Distant Past and New Challenges

World history is the story of man. The first part of this story stretches back into the distant past -to a time so long ago that men had not learned to write and therefore left no written records. The end of the story remains to be written, for we ourselves are part of it. Today’s events will be ancient history to our descendants in the remote future. History tells of the beginnings of civilization describing man’s slow march from savagery to more advanced ways of living. It is a tale scientists have pieced together by studying slow changes in the earth itself or by examining remains left by early men -fragments of skeletons, crude tools, pieces of broken jugs, or cave paintings. For thousands of years human progress was painfully slow. Gradually, however, early men improved their weapons and implements, tamed animals and learned to plant crops. Each discovery made further progress easier, though peoples in a few areas advanced more rapidly than others. History also relates to how great civilizations developed at an early time in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In fertile river valleys the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians learned better ways of producing food and goods. They set up strong central governments ruled by powerful kings, built huge buildings and made important scientific discoveries. Much of what we know of these early people comes from their own records — words cut in stone or clay, or written on rolls of what we would call paper. History also tells how civilized ways of living spread from Egypt and Mesopotamia to nearby peoples. These in turn made new advances of their own, some of which have directly influenced later ages down to the present. The Israelites, for example, developed the belief in one God instead of many. In short, history tells us how early peoples laid the foundations of what we know today as “civilization.”

The word civilization is used to describe man’s progress in ways of living – producing abundant crops and goods, carrying on trade, developing ideas about government, religion and science, expressing these ideas in language and pictures. Peoples who groped their way toward better living become, as we say, civilized. In study civilizations of other early peoples, we learn that each of these peoples, to be sure, borrowed from others with whom they came in contact, but each developed a distinct civilization or way of life of its own. Their achievements not only affected the world of their own times, but have had an important influence down through history. The civilizations of Greece and Rome, for example, directly affected what we call the Western World Europe and the Americas. The civilizations of China and India, on the other hand, have been particularly important in shaping the lives and history of Asian peoples. Religion furnishes a good example of the influence of early civilizations on our world today. Christianity, which began in ancient Palestine, become the official religion throughout the Roman Empire. Rome in turn passed Christianity on to Europe and it become the dominant religion of the Western World. Both Hinduism and Buddhism which claim millions of followers in Asia today began in early India. We learn more through the story of the Greeks. The modern world owes much to the Greeks for their belief in free government and their achievements in literature and the arts. We learn about the Romans, who excelled in war, government, law and engineering. We take a long look backward to the early civilizations of India and China which were passed on over many centuries to other Asian peoples. Finally, we learn about the Arabs, who not only developed their own civilization, but preserved and passed on many of the accomplishments of ancient peoples.

Great empires developed in India and China as well as in the Mediterranean world. Although many of the beliefs and ways of life under these empires endured, in time most of the empires themselves tended to split apart. What happened in Europe after the Western Roman Empire broke up? At first, life was much more difficult than it had been in Roman times. Gradually, however, the people of Europe developed their own ways of making a living and governing themselves. They revived Greek and Roman ideas and borrowed others from the Arabs. In short, they combined new and old to build a European civilization which exists today. Describing life in Europe in the Middle Ages, after barbarian invasions wrecked the Roman Empire. Most people lived in small farming communities, cut-off from one another. Central governments were much weaker than the local governments of powerful noblemen. Western Europe was united only by the Roman Catholic Church, to which all Christians belonged. The growth of towns and trade in Europe, increasing population and wealth enabled Europeans to undertake the Crusades, a series of wars to reconquer the Holy Land. The resulting contacts with eastern European and Moslem civilizations sparked a revived interest in learning and the arts which spread over western Europe. How did kings in such countries as England and France increase their power? As central governments became stronger, people felt greater loyalty to kings than to local nobles. The growing power of kings led to conflicts with churchmen and a great split in the Roman Catholic Church left many kings stronger than ever. Finally, how did the Europeans use their new strength and knowledge to explore distant lands? Explorers found new routes to China and India and discovered the Americas. By the 1600’s, western Europe had widened its horizons to include many parts of the world.

Kingdoms in Western Europe by the l500’s were undergoing important changes. In several countries kings were asserting their authority over local nobles and bringing order throughout their realms. Towns, which were growing in size and number, encouraged ways of living different from the hemmed-in daily routine of serfs on a manor. There was a new interest in man and his world. This new interest paved the way for discovery of the Americas and renewed contacts with old civilizations in the East. During the next two centuries these same trends continued. At the same time, Europe’s history in the 1500‘s, 1600’s and 1700’s was greatly influenced by struggles between the new king states. These rivalries and wars grew out of the desire of kings to expand their territories or to prevent other king states from becoming too powerful. Those nations which were united under powerful monarchs, like France under Louis XIV, became more prominent. Others which were not united, like Poland, become victims of stronger states. This category explains why the Kingdom of Germany under the Holy Roman Empire remained weak and why Central Europe was plagued by religious and political wars. The story of how France was unified under all powerful monarchs is related and tells how fear of France’s power in Europe and rivalry for colonies between France and Great Britain led to a world wide struggle. For the first time in the study of world history, you will read about Russia, one of today’s leading countries. An account of the growth of Russia from a remote half Asiatic country into a powerful force in European affairs.

Peoples in Western Europe and America Strive for Freedom and National Unity Western Europe. In the earlier category we described the struggles of rival European rulers and states for power and colonies. At the same time, the people in many countries of western Europe were striving for greater opportunities and more freedom. The yearning for freedom in western Europe, which is the theme of this category, brought about an age of revolutions. It also led to the spread of nationalism, that is, the desire of people who have the same background to be united and to govern themselves. Liberty made its earliest gains in England, where two revolutions in the 1600’s clearly established Parliament as supreme over kings. By the late 1600’s also, the Dutch and the Swiss enjoyed more freedom than other peoples on the Continent. Also described are the struggles of peoples in America to control their affairs. When Britain sought to impose stricter regulations, the thirteen British colonies fought for and won independence. Wars which swept Europe in the early 1800’s gave Latin American colonies a chance to break the ties which bound them to their mother countries. In Canada greater freedom was gained without going to war. History relates how Frenchmen abolished special privileges and overthrew their monarchy. Although the desire for orderly government caused the French to accept another absolute ruler, Napoleon, he maintained and extended many reforms of the French Revolution. Through Napoleon’s conquests, French ideas of liberty spread to other European countries. After the overthrow of Napoleon, European kings and statesmen tried to curb nationalism and people’s rights. These attempts to “turn back the clock” were met by widespread revolutionary outbreaks, especially in 1830 and 1848. History tells how both Italy and Germany, divided for centuries, became unified nations.

Science and Industry are changed by the Western World. There have been different kinds of revolutions in history. Revolutions of subjects against all powerful kings, of colonies against mother countries, of divided peoples against foreign rulers. Here we describe other revolutions — in transportation and communication, in industry and agriculture, in man’s knowledge and ways of living. Most of these changes were made possible because scientific knowledge progressed more rapidly in the last 200 years than in all previous recorded history. Since advances in science and industry form a background for events described earlier, we carry on the story through to recent times. The beginnings of science. It tells how pioneer scientists developed scientific methods and discovered important natural laws. The application of scientific principles led to discoveries and inventions which revolutionized ways of living in western Europe and the United States. History tells how revolutionary changes in ways of living brought problems as well as benefits. During the 1800’s, reforms were introduced in Great Britain and the United States to bring about peaceful solutions to such problems. In countries where reforms lagged, discontented people came to believe that only violent uprisings or community ownership could bring about better living conditions. Literature and the other arts not only pictured new ways of living, but called attention to conditions which needed to be improved. History describes scientific progress in the first half of the 1900’s and the more healthful, comfortable and interesting life which has been made possible for most people in the Western World. In our own day the extent of man’s knowledge raises questions of human survival at the same time that it promises better ways of living for all.

Western Imperialism. The Industrial Revolution described earlier had consequences far beyond western Europe and the United States where it made its most rapid progress. The Industrial Revolution led to bitter rivalry between industrial powers for control of sources of raw materials, markets for manufactured articles and places in which to invest profits. Here we describe this rivalry of western imperialism and its effect on several parts of the world up to the outbreak of World War II. Contacts with the Western World took different forms in different places. European powers carved out colonies in Africa. Sometimes the scramble for colonies led nations to the brink of war. In the Far East, European powers penetrated the coastal areas of China and opened up Japan to Western trade and ideas. Unlike China, Japan quickly made far-reaching changes in its industry and armed forces. As a result, in less than a century, Japan became the foremost power in the Far East. Further revealed is a brighter side of colonialism. British settlers brought their ideas and customs to colonies where they settled. In time such former colonies as Canada, Australia and New Zealand became self-governing. Britain also extended varying degrees of self-rule to other colonies. Out of the former British Empire grew the present Commonwealth of Nation. Although Latin American countries retained their independence, economic life in many of them was controlled by outside nations. Indeed, until recently, most Latin American countries felt that the United States threatened their independence. Finally, Western imperialism, taking advantage of Turkey’s weakness, made gains within the Moslem world, but in the Moslem world, as elsewhere, outside control aroused national feelings and movements for independence.

The twentieth century saw the two most destructive wars in history. The wars came about through the clash of the great forces described in previous units –nationalism, the growth of science and industry and rivalry for power and empire. Since these forces were felt round the world, the conflicts they caused became “world wars.” So great was the destruction and loss of life that world peace became the chief necessity of our time and new world organizations were formed to achieve this goal. We learn how the rivalry between European powers finally exploded in World War II. Under the strain of this exhausting war, old empires toppled and subject peoples won the right to govern themselves. In Russia, however, affairs took a different turn. We describe how the Russian people, restless under the oppressive rule of the czars and weary of war, revolted in 1917, but power soon was seized by Communists who set up a ruthless dictatorship. Under Communist rule, the needs and rights of the Russian people were sacrificed to build up the industrial and military power of the state. During the 1920’s and 1930’s dictators also took over Italy and Germany. These dictators, Mussolini and Hitler, sought more land and power in a series of aggressions against other countries. Democratic peoples everywhere were alarmed at the way the dictators abused the rights of individuals and nations, but the democracies were reluctant to risk war by taking a firm stand against the dictators. Aggressions continued and World War II broke out. Reckless attacks by Germany and Japan finally brought together a powerful opposing alliance, which included Britain, the United States and Russia. These “United Nations” won the war and started on the difficult task of building a permanent peace.

New Challenges were to be faced as the world changed. The closing of a story are usually those in which the author causes all things to fall into place. Puzzling questions are answered when villains are brought to justice and the good people receive the recognition due them. At long last the hero and his girl are married and they live happily ever after. We wish that we could provide an equally neat and happy ending. A number of encouraging events are described which tells how colonial peoples achieved independence after World War II and set about improving ways of living. The conflicts between new nations, the rise of anti-Western feeling and crises which have endangered world peace. Finally, how new nations have developed in Africa with dramatic speed and some of the problems these nations must solve. There is no simple happy ending. Nations which co-operated to win World War II became rivals afterwards. As a result, ours became a divided world. The United States and its allies regard Soviet Russia and Communist China with suspicion and are determined to prevent further Communist expansion. Co-operation among the free world nations, however, is less close than in the 1950’s and a growing number of nations are uncommitted. To strike a happier note, aid from the United States and other sources and increasing economic co-operation have enabled nations in western Europe to surpass pre-war production levels. Progress in science, invention and greatly increased production carry the promise of a longer and better life for people everywhere. The very achievements which spell human happiness also make possible a war of total destruction.