945), and they resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7 – 10 million people, mostly of Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Australian heritage.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the war crimes of the Pacific Theater of War.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Bataan Death March: 60-mile march orchestrated by Japanese troops in which Americans and Filipinos were forced to walk long expanses, without any needs being met, resulting in 20,000 deaths
Burma Railway: 250-mile stretch of railroad between Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand
The Nanking Massacre: 1937 – 1938 destruction of the city of Nanking, China, by the Imperial Japanese army
Unit 731: Japanese unit designed to perform human experimentation
The Nanking Massacre
The best-known Japanese atrocity was the Nanking Massacre in China. Reports suggest that 2.7 million casualties occurred because of the actions undertaken by the Japanese army.
Nanking was targeted by the Japanese following their victory in Shanghai in 1937—two years before World War II erupted in Europe. Up to that point, Nanking had been one of China’s most prosperous, industrial cities. But when Chinese nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-Shek received news of the advancing Japanese army, he ordered his army to retreat from Nanking for fear that it would be decimated, leaving China entirely defenseless. While, perhaps, the act saved the Chinese army, it left the city of Nanking open to attack.
The Japanese army poured into the city in December 1937. Citizens hid and fled where they could, rumor had reached them of the atrocities that the Japanese army had committed before arriving, including mass murder and a scorched earth policy.
The auxiliary forces which had remained behind were hunted down and slaughtered. Pregnant women were pierced with bayonets. Children and the elderly were executed without hesitation. Tens of thousands of women were raped, then summarily murdered. Nearly one-third of all buildings were destroyed, and property was seized. The massacre only concluded when the Japanese installed a government in Nanking in February 1938.
Forced Labor and Prisoners of War
Japan ratified the 1907 Hague Convention respecting the treatment of prisoners of war. However, it constantly violated the agreements made at the convention throughout World War II. The Japanese overall treatment of prisoners of war, including women and children, was infamous in World War II. Executions, starvation, neglect, beatings, and death marches were common practices.
Forced Labor
British and Australian prisoners of war experienced some of the most heinous forced labor of World War II during the construction of the Burma Railway. The railroad stretched over 250 miles along the border of Burma (present-day Myanmar) and Thailand. More than 60,000 Allied POWs were forced into massive labor gangs with little to no provisions and ordered to begin construction on the railroad. The route of the railroad cut through both mountains and nearly impassable jungle that was riddled with disease and venomous animals.
Camps for the POWs consisted of primitive shelters that were mostly open, leaving the prisoners exposed to the torrential rains and disease-carrying insects. Men were forced to work for nine days, and rest on the tenth day. Each primitive hut housed 200 men. Living conditions were so cramped that men could scarcely move. Their days consisted of fourteen-hour shifts where they would clear bamboo forests, dig and haul dirt, and contend with the rivers in preparation for the laying of the railroad. Beatings were common among those who did not work fast or efficiently. Food was scarce and poor in quality. Malaria, along with a host of other diseases, plagued the prisoners of war. When the railroad was completed in 1943, more than 16,000 Allied POWs had died.
Death Marches
Death marches were commonly practiced by the Imperial Japanese army during World War II. Prisoners of war and civilians alike could be forced on such marches, including women and children. The most infamous of these marches was the Bataan Death March. This event occurred following the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines in 1942. Tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops were captured by the Japanese army. Because there was no permanent camp at the point of their capture, their captors forced the POWs to march over sixty miles to a permanent camp.
The march proved indescribable. Japanese guards frequently beat the POWs, and randomly pulled men out of line to be shot or bayoneted. Little food or water was afforded the prisoners, and both physical and psychological torture was common practice. The tropical climate not only bred disease but also excessive heat. Sunburn, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and disease claimed thousands of lives. Medical care was also, in large, denied to the prisoners of war. By the time the Allied POWs reached their final internment camp, more than twenty thousand had died along the 60-mile march. After the war, the Allies classified the march as a Japanese war crime.
Human Experimentation
Just as the Nazis engaged in human experimentation, so too did the Japanese. Infamous among the units that carried out medical experiments was Unit 731. Emperor Hirohito authorized the creation of the unit that would conduct some of the most heinous wartime activities. Among other procedures, the unit regularly performed vivisection—removal of organs from a living human without anesthesia. Similarly, the unit performed experiments on Chinese and Korean subjects in which body parts were amputated without anesthesia, with the supposed goal of learning how the body reacted to such trauma. Other experiments included the injection of poisonous chemicals into human bodies and regular torture of prisoners of war.
Impact on Humankind
The atrocities carried out by Imperial Japan during World War II remain indescribable, and expansive in their scope. Crimes were carried out not only against the Allied armies but also, most especially, against civilians in China, Korea, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. Tens of thousands of young girls and women were enslaved to serve the needs of the Japanese army. Prisoners of war were regularly subjected to torture, forced labor, executions, and human experimentation. To date the crimes of Japan in World War II continue to taint its relationship with China, as well as other countries in East Asia.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Bailey, Ronald H. Prisoners of War: World War II-Time Life Books. Time Life Books,
Alexandria, VA: 1981. 14; 37-53; 194-5.
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War Crimes: The Holocaust
Overview
The Holocaust
The Holocaust also known as the Shoah (Hebrew for “the catastrophe”), was a genocide in which Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators killed approximately six million Jews, as well as six million other people, including communists, Poles, homosexuals, the handicapped, and the Roma and Sinti peoples. However, the Jews alone were targeted for complete extermination; therefore, the term “Holocaust” is most closely associated with the Jewish people. Mass murders took place throughout Nazi Germany, German-occupied territories, and territories held by allies of Nazi Germany. While the Nazi killing squads initiated many of these executions, populations across Europe aided Nazi Germany in their intentional murder of Jewish people. The Jewish victims included 1.5 million children and represented about two-thirds of the nine million Jews who resided in Europe.
Learning Objectives
Examine the causes, origins, and events of the Holocaust
Analyze the legacies of the Holocaust
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Aryan: in Nazi ideology, this refers to people with “Nordic” heritage, who usually possess blond hair and blue eyes
Auschwitz: largest extermination camp of the Holocaust
Babi Yar: the site outside of present-day Kyiv, Ukraine in which the largest mass-execution of Jews, over 33,000, occurred in September 1941
collaboration: the act of people, towns, or countries willingly and unwillingly working with the Nazis to carry-out the murder of Europe’s Jewish population
concentration camp: a place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities
Dachau: the first concentration camp created by Nazi Germany in 1933; originally intended for political prisoners
diaspora: the dispersion of the Jewish people beyond Israel
extermination camp: a camp created with the primary goal of exterminating the Jews
“Final Solution”: the Nazi decision to exterminate the Jews
forced labor: unpaid, often physically difficult labor undertaken for the Nazis by the Jews and other ethnic groups inside the concentration camps
ghetto: a designated section of a city usually consisting of a few neighborhood blocks where Jews were forced to live and work
Holocaust: the mass-murder of six million of Europe’s Jews and six million other ethnic and political groups between 1939 and 1945
Kristallnacht: the “Night of Broken Glass” on November 9, 1938 where thousands of Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues were destroyed by the German SA and Hitler Youth
liberation: the freeing of Jews from concentration and death camps by the Soviet Red Army and the British and American armies between the summer of 1944 and spring 1945.
liquidation: the physical destruction of a ghetto, and the round-up of its inhabitants where often a large portion of the Jewish inhabitants were murdered, the survivors sent to concentration or extermination camps
Madagascar Plan: plan to resettle Europe’s Jews in Madagascar that was shelved in favor of the Final Solution by Nazis in 1941 – 1942
Nuremberg Laws: a set of 1935 laws passed in Nazi Germany that determined who was Jewish and prohibited the marriage of Jews and non-Jews
Righteous among the Nations: over 27,000 individuals across the world who risked their lives to rescue (successfully or unsuccessfully) Jews from the Holocaust
Roma and Sinti: two ethnic groups of European descent who were formerly referred to as “gypsies,” which is now accepted as a derogatory term
Schutzstaffel (SS): special branch of the German forces tasked with organizing and carrying out the Holocaust
Torah Ark: chamber inside a synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls, based on the “the Ark of the Covenant”
Wannsee Conference: meeting in January 1942 between fifteen top-ranking Nazi officials where the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Question” was determined
yellow badge: a symbol used during the Middle Ages to identify Jews that was worn on clothing and typically in the shape of a Torah Ark
Zyklon-B: poison gas used widely in death camps to exterminate the Jews
Background: The Long History of Antisemitism in Europe
Antisemitism did not begin or end with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Instead, Jews have been discriminated against and persecuted for thousands of years. During the time of the Roman Empire, Jews were the targets of wars, sold into slavery, and in some cases, entire communities were destroyed; during this era the Diaspora occurred, which is the act of forcing people to move from their homeland. During the First Crusade in 1096, European Christian armies massacred entire communities of Jews on their way to fight the Muslims at Jerusalem, most famously in the Rhineland massacres. In 1350s, the Black Death swept over Europe; Christians blamed it on many factors, but among them was the idea that Jews had poisoned wells. In response, thousands of Jews were rounded-up across Western Europe and murdered. And in the 1540s, a new wave of antisemitism spread through Europe after the publication of Martin Luther’s work, The Jews and their Lies. Even in the midst of the Protestant Reformation, Christian Europeans found room to persecute the Jews.
Throughout their presence in Europe, Jews have also been discriminated against through humiliation and sequestering. In the Middle Ages, the Pope and various European monarchs forced Jews to be identified by wearing the yellow badge; this badge was often in the shape of two rounded stones, crudely reflecting the Torah Ark. Jews in Western Europe were frequently forced to live in ghettoes, where conditions could be atrocious. And many rules were made about how Jewish people could live their lives, including what forms of employment they may have and if they may own land or not.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, pogroms were carried out frequently in parts of central and Eastern Europe in territory that belonged to the Russian empire. Jewish communities were destroyed, Jews killed, businesses ruined, families uprooted, divided, and forced to move. Perhaps the most famous of these pogroms occurred from 1903 – 1906 under Tsar Nicholas II. The event served as the inspiration for the musical, Fiddler on the Roof.
The reasons for European antisemitism are complex. Historically, Christians blamed Jews for the death of Jesus—a notion often disseminated by the Catholic, and later Protestant, Church during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. More practically, Jews were targeted for their different customs and beliefs by Christian Europeans who were envious of their financial successes (real or imagined). In times of historical crises such as epidemics, crop failures, and famines, the Jews became scapegoats on which to place blame, most likely just because they were different.
Antisemitism and the Leadup to World War II
Antisemitism was evident in Nazi Germany because race was at the heart of Hitler’s ideology. From the outset, he established a precedent of labeling and identifying “us” versus “them” to explain the struggles Germany faced. From 1933 to 1945, Hitler introduced measures that targeted the Jews as “internal enemies” of the German people. Famously, he blamed the Jews for the German defeat in World War I by claiming that the Jews had secretly worked to undermine the war effort. In his speeches, they were stateless, homeless people who were quick to adapt and prosper, as well as an ally with communists and socials—people who Hitler saw as corruptive and subversive.
Even today the world still struggles with understanding why millions of Germans chose to believe Hitler’s racist propaganda. One accepted reason is the fact that Hitler helped the German people recover from a horrible, economic depression in the early 1930s. Like Franklin Roosevelt, Hitler created public works programs that gave Germans a job and salary; ensuring that starving people could eat again allowed him to be perceived as a savior-type figure. Another accepted reason is that antisemitism was not new in Germany, nor indeed, in Europe. Very importantly, much of Europe was antisemitic during the interwar era. Tensions existed between Jews and non-Jews across Europe, from France to Russia. Antisemitism in these countries looked very different, and was more sporadic, than in Nazi Germany; but, as one Holocaust survivor reported, “They [the Germans] had a lot of help.” And a third accepted reason for Germans supporting or not stopping Hitler’s antisemitic measures is that the initial measures introduced against Jews during this time were not uncommon and comparatively mild to what the war years would later bring. For instance, in 1933 the Nazis introduced boycotts of Jewish businesses and Jewish children were limited in German schools; both of these were not uncommon measures at the time for antisemitic societies. The Nuremberg Laws, passed in 1935, did not contain novel treatment of the Jewish population either. They defined who was a Jew and stated that those people meeting the definition could (or would) be ostracized from German society—socially and physically. The laws also restricted marriages between Jews and non-Jews in the name of “preserving pure German blood.”
Unquestionably the most violent act against the Jewish people prior to the outbreak of war was on November 9, 1938. Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) was a nationwide, organized pogrom perpetrated by the German SA (Brown-Shirts) and Hitler Youth. The event resulted in the destruction of thousands of Jewish businesses, hundreds of synagogues, and nearly a hundred murders. The acts of violence were carried out in plain sight of authorities and the German public. From that moment forward, it was clear to nearly everyone that the Jews would not be safe in Germany. Immigration was the safest course of action for anyone who could get out. But leaving Germany proved exceptionally difficult. With immigration quotas set very low by many Western nations, many Jews discovered they simply had nowhere to go.
The First Phase of the Holocaust: 1939-1941
The Holocaust, as the destruction of the Jewish communities in Europe is often called, could not have occurred on the scale that it did without the larger World War occupying nations around the globe. Indeed, it was not even (most) Nazis’ intention to completely exterminate the Jews of Europe when World War II broke out. Ideas of deportation from German lands, and resettlement in Africa were cited as “solutions” during the first few years of the war. Famously, the Germans endorsed the Madagascar Plan—a plan originally constructed by several European nations in the early 1900s for the resettlement of Jews on the island of Madagascar, located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Mozambique. However, the plan was officially shelved by the Nazis in 1941.
With the outbreak of war, though, life for the Jewish people in Germany and occupied Poland became increasingly difficult. Many Jews went into hiding. Thousands more were rounded-up and sent by train to concentration camps. The Nazis had first built labor camps such as Dachau in the early 1930s for political prisoners. With the war underway, and the goal to rid Germany of “impure blood,” the camps were quickly filled with Jews. Camp conditions were generally deplorable and entirely dehumanizing.
Prisoners were given minimal food, forced to work, and had to contend with rampant disease, malnutrition, and exposure to environmental elements. Although extermination was not the initial goal of the concentration camps, it was not uncommon for prisoners to be shot for any number of reasons, as the prisoners were seen as labor needed to help produce goods for Germany’s war effort.
Over 1,000 concentration camps were established between 1933 – 1945 across Germany and German-occupied territory. They were overseen by the Schutzstaffel (SS). A camp was typically established were it could be the most useful. That meant either on the outskirts of a large city that was home to large populations of Jews and other political enemies; or it was built close to quarries, forests, and other sites where natural resources could be harvested that were essential to creating products to help Germany’s war effort. During the first two years of the war, hundreds of thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps. Men were separated from women and performed different types of work. Many Holocaust survivors explain that their familiarity with a specific skill or service often helped them survive life in the camps because the Germans viewed them as more valuable to their goals.
While thousands of Jews were sent to the concentration camps to engage in forced labor, thousands more were stripped of their homes and possessions and forced to live in a ghetto. A ghetto refers to a designated set of neighborhoods within a city. In the case of the ghettoes of World War II, they were designated as “Jewish” portions of cities in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. The largest ghetto was the Warsaw Ghetto where nearly half-a-million Jews lived in less than two square miles.
Conditions within the ghettoes were scarcely imaginable. Frequently, four or six families shared a single room. Electricity was often non-existent, food scarce, work mandatory for all people, including the elderly and children. Disease flourished because basic sanitation was impossible to maintain due to lack of resources. Little did families know, though, that many times, their lives would become significantly worse outside of the ghetto. Most of the ghettoes would be liquidated before the war’s end. Those Jews who survived the liquidation of the ghetto often perished at one of the six extermination camps.
The Holocaust and the Eastern Front: 1941
In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. That event had enormous repercussions for the Jews of Eastern Europe. While persecution was well underway in Western Poland and Germany during the first two years of the war, the violence against Jews soared exponentially with the invasion of the Soviet Union. At the core of Hitler’s ideology was that the German Volk needed “living space.” In short, he wanted to conqueror lands in Eastern Europe for the glory of Germany, as well as fill those lands with "Aryan" children. Standing in his way were the Jews and Slavs of Eastern Europe. Tragically, the world’s highest concentration of Jews lived in Central and Eastern Europe.
As the German army advanced through Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Romania, special units of the SS followed. These units were tasked with the purpose of rounding-up and “cleansing” the occupied lands of Jews and other “enemies of the Reich.” These units would round-up a village’s Jews, take them to the outskirts of town (often to a ravine or forest) and execute them. Almost always, the victims were thrown callously into mass-graves. The number of victims ranged anywhere from a mass-killing of 20 people to over 33,000 at a time, such as the case of the massacre at Babi Yar in present-day Ukraine.
The Second Phase of the Holocaust: 1942-1945
Reports circulated to the Nazis that the executioners found their work so psychologically stressful that they often had to be intoxicated to carry out their work. In 1941, Heinrich Himmler, the chief of the SS, witnessed a mass execution of Jews. Afterward, he threw up. After regaining his composure, he argued that a more efficient way of killing the Jews must be found. In late 1941 the search for more efficiency in killing the Jews began in earnest. By 1942, a solution was reached.
The Final Solution: 1942-1945
In January 1942, fifteen top-ranking Nazis met in Wannsee, outside of Berlin. Their meeting was to discuss the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem.” Chaired by Reinhard Heydrich, the Wannsee Conference investigated how the German Reich would handle the estimated eleven million Jews living across Europe.
There is no written record of Hitler, or anyone else directly ordering the extermination of the Jews. Instead, surviving documents filled with euphemisms point to the decision to exterminate the Jews. There is no record to indicate that any of the men who met that day had opposed the decision to eradicate the Jews through purposeful genocide.
Across Poland, six extermination camps were built by the Nazis. Unlike concentration camps, these camps were built with the intention of killing most, or all, of the inmates. The extermination camps used a variety of means to kill their inmates, including the use of poison gases such as carbon monoxide and Zyklon B. Additionally, prisoners were often shot, beaten to death, or perished from the elements. The largest camp, located west of Krakow, was Auschwitz. At this camp, nearly two million prisoners perished, including over one million Jews who were murdered, Poles, Roma, Sinti, and Soviet POWs. Most of the Jews and other groups who died during the Holocaust died inside one of the six extermination camps between 1942 and early 1945.
Collaborators and Rescuers
It is undeniable that the Nazis spearheaded the Holocaust. Their antisemitic beliefs and practices culminated in the murder of six-million Jews, as well as the collapse of Jewish communities that had existed in Europe for over a thousand years. And yet, equally undeniable is that the Germans had a lot of help in carrying out the “Final Solution.”
Collaborators across Europe helped the Nazis. Some were willing executioners; others were ordinary men and women who felt pressured to persecute their neighbors. As the Germans advanced into the Soviet Union, they often received willing aid in the persecution of the Jews from Latvians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians. Even the government of Vichy France collaborated with the Nazis by rounding up nearly 13,000 French Jews at the Velodrome in Paris, roughly half of them were children; they were deported in waves to Auschwitz, where nearly all of them perished. Throughout the succeeding months, roundups continued in France. And the Germans even found collaborators in Holland, who would also help round-up the Jews. Those who did not actively participate in violence toward the Jews frequently collaborated with the Nazis by informing. Even the people who stayed silent and did nothing to aid the Jewish people during this time are considered collaborators by many.
While claims have been made that the Nazis forced occupied countries to collaborate in the murder of the Jews, historians remained divided. Some cases of collaboration resulted from Nazi pressure, but other cases of collaboration resulted from long-standing antisemitic views fueled by racism, bigotry, frustration, envy, anger, and resentment.
It is important to remember that people across Europe also risked their lives to save Jews. These rescuers are referred to as the Righteous among the Nation; Yad Vashem—the World Holocaust Remembrance Center—recognizes more than 27,000 people as righteous. Most of the Righteous among the Nations were simple, ordinary people who risked their lives to save another when the moment mattered most. Some of the rescuers are famous for the large number of Jews they rescued, such as Oskar Schindler and Irene Sendler.
Liberation
The Allies participated in liberating Jews from camps toward the end of WWII. The Soviet Red Army was the first to liberate both concentration and extermination camps in the summer of 1944. In January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army during the Vistula–Oder Offensive. From the west, American and British forces liberated camps inside Germany. In all cases, the people who the liberators discovered were nearer to death than life, and many of those who had survived were initially perceived as corpses by their liberators, as they were indescribably thin, malnourished, and sick. Many prisoners were so ill that they did not survive long past their liberation. For others, the journey to physical and mental recovery lasted a lifetime.
The Holocaust resulted in the deaths of six million Jews, and six million other people across Europe ranging from Poles, Roma and Sinti Peoples, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, communists, socialists, anarchists, the mentally handicapped, and other social and political enemies of the Nazis and their allies. After the war, top Nazis were pursued and sometimes successfully apprehended for their participation in war crimes. Many of these leaders were placed on trial for their crimes, the most famous set of trials being the Nuremberg Trials. The scope of the Holocaust facilitated the development of the Declaration of Human Rights in 1947. Since 1945, Holocaust awareness and education has continued around the world. Millions of people have learned about and continue to learn about the event in order to uphold the promise made to the victims, “Never again!
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Overview
Atomic Bombs
On 6 August 1945, the US detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in the first nuclear attack in history. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were partly in reaction to the U.S. casualties suffered in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns. In a press release issued after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, President Harry S. Truman warned Japan to surrender or “expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth.” Three days later, on 9 August, the US dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which has been the last nuclear attack to date. Between 140,000 and 240,000 people died as a direct result of these two bombings.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the decision to drop the atomic bombs and discuss the aftermath of World War II.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns: U.S. campaigns for theses Japanese-held islands near the Japanese home islands in the first half of 1945 the length and heavy casualties of each hinting at the high cost of an invasion of the Japanese home islands, which led to the decision to detonate atomic bombs over Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
The necessity of atomic bombings has long been debated, with detractors claiming that a naval blockade and incendiary bombing campaign had already made invasion and, therefore, the atomic bomb was unnecessary. However, other scholars have argued that the atomic bombings shocked the Japanese government into surrender, with the Emperor finally indicating his wish to stop the war. Another argument in favor of the atomic bombs is that they helped avoid a costly invasion, or a prolonged blockade and conventional bombing campaign, either of which would have exacted much higher casualties among Japanese civilians.
Soviet Entry into the War against Japan
In February 1945 during the Yalta Conference the Soviet Union had agreed to enter the war against Japan 90 days after the surrender of Germany. At the time Soviet participation was seen as crucial to tie down the large number of Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea, keeping them from being transferred to the Home Islands to mount a defense to an invasion. On 9 August, exactly on schedule, 90 days after the war ended in Europe and with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union entered the war by invading Manchuria. A battle-hardened, one million-strong Soviet force, transferred from Europe, attacked Japanese forces in Manchuria and landed a heavy blow against the Japanese Kantōgun (Kwantung Army). This was the last campaign of the Second World War and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War, which resumed hostilities between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the relations between Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as they developed during the Tehran Conference, the Yalta Conference, and the Potsdam Conference.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Yalta Conferencre: February 1945 conference of Allied leaders to discuss the reorganization of Germany and Europe
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and northern Korea. The USSR's entry into the war was a significant factor in the Japanese decision to surrender as it became apparent the Soviet Union were no longer willing to act as an intermediary for a negotiated settlement on favorable terms.
In latter half of 1945, the Soviets also launched a series of successful invasions of the northern Japanese territories of southern Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, in preparation for the possible invasion of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, the northern most Japanese island. These Soviet invasions were as much about consolidating the Soviet strategic position in northeast Asia as it was about defeating the Japanese. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Russian Federation retained control of these islands.
Japan's Surrender
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the Soviet war declaration forced Japan to surrender. On August 10, 1945 the Japanese Cabinet accepted the Potsdam terms on one condition: the “prerogative of His Majesty as a Sovereign Ruler.” At noon on August 15, after the U.S. government's intentionally ambiguous reply, stating that the “authority” of the emperor “shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers,” Emperor Hirohito broadcast to the nation and to the world at large the rescript of surrender, ending the Second World War: “Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.” On 2 September 1945 General Douglas MacArthur as Allied Supreme Commander, representatives of the other Allied nations with a presence in the Pacific, and the Japanese delegation signed the surrender documents. Following this period, MacArthur went to Tokyo to oversee the post-war development of the country. This period in Japanese history is known as the occupation.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the decision to drop the atomic bombs and discuss the aftermath of World War II.
Key Term / Key Concepts
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
Japan's surrender marked the end of the Second World War. The weapons and tactics used to force Japan's surrender illustrated a number of ways in which warfare had changed during World War II. High altitude strategic bombing of Japanese cities such as Tokyo by the new U.S. B-29 bombers reflected the strategic bombing that would be one of the defining threats of the Cold War. The Soviet conquest of Manchuria, among other Japanese colonial possessions innortheastern Asia, in the latter half of 1945, at the end of World War II, foreshadowed the competition for territory and influence in northeastern Asia between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in the Cold War. The detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki embodied the existential nature of the Second World War; sections of both cities were obliterated, as was the militaristic regime that had ruled Japan throughout the war.
The literal impact of the atomic detonations over Hitoshima and Nagasaki carried within them the limits that would be placed on any usage of these weapons in future wars, first and foremost among them, the Cold War with what would become the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) in the form of arsenals of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems constructed and mobilized by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Atomic weapons also reflected the limits on progress for humanity. World War II had been symmetrical a conflict, with most of the participants using the same kinds of weapons, tactics, strategies, and organizational infrastructure. A number of wars after the Second World War have been asymmetrical conflicts, much more difficult to resolve in the simple ways World War II was. There was the sense after World War II that progress could continue, particularly undership the leadership of the Western Allied powers. As events since the Second World War have demonstrated, progress is not inevitable.
Attributions
Images Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Title Image: photo of Hiroshima after atomic bombing, signed by Tibbets. Attribution: U.S. Navy Public Affairs Resources Website, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshima_aftermath.jpg. License: Creative Commons CC0 License.
Boundless World History
"The End of the War"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-end-of-the-war/
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- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Nagasaki_1945_-_Before_and_after_(adjusted).jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#/media/File:Nagasaki_1945_-_Before_and_after_(adjusted).jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Atomic_bombing_of_Japan.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#/media/File:Atomic_bombing_of_Japan.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.854309
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88070/overview
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Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations
Overview
The Declaration of Human Rights and the Founding of the UN
World War II ended in September 1945 with the surrender of Japan. At the end of the war, 75 million people were dead, mostly civilians. As the world tried to grasp the scope of the Holocaust, as well as the massacres of Chinese in the Far East, the global community came together and declared that such atrocities much never occur again. They decided that the responsible parties must be held accountable and international organizations created to protect humanity. These assertions led to the creation of three very significant developments: the creation of the United Nations, the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and widespread international war crimes trials in Europe and the Pacific. All of these measures were undertaken to promote international justice for the victims of World War II, to protect future humanity, and to establish the precedent that individual people, regardless of their status, must be held responsible for their actions in wartime.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze and assess the measures undertaken after World War II to protect humanity and plan for global peace.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Human rights: basic rights to safety, food, and certain freedoms issued to individual human beings at birth by virtue of being born human
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, the first global expression of what many believe are the rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled
United Nations: organization tasked with the purpose of designing international law, monitoring international crises, human rights, and international peace
Rise of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, stop wars between countries, and provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.
Creation of the UN
The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization was begun under the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term “United Nations” as a term to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on January 1, 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort.
On April 25, 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris. Importantly, the UDHR recognized that all human beings, regardless of age, ethnicity, class, religion, or any other category are individual human beings and entitled to certain individual rights. Although this concept seems elementary, it was first put into effect in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. Prior to its creation, there existed no document, no law, that universally recognized, or gave rights to human beings in terms of individuals. Moreover, the UDHR was the first document to speak of these individual rights in terms of human rights—rights given to an individual at birth by virtue of the fact they were born human.
The UDHR was framed by members of the Human Rights Commission, with Eleanor Roosevelt as Chair, who began to discuss an International Bill of Rights in 1947. The members of the Commission did not immediately agree on the form of such a bill of rights and whether or how it should be enforced.
The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic, and social rights, asserting these rights are part of the “foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” It recognizes, “the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”
The Declaration consists of 30 articles that, although not legally binding, have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, economic transfers, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966, the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill became international law.
Even though it is not legally binding, the Declaration has been adopted in or has influenced most national constitutions since 1948. It has also served as the foundation for a growing number of national laws, international laws, and treaties, as well as regional, subnational, and national institutions protecting and promoting human rights.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Boundless U.S. History
“An International System”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/an-international-system/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Boundless World History
“Impact of World War II”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/impact-of-war-world-ii/
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.879301
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"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88071/overview
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War Crimes Trials: Nuremberg and the Pacific
Overview
Postwar War Crimes Trials
In the postwar period, people realized the essentiality of holding people accountable for their wartime actions if future humanity were to be protected. Although the Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo War Crimes Trials were far from perfect, they demonstrated to the world that individual actions matter and international justice would be meted out to those who crimes against humanity.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the significance of the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Trials
Key Terms / Key Concepts
The Nuremberg Trials: most famous set of international war crimes trials of top Nazi officials
Tokyo War Crime Trials: most famous set of war crimes trials of top Japanese officials
The Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces of World War II, most notably for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. In 1945 and 1946, the trials were held at the Palace of Justice in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The choice of locations was not coincidental. Nuremberg had been the home of the Nazi party. Holding the trials in Nuremberg held symbolic importance for the Allies who had defeated the Nazis.
The first and best-known of these trials was that of the major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT). Held between November 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946, the IMT tried 23 of the most important political and military leaders of the Third Reich. One of the defendants, Martin Bormann, was tried in absentia, while another, Robert Ley, committed suicide within a week of the trial’s commencement. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels were not included in the trials because all three committed suicide several months before the indictment was signed. The second set of trials of lesser war criminals was conducted under Control Council Law No. 10 at the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT); among the second set of trials were the Doctors Trial and the Judges Trial.
Creation of the Courts
In 1945, all three major wartime powers—the United Kingdom, United States, and the Soviet Union—agreed on the format of punishment for those responsible for war crimes during World War II. France was also awarded a place on the tribunal.
Some 200 German war crimes defendants were tried at Nuremberg, and 1,600 others were tried under the traditional channels of military justice. The legal basis for the jurisdiction of the court was defined by the Instrument of Surrender of Germany. Political authority for Germany had been transferred to the Allied Control Council which, having sovereign power over Germany, could choose to punish violations of international law and the laws of war. Because the court was limited to violations of the laws of war, it did not have jurisdiction over crimes that took place before the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939.
The Nuremberg Trials Begin
The IMT opened on November 19, 1945, in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. The first session was presided over by the Soviet judge Nikitchenko. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and seven organizations: the leadership of the Nazi party, the Reich Cabinet, the Schutzstaffel (SS), Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Gestapo, the Sturmabteilung (SA), and the “General Staff and High Command,” comprising several categories of senior military officers. These organizations were to be declared “criminal” if found guilty.
The indictments were for participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace; war crimes; and crimes against humanity.
The accusers successfully unveiled the background of developments leading to the outbreak of World War II, which cost at least 40 million lives in Europe alone, as well as the extent of the atrocities committed in the name of the Hitler regime. Twelve of the accused were sentenced to death, seven received prison sentences (ranging from 10 years to life in prison), three were acquitted, and two were not charged.
Throughout the trials, specifically between January and July 1946, the defendants and a number of witnesses were interviewed by American psychiatrist Leon Goldensohn. His notes detailing the demeanor and comments of the defendants were edited into book form and published in 2004.
The Tokyo War Crimes Trial
Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, the global community began to investigate allegations of Japanese war crimes. These investigations culminated in a series of war crimes trials, most famous of which was the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. The international community accused Japan of crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and war crimes. Accusations and evidence circulated to show that beginning with the Japanese conquest of Manchuria, the Japanese forces regularly abused prisoners of war, employed forced labor, destroyed towns and cities, slaughtered civilians, raped, looted, and tortured civilians. Tens of thousands of testimonies, documents, and eyewitness accounts were investigated. Among the most heinous charges were the Japanese involvement in human experimentation, such as with the infamous unit 731, the Bataan Death March, and the destruction of the Chinese city of Nanking. Using the IMT in Nuremberg as a model, courts began to assemble in Tokyo in the spring of 1946. In April 1946, the trials of many top-ranking Japanese officials began.
The primary target of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial was the former Japanese prime minister Tojo Hideki. He was accused of, and later convicted of being instrumental in many of Japan’s most heinous behaviors during World War II.
In the fall of 1948, the Tokyo War Crimes Trials ended. Twenty-three defendants were convicted, seven of whom were sentenced to death by hanging. Each of the defendants was found guilty of committing war crimes, and particularly, crimes against humanity. Out of respect to the Japanese culture, Douglas MacArthur, who proceeded over the trials, did not allow photos to be taken of the execution of the Japanese war criminals. Several additional, smaller war crimes trials occurred throughout Japan in the succeeding years.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Boundless U.S. History
“An International System”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/an-international-system/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Boundless World History
“Impact of World War II”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/impact-of-war-world-ii/
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.903165
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88074/overview
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Division of the World: Capitalism vs Communism
Overview
Introduction
Following World War II, the world became divided between Communist and Capitalist lines. This ideological division started before the end of World War II and would consume the world. Both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to grow their political and ideological reach throughout the world. The division between the Capitalist, Communist, and the Non-Aligned states would create conflicts with other aspects of global life, such as decolonization in the period. Allied during World War II, the U.S. and USSR became competitors on the world stage and engaged in the Cold War, so-called because it never boiled over into open war between the two powers but was focused on espionage, political subversion, and proxy wars. The Cold War had a large impact on global politics in the period 1945-1992.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the differences between Soviet Communism and United States Capitalism.
- Analyze the impact of the end of World War II on the post-war societies.
- Evaluate the role of United States foreign policy in shaping the post World War II world.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
denazification: an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology (Nazism) (It was carried out by removing from positions of power and influence those who had been Nazi Party members and disbanding or rendering impotent the organizations associated with Nazism.)
reparations: payments intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war
The Polar Post War World
The German Nazi’s were such a threat to the United States and the Soviet Union that both countries came together to fight. In many ways, the fighting of World War II pulled these two countries together, but unfortunately this was not to last. At the Potsdam Conference, FDR and Churchill came together with Stalin to craft a lasting peace. But unforutnately this did not last because these three leaders disliked Hitler. The old statement, the enemy of my enemy is my friend is very important here. With Hitler removed, the United States and the Soviet Union quickly lost their friendly relationship.
After the war these two sides were polar opposites in ideology and society. The Russian Revolution and the United States reaction to the revolution in the 1920s meant that the Soviet Union was very antagonistic to the United States. The United States support of the White Russians, meant that the Soviet Union had very negative feelings towards the United States.
The United States and the Soviet Union were the lone world powers following World War II. Both countries attempted to spread their economic, political, cultural, and social values throughout the world directly after WWII. This would create tensions as both powers saw themselves in direct competition with one another. As the Cold War started taking shape, both powers felt that they alone should be leading the world.
The competition appeared to be leading to outright war. But because of the technological development of the atomic bomb, direct fighting between these two powers was not something that could happen. The fear of atomic warfare meant the entire world was in the balance if there was any conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. This fear and tension between communism and capitalism meant that conflicts were never directly open between these two powers; instead, the Cold War was mostly fought around the world in states that were decolonizing. This is why this time period is known as a Cold War: there was never active fighting between these two states and instead there was fighting in regions that was never directly between the United States and the Soviet Union.
To understand how the Cold War got started, it is important to understand the end of World War II, specifically the Yalta Treaty. This treaty set in motion much of the antagonism of the post-war period. It is important to also note that the leaders at Yalta had seen the horrors of World War I and how this directly caused World War II. They did not want to have a World War III. These leaders understood that the Treaty of Versailles was at the heart of the problem that caused World War II, and they did not want to make the same mistake again. The three leaders wanted to be active in stopping another crisis but had to establish a way to develop and rebuild Europe. The Yalta Conference is significant to the development of understanding the Cold War conflict.
The Details
The main agreements made during the meeting are as follows:
- All agreed to the priority of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, Germany and Berlin would be split into four occupied zones.
- Stalin agreed that France would have a fourth occupation zone in Germany that would be formed out of the American and British zones.
- Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
- German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labor to repair damage that Germany had inflicted on its victims.
- Creation of a reparation council located in the Soviet Union.
- The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon Line, and Poland would receive territorial compensation in the west from Germany.
- Stalin pledged to permit free elections in Poland.
- Citizens of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their respective countries, regardless of their consent.
- Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the UN.
- Stalin requested that all of the 16 Soviet Socialist Republics would be granted UN membership. This was taken into consideration, but 14 republics were denied.
- Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan.
- Nazi war criminals were to be found and put on trial.
- A “Committee on Dismemberment of Germany” was to be set up to decide whether Germany would be divided into six nations.
The end result was that Europe was divided between the United States and the Soviet Union with the purposes of rebuilding, which created a new post-war world reality. The significant problem that arose was due to the fact that the United States and England were to rebuild the Western section of Europe, while the Soviet Union was to rebuild the Eastern parts of Europe. Many historians question this tactic that Roosevelt bargained for, because it gave away so much territory to the Soviet Union. Some historians believe this was mean to be a starting point for the negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union, and that Roosevelt felt he could arrange for a better agreement later. However, Roosevelt was very sick, and he died the next year. Stalin did not want to renegotiate the Yalta Conference, and later conferences the United States and Soviet Union remained in this deadlocked position between the two.
Rival Powers
The United States and the Soviet Union’s distrust of one another was a key proponent for the Cold War. Both political powers thought that the other one was attempting to sabotage or destroy the world. The problem was that as tensions started rising between the two powers, they each took on the position of a rival instead of seeking compromise. And their rivalry would be illustrated through weapons and technology, as well as the European response from each.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze how the United States and the Soviet Union were different politically.
- Evaluate how the United States and Soviet Union used proxies to engage one another.
- Evaluate the role of Europe in the Cold War.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Checkpoint Charlie: the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War
containment: a military strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy; the goal of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism
Declaration of Liberated Europe: a declaration as created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin during the Yalta Conference that allowed the people of Europe “to create democratic institutions of their own choice”
German Democratic Republic: a state in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period; from 1949 to 1990, the government of the region of Germany occupied by Soviet forces
German economic miracle: also known as The Miracle on the Rhine, the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II
Inner German border: the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990 (This does not include the similar but physically separate Berlin Wall—the border was 866 miles long and ran from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia.)
“iron curtain”: a term indicating the imaginary boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991
massive retaliation: a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack
North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO): an intergovernmental military alliance signed on April 4, 1949 and including the five Treaty of Brussels states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom) plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
propaganda: information, especially of a biased nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view; the psychological mechanisms of influencing and altering the attitude of a population toward a specific cause, position or political agenda in an effort to form a consensus to a standard set of beliefs
samizdat: a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader (This grassroots practice to evade official Soviet censorship was fraught with danger, as harsh punishments were meted out to people caught possessing or copying censored materials.)
The European response of each country serves as a microcosm of the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Through an examination of the relationship that both states had in Europe, the specific tensions and move toward escalation becomes clear.
Europe after World War II
The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of an era defined by the decline of the old great powers and the rise of two superpowers: the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States of America (U.S.), creating a bipolar world. At the end of the war in Europe, millions of people were homeless, economies had collapsed, and much of the continent’s industrial infrastructure had been destroyed. Western Europe and Japan were rebuilt through the American Marshall Plan; whereas, Eastern Europe fell in the Soviet sphere of influence and rejected the plan. Europe became divided into a U.S.-led Western Bloc and a Soviet-led Eastern Bloc.
Occupation and Territory Reallocation
The Allies established occupation administrations in Austria and Germany. The former became a neutral state, non-aligned with any political bloc. The latter was divided into western and eastern occupation zones controlled by the Western Allies and the USSR accordingly. A denazification program in Germany led to the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and the removal of ex-Nazis from power, although this policy eventually moved towards amnesty and reintegration of ex-Nazis into West German society.
Germany lost a quarter of its prewar (1937) territory. Among the eastern territories, Silesia, Neumark, and most of Pomerania were taken over by Poland; East Prussia was divided between Poland and the USSR and 9 million Germans expelled from these provinces; and 3 million Germans from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia to Germany. By the 1950s, every fifth West German was a refugee from the east. The Soviet Union also took over the Polish provinces east of the Curzon line, from which 2 million Poles were expelled; northeast Romania, parts of eastern Finland, and the three Baltic states were also incorporated into the USSR.
Economic Aftermath
The strength of the economic recovery following the war varied throughout the world, though in general it was quite robust. In Europe, West Germany declined economically during the first years of the Allied occupation but later experienced a remarkable recovery; by the end of the 1950s Germany doubled production from its prewar levels. Italy came out of the war in poor economic condition, but by the 1950s, the Italian economy was marked by stability and high growth. France rebounded quickly and enjoyed rapid economic growth and modernization under the Monnet Plan. The UK, by contrast, was in a state of economic ruin after the war and continued to experience relative economic decline for decades to follow.
The U.S. emerged much richer than any other nation and dominated the world economy; it had a baby boom and by 1950 its gross domestic product per person was much higher than that of any of the other powers.
The UK and US pursued a policy of industrial disarmament in Western Germany in the years 1945 – 1948.
International trade interdependencies thus led to European economic stagnation and delayed the continent’s recovery for several years.
U.S. policy in post-war Germany from April 1945 until July 1947 was to give the Germans no help in rebuilding their nation, save for the minimum required to mitigate starvation. The Allies’ immediate post-war “industrial disarmament” plan for Germany was to destroy Germany’s capability to wage war by complete or partial deindustrialization. The first industrial plan for Germany, signed in 1946, required the destruction of 1,500 manufacturing plants to lower heavy industry output to roughly 50% of its 1938 level. Dismantling of West German industry ended in 1951. By 1950, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6.7 million tons.
After lobbying by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Generals Lucius D. Clay and George Marshall, the Truman administration accepted that economic recovery in Europe could not go forward without the reconstruction of the German industrial base on which it had previously been dependent. In July 1947, President Truman rescinded on “national security grounds” the directive that ordered the U.S. occupation forces to “take no steps looking toward the economic rehabilitation of Germany.” A new directive recognized that “[a]n orderly, prosperous Europe requires the economic contributions of a stable and productive Germany.”
Recovery began with the mid-1948 currency reform in Western Germany and was sped up by the liberalization of European economic policy that the Marshall Plan (1948 – 1951) both directly and indirectly caused. The post-1948 West German recovery has been called the German economic miracle.
The Long Telegram
In February 1946, George F. Kennan’s “Long Telegram” from Moscow helped articulate the U.S. government’s increasingly hard line against the Soviets and became the basis for the U.S. “containment” strategy toward the Soviet Union for the duration of the Cold War.
Overview
The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945. The USSR consolidated its control over the states of the Eastern Bloc, while the United States began a strategy of global containment to challenge Soviet power, extending military and financial aid to the countries of Western Europe. An important moment in the development of America’s initial Cold War strategy was the delivery of the “Long Telegram” sent from Moscow by American diplomat George Kennan in 1946.
Kennan’s “Long Telegram” and the subsequent 1947 article “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” argued that the Soviet regime was inherently expansionist and that its influence had to be “contained” in areas of vital strategic importance to the United States. These texts provided justification for the Truman administration’s new anti-Soviet policy. Kennan played a major role in the development of definitive Cold War programs and institutions, notably the Marshall Plan.
The "Long Telegram"
In Moscow, Kennan felt his opinions were being ignored by Harry S. Truman and policymakers in Washington. Kennan tried repeatedly to persuade policymakers to abandon plans for cooperation with the Soviet government in favor of a sphere of influence policy in Europe to reduce the Soviets’ power there. Kennan believed that a federation needed to be established in western Europe to counter Soviet influence in the region and compete against the Soviet stronghold in eastern Europe.
Kennan served as deputy head of the mission in Moscow until April 1946. Near the end of that term, the Treasury Department requested that the State Department explain recent Soviet behavior, such as its disinclination to endorse the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Kennan responded on February 22, 1946, by sending a 5,500-word telegram (sometimes cited as more than 8,000 words) from Moscow to Secretary of State James Byrnes outlining a new strategy for diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
Kennan described dealing with Soviet Communism as “undoubtedly the greatest task our diplomacy has ever faced and probably the greatest it will ever have to face.” In the first two sections, he posited concepts that became the foundation of American Cold War policy:
- The USSR perceived itself at perpetual war with capitalism.
- The USSR viewed left-wing, but non-communist, groups in other countries as an even worse enemy than the capitalist ones.
- The USSR would use controllable Marxists in the capitalist world as allies.
- Soviet aggression was fundamentally not aligned with the views of the Russian people or with economic reality, but rooted in historic Russian nationalism and neurosis.
- The Soviet government’s structure inhibited objective or accurate pictures of internal and external reality.
According to Kennan, the Soviet Union did not see the possibility for long-term peaceful coexistence with the capitalist world; its ever-present aim was to advance the socialist cause. Capitalism was a menace to the ideals of socialism, and capitalists could not be trusted or allowed to influence the Soviet people. Outright conflict was never ca desirable avenue for the propagation of the Soviet cause, but their eyes and ears were always open for the opportunity to take advantage of “diseased tissue” anywhere in the world.
In Section Five, Kennan exposited Soviet weaknesses and proposed U.S. strategy, stating that despite the great challenge, “my conviction that problem is within our power to solve—and that without recourse to any general military conflict.” He argued that the Soviet Union would be sensitive to force, that the Soviets were weak compared to the united Western world, that the Soviets were vulnerable to internal instability, and that Soviet propaganda was primarily negative and destructive.
The solution was to strengthen Western institutions in order to render them invulnerable to the Soviet challenge while awaiting the mellowing of the Soviet regime.
The X Article
Unlike the “Long Telegram,” Kennan’s well-timed article in the July 1947 issue of Foreign Affairs attributed the pseudonym “X,” entitled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” did not begin by emphasizing “traditional and instinctive Russian sense of insecurity”; instead, it asserted that Stalin’s policy was shaped by a combination of Marxist and Leninist ideology, which advocated revolution to defeat the capitalist forces in the outside world and Stalin’s determination to use the notion of “capitalist encirclement” to legitimize his regimentation of Soviet society so that he could consolidate his political power. Kennan argued that Stalin would not (and moreover could not) moderate the supposed Soviet determination to overthrow Western governments. Thus,
the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies… Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counterforce at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and manoeuvers of Soviet policy, but which cannot be charmed or talked out of existence.
The publication of the “X Article” soon began one of the more intense debates of the Cold War. Walter Lippmann, a leading American commentator on international affairs, strongly criticized the “X Article.” He argued that Kennan’s strategy of containment was “a strategic monstrosity” that could “be implemented only by recruiting, subsidizing and supporting a heterogeneous array of satellites, clients, dependents, and puppets.” Lippmann argued that diplomacy should be the basis of relations with the Soviets; he suggested that the U.S. withdraw its forces from Europe and reunify and demilitarize Germany. Meanwhile, it was revealed informally that “X” was indeed Kennan. This information seemed to give the “X Article” the status of an official document expressing the Truman administration’s new policy toward the USSR. In the years that followed, this implication was proved correct by the actions taken by the U.S. government toward foreign affairs, including entering the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
The Iron Curtain
On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech declaring that an “iron curtain” had descended across Europe, pointing to efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West.
Overview
The Iron Curtain formed the imaginary boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolized efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet-controlled areas. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union. On either side of the Iron Curtain, states developed their own international economic and military alliances:
- Member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact, with the Soviet Union as the leading state
- Member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with the United States as the preeminent power
Physically, the Iron Curtain took the form of border defenses between the countries of Europe in the middle of the continent. The most notable border was marked by the Berlin Wall and its “Checkpoint Charlie,” which served as a symbol of the Curtain as a whole.
Background
The antagonism between the Soviet Union and the West that came to be described as the “iron curtain” had various origins.
The Allied Powers and the Central Powers backed the White movement against the Bolsheviks during the 1918–1920 Russian Civil War, a fact not forgotten by the Soviets.
A series of events during and after World War II exacerbated tensions, including the Soviet-German pact during the first two years of the war leading to subsequent invasions, the perceived delay of an amphibious invasion of German-occupied Europe, the western Allies’ support of the Atlantic Charter, disagreement in wartime conferences over the fate of Eastern Europe, the Soviets’ creation of an Eastern Bloc of Soviet satellite states, western Allies scrapping the Morgenthau Plan to support the rebuilding of German industry, and the Marshall Plan.
In the course of World War II, Stalin determined to acquire a buffer area against Germany, with pro-Soviet states on its border in an Eastern bloc. Stalin’s aims led to strained relations at the Yalta Conference (February 1945) and the subsequent Potsdam Conference (August 1945). People in the West expressed opposition to Soviet domination over the buffer states, leading to growing fear that the Soviets were building an empire that might threaten them and their interests.
Nonetheless, at the Potsdam Conference, the Allies assigned parts of Poland, Finland, Romania, Germany, and the Balkans to Soviet control or influence. In return, Stalin promised the Western Allies he would allow those territories the right to national self-determination. Despite Soviet cooperation during the war, these concessions left many in the West uneasy. In particular, Churchill feared that the United States might return to its prewar isolationism, leaving the exhausted European states unable to resist Soviet demands.
Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” address of March 5, 1946, at Westminster College, used the term “iron curtain” in the context of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe:
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an “Iron Curtain” has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.
Churchill mentioned in his speech that regions under the Soviet Union’s control were expanding their leverage and power without any restriction. He asserted that to put a brake on this phenomenon, the commanding force of and strong unity between the UK and the U.S. was necessary.
Much of the Western public still regarded the Soviet Union as a close ally in the context of the recent defeat of Nazi Germany and of Japan. Although not well received at the time, the phrase iron curtain gained popularity as a shorthand reference to the division of Europe as the Cold War strengthened. The Iron Curtain served to keep people in and information out, and people throughout the West eventually came to accept the metaphor.
Stalin took note of Churchill’s speech and responded in Pravda (the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) soon afterward. He accused Churchill of warmongering and defended Soviet “friendship” with eastern European states as a necessary safeguard against another invasion. He further accused Churchill of hoping to install right-wing governments in eastern Europe to agitate those states against the Soviet Union. Andrei Zhdanov, Stalin’s chief propagandist, used the term against the West in an August 1946 speech:
Hard as bourgeois politicians and writers may strive to conceal the truth of the achievements of the Soviet order and Soviet culture, hard as they may strive to erect an iron curtain to keep the truth about the Soviet Union from penetrating abroad, hard as they may strive to belittle the genuine growth and scope of Soviet culture, all their efforts are foredoomed to failure.
The Building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Germany from 1961 to 1989, which was aimed at preventing East Germans from fleeing to stop economically disastrous migration of workers. It divided Germany from 1961 to 1989 and was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on August 13, 1961. The Wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the “death strip”) that contained anti-vehicle trenches, “fakir beds,” and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the “will of the people” in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall prevented the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall” by GDR authorities, implying that the NATO countries and West Germany in particular were considered “fascists” by GDR propaganda. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the “Wall of Shame”—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt while condemning the Wall’s restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize a physical marker of the “Iron Curtain” that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.
Before the Wall’s erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin. From there, they could travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.
Effects of the Berlin Wall
With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Berlin soon went from the easiest place to make an unauthorized crossing between East and West Germany to the most difficult. Many families were split, and East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs.
West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the Wall, led by their Mayor Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, “The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is… to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to communist failure.”
United States and UK sources expected the Soviet sector to be sealed off from West Berlin, but were surprised how long they took to do so. They considered the Wall an end to concerns about a GDR/Soviet retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the Wall would presumably have been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus, they concluded that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin had decreased.
The East German government claimed that the Wall was an “anti-fascist protective rampart” intended to dissuade aggression from the West. Another official justification was the activities of Western agents in Eastern Europe. The Eastern German government also claimed that West Berliners were buying state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time the border was closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West but not for residents of West Berlin travelling East. The construction of the Wall caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin.
Defection Attempts
During the years of the Wall, around 5,000 people successfully defected to West Berlin. The number of people who died trying to cross the Wall or as a result of the Wall’s existence has been disputed. However, Alexandra Hildebrandt— Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and widow of the Museum’s founder—estimated the death toll to be well above 200.
The East German government issued shooting orders to border guards dealing with defectors, though these are not the same as “shoot to kill” orders. GDR officials denied issuing the latter. In an October 1973 order later discovered by researchers, guards were instructed that people attempting to cross the Wall were criminals and needed to be shot: “Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used.”
Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line. On August 15, 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first East German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin. On 22 August 1961, Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse. The first person to be shot and killed while trying to cross to West Berlin was Günter Litfin, a 24-year-old tailor. He attempted to swim across the Spree Canal to West Germany on August 24, 1961, the same day that East German police received shoot-to-kill orders to prevent anyone from escaping. Most of these brash attempts at defection ended as the Wall was fortified. East German authorities no longer permitted apartments near the Wall to be occupied, and any building near the Wall had its windows boarded and later bricked up.
Even after the wall was fortified East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods: digging long tunnels under the Wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights and, in one instance, simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic initial fortifications. When a metal beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection, up to four people (two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot) drove under the bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen to come away when it made contact with the beam. They lay flat and kept driving forward. The East Germans then built zig-zagging roads at checkpoints.
Demolition of the Berlin Wall officially began on June 13, 1990 and was completed in 1992.
Primary Source: John Foster Dulles: Dynamic Peace, 1957
Address by United States Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, before the Associated Press in New York
April 22, 1957
A first requirement is that the door be firmly closed to change by violent aggression.
Of all the tasks of government the most basic is to protect its citizens against violence. Such protection can only be effective if provided by a collective effort. So in every civilized community the members contribute toward the maintenance of a police force as an arm of law and order.
Only the society of nations has failed to apply this rudimentary principle of civilized life.
An effort was made through the United Nations to create an armed force for use by the Security Council to maintain international order. But the Soviet Union vetoed that.
However, the member nations still bad the possibility of cooperating against aggression. For the charter, with foresight, bad proclaimed that all nations had the inherent right of collective self-defense.
The free nations have largely exercised that right. The United States has made collective defense treaties with 42 other nations. And the area of common defense may now be enlarged pursuant to the recent Middle East resolution. .. .
The Soviet rulers understandably prefer that the free nations should be weak and divided, as when the men in the Kremlin stole, one by one, the independence of a dozen nations. So, at each enlargement of the area of collective defense, the Soviet rulers pour out abuse against so-called "militaristic groupings." And as the free nations move to strengthen their common defense, the Soviet rulers emit threats. But we can, I think, be confident that such Soviet assaults will not disintegrate the free world. Collective measures are here to stay. . . .
It is also agreed that the principal deterrent to aggressive war is mobile retaliatory power. This retaliatory power must be vast in terms of its potential. But the extent to which it would be used would, of course, depend on circumstances. The essential is that a would-be aggressor should realize that he cannot make armed aggression a paying proposition...
But we do not believe that the only way to security is through ever-mounting armaments. We consider that controls and reduction of arms are possible, desirable, and, in the last reckoning, indispensable. It is not essential that controls should encompass everything at once. In fact, progress is likely to come by steps carefully measured and carefully taken. Thus far it has not been possible to assure the inspection and other safeguards that would make it prudent for us to reduce our effective power. But we shall continue to seek that goal.
Armaments are nothing that we crave. Their possession is forced on us by the aggressive and devious designs of international communism. Ail arms race is costly, sterile, and dangerous. We shall not cease our striving to bring it to a dependable end.
Any police system is essentially negative. It is designed to repress violence and give a sense of security. But the sense of security is illusory unless, behind its shield, there is growth and development. Military collaboration to sustain peace will collapse unless we also collaborate to spread the blessings of liberty.
Trade, from the earliest days, has been one of the great upbuilders of economic well-being. Therefore, this Government advocates trade policies which promote the interchange of goods to mutual advantage.
Also, the United States, as the most productive and prosperous nation, assists other nations which are at an early stage of self-development. It is sobering to recall that about two-thirds of all the people who resist Communist rule exist in a condition of stagnant poverty. Communism boasts that it could change all that and points to industrial developments wrought in Russia at a cruel, but largely concealed, cost in terms of human slavery and human misery. The question is whether free but undeveloped countries can end stagnation for their people without paying such a dreadful price. Friendly nations expect that those who have abundantly found the blessings of liberty should help those who still await those blessings. . . .
just as our policy concerns itself with economic development, so, too, our policy concerns itself with political change.
During the past decade, there have come into being, within the free world, 19 new nations with 700 million people. In addition, many nations whose sovereignty was incomplete have had that sovereignty fully completed. Within this brief span nearly one-third of the entire human race has had this exciting, and sometimes intoxicating, experience of gaining full independence. . . .
Today, nations born to independence are born into a world one part of which is ruled by despotism and the other part of which stays free by accepting the concept of interdependence. There is no safe middle ground.
International communism is on the prowl to capture those nations whose leaders feel that newly acquired sovereign rights have to be displayed by flouting other independent nations. That kind of sovereignty is suicidal sovereignty. . . .
Communism in practice has proved to be oppressive, reactionary, unimaginative. Its despotism, far from being revolutionary, is as old as history. Those subject to it, in vast majority, hate the system and yearn for a free society.
The question of how the United States should deal with this matter is not easily answered. Our history, however, offers us a guide. The United States came into being when much of the world was ruled by alien despots. That was a fact we hoped to change. We wanted our example to stimulate liberating forces throughout the world and create a climate in which despotism would shrink. In fact, we did just that.
I believe that that early conception can usefully guide us now. .
Let us also make apparent to the Soviet rulers our real purpose. We condemn and oppose their imperialism. We seek the liberation of the captive nations. We seek this, however, not in order to encircle Russia with hostile forces but because peace is in jeopardy and freedom a word of mockery until the divided nations are reunited and the captive nations are set free. . . .
Events of the past year indicate that the pressures of liberty are rising.
Within the Soviet Union there is increasing demand for greater personal security, for greater intellectual freedom, and for greater enjoyment of the fruits of labor.
International communism has become beset with doctrinal difficulties. And the cruel performance of Soviet communism in Hungary led many to desert Communist parties throughout the world.
The satellite countries no longer provide a submissive source of added Soviet strength. Indeed, Soviet strength, both military and economic, has now to be expanded to repress those who openly show their revulsion against Soviet rule.
And the Soviet Government pays a heavy price in terms of moral isolation.
Soviet rulers are supposed to be hardheaded. For how long, we may ask, will they expend their resources in combating historic forces for national unity and freedom which are bound ultimately to prevail? . . .
Surely the stakes justify that effort. As I am briefed on the capacity of modern weapons for destruction, I recognize the impossibility of grasping the full, and indeed awful, significance of the words and figures used. Yet we would be reckless not to recognize that this calamity is a possibility. Indeed history suggests that a conflict as basic as that dividing the world of freedom and the world of international communism ultimately erupts in war.
That suggestion we reject. But to reject in terms of words or of hopes is not enough. We must also exert ourselves to the full to prevent it. To this task, the American people must unswervingly dedicate their hearts and minds throughout the years ahead.
That is not too much to expect. Americans are a people of faith. They have always had a sense of mission and willingness to sacrifice to achieve great goals. Surely, our Nation did not reach a new peak of power and responsibility merely to partake of the greatest, and perhaps the last, of all human disasters.
Source:
from The Department of State Bulletin (May 6, 1957), pp. 715-719
Attributions
Source image provided by Wikimedia Commons:
Kitchen Debate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Debate#/media/File:Kitchen_debate.jpg
Chapters adapted from:
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/the-beginning-of-the-cold-war/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/life-in-the-ussr/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/containment/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/competition-between-east-and-west/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1957Dulles-peace1.asp
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2025-03-18T00:36:51.977591
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88074/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88075/overview
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Soviet Union During the Cold War
Overview
Soviet Union During the Cold War
While there is much discussion on the role of the United States in the Cold War, this period was very important for the Soviet Union. Following Stalin's death, the Soviet Union had a dramatic economic growth and politcial power shift in Europe.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the differences between Soviet Communism and United States Capitalism.
- Analyze the impact of the end of World War II on the post-war societies.
- Evaluate the role of United States foreign policy in shaping the post World War II world.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Berlin airlift: in response to the Berlin Blockade, the Western Allies organized this project to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin by air.
Greek Civil War: a war fought in Greece from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army backed by the United Kingdom and the United States—and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE, the military branch of the Greek Communist Party (KKE)—backed by Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria
Molotov Plan: the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union
Potsdam Agreement: the 1945 agreement between three of the Allies of World War II, United Kingdom, United States, and USSR, for the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany (It included Germany’s demilitarization, reparations, and the prosecution of war criminals.)
reparations: payments intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war
The Berlin Blockade
From July 17 to August 2, 1945, the victorious Allied Powers reached the Potsdam Agreement on the fate of postwar Europe, calling for the division of defeated Germany into four temporary occupation zones (thus reaffirming principles laid out earlier by the Yalta Conference). These zones were located roughly around the then-current locations of the Allied armies. Also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, while Soviet troops controlled the eastern sector.
In a June 1945 meeting, Stalin informed German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within their occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two, and that nothing would then stand in the way of a united Germany under communist control within the Soviet orbit. Stalin and other leaders told visiting Bulgarian and Yugoslavian delegations in early 1946 that Germany must be both Soviet and communist.
Creation of an economically stable western Germany required reform of the unstable Reichsmark German currency introduced after the 1920s German inflation. The Soviets had debased the Reichsmark by excessive printing, resulting in Germans using cigarettes as a de facto currency or for bartering. The Soviets opposed western plans for a reform. They interpreted this new currency as an unjustified, unilateral decision. On June 18, the United States, Britain, and France announced that on June 21 the Deutsche Mark would be introduced, but the Soviets refused to permit its use as legal tender in Berlin. The Allies had already transported 2.5 million Deutsche Marks into the city and it quickly became the standard currency in all four sectors. Against the wishes of the Soviets, the new currency, along with the Marshall Plan that backed it, appeared to have the potential to revitalize Germany.
The Berlin Blockade (June 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. In June 1948, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, which blocked the Western Allies’ This blockade prevented food, materials, and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. Stalin looked to force the Western nations to abandon Berlin. However, the Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche mark from West Berlin.
The day after the June 18, 1948 announcement of the new Deutsche Mark, Soviet guards halted all passenger trains and traffic on the autobahn to Berlin, delayed Western and German freight shipments, and required that all water transport secure special Soviet permission. On June 21, the day the Deutsche Mark was introduced, the Soviet military halted a United States military supply train to Berlin and sent it back to western Germany. On June 22, the Soviets announced that they would introduce a new currency in their zone. On June 24, the Soviets severed land and water connections between the non-Soviet zones and Berlin. That same day, they halted all rail and barge traffic in and out of Berlin. On June 25, the Soviets stopped supplying food to the civilian population in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin. Motor traffic from Berlin to the western zones was permitted, but this required a 14.3-mile detour to a ferry crossing because of alleged “repairs” to a bridge. They also cut off Berlin’s electricity using their control over the generating plants in the Soviet zone. At the time, West Berlin had 36 days’ worth of food, and 45 days’ worth of coal.
Militarily, the Americans and British were greatly outnumbered because of the postwar reduction in their armies. The United States, like other western countries, had disbanded most of its troops and was largely inferior in the European theater. The entire United States Army was reduced to 552,000 men by February 1948. Military forces in the western sectors of Berlin numbered only 8,973 Americans, 7,606 British, and 6,100 French. Soviet military forces in the Soviet sector that surrounded Berlin totaled 1.5 million. The two United States regiments in Berlin could have provided little resistance against a Soviet attack. Believing that Britain, France, and the United States had little option than to acquiesce, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany celebrated the beginning of the blockade.
In response to the blockade, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the city’s population. Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing the West Berliners up to 8,893 tons of necessities each day, such as fuel and food.
On November 30, 1945, it was agreed in writing that there would be three 20-mile-wide air corridors providing free access to Berlin. Additionally, unlike a force of tanks and trucks, the Soviets could not claim that cargo aircraft were some sort of military threat. In the face of unarmed aircraft refusing to turn around, the only way to enforce the blockade would have been to shoot them down. An airlift would force the Soviet Union to either shoot down unarmed humanitarian aircraft, thus breaking their own agreements, or back down. The Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict.
The American military government, based on a minimum daily ration of 1,990 calories, set a total of daily supplies at 646 tons of flour and wheat, 125 tons of cereal, 64 tons of fat, 109 tons of meat and fish, 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes, 180 tons of sugar, 11 tons of coffee, 19 tons of powdered milk, 5 tons of whole milk for children, 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking, 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables, 38 tons of salt, and 10 tons of cheese. In all, 1,534 tons were required each day to sustain the more than two million people of Berlin. Additionally, for heat and power, 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline were also required daily. During the first week, the airlift averaged only ninety tons a day, but by the second week it reached 1,000 tons. This likely would have sufficed had the effort lasted only a few weeks as originally believed. But by the end of August, after two months, the Airlift was succeeding; daily operations flew more than 1,500 flights a day and delivered more than 4,500 tons of cargo, enough to keep West Berlin supplied.
The Communist press in East Berlin ridiculed the project. It derisively referred to “the futile attempts of the Americans to save face and to maintain their untenable position in Berlin.” However, as the tempo of the Airlift grew, it became apparent that the Western powers might be able to pull off the impossible: indefinitely supplying an entire city by air alone. In response, starting on August 1, the Soviets offered free food to anyone who crossed into East Berlin and registered their ration cards there, but West Berliners overwhelmingly rejected Soviet offers of food.
End of the Blockade
On April 15, 1949 the Russian news agency TASS reported a willingness by the Soviets to lift the blockade. The next day the U.S. State Department stated the “way appears clear” for the blockade to end. Soon afterwards, the four powers began serious negotiations and a settlement was reached on Western terms. On May 4, 1949, the Allies announced an agreement to end the blockade in eight days’ time.
The Soviet blockade of Berlin was lifted at one minute after midnight on May 12, 1949. A British convoy immediately drove through to Berlin, and the first train from West Germany reached Berlin at 5:32 a.m. Later that day an enormous crowd celebrated the end of the blockade. General Clay, whose retirement had been announced by US President Truman on May 3, was saluted by 11,000 US soldiers and dozens of aircraft. Once home, Clay received a ticker-tape parade in New York City, was invited to address the US Congress, and was honored with a medal from President Truman.
Berlin Airlift Monument in Berlin-Tempelhof displays the names of the 39 British and 31 American airmen who lost their lives during the operation. Similar monuments can be found at the military airfield of Wietzenbruch near the former RAF Celle and at Rhein-Main Air Base.
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance—was a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon)—the regional economic organization for the communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955, but it is also considered to have been motivated by Soviet desires to maintain control over military forces in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Soviets wanted to keep their part of Europe and not let the Americans take it from them. Ideologically, the Soviet Union demanded the right to define socialism and communism and act as the leader of the global socialist movement. A corollary to this idea was the necessity of intervention if a country appeared to be violating core socialist ideas and Communist Party functions, which was explicitly stated in the Brezhnev Doctrine. Geostrategic principles also drove the Soviet Union to prevent invasion of its territory by Western European powers.
The eight member countries of the Warsaw Pact pledged the mutual defense of any member who was attacked. Relations among the treaty signatories were based upon mutual non-intervention in the internal affairs of the member countries, respect for national sovereignty, and political independence. However, almost all governments of those member states were indirectly controlled by the Soviet Union.
While the Warsaw Pact was established as a balance of power or counterweight to NATO, there was no direct confrontation between them. Instead, the conflict was fought on an ideological basis. Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and their integration into the respective blocs. Its largest military engagement was the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (with the participation of all Pact nations except Romania).
Soviet Nuclear Strategy
In 1960 and 1961, Khrushchev tried to impose the concept of nuclear deterrence on the military. Nuclear deterrence holds that the reason for having nuclear weapons is to discourage their use by a potential enemy. With each side deterred from war because of the threat of its escalation into a nuclear conflict, Khrushchev believed, “peaceful coexistence” with capitalism would become permanent and allow the inherent superiority of socialism to emerge in economic and cultural competition with the West.
Khrushchev hoped that exclusive reliance on the nuclear firepower of the newly created Strategic Rocket Forces would remove the need for increased defense expenditures. He also sought to use nuclear deterrence to justify his massive troop cuts—his downgrading of the Ground Forces, traditionally the “fighting arm” of the Soviet armed forces. Krushchev also wanted to justify his plans to replace bombers with missiles and the surface fleet with nuclear missile submarines. However, during the Cuban missile crisis the USSR had only four R-7 Semyorkas and a few R-16s intercontinental missiles deployed in vulnerable surface launchers. In 1962 the Soviet submarine fleet had only eight submarines with short-range missiles that could be launched only from submarines that surfaced and lost their hidden submerged status.
Khrushchev’s attempt to introduce a nuclear “doctrine of deterrence” into Soviet military thought failed. Discussion of nuclear war in the first authoritative Soviet monograph on strategy since the 1920s—Marshal Vasilii Sokolovskii’s “Military Strategy”—focused on the use of nuclear weapons for fighting rather than for deterring a war. Sokolovskii argued that should such a war break out both sides would pursue the most decisive aims with the most forceful means and methods. Intercontinental ballistic missiles and aircraft would deliver massed nuclear strikes on the enemy’s military and civilian objectives, and the war would assume an unprecedented geographical scope. Essentially, Soviet military writers argued that the use of nuclear weapons in the initial period of the war would decide the course and outcome of the war as a whole. Both in doctrine and in strategy, the nuclear weapon reigned supreme.
The Propaganda War
Soviet propaganda was disseminated through tightly controlled media outlets in the Eastern Bloc. Media in the Eastern Bloc was an organ of the state, completely reliant on and subservient to the communist party. Radio and television organizations were typically state-owned, while print media was usually owned by political organizations, mostly by local communist parties. Soviet propaganda used Marxist philosophy to attack capitalism, claiming labor exploitation and war-mongering imperialism were inherent in the system.
Along with the broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America to Central and Eastern Europe, a major propaganda effort begun in 1949 was Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, dedicated to bringing about the peaceful demise of the communist system in the Eastern Bloc. Radio Free Europe attempted to achieve these goals by serving as a surrogate home radio station, an alternative to the controlled and party-dominated domestic press. Radio Free Europe was a product of some of the most prominent architects of America’s early Cold War strategy, especially those who believed that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means, such as George F. Kennan.
Propaganda in the Eastern Bloc
Eastern Bloc media and propaganda was controlled directly by each country’s Communist party, which controlled the state media, censorship, and propaganda organs. State and party ownership of print, television, and radio media was used to control information and society in light of Eastern Bloc leaderships viewing even marginal groups of opposition intellectuals as a potential threat to the bases underlying Communist power therein.
The ruling authorities viewed media as a propaganda tool and widely practiced censorship to exercise almost full control over information dissemination. The press in Communist countries was an organ of and completely reliant on the state. Until the late 1980s, all Eastern Bloc radio and television organizations were state-owned and tightly controlled.
In each country, leading bodies of the ruling Communist Party exercised hierarchical control of the censorship system. Each Communist Party maintained a department of its Central Committee apparatus to supervise media. Censors employed auxiliary tools such as: the power to launch or close down any newspaper, radio or television station; licensing of journalists through unions; and the power of appointment. Party bureaucrats held all leading editorial positions.
Circumvention of censorship occurred to some degree through samizdat (underground publications produced and disseminated by hand) and limited reception of western radio and television broadcasts. In addition, some regimes heavily restricted the flow of information from their countries to outside of the Eastern Bloc by regulating the travel of foreigners and segregating approved travelers from the domestic population.
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned with the Soviet Union. It can be seen as the USSR’s version of the Marshall Plan,which for political reasons the Eastern European countries would not be able to join without leaving the Soviet sphere of influence. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov rejected the Marshall Plan (1947), proposing the Molotov Plan – the Soviet-sponsored economic grouping which was eventually expanded to become the COMECON. The Molotov plan was symbolic of the Soviet Union’s refusal to accept aid from the Marshall Plan or allow any of their satellite states to do so because of their belief that the Plan was an attempt to weaken Soviet interest in their satellite states through the conditions imposed and by making beneficiary countries economically dependent on the United States.
The plan was a system of bilateral trade agreements that established COMECON to create an economic alliance of socialist countries. This aid allowed countries in Europe to stop relying on American aid, and therefore allowed Molotov plan states to reorganize their trade to the USSR instead. The plan was in some ways contradictory, however, because at the same time the Soviets were giving aid to Eastern bloc countries, they were demanding that countries who were members of the Axis powers pay reparations to the USSR.
Attributions
Source image provided by Wikimedia Commons: Russische bezetters Joegoslavie, Bestanddeelnr 907-1635
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russische_bezetters_Joegoslavie,_Bestanddeelnr_907-1635.jpg
Chapters adapted from:
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/the-beginning-of-the-cold-war/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/life-in-the-ussr/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/containment/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/competition-between-east-and-west/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:52.008091
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88075/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
"author": null
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88076/overview
|
United States During the Cold War
Overview
Introduction
Following World War II, the United States saw an advanced economic and political growth. The United States foreign policy was to be against the Soviet Union. This meant that in many ways the United States had deep economic and political ties throughout the world in the middle of the 20th century. The Truman Doctrine played a significant role in how the United States grew during this period.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the differences between Soviet Communism and United States Capitalism.
- Analyze the impact of the end of World War II on the post-war societies.
- Evaluate the role of United States foreign policy in shaping the post World War II world.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
containment: a military strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy; the goal of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism
“Long Telegram”: a 1946 cable telegram by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan during the post-WWII administration of U.S. President Harry Truman that articulated the policy of containment toward the USSR
Marshall Plan: an American initiative to aid Western Europe in which the United States gave more than $12 billion in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II
National Security Act of 1947: a bill that brought about a major restructuring of the United States government’s military and intelligence agencies following World War; a bill that established the National Security Council, a central place of coordination for national security policy in the executive branch, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S.’s first peacetime intelligence agency
North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO): an intergovernmental military alliance signed on April 4, 1949 and including the five Treaty of Brussels states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom) plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
Truman Doctrine: an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical spread during the Cold War, announced by Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1947
NATO
The North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
NATO was little more than a political association until the Korean War galvanized the organization’s member states and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955.
Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defense against a prospective Soviet invasion—doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of France from NATO’s military structure in 1966 for 30 years.
The Treaty of Brussels 1948 is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement; it was signed on March 17 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom. The treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Union’s Defense Organization in September 1948. However, none of these organizations were thought to be sufficient without participation of the United States, which was thought necessary both to counter the military power of the USSR and prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. In addition, the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'etat by the Communists had overthrown a democratic government, and British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin reiterated that the best way to prevent another Czechoslovakia was to evolve a joint Western military strategy.
In 1948, European leaders met with U.S. defense, military, and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon under U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization’s goal was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”
The members agreed that an armed attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. Consequently, they agreed that if an armed attack occurred, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, would assist the member being attacked, taking such action as it deemed necessary; this would include the use of armed force to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor. Although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so.
The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 was crucial for NATO as it raised the apparent threat of all Communist countries working together and forced the alliance to develop concrete military plans. Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) was formed to direct forces in Europe and began work under Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower in January 1951. In September 1950, the NATO Military Committee called for an ambitious buildup of conventional forces to meet the Soviets, subsequently reaffirming this position at the February 1952 meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Lisbon.
In 1954, the Soviet Union suggested that it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. The NATO countries, fearing that the Soviet Union’s motive was to weaken the alliance, ultimately rejected this proposal.
The incorporation of West Germany into the organization on May 9, 1955 was described as “a decisive turning point in the history of our continent” by Halvard Lange, Foreign Affairs Minister of Norway at the time. A major reason for Germany’s entry into the alliance was that without German manpower, it would have been impossible to field enough conventional forces to resist a Soviet invasion. One of its immediate results was the creation of the Warsaw Pact, signed on May 14, 1955 by the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and East Germany as a formal response to this event. The Warsaw Pact ensured the delineation of the two opposing sides of the Cold War.
Foreign Policy
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the role of propaganda for the United States and the Soviet Union.
- Evaluate the United States' goals in establishing partnerships around the world.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Marshall Plan: an American initiative to aid Western Europe in which the United States gave more than $12 billion in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II
National Security Act of 1947: a bill that brought about a major restructuring of the United States government’s military and intelligence agencies following World War; a bill that established the National Security Council, a central place of coordination for national security policy in the executive branch, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S.’s first peacetime intelligence agency
North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO): an intergovernmental military alliance signed on April 4, 1949 and including the five Treaty of Brussels states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom) plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
Truman Doctrine: an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical spread during the Cold War, announced by Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1947
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government-funded broadcasting organization that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East “where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed.” During the Cold War, Radio Free Europe (RFE) was broadcast to Soviet satellite countries and Radio Liberty (RL) targeted the Soviet Union. RFE was founded as an anti-communist propaganda source in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free Europe. During RFE’s earliest years of existence, the CIA and U.S. Department of State issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation between them and RFE staff. RL was founded two years later. The two organizations merged in 1976.
Radio Free Europe was created and grew in its early years through the efforts of the National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE), an anti-communist CIA front organization formed by Allen Dulles in New York City in 1949. The United States funded a long list of projects to counter the Communist appeal among intellectuals in Europe and the developing world. RFE was developed out of a belief that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means. American policymakers such as George Kennan and John Foster Dulles acknowledged that the Cold War was essentially a war of ideas. The implementation of surrogate radio stations was a key part of the greater psychological war effort.
RFE played a critical role in Cold War-era Eastern Europe. Unlike government-censored programs, RFE publicized anti-Soviet protests and nationalist movements. Its audience increased substantially following the failed Berlin riots of 1953 and the highly publicized defection of Józef Światło. Its Hungarian service’s coverage of Poland’s Poznań riots in 1956 arguably served as an inspiration for the Hungarian revolution.
During the Revolution of 1956 RFE broadcasts encouraged rebels to fight and suggested that Western support was imminent. These RFE broadcasts violated Eisenhower’s policy which determined that the United States would not provide military support for the Revolution. In the wake of this scandal a number of changes were implemented at RFE, including the establishment of the Broadcast Analysis Division to ensure that broadcasts were accurate and professional while maintaining the autonomy of journalists.
Communist governments frequently sent agents to infiltrate RFE’s headquarters. Radio transmissions into the Soviet Union were regularly jammed by the KGB. RFE/RL received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until 1972.
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy created to contain Soviet geopolitical spread during the Cold War; President Harry S. Truman first announced to Congress on March 12, 1947 and further developed on July 12, 1948, when he pledged to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations threatened by Soviet communism. It became the foundation of American foreign policy, and led to the formation of NATO in 1949. Historians often use Truman’s speech to date the start of the Cold War.
Truman reasoned that because the totalitarian regimes coerced free peoples, they represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States. Truman told Congress that “it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This plea was made amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946 – 49), and he argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they urgently needed they would inevitably fall to communism with grave consequences throughout the region. Because Turkey and Greece were historic rivals, it was necessary to help both equally even though the threat to Greece was more immediate. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress and involved sending $400 million in American money but no military forces to the region. The effect was to end the communist threat, and in 1952, both Greece and Turkey joined NATO, a military alliance, to guarantee their protection.
For years, Britain had supported Greece, but was now near bankruptcy and was forced to radically reduce its involvement. In February 1947, Britain formally requested for the United States to take over its role in supporting the Greeks and their government.
The Truman Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union from détente (a relaxation of tension) to a policy of containment of Soviet expansion as advocated by diplomat George Kennan. It was distinguished from rollback by implicitly tolerating the previous Soviet takeovers in Eastern Europe.
Historian Eric Foner argues the Truman Doctrine “set a precedent for American assistance to anticommunist regimes throughout the world, no matter how undemocratic, and for the creation of a set of global military alliances directed against the Soviet Union.”
Background for Greek Crisis
The Greek Civil War was fought in Greece from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army (backed by the United Kingdom and the United States), and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE, the military branch of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), backed by Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria. The fighting resulted in the defeat of the Communist insurgents by the government forces.
In the second stage of the Greek Civil War in December 1944, the British helped prevent the seizure of Athens by the Greek Communist Party (KKE). In the third phase (1946 – 49), guerrilla forces controlled by the KKE fought against the internationally recognized Greek government,t which was formed after 1946 elections boycotted by the KKE. At this point, the British realized that the Greek leftists were being directly funded by Josip Broz Tito in neighboring Yugoslavia; the Greek communists received little help directly from the Soviet Union, while Yugoslavia provided support and sanctuary. By late 1946, Britain informed the United States that due to its own weakening economy, it could no longer continue to provide military and economic support to Greece.
In 1946 – 47, the United States and the Soviet Union moved from wartime allies to Cold War adversaries. Soviet imperialism in Eastern Europe, its delayed withdrawal from Iran, and the breakdown of Allied cooperation in Germany provided a backdrop of escalating tensions for the Truman Doctrine. To Harry S. Truman, the growing unrest in Greece began to look like a pincer movement against the oil-rich areas of the Middle East and the warm-water ports of the Mediterranean.
In February 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, sent his famed “Long Telegram,” which predicted the Soviets would only respond to force and that the best way to handle them was through a long-term strategy of containment by stopping their geographical expansion. After the British warned that they could no longer help Greece and Prime Minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris’s visit to Washington in December 1946 to ask for American assistance, the U.S. State Department formulated a plan. Aid would be given to both Greece and Turkey to help cool the long-standing rivalry between them.
American policymakers recognized the instability of the region, fearing that if Greece was lost to communism, Turkey would not last long. If Turkey yielded to Soviet demands, the position of Greece would be endangered. Fear of this regional domino effect threat guided the American decision. Greece and Turkey were strategic allies for geographical reasons as well, as the fall of Greece would put the Soviets on a dangerous flank for the Turks and strengthen the Soviet Union’s ability to cut off allied supply lines in the event of war.
Long-Term Policy and Metaphor
The Truman Doctrine underpinned American Cold War policy in Europe and around the world. In the words of historian James T. Patterson, “The Truman Doctrine was a highly publicized commitment of a sort the administration had not previously undertaken. Its sweeping rhetoric, promising that the United States should aid all ‘free people’ being subjugated, set the stage for innumerable later ventures that led to globalistic commitments. It was in these ways a major step.”
The doctrine endured, historian Dennis Merill argues, because it addressed a broader cultural insecurity about modern life in a globalized world. It dealt with Washington’s concern over communism’s domino effect, it enabled a media-sensitive presentation of the doctrine that won bipartisan support, and it mobilized American economic power to modernize and stabilize unstable regions without direct military intervention. It brought nation-building activities and modernization programs to the forefront of foreign policy.
The Truman Doctrine became a metaphor for emergency aid to keep a nation from communist influence. Truman used disease imagery not only to communicate a sense of impending disaster in the spread of communism but also to create a “rhetorical vision” of containing it by extending a protective shield around non-communist countries throughout the world. It echoed the “quarantine the aggressor” policy Truman’s predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, sought to impose to contain German and Japanese expansion in 1937. The medical metaphor extended beyond the immediate aims of the Truman Doctrine in that the imagery combined with fire and flood phrases evocative of disaster provided the United States with an easy transition to direct military confrontation in later years with communist forces in Korea and Vietnam. By ideological differences in life or death terms, Truman was able to garner support for this communism-containing policy.
The Marshall Plan and Molotov Plan
In June 1947, in accordance with the Truman Doctrine, the United States enacted the Marshall Plan. This was a pledge of economic assistance for all European countries willing to participate, including the Soviet Union, who refused and created their own Moltov Plan for the Eastern Bloc.
Overview
In early 1947, Britain, France, and the United States unsuccessfully attempted to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union for an economically self-sufficient Germany, including a detailed accounting of the industrial plants, goods, and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets. In June 1947, in accordance with the Truman Doctrine, the United States enacted the Marshall Plan, a pledge of economic assistance for all European countries willing to participate, including the Soviet Union.
The plan’s aim was to rebuild the democratic and economic systems of Europe and counter perceived threats to Europe’s balance of power, such as communist parties seizing control through revolutions or elections. The plan also stated that European prosperity was contingent upon German economic recovery. One month later, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, creating a unified Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Security Council (NSC). These would become the main bureaucracies for U.S. policy in the Cold War.
Stalin believed that economic integration with the West would allow Eastern Bloc countries to escape Soviet control, and that the U.S. was trying to buy a pro-U.S. realignment of Europe. Stalin therefore prevented Eastern Bloc nations from receiving Marshall Plan aid. The Soviet Union’s alternative to the Marshall Plan, purported to involve Soviet subsidies and trade with central and eastern Europe, became known as the Molotov Plan (later institutionalized in January 1949 as the COMECON). Stalin was also fearful of a reconstituted Germany; his vision of a post-war Germany did not include the ability to rearm or pose any kind of threat to the Soviet Union.
In early 1948, following reports of strengthening “reactionary elements”, Soviet operatives executed a coup d’état in Czechoslovakia, the only Eastern Bloc state that the Soviets had permitted to retain democratic structures. The public brutality of the coup shocked Western powers and set in a motion a brief scare that swept away the last vestiges of opposition to the Marshall Plan in the United States Congress.
The twin policies of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan led to billions in economic and military aid for Western Europe, Greece, and Turkey. With U.S. assistance, the Greek military won its civil war. Under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi the Italian Christian Democrats defeated the powerful Communist-Socialist alliance in the elections of 1948. At the same time, there was increased intelligence and espionage activity, Eastern Bloc defections, and diplomatic expulsions.
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion (approximately $120 billion in value as of June 2016) in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. The plan was in operation for four years beginning April 8, 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, make Europe prosperous again, and prevent the spread of communism. The Marshall Plan required a lessening of interstate barriers, saw a decrease in regulations, and encouraged an increase in productivity, labor union membership, and the adoption of modern business procedures.
The Marshall Plan aid was divided among the participant states on a per capita basis. A larger amount was given to the major industrial powers, as the prevailing opinion was that their resuscitation was essential for general European revival. Somewhat more aid per capita was also directed towards the Allied nations, with less for those that had been part of the Axis or remained neutral. The largest recipient of Marshall Plan money was the United Kingdom (receiving about 26% of the total), followed by France (18%) and West Germany (11%). Some 18 European countries received Plan benefits. Although offered participation, the Soviet Union refused Plan benefits and blocked benefits to Eastern Bloc countries such as East Germany and Poland.
The years 1948 to 1952 saw the fastest period of growth in European history. Industrial production increased by 35%. Agricultural production substantially surpassed pre-war levels. The poverty and starvation of the immediate postwar years disappeared, and Western Europe embarked upon an unprecedented two decades of growth during which standards of living increased dramatically. There is some debate among historians over how much this should be credited to the Marshall Plan. Most reject the idea that it alone miraculously revived Europe, as evidence shows that a general recovery was already underway. Most believe that the Marshall Plan sped this recovery but did not initiate it. Many argue that the structural adjustments that it forced were of great importance.
The political effects of the Marshall Plan may have been just as important as the economic ones. Marshall Plan aid allowed the nations of Western Europe to relax austerity measures and rationing, reducing discontent and bringing political stability. The communist influence on Western Europe was greatly reduced, and throughout the region communist parties faded in popularity in the years after the Marshall Plan.
MAD
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the role of atomic weapons on the Cold War.
- Analyze the policies of Mutually Assured Destruction on the Cold War policies.
The Atomic Race
Eisenhower’s secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, initiated a “New Look” for the Cold War containment strategy, calling for a greater reliance on nuclear weapons against U.S. enemies in wartime, and promoted the doctrine of “massive retalitation,” threatening a severe response to any Soviet aggression.
Background: Political Changes in the U.S. and USSR
When Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as U.S. President in 1953, the Democrats lost their two-decades-long control of the U.S. presidency. Under Eisenhower, however, the nation’s Cold War policy remained essentially unchanged. While a thorough rethinking of foreign policy was launched (known as “Operation Solarium”), the majority of emerging ideas (such as a “rollback of Communism” and the liberation of Eastern Europe) were quickly regarded as unworkable. An underlying focus on the containment of Soviet communism remained to inform the broad approach of U.S. foreign policy.
While the transition from the Truman to the Eisenhower presidencies was conservative-moderate in character, the change in the Soviet Union was immense. With the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, his former right-hand man Nikita Khrushchev was named First Secretary of the Communist Party.
During a subsequent period of collective leadership, Khrushchev gradually consolidated his power. During a February 25, 1956 speech, to the closed session of the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev shocked his listeners by denouncing Stalin’s personality cult and the many crimes that occurred under Stalin’s leadership. Although the contents of the speech were secret, it was leaked to outsiders, shocking both Soviet allies and Western observers. Khrushchev was later named premier of the Soviet Union in 1958.
The impact on Soviet politics was immense. The speech stripped Khrushchev’s remaining Stalinist rivals of their legitimacy in a single stroke, dramatically boosting the First Party Secretary’s power domestically. Khrushchev was then able to ease restrictions, freeing some dissidents and initiating economic policies that emphasized commercial goods rather than just coal and steel production.
American Nuclear Strategy
Along with these major political changes in the U.S. and USSR, the central strategic components of competition between East and West shifted as well. When Eisenhower entered office in 1953, he was committed to two possibly contradictory goals: maintaining, or even heightening, the national commitment to counter the spread of Soviet influence and satisfying demands to balance the budget, lower taxes, and curb inflation. The most prominent of the doctrines to emerge from this goal was “massive retaliation,” which Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced early in 1954.
Eschewing the costly, conventional ground forces of the Truman administration and wielding the vast superiority of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and covert intelligence, Dulles defined his approach as “brinksmanship” in a January 16, 1956 interview with Life: pushing the Soviet Union to the brink of war in order to exact concessions. The aim of massive retaliation is to deter another state from initially attacking. In the event of an attack from an aggressor, a state would massively retaliate with force disproportionate to the size of the attack, which would likely involve the use of nuclear weapons on a massive scale.
This new national security policy approach, reflecting Eisenhower’s concern for balancing the Cold War military commitments of the United States with the nation’s financial resources, was called the “New Look.” The policy emphasized reliance on strategic nuclear weapons to deter potential threats, both conventional and nuclear, from the Eastern Bloc of nations headed by the Soviet Union. This approach led the administration to increase the number of nuclear warheads from 1,000 in 1953 to 18,000 by early 1961. Despite overwhelming U.S. superiority, one additional nuclear weapon was produced each day. The administration also exploited new technology. In 1955 the eight-engine B-52 Stratofortress bomber, the first true jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, was developed.
Attributions
Source image provided by Wikimedia Commons: Truman Signing the North Atlantic Treaty
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/73-3194
Chapters adapted from:
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/the-beginning-of-the-cold-war/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/life-in-the-ussr/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/containment/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/competition-between-east-and-west/
https://www.coursehero.com/study-guides/boundless-worldhistory/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:52.043970
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"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88076/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
"author": null
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https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88079/overview
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Non-Alignment and the Third World Order
Overview
Introduction
While the United States and Soviet Union attempted to fight against one another throughout the world, there were some that attempted to not be aligned with the polarity of these two countries. Another significant problem that occurred during the Cold War was the process of decolonization. This added much fuel to the conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the role of the Cold War in the process of decolonization.
- Analyze the role of World War II in the role of decolonization.
- Evaluate the differences between Soviet Communism and United States Capitalism.
- Analyze the impact of the end of World War II on the post-war societies.
- Evaluate the role of United States foreign policy in shaping the post World War II world.
Imperialism Following World War II
World War II was a truly world changing war. While the events of the battles and outcomes of those battles had a profound impact during the war, it was the relationship between the European and the colonial worlds that was fundamentally altered in the process. Throughout the war, Europeans needed their colonial counterparts. The colonies provided both resources and soldiers to the war effort. European colonial powers understood that the only way to win this war was to have their colonies helping in a very dramatic way.
The problem with this relationship was throughout the war effort, that there were promises that had been made that the colonial world was expecting to be kept. Looking back at the First World War, Europeans had made significant promises to the colonial worlds for support, in exchange for independence. The best example of this was the British promising the Indian Subcontinent independence for support in World War I. That is why World War I was the only war that Gandhi supported, because of the promise of independence. The problem was, following World War I, that the British did not honor that promise. After the war, the British kept making excuses about how independence was not something that they could support and that the Indian Subcontinent should have close to a one hundred year time line for independence. This was why there was such anti-British protests in India following World War I. That is why it was different following World War II, support from the colonies came with a specific demand that there would be independence following the war. This new direction was important, because World War II changed the relationship between the colonial and the European country. Europeans were forced to stop colonization, which meant that the long plans of decolonization were now removed. There was limited planning for how Europeans thought about leaving. This is a significant problem, because in some cases close to 150 years of European colonization and removal of resources and stripping away goods meant that regions would have significant problems in establishing governments and societies. In many ways, the European process of colonization, of pitting one group against another in the colonial world, meant that newly forming states had significant social and cultural gaps that were from European colonization. This would prove to be a significant problem for the independence movement.
The process of decolonization in many cases was very straightforward. European states promised to leave the colonial world, gave a specific date and then promptly left. While that sounds very simple, the political problems that this created had deep reverberations throughout the Cold War. In many cases, European states provided the political glue that held together many of the colonial states. With Europeans gone, the question became who would be in the government? How would the government function? With a very new economy, how would the economics of this newly independent state work? Having limited funding from the independence meant that weak states emerged, with limited infrastructure in place. All of these problems would manifest to put these newly forming states in the middle of the bigger problem of the Cold War.
The Complications of the Cold War
Not only was there an issue following World War II and the colonial/European relationship, the Cold War made matters worse. In many ways, the Cold War was a process of the United States and the Soviet Union attempting to define their own teams as a way to have political and economic power over the other. This had a deep impact, because the development of each of these teams create a world that had multiple levels. The classic description of these was the “First World, Second World.” Meaning that those friendly towards the United States were in the group known as the “First World.” Those friendly to the Soviet Union was the “Second World.” This division was important because as the Cold War engaged with the process of decolonization had significant set backs because of the tensions of the Cold War. As European states began to remove themselves from the colonial system, the question of how would these new states fit into the world order in the Cold War began quickly. Both the United States and the Soviet Union often looked at these newly emerging states as a way to gain an ally and get resources in the middle of this Cold War system.
Both sides of the Cold War saw independence as a way to gain an ally in the war. The United States had many lenders, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, that promised large loans to newly forming states in exchange for promises of being capitalistic and democratic. The Soviet Union had similar processes to promote more of a communistic government. The problem is that in the absence of a larger government in the newly forming states, that both the United States and the Soviet Union turned to guerrilla warriors as a way to achieve their agenda. This meant that both sides found paramilitary groups that were interested in overthrow of a government that had been established. The United States put weapons, money, and time into training and arming many of these paramilitary groups. This meant that in many cases, the newly independent states were often in the middle of a Civil War following independence.
The Cold War radically shaped the process of decolonization because in many cases, these newly independent states were then the sites of open war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Remember the fear of the United States and the Soviet Union going to war was that nuclear weapons would be used. If both the United States and the Soviet Union fought through various proxies around the world, this would avoid open fighting between the two states. This idea of proxy wars, which is where the United States and the Soviet Union used local fighters to do the heavy lifting of the fighting of the Cold War. Famous proxy wars include the Korean War and the Vietnam War. These proxy wars pitted not only the Cold War forces, but the newly independent countries against one another that would prove detrimental. To understand the process of decolonization, it is important to begin with key states and their relationship with the broader system of decolonization.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the role of the Cuban Missile Crisis on the Cold War
- Analyze how the Castro created a new plan with the Non-Alignment Movement.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Bay of Pigs Invasion: a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on April 17, 1961
Fidel Castro: a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008 (Politically a Marxist-Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms implemented throughout society.)
Moscow–Washington hotline: a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and the USSR, established in 1963 after the Cuban Missile Crisis to prevent another dangerous confrontation
proxy war: A conflict between two states or non-state actors in which neither entity directly engages the other. While this can encompass a breadth of armed confrontation, its core definition hinges on two separate powers utilizing external strife to somehow attack the interests or territorial holdings of the other. This frequently involves both countries fighting their opponent's allies or assisting their allies in fighting their opponent.
war of attrition: A military strategy in which a belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material.
cult of personality: When an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and at times worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.
Bay of Pigs Invasion: A failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on April 17, 1961.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, when the U.S. Navy set up a blockade to halt Soviet nuclear weapons on their way to Cuba, brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day (October 16-28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. Televised worldwide, this event was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.
In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter future harassment of Cuba. An agreement was reached during a secret meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer.
The 1962 midterm elections were underway in the U.S. and the White House had denied charges that it was ignoring dangerous Soviet missiles 90 miles from Florida. These missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range (SS-4) and intermediate-range (R-14) ballistic missile facilities. The United States established a military blockade to prevent further missiles from entering Cuba. It announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the weapons already in Cuba be dismantled and returned to the USSR.
After a long period of tense negotiations, an agreement was reached between President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev on October 27. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a U.S. public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba without direct provocation. Secretly, the United States agreed that it would dismantle all U.S.-built Jupiter MRBMs, which were deployed in Turkey and Italy against the Soviet Union unbeknownst to the public.
When all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers were withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20, 1962. The negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union pointed out the necessity of a quick, clear, and direct communication line between Washington and Moscow. As a result, the Moscow–Washington hotline was established. A series of agreements sharply reduced U.S.–Soviet tensions during the following years.
Background
The United States was concerned about an expansion of Communism, and a Latin American country allying openly with the USSR was regarded as unacceptable given the U.S.-Soviet enmity since the end of World War II. Such an involvement would also directly defy the Monroe Doctrine, a U.S. policy which, while limiting the United States' involvement in European colonies and European affairs, held that European powers ought not to have involvement with states in the Western Hemisphere.
The United States had been embarrassed publicly by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961, launched under President John F. Kennedy by CIA-trained forces of Cuban exiles. Afterward, former President Eisenhower told Kennedy that "the failure of the Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets to do something that they would otherwise not do." The half-hearted invasion left Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and his advisers with the impression that Kennedy was indecisive and, as one Soviet adviser wrote, "too young, intellectual, not prepared well for decision making in crisis situations... too intelligent and too weak." U.S. covert operations continued in 1961 with the unsuccessful Operation Mongoose.
In May 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was persuaded to counter the United States' growing lead in developing and deploying strategic missiles by placing Soviet intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, despite the misgivings of the Soviet Ambassador in Havana, Alexandr Ivanovich Alexeyev, who argued that Castro would not accept the deployment of these missiles. Khrushchev faced a strategic situation where the U.S. was perceived to have a "splendid first strike" capability that put the Soviet Union at a huge disadvantage.
Khrushchev also wanted to bring West Berlin—the American/British/French-controlled democratic enclave within Communist East Germany—into the Soviet orbit. The East Germans and Soviets considered western control over a portion of Berlin a grave threat to East Germany. For this reason among others, Khrushchev made West Berlin the central battlefield of the Cold War. Khrushchev believed that if the U.S. did nothing over the missile deployments in Cuba, he could muscle the West out of Berlin using said missiles as a deterrent to western counter-measures in Berlin. If the U.S. tried to bargain with the Soviets after becoming aware of the missiles, Khrushchev could demand trading the missiles for West Berlin. Since Berlin was strategically more important than Cuba, the trade would be a win for Khrushchev.
Khrushchev was also reacting in part to the nuclear threat of obsolescent Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles that the U.S. installed in Turkey in April 1962.
American Blockade and Deepening Crisis
Kennedy met with members of Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) and other top advisers on October 21, considering two remaining options after ruling out diplomacy with the Soviets and full-on invasion: an air strike primarily against the Cuban missile bases or a naval blockade of Cuba. McNamara supported the naval blockade as a strong but limited military action that left the U.S. in control. However, the term "blockade" was problematic. According to international law a blockade is an act of war, but the Kennedy administration did not think that the USSR would be provoked to attack by a mere blockade. Admiral Anderson, Chief of Naval Operations wrote a position paper that helped Kennedy to differentiate between what they termed a "quarantine" of offensive weapons and a blockade of all materials, claiming that a classic blockade was not the original intention.
On October 22, President Kennedy addressed the nation, saying:
To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.
The crisis continued unabated, and on the evening of October 24, the Soviet news agency TASS broadcast a telegram from Khrushchev to President Kennedy in which Khrushchev warned that the United States's "outright piracy" would lead to war. However, this was followed by a telegram from Khrushchev to Kennedy in which Khrushchev stated, "if you weigh the present situation with a cool head without giving way to passion, you will understand that the Soviet Union cannot afford not to decline the despotic demands of the USA" and that the Soviet Union views the blockade as "an act of aggression" and their ships will be instructed to ignore it.
The U.S. requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on October 25. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson confronted Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in an emergency meeting of the Security Council, challenging him to admit the existence of the missiles. The next day at 10 p.m. EST, the U.S. raised the readiness level of SAC forces to DEFCON 2, indicating "next step to nuclear war," and one step away from "nuclear war imminent." For the only confirmed time in U.S. history, while B-52 bombers went on continuous airborne alert, B-47 medium bombers were dispersed to various military and civilian airfields and prepared for takeoff, fully equipped with nuclear warheads, on 15 minutes' notice.
At this point, the crisis was ostensibly at a stalemate. The USSR had shown no indication that they would back down and in fact made several comments to the contrary. The U.S. had no reason to believe otherwise and was in the early stages of preparing for an invasion along with a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union in case it responded militarily as expected.
Crisis Resolution
The crisis continued with Cuba preparing for invasion until October 27 when, after much deliberation between the Soviet Union and Kennedy's cabinet, Kennedy secretly agreed to remove all missiles set in southern Italy and in Turkey, the latter on the border of the Soviet Union, in exchange for Khrushchev's removal of all missiles in Cuba. At 9 a.m. EST on October 28, a new message from Khrushchev was broadcast on Radio Moscow in which he stated that "the Soviet government, in addition to previously issued instructions on the cessation of further work at the building sites for the weapons, has issued a new order on the dismantling of the weapons which you describe as 'offensive' and their crating and return to the Soviet Union." Kennedy immediately responded, issuing a statement calling the letter "an important and constructive contribution to peace." He continued this with a formal letter:
I consider my letter to you of October twenty-seventh and your reply of today as firm undertakings on the part of both our governments which should be promptly carried out... The US will make a statement in the framework of the Security Council in reference to Cuba as follows: it will declare that the United States of America will respect the inviolability of Cuban borders, its sovereignty, that it take the pledge not to interfere in internal affairs, not to intrude themselves and not to permit our territory to be used as a bridgehead for the invasion of Cuba, and will restrain those who would plan to carry an aggression against Cuba, either from US territory or from the territory of other countries neighboring to Cuba.
The compromise embarrassed Khrushchev and the Soviet Union because the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Italy and Turkey was a secret deal between Kennedy and Khrushchev. Khrushchev went to Kennedy thinking that the crisis was getting out of hand. The Soviets were seen as retreating from circumstances they had started. Khrushchev's fall from power two years later was in part because of the Politburo embarrassment at both Khrushchev's eventual concessions to the U.S. and his ineptitude in precipitating the crisis in the first place. According to Dobrynin, the top Soviet leadership took the Cuban outcome as "a blow to its prestige bordering on humiliation."
Non-Alignment Movement
The Cuban Missile Crisis provided a turning point in the Cold War. While the United States and the Soviet Union continued with the policies of the Cold War and fighting one another, this had a significant impact on Cuba and the process of the Cold War states. Fidel Castro saw the way that the United States and the Soviet Union used Cuba as a bargaining chip between the two powers, that neither the United States or the Soviet Union cared about the issues directly facing Cuba. Castro saw this as a problem and began to band together states against these two different perspectives. He started calling this coalition of states, the non-aligned states, meaning that they were neither on the United States or the Soviet Union’s side of the Cold War. This non-alignment movement was a significant challenge to the system. There were many around the world that felt that they did not fit either in the United States or the Soviet Union’s camp and wanted to rebel against this system of polarity between the two different political and cultural powers. States that joined the non-aligned movement were: Cuba, India, and Egypt.
Egypt-Suez Canal Crisis
The Suez Canal Crisis was a mostly failed invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and remove Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the impact of decolonization on the Cold War.
- Describe how Egyptian President Abdel Nasser’s idea of Arab nationalism affected Arab-Israeli relations from 1956-1973.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Suez Canal: waterway in Egypt that connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas
Suez Canal Crisis: an invasion by Israel, England, and France into Egypt to regain control of the vital Suez Canal that ended in their defeat by Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser: Egyptian military and political leader who was also the president of Egypt from 1956 – 1970
Warsaw Pact: a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
The Suez Crisis, also named the Tripartite Aggression and the Kadesh Operation, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and remove Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power. After the fighting started, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations forced the three invaders to withdraw. The episode humiliated Great Britain and France and strengthened Nasser.
On October 29, Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai. Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to cease fire, which was ignored. On November 5, Britain and France landed paratroopers along the Suez Canal. The Egyptian forces were defeated, but did block the canal to all shipping. It became clear that the Israeli invasion and the subsequent Anglo-French attack were planned beforehand by the three countries.
The three allies attained a number of their military objectives, but the Canal was now useless and heavy pressure from the United States and the USSR forced them to withdraw. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had strongly warned Britain not to invade; he now threatened serious damage to the British financial system. Historians conclude the crisis "signified the end of Great Britain's role as one of the world's major powers." Peden in 2012 stated, "The Suez Crisis is widely believed to have contributed significantly to Britain's decline as a world power." The Suez Canal was closed from October 1956 until March 1957. Israel fulfilled some of its objectives, such as attaining freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran.
As a result of the conflict, the United Nations created the UNEF Peacekeepers to police the Egyptian-Israeli border, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned, Canadian Minister of External Affairs Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize, and the USSR may have been emboldened to invade Hungary.
The Suez Crisis in the Context of the Cold War
The Middle East during the Cold War was of extreme importance and also great instability. The region lay directly south of the Soviet Union, which traditionally had great influence in Turkey and Iran. The area also had vast reserves of oil, not crucial for either superpower in the 1950s (which each held large oil reserves on its own), but essential for the rapidly rebuilding American allies Europe and Japan.
The original American plan for the Middle East was to form a defensive perimeter along the north of the region. Thus Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan signed the Baghdad Pact and joined CENTO. The Eastern response was to seek influence in states such as Syria and Egypt. Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria made arms deals to Egypt and Syria, giving Warsaw Pact members a strong presence in the region. Egypt, a former British protectorate, was one of the region's most important prizes with its large population and political power throughout the region. British forces were thrown out by General Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956, when he nationalized the Suez Canal. Syria was a former French protectorate.
Eisenhower persuaded the United Kingdom and France to retreat from a badly planned invasion with Israel launched to regain control of the canal from Egypt. While the Americans were forced to operate covertly so as not to embarrass their allies, the Eastern Bloc nations made loud threats against the "imperialists" and worked to portray themselves as the defenders of the Third World. Nasser was later lauded around the globe, especially in the Arab world. While both superpowers courted Nasser, the Americans balked at funding the massive Aswan High Dam project. The Warsaw Pact countries happily agreed, however, and signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Egyptians and the Syrians.
Thus the Suez stalemate was a turning point heralding an ever-growing rift between the Atlantic Cold War allies, which were becoming far less of a united monolith than they were in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Italy, France, Spain, West Germany, Norway, Canada, and Britain also developed their own nuclear forces as well as a Common Market to be less dependent on the United States. Such rifts mirror changes in global economics. American economic competitiveness faltered in the face of the challenges of Japan and West Germany, which recovered rapidly from the wartime decimation of their respective industrial bases. The 20th-century successor to the UK as the "workshop of the world," the United States found its competitive edge dulled in the international markets while it faced intensified foreign competition at home. Meanwhile, the Warsaw Pact countries were closely allied both militarily and economically. All Warsaw Pact nations had nuclear weapons and supplied other countries with weapons, supplies, and economic aid.
Attributions
Boundless World History
"Crisis Points of the Cold War"
Adapted from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
Curation and Revision. Provided by: Boundless.com. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Suez Crisis. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Crisis. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Cold War. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Statue_of_de_Lesseps.jpg. Provided by: Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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oercommons
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2025-03-18T00:36:52.080662
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/88079/overview",
"title": "Statewide Dual Credit World History, The Catastrophe of the Modern Era: 1919-Present CE",
"author": null
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