NOVI HISTORY
Mrs. Johnson's 7th Grade Social Studies (Text Book: World History: Moffitt, Mullins, Blankenship)
History
Mohandas Gandhi and India
Mohandas K. Gandhi was a peaceful Civil Rights leader in India. It was the awful massacre of Indians by the British at the Temple of Amritsar that spurred Gandhi to real action against the British colonial authority. He believed that the Indian people should stop letting themselves bow down to Britain and gain their independence. He did this nonviolently by using civil disobedience (the refusal to obey unfair laws even if the result was punishment). He spoke of the force of truth to reveal the injustice of British rule. The Indian National Congress adopted Gandhi's strategy on civil disobedience in the 1920s.
The Salt March is an example of the civil disobedience strategy. Gandhi and his followers marched across India to the sea to evaporate sea water to make their own salt. Another march took place, the aim to close down a British salt factory. British guards responded by clubbing and beating the peaceful protesters.
MacArthur and Japan
After Japan's surrender in September 1945, the country was reduced to rubble. Many things were destroyed: farms were destroyed, the government was in shambles, the people were demoralized, and the emperor was revealed to be an average mortal than the god that he was believed to be.
General MacArthur, an American commander of the occupation forces, was given the job of putting Japan back on its feet. So, he made it democratic, but allowed the emperor a ceremonial role.
Sun Yixian and China
When Chinese nationalists were able to overthrow the Qing Dynasty in 1912, the new government was called the Republic of China. Its aims were to end foreign control in China's affairs.
Sun Yixian, the leader of the Kuomintang political party, proposed a new government that he felt was the best for China at the time. Unfortunately, the new government wasn't able to help bring order to China or the Chinese people. After WWI, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Japan took part of China and Sun kept his government.
When Sun died Mao Zedong form the Chinese Communist Party. He fought Jiang Jieshi for control of China's government. This led to the rise and fall of Mao Zedong.
The Cold War and Korea
After WWII, Korea was split between a communist north and the US-controlled south. The US believed that countries would soon follow the communist North Korea. This idea was known as the Domino Theory. War broke out between the two countries and after three years, the boundary between the two countries still remains.
Vietnam and the United States
Vietnam wished to remodel their government after the nationalist Ho Chi Minh, and the US did not want any new communist countries formed in Southeast Asia. The Us supported French efforts to reclaim colonial control of Vietnam after WWII.
In 1954, the French let go of colonial Vietnam and the US stepped in. Decisions were made at an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The country was temporarily divided. The pan was that within a year, nationwide elections would be held to let the Vietnamese people decide what kind of government they wanted. The US was worried that Ho Chi Minh would win so the elections were never held and the country was divided until 1975. War broke out and lives were lost during the Vietnam War. In the end, the country reunited after the US ended the war. The People's Republic of Vietnam was declared a communist country.
