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WORLD STUDIES

UNIT 7: NEW NATIONS & THE COMMUNIST ERA

Post war conditions and the rise of nationalism led to the emergence of new nations in South Asia and Africa. This unit will cover the independence of India, creation of Pakistan, and the rise of new nations in Africa.

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In addition, by the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two superpowers.Politically and ideologically opposed, the two nations became locked in a Cold War that pitted democracy against communism.

 

The emergence of new independent nations led to their alignment with the USA or the USSR. This changed the political landscape and national identities of those involved, violated human rights and caused several military confrontations.  This unit will also examine the rise and implementation of communism in China and North Korea.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • How did the rise of nationalism inspire independence movements and political change?

  • How do leaders get citizens to subscribe to an ideology?

  • How strictly do countries adhere to their political ideologies?

  • What is the price of modernization?

Essential Questions

VIDEOS

Videos
Crash Course: Nonviolence and Peace Movements

  • How or why did Gandhi come to support nonviolence as a method of protest?

  • Is nonviolence the most effective way to make change?

  • How has nonviolence been used globally to achieve political change?

Gandhi

  • Is passive resistance really "passive"?

  • According to Gandhi, why does nonviolent resistance work?

Epic Rap Battles of History: Gandhi vs. MLK
Crash Course: China's Revolutions

  • What led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty?

  • What were Sun Yat-Sen's three principles?

  • Why didn't Sun Yat-Sen get a chance to run China?

  • What led to the rise of the Communists in China?

  • How did Mao enlist the support of the people?

  • Why did Mao's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution end in failure?

Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Boy Who Denounced His Mother

  • Would you denounce a family member to save yourself?

  • Why were so many people swept up by the sentiment of the Cultural Revolution?

  • Why did so many come to denounce it?

Tiananmen Square Protest (1989)

  • What led to the Tiananmen Square protest?

  • What were the students demanding?

  • Why has the Chinese government erased this event from their history?

What is the Korean DMZ?

  • How has foreign intervention influenced the current state of affairs between North and South Korea?

PBS Frontline: Secret State of North Korea (full documentary)
Life Inside North Korea: The Power of Juche

  • Why is the juche philosophy so important to North Koreans' identity?

Crash Course: Cold War

  • What led to the Cold War?

  • What did the United States and the Soviet Union both fear during the Cold War?

  • What was the origin of the term "Third World"?

  • Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

Gorbachev Pizza Hut Commercial

  • How does the Pizza Hut commercial reflect the differing views on glasnost and perestroika?

UNIT SOURCES

Sources

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