Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for History for University

I. Causes of World War I

Major Factors Leading to the War

• Militarism: The build-up of military forces by nations to safeguard their interests and resources.
• Imperialism: The expansion of larger nations by taking over smaller nations and their territories.
• Nationalism: Extreme pride in one's country, often at the expense of international cooperation.
• Entangling Alliances: A complex web of treaties and agreements that obligated nations to support each other in times of war, drawing multiple countries into the conflict.

II. The U.S. Before World War I

Events Leading to U.S. Involvement

• The Lusitania Incident: The sinking of a British passenger ship with American citizens on board by a German U-boat, sparking anti-German sentiment in the U.S.
• The Zimmerman

Roots of Revolution: Spain's Decline and Napoleonic Influence

Among the causes of the revolutionary crisis that matured from 1808 to 1810, the decline of Spain under the inept King Charles IV was certainly a major one. In Europe, Napoleon's expansion of French power significantly impacted Spain, leading to its effective satellite status. In 1807, French troops moved through Spain to invade Portugal.

By early 1810, French victory seemed inevitable. The juntas previously in charge of Spain dissolved and named the Cortes as their ruler. Confident that Napoleon's invincible armies would crush all opposition, some Creole leaders prepared to seize power. The imminent fall of Cadiz then ignited a conflict between patriots and royalists.

Simón Bolívar

2. CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS:

CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: Social scientist Samuel L. Huntington published in 1993 one of the most influential articles in the last decade: "The Clash of Civilizations". He tries to define a model that explains international conflict. He predicted what is happening today. The heart of the thesis is: now that the Cold War is over, conflicts will be about civilizations. // Basically what he said was that after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union and so the end of the Cold War, what is going to happen now? He was answering Fukuyama's theory that sustained that the West won and it was the end of historical conflict and that now we were going to live in a peaceful world. // But Huntington believes it's not going...

Post-WWII Diplomacy and the United Nations

In 1943, the Tehran Conference took place. In February 1945, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference to decide the post-war world. They determined that Germany would be divided into four occupation zones, free elections would be held in Eastern Europe, and they also discussed the situation in Japan.

In April 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco. The organization is composed of:

• The General Assembly: Including every country in the world.
• The Security Council: Composed of 10 elected countries and 5 permanent members (USA, USSR, UK, France, and China) who all hold the power of veto.
• The International Court of Justice, UN commissions, and the Secretariat.

The

Unification of Italy and Germany

(Pag 40)

After the revolutions of 1848, these unification processes were started. They were supported by the bourgeoisie and ideologically by liberalism and nationalism.

Italian Unification

The Italian peninsula was divided in seven different states. Besides, since 1815 Austria controlled the policy in Italy. However, Piedmont (the Kingdom of Sardinia), a northern kingdom with a liberal system, wanted to unify the whole of Italy into one state.

In 1859, Cavour, the Prime Minister of Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy (the king) started the war against Austria. Piedmont was allied with France (Napoleon III). Austria was defeated and Lombardy passed to Piedmont.

In 1860, Garibaldi, a revolutionary leader, took...

Primo de Rivera's Dictatorship

• In the first phase of the dictatorship (1923-1925), the government was in the hands of a military directory. This directory suspended the constitution of 1876, dissolved the Cortes, forbade political parties, repressed the labor movement and nationalism, and defeated the Rif rebellion after the Alhucemas landing.
• In the second phase (1925-1930), Primo de Rivera formed a Civil Directory. This government promoted irrigated agriculture and industry and boosted the construction of roads and the improvement of railways. However, facing the repercussions of the 1929 crisis, rising unemployment, the labor movement, the revival of nationalism, and opposition from intellectuals, Primo de Rivera resigned in 1930.

An attempt...

France's Industrial Development

France's industrialization model was more anomalous than that of the United Kingdom and other early industrialized countries, yet its outcome was no worse in terms of human welfare.

Key Determinants of French Economic Growth

• Low Population Growth Rate: Lower than that of the UK, Germany, Belgium, or the U.S.
• Scarce Coal Resources: Coal resources were less abundant and more expensive to operate compared to the UK, Germany, Belgium, or the U.S.
• Technological Advancement: Significant technological advancements in various fields, with French engineers, scientists, inventors, and innovators leading industries such as:
  • Engineering: Turbines and electricity
  • Steel: The open-hearth furnace process
  • Materials: Aluminum
  • Transportation:

Church of La Vera Cruz, Segovia (12th Century)

• Centralized scheme floorplan
• Based on Dome of the Rock & Holy Sepulchre
• Central edicule
• Three apses head
• Quadrilateral bell tower
• Twelve-sided plan
• Two floors
• Buttresses
• Ribbed vault & Caliphal dome

Holy Sepulchre, Torres del Rio, Navarra (12th Century)

• C Templarios
• Octagonal plan
• Tower to get to the lantern
• Mudejar precedents
• Arabic star-shaped dome
• Apse in East
• Archivolts
• Parallel ribs
• Stone dome
• Pointed/midpoint arches

Templarios de Eunate Church, Navarra (12th Century)

• External cloister enclosing the Church
• East apse
• Tower with spiral stairs
• Ribs in dome pass through center
• Octagonal plan
• Dome starts in columns
• Midpoint arch

Cathedrals of St. James (11th Century)

• Central nave with barrel vaults
• Arches and transversal

The Rise of Great River Civilizations

In ancient times, rivers were the lifelines upon which humans depended. China, Egypt, Babylon, and India all originated from great river basins, belonging to the great river civilizations. Mesopotamia is the ancient Greek name for the land of the two rivers, meaning “the place between the rivers.” These two rivers refer to the Euphrates and Tigris. The ancient civilization that was created and developed on these plains is called the Mesopotamian civilization.

The Legacy of Mesopotamia

As early as 3200 BC, the Sumerians created cuneiform writing, which is the earliest text in the world. In mathematics, the ancient Babylonians were computational scientists with high skills. Regarding architecture, many majestic...