Global Civil Unrest

The Mexican Revolution• Causes

– Most Mexicans were poor peasants with no land, no education, and no hope for improvement

– Factory workers and miners earned very low wages while the owners grew wealthy

– The small middle-class wanted a more democratic government

Unstable Leadership• 1910: President Porfirio Diaz

had reformer Francisco Madero arrested; his arrest was followed by widespread revolts, forcing Diaz to resign

• Madero became president of Mexico, but was soon overthrown and assassinated by military dictator Victoriano Huerta

• Huerta himself was almost immediately overthrown by Venustiano Carranza

Villa & Zapata• Carranza became

President of Mexico in 1917 with the help of two popular revolutionaries:– Francisco “Pancho” Villa,

who had many supporters in northern Mexico

– Emiliano Zapata, a Native American and former tenant farmer who had many followers in the south

More Bloodshed• Carranza soon fell out

with Villa and Zapata, and in the fighting that followed, all three men were assassinated (plus over 1 million Mexicans were killed and US troops entered Mexico)

• Carranza had, however, approved a new constitution for Mexico, which is still in use today

The Mexican Constitution• Allowed breakup of large

private estates• Restricted foreign

ownership of land• Restricted power of the

Catholic Church• Set a minimum wage and

allowed workers to strike• Gave women the same

rights as men (except in voting)

The PRI Brings Stability• By 1929 the country had

stabilized under the leadership of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party)

• The PRI reached out to all groups in Mexican society

• Supported social reforms, but also suppressed all political opposition

• In 1938, the PRI nationalized all oil production in Mexico to protect it from foreign companies

Latin Nationalism• After WWI, Latin American

countries became determined to become economically independent of Europe and the U.S.

• In many cases, foreign-owned industries were taken over and nationalized

• Latin Americans also began to take pride in their own unique cultures

South African Apartheid• In South Africa, whites

moved to limit the freedoms of blacks– restricted jobs available to

black Africans– forced African blacks to live

in certain areas– 1936: all black voting rights

were eliminated– 1948: apartheid made

complete racial segregation into law

African National Congress• In 1912, black Africans

formed the African National Congress (ANC) to protest the loss of freedoms to colonial powers

• The ANC vowed to use only legal means, but was still branded as a “terror” organization, especially in South Africa – it would take over 75 years to make any impact

Egypt• During WWI, Egypt was forced

into providing Britain with food and labor, causing resentment

• After the war, Egyptians set aside their differences to create the Wafd Party and push for independence

• 1922: British granted Egypt its independence (except the Suez Canal Zone)

• In the 1930s, the “Muslim Brotherhood” was formed – rejected western culture and the new Egyptian government

Turkey• After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire,

Turkey became an independent republic, led by Mustafa “Ataturk” Kemal

• Kemal westernized Turkey, angering many fundamentalist Muslims– European style law replaced Islamic

law– Muslim calendar replaced by European– Replaced Arabic script with western

alphabet– Forced people to dress in western style– Women were allowed to vote, dress as

they wished– Polygamy (multiple-wives) was banned

Iran• 1925: Reza Khan overthrew

the British & Russian backed king of Persia and set himself up as shah– modernized Iran– made the same types of

reforms that Ataturk had made in Turkey

– forced British oil companies, who controlled Iran’s oil fields, to share profits with government

The Middle East• The Middle East had been

controlled by the Ottomans until WWI

• After the war, France took control of Syria and Lebanon while Britain took control of Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine (Israel)

• The Arabs had been promised independence for their help in WWI, so they felt angry and betrayed when they did not get it

• European mistreatment led to Arab unity and a call for an end to European rule

Zionism• The Jews & Palestine

– 1897: Theodore Herzl founded the Zionist movement, urging European Jews to reclaim the “promised land” of Israel

– As anti-Semitism grew in Europe during the 1930s, more and more Jews moved to Palestine, creating tension with the Arab Palestinians

India• In 1919, British troops

fired on an unarmed crowd of protestors in city of Amritsar, killing 379 and wounding 1100

• Indians had been protesting Britain’s failure to keep their promise of Indian independence that had been made during WWI

Mohandas Gandhi• 1869 - 1948• Known as “Mahatma” or

“Great Soul”• Schooled in Britain,

earning a law degree• Spent 20 years living in

South Africa fighting racism against Indians living in that country, but returned to India in 1914 to protest British rule

Mohandas Gandhi• Developed the approach of

“satyagraha” (soul force) or nonviolent civil disobedience which would be copied by other civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.– based in Hindu beliefs in non-violence

& the power of love– urged people to refuse to obey unfair

laws and policies• Supported democracy, equal rights

for all people, and an end to the caste system

• Increased Indian national pride, encouraged self-sufficiency

The Salt March• British companies held a

monopoly on salt in India• 1930: Gandhi led a march

to the sea to collect sea salt (which was illegal)

• Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned, but thousands followed his example creating tremendous bad press for Britain

Muhammad Ali Jinnah• Indian Muslims wanted

independence from Britain, but feared that the Hindu majority would discriminate against them if India remained a single state

• Jinnah worked with Gandhi to split India into the Hindu nation of India and the separate Islamic nation of Pakistan

In 1947, India and Pakistan were given independence

Pakistani-Indian Relations• Unfortunately, within a

year of independence both Gandhi and Jinnah were dead, Gandhi from assassination and Jinnah from lung cancer

• Without their leadership, relations between India and Pakistan quickly broke down and war erupted