RIGHTS & SOCIAL PROTESTS

RIGHTS &
SOCIAL
PROTESTS
Social Protest – It is a form of political expression that seeks to bring about social or
political change by influencing the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the public or
the policies of an organization or institution.
​
Knowledge + Understanding -> Bring about a greater change -> Political or Social
​
Forms of Protest:
●​ Public Display
○​ Self-immolation[1]
○​ Flash mobs
○​ Signage
○​ Sit-ins
●​ Demonstrations
○​ Shouting
○​ Silence and stillness
○​ Marches
●​ Civil Disobedience
○​ Hunger strikes
○​ Sabotage (right or wrong? Morally?)
●​ Boycotts
●​ Lobbying
 ○​ Humor
○​ Propaganda
●​ Online activities
●​ Petitions
​
[1] Setting fire to oneself as a final act of protest
​

Internet Activism – The use of electronic communication technologies such as social

media, e-mail and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more
effective communication by citizen movements
Internet activism is AKA - “Digital Activism Campaign”
​
Benefits of Internet Activism:
1.​ Fast
2.​ Well-coordinated
3.​ Reaches large masses of people
​
Internet Activism used for?
●​ Fundraising – Gathering voluntary contributions of resources
●​ Community building – Creating a sense of community amongst individuals with
common interest
●​ Lobbying – Influence legislators and officials to influence decision making
●​ Organizing – Proper organization of tasks, activities, resources to achieve goals
​
***Protests usually represent the collective interest and issues of activist groups, social
movements or coalitions that challenge mainstream institutions (e.g. the government)
​
Communication is a central element in the success of a protest group as it facilitates the
following:

Activism is necessary for change (It allows the disapproval of the people to be heard)

​
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.
He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it” ~ Martin
Luther King Jr.[1]

[1] An American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible
spokesperson of the civil rights movement in America (1929-1968)

I Have a Dream – Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

●​ 28th August, 1963 @ Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

●​ 24 million people for a ‘March for Jobs and Freedom’ to urge congress and
President John F. Kennedy to pass a national civil rights bill
●​ International cooperation + social equality
●​ Most memorable speech in US history
●​ Rhetoric and repetition (important literary devices used)

King was inspired by:

●​ Mahatma Gandhi
●​ Henry David Thoreau
●​ Bayard Rustin
●​ Leo Tolstoy
●​ Hosea Williams
●​ Benjamin Mays
●​ Howard Thurman
●​ Theodore Parker

STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL PROTEST

 1.​ Define the change you want to see – Identify the problem and propose a
solution to it; revolution begins with a clear vision
2.​ Shift the spectrum of allies – (Core -> Neutral -> Opposition) To win, you need
to persuade them to join your cause, to show that you’re better than the
opposition
3.​ Identify the pillars of power – Allies which can help implement your change;
Police, media, education system, government etc.
4.​ Seek to attract, not to overpower – Anger + Hope -> Power; Keep your support
happy (Gandhi & the salt march for salt tax laws)
5.​ Have a plan to survive victory – Get your victory; work hard to implement the
change you saw; MOST IMPORTANT

HUMAN RIGHTS

What are Human Rights?

“Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of
residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language or any other status”
​
●​ All UN countries agree on adhering to these rights
●​ Human rights must be fulfilled by all nations, regions and states
●​ Human rights can be guaranteed by implementing laws
●​ These rights are indivisible and may be political or civil rights
●​ Fundamental discipline of non-discrimination
●​ Basically:
○​ Right to life
○​ Equality before law
○​ Freedom of Expression
○​ Economic rights
○​ Social rights
○​ Cultural rights

Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948)

●​ UN General Assembly in Paris
●​ 10th December 1948
●​ Palestine, Taiwan, and Kosovo not part of UN
●​ 30 articles (Human Rights)

Vienna World Conference on Human Rights (1993)

●​ 14-25th June, 1993
●​ 171 states recognized and acted on agreement of this conference
●​ A plan for the international community for strengthening human rights around the
world
●​ Constructed on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

How have Human rights changed today’s world?

●​ Developed countries take stand for human rights
●​ Children are given rights (education, labor, marriage)
●​ Provided citizens basic necessities of life
●​ Consequences for violation of rights
●​ Women’s rights (work, vote identity

‘In less developed countries, human rights violations are common’

Examples:
●​ Oppression of women
●​ Kashmir Issue
 ●​ Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar
●​ Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (USA – refer to war on terror)
●​ Child labor/torture

How does awareness of rights change lives?

1.​ Taking a stand against issues
2.​ Creating awareness
3.​ Imposition of sanctions
4.​ International pressure

Article 11 ‘Rights to protest and freedom of association’ -> Peaceful protests should be
conducted
●​ Protests in Kashmir
●​ Aung San Sukyi to international court of justice
●​ Civil Rights movement, USA
●​ Nelson Mandela and Apartheid movement

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

1.​ Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
2.​ Achieve Universal Primary Education
3.​ Promote gender equality and empower women
4.​ Reduce child mortality
5.​ Improve maternal health
6.​ Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
7.​ Ensure environmental sustainability
8.​ Develop a global partnership for development

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

1.​ Equality
2.​ Freedom from discrimination
3.​ Life, liberty and personal security
4.​ Freedom from slavery
5.​ Freedom from torture and degrading treatment
6.​ Right to recognition as a person before law
7.​ Equality before law
8.​ Remedy by competent tribunal
9.​ Freedom from arbitrary arrest/exile
10.​Fair public hearing
11.​Considered innocent until proven guilty
12.​Freedom from interference with privacy, family, homes, correspondence
13.​Free movement in/out of country
14.​Asylum in other countries from persecution
15.​Nationality, freedom to change it
16.​Marriage and family
17.​Ownership of property
18.​Freedom of belief and opinion
19.​Freedom of opinion and association
20.​Peaceful assembly and association
21.​Participate in government and free elections
22.​Social security
23.​Desirable work and joining of trade unions
24.​Rest and Leisure
25.​Adequate living standard
26.​Education
27.​Participate in cultural life of community
28.​Social order
29.​Community duties essential to free and full development
30.​Freedom from state or personal interference in above rights
Maori Protest Movement

A broad indigenous rights movement in New Zealand, it has existed since Europeans
first colonized New Zealand.

**Maori Protest movement is part of a broader Maori Renaissance

Maori Affairs Amendment Act of 1967

“Maori land ‘economic’ by encouraging transfer to a Pakeha[1] system of land

ownership; this generally allowed greater interference in Maori landholding, seen widely
as Pakeha land grab; strong opposition, yet the amendment was passed.

●​ This Act was a catalyst for the Maori Protest movement

●​ Wider civil rights movement globally in 1960s

Modern form of the movement emerged in the 1970s. Focused on:

●​ Treaty of Waitangi
●​ Maori land rights
 ●​ Maori language and culture
●​ Racism

Successes of the movement:

●​ Waitangi Tribunal establishment

●​ Return of some Maori land
●​ Maori made an official language of New Zealand

By fighting, protesting, court cases, deputations to British monarchs and British/New

Zealand governments, passive resistance, and boycotts, the Maori tried to achieve a
separate Maori political system.

Maori Women’s Welfare League

New Zealand Maori Council

[1] Maori were indigenous New Zealanders, Pakeha are the European settlers

Indian Caste System

●​ Brahmins (Priests
●​ Kshatriyas (Warriors and rulers)
●​ Vaisyas (Skilled craftsmen)
●​ Sudras (Unskilled workers)
●​ Pariahs (Untouchables)

1932 – Gandhi went on a fast to protest against the segregation of the untouchables in
the electoral arrangement planned for the new Indian constitution[1]

●​ There was a spontaneous upsurge of feelings after this act, leading to temples,
wells and public places being open to all untouchables
A number of Hindu leaders met with representatives of untouchables, and an electoral
alternative arrangement was agreed upon and approved by the British government.

HARIJAN SEKH SANGH – Combat ‘untouchability’ (organization)

​ Started a newspaper ‘HARIJAN’

1933 (9 months) – Gandhi went on a country wide tour which covered 12,500 miles, to
help break down barriers between untouchables and the rest of the Hindu community.

1938 – Removal of civil Disabilities Act (Passed by Madras Legislature, it provided that
no Harijan[2] would be disabled from any social or public amenity)

GOOD EDUCATION FOR HARIJANS[3] -> YOUTH CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS

REGARDING IT

Caste is a social custom; all great preachers have tried to break it.

[1] Critics described this as a form of coercion, political blackmail

[2] Harijan – Children of God (name of Pariahs by Gandhi)

[3] Lead to investment in schooling

WARFARE & PEACEKEEPING
WARFARE & PEACEKEEPING
What is a revolution?
​
●​ A transformative event which attempts to change a nation, region, society or
sometimes the world
●​ Different revolutions have different aims and motives
○​ American Revolution (overthrow and replace political power)
○​ Russian and Chinese revolutions (radical social and economic change;
regime of communism)
●​ Revolutions are fast moving
●​ Driven by people/groups inspired by hope; idealism and dreams of a better
society
●​ Each revolution is unique to its time, location and condition
***Confrontation, conflict, disruption and division – can lead to war, violence, and
human suffering
​
Phases of a revolution
1.​ Long term conditions of revolutions
1.​ Political, economic, or social grievances and dissatisfaction
2.​ Dissatisfaction amongst masses
3.​ Revolutionary ideas start circulating
2.​ Short term causes of revolutions
1.​ Every revolution is triggered by a short term cause
2.​ This event/crisis highlights existing grievances/conditions/sufferings
3.​ Leads to more urgent demand for reform/action
4.​ E.g. disastrous military wars/defeats, passing unpopular laws, government
showing resistance to reform, rapidly deteriorating economic conditions,
act of violence against people
3.​ Ideology
1.​ Developed, adapted and articulated by important thinkers and writers
 2.​ Promote revolution, explain objectives and justify actions
4.​ Flashpoints
1.​ Critical moments where there is direct confrontation of revolutionaries
and forces of old regime
2.​ Challenge power and authority, acceleration in pace of revolution
5.​ Armed Struggle
1.​ By nature revolutions are violent
2.​ Revolutionaries prepare militias or armies for own protection/
overthrowing opposition
3.​ Old regimes mobilize armies to defend themselves
4.​ Eventually forces will clash
Stages of the industrial revolution
6.​ Grab for Power
1.​ How easy/difficult the success of a revolution is depends on the political
and military power of the old regime
7.​ Consolidation and confrontation
1.​ After new regime is in power, it must fight off the existing threat
2.​ Must rebuild society
3.​ Earn the support of people
4.​ Solutions for the things that caused the revolution to begin with
8.​ Division
1.​ New regime might become divided over aims and methods of rebuilding
society
2.​ Revolutions are better at destruction than construction
9.​ Radicalization
1.​ Radical political leadership saying revolution fails to meet objectives (to
stop dangers like civil war, counter-revolutionaries, or foreign threats)
2.​ Extreme measures might be taken (war, terror, price control)
10.​Moderation
1.​ When radical phase ends, new regime becomes more moderate
2.​ Radical methods/policies are abandoned
3.​ Restoration of control, order, stability and prosperity
​
Autocracy – A system of governance by one person with absolute power
Plutocracy – A state or society governed by the wealthy
​
Why does civil resistance work?
●​ Civil and non-violent resistance prevents fewer obstacles to moral and
physical involvement and commitment
●​ Higher levels of participation contributes to enhanced resilience
 ●​ Leads to more peaceful democracies which are less likely to lead to
civil war

6 Forms of Revolution – by Mark Katz

1.​ Rural revolution
2.​ Urban Revolution
3.​ Coup d’etat (e.g. Egypt 1952)
4.​ Revolution from above (Mao’s great leap forward of 1958)
5.​ Revolution from within (allied invasions of Italy 1944, and Germany 1945)
6.​ Revolution by Osmosis (Gradual Islamization of several countries)
​
Example:
Russian Revolution (1917)
●​ Violent revolution marked the end of the Romonov dynasty and imperial rule in
Russia
●​ The Bolsheviks, led by leftist Vladmir Lenin, seized power and destroyed the
traditional czarist rule’
○​ Bolsheviks would later become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
●​ In the early 1900s, Russia was a very impoverished country in Europe, with
enormous peasantry and growing minority of poor industrial workers
○​ Russia practiced serfdom
■​ Serfdom: the state of being a serf or feudal laborer.​
●​ When Russia went through the industrial revolution in the
late nineteenth century, it brought about great social and
political change
●​ Population boom + harsh growing seasons + series of costly
wars – led to frequent food shortages
●​ Bloody Sunday Massacre of 1905 led to Russian Revolution of
1905
●​ WWI (1914) caused disastrous effects on Russia, economy
was disrupted
●​ The February Revolution overthrew Nicholas II and put the
Durma in power; formed liberal programs of rights
●​ In November, Bolsheviks performed a bloodless coup d’etat
against Durma’s provisional government
●​ Lenin became the dictator of the world’s first communist
state
●​ After the Russian Civil war in 1923, Lenin’s Red Army created the Soviet
Union/USSR
Urban Revolution
***Due to cumulative growth of technology and increasing availability of food surplus as
capital
In anthropology and archaeology, the processes by which agricultural village societies
developed into socially, economically and politically complex urban societies

10 formal criteria to indicate development

●​ Increased settlement size
●​ Concentration of wealth
●​ Large scale public works
●​ Writing
●​ Representational art
●​ Knowledge of science and engineering
●​ Foreign trade
●​ Full time specialists in non-subsistence activities
●​ Class-stratified society
●​ Political organization based on residence

China's Urban Revolution Project

Digital Revolution
●​ Advancements of technology from analog electronic and mechanical devices to
digital technology available today
●​ Started during 1980s and is ongoing
●​ The development and advancement of digital technologies started with the
fundamental idea of the Internet
●​ Changed the ways in which humans communicate
●​ 19477 invention of transistor; starting point for digital technology to come
●​ Made globalization possible

Example:
Pink Tide
(Turn towards left wing in Latin America for two decades)
●​ Late 1990s and 2000s in Latin America
●​ Self-proclaimed socialist came to power (e.g. Nicaragua, Venezuela, Uruguay)
●​ Implemented radically progressive political agendas
○​ Increased social spending
○​ Nationalization of important industries
○​ Renegotiate trade deals
○​ Rewriting of constitutions
●​ Many leftist governments by 2010
 ●​ In 2012, President Fernando Lugo (leftist) of Paraguay was impeached, replaced
by right-wing Partido Colorado
●​ In 2015, Mauricio Macri (right wing) was elected democratically as President of
Argentina
●​ In 2016 President of Brazil was impeached and succeeded by a conservative
●​ Leftist in Venezuela holds very little power as President
●​ Return of conservative rule in Brazil and Argentina have has
widespread effects across the region (being the largest economies
of Latin America)

What is war?
It is a contention carried on by force of arms between sovereign
states or communities having in this regard the right of states
Types of war:
●​ Hegemonic: Global war, over control of the entire world
●​ Total: Waged by one state to conquer and occupy another
●​ Limited: Includes military actions to gain some objective short of
surrender and occupation
●​ Civil: Between factions within a state trying to create or prevent
a new government
●​ Guerilla: Tactics and sabotage to indirectly harass and punish
the enemy army

What makes war and terrorism different?

●​ Proper authority and public declaration
●​ Causes and intentions
●​ Probability of success
●​ Proportionality
●​ Last resort
●​ War is governed by laws

Peace – The absence of war and violence whilst having the ability to manage conflict
constructively, as an important opportunity for change and increased understanding

Example:
Arab springs
Tunisia
●​ Started in 2011 after vegetable cart owner committed self-immolation
●​ No ideology behind it
●​ Police was corrupt
 ●​ Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and regime were told to step down
●​ President fled after a month of protests
●​ Momentum set off uprising across the Middle East
Egypt
●​ Government overthrown on Feb 11th 2011
●​ President Hosni Mubarak steps down, faces charges of killing unarmed protester
●​ Elections held in November 2011
●​ Protests continue in Tahrir Square
●​ Mubarak was put in power by America, since 1980s, key ally of the West
●​ Military did not intervene (didn’t suppress revolts in Cairo)
Libya
●​ Anti-government protests begin in Feb 2011
●​ Leads to civil war between opposition forces and Gadhafi loyalists
●​ People started protesting against Gadhafi (was in power for an extremely long
time) after resignation of Mubarak (Egypt)
●​ Gadhafi was murder in the same year
●​ Tripoli was captured, government overthrown in August
●​ Rebel terrorist broke down the government
●​ Led to weak government (currently weak government)
Syria
●​ Protests on going since January 2011
●​ Continuing clashes between army and protesters
●​ Bashor al Assad (alawi) President; father was also ruler previously [extremely
repressive rule],
●​ Syria holds key geo-politcal situation
●​ Civil war
Yemen
●​ Inspired by Tunisia
●​ Clash between police and government vs. people
●​ Army was split into 2 camps (Al Qaida took advantage and occupied areas in
South Yemen)
●​ Saudi Arabia intervened, stopped civil war in Yemen
●​ President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed power transfer agreement giving his power
to vice President al-Hadi
Bahrain
●​ People were inspired after Egypt
●​ Ruling Sunni minority and mass Shia population
●​ Intolerance towards Shiites (re-energized sectarianism)
●​ Saudi-Arabia intervened but failed to do much
●​ Tension between both sects still remains
*Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco and Oman also part of Arab Springs
[Link]

War on terrorism
●​ Also known as the Global war (military campaign launched by Bush
Administration)
●​ American led global counter-terrorism campaign launched in response to 9/11
●​ Comparable to the cold war (in terms of scope, expenditure, and international
relations)
●​ Intended to represent a new phase in global politics relations
●​ Important consequences for security, human rights, international law, cooperation
and governance
●​ Major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, covert operations in Yemen and elsewhere
●​ Major increase in military spending and large scale military assistance programs
for cooperative regimes
●​ Increased funding of American intelligence agencies
○​ Capturing terrorist suspects
○​ Trading and intercepting terrorist finance
●​ Public diplomacy campaign to counter anti-Americanism in the Middle East
○​ New anti-terrorism legislation in the US
○​ New security institutions
○​ Preventative detainment of suspects
○​ Surveillance and intelligence gathering programs
○​ Strengthening of emergency response procedures
○​ Increased security measures generally
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●​ Negative impacts were far more than any positive impacts
●​ Osama Bin Laden killed
●​ By time of George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004
○​ In Iraq, US forces overthrew Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003
■​ Underestimated difficulties of building a functioning government
from scratch
■​ Neglected to consider the sectarian tensions
○​ By late 2004, it was apparent Iraq was sinking into chaos and civil war
●​ In 2006, US faced full blown insurgency in Afghanistan led by a reconstituted
Taliban
●​ Bush administration was criticized for actions considered immoral and illegal
○​ Detention of accused enemy combatants without trial at Guantanamo Bay
○​ Use of torture against detainees to extract intelligence
○​ Unmanned combat drones to kill enemies in areas far from Afghanistan or
Iraq
●​ By the end of Bush’s presidency, an extremely negative opinion of him was
formed
○​ Helped Barack Obama win election of 2008
■​ Under him, both wars were gradually wound down
Cold War (stopping spread of communist ideologies globally)
●​ After WWII, USA and the Soviet Union (USSR) were the world’s superpowers
●​ They held different ideologies about economies and government (communism
vs. capitalism)
●​ Fought a war of ideas (UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE)
●​ Post-war expansion of USSR into Eastern Europe fueled American fears of
Russia ruling the world
●​ American’s believed best defense against USSR was ‘containment’ (containment
of Russian expansive tendencies)
○​ Arms Race in 1950s (acquire atomic weaponry)
■​ H-bomb/atom bomb testing caused radioactive elements in the
atmosphere
○​ Race to Space
■​ Sputnik in 1957 was the world’s first artificial satellite (Russia)
■​ Creation of NASA (USA)
■​ First man in space in 1961 (Russia)
■​ Neil Armstrong on the moon (USA)
 ○​ The red scare in America – 1947 onwards (a promotion of wide spread
fear by a society or state about a potential rise of communism, anarchism
or radical leftism)
●​ First military action: USSR backed North Korea (communist) invaded South
Korea (capitalist) [1950-1953]
○​ America supported South Korea, eventually stalemate; ended in 1953
●​ Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis 1961 (real communist threat lay in unstable
postcolonial ‘third world’ countries according to USA)
●​ 10 years of military action by USA in Vietnam against communist regime
●​ Nixon was diplomatic, tried to fix relationships with Russia
●​ Reagan believed communism was a threat, but at that point the USSR was
already disintegrating causing the power in Eastern Europe to finish.
●​ The end of the cold war was marked by the falling of the Berlin War in 1981
●​ USSR ended in 1991

Communism in China (People’s Republic of China)

*Aftermath of civil war between Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Nationalist
Party of China immediately after WWII
●​ CPC was formed in 1921, Mao Zedong in control of CPC in 1927
●​ Mao led a revolution in China and communist party obtained control in 1947.
●​ Followed example of Soviet Model of development through heavy industry with
surpluses extracted from peasants
●​ In the 1950s, Mao split from traditional ‘Marxism-Leninism’ and developed
Maoism (Chinese interpretation of communism)
○​ Mao was upset with the ‘cold war’ situation and capitalism vs. communism
●​ Great Leap forward (social and economic 5 year plan targeting industry and
agriculture)
○​ Considered a failure, many people starved to death
●​ Cultural Revolution (reassert authority over government, preserve ‘true’
communist ideology [socio0political movement])
○​ Mao overthrew enemies and millions were killed or prosecuted
●​ Deng Xiaoping shifted ideals of China to form ‘market socialism’
○​ Changes in economic system, developing Chinese socialism
○​ ‘Four modernizations’ – Agriculture, industry, science and technology,
military
○​ Deng turned China into the economic world power that it is today
○​ Opened China to the outside world and industrialized successfully
●​ Tiananmen Square Massacre, military force against civilians (1989)
○​ Students protesting for individual freedoms
 ○​ Deng officially resigned in 1989, after international condemnation for his
government
●​ Current Constitution created in 1982, continually revised
○​ Civil rights
○​ Free to speech, press
○​ Free worship
○​ Right to trial
○​ Right to own private property
●​ Computer usage exploded in China
○​ Ethics of technology has become increasingly prominent
■​ Privacy, censorship, public ownership and work ethic – serious
ethical issues

Colonialism and Power in Congo

●​ Imperialized by Belgium (King Leopold II) in 1884
○​ King Leopold II was disappointed with inheritance of Belgium (small
country)(He believed overseas colonies were key to a country’s greatness)
○​ Congo was rich in resources; minerals, copper, ivory, rubber, network of
waterways
○​ 400 treaties signed by African chiefs giving land away to King Leopold
○​ Officially placed under Leopold at Berlin conference of 1884
■​ Leopold was given Congo under the agreement that he would
being the people there into the modern world; Leopold ignored this
and brutally governed Congo
●​ Personal fortune off of Congo’s ivory
●​ Forced labor by locals
●​ Huge profit from rubber for projects in Belgium
●​ Paid off Belgian debt by Congo’s forced labor
●​ Some money was used to build schools, hospitals, railroads in Congo
●​ Belgian’s Roman Catholic Church tried to take over the people of Congo’s
religious views and teachings
●​ Leopold’s mistreating of Africans led to critical human rights movements
●​ Belgian government eventually had to take Congo away from Leopold
○​ Millions of deaths caused by Leopold resulted in his loss of power
■​ Mistreatment of Africans after ‘rubber boom’ (forced labor)
■​ Women and children held captive until rubber made
■​ Unrealistic expectations of rubber quotas, if not met, limbs would be
cut off
■​ Leopold forced to give Congo to Belgian State in 1908 (renamed
Belgian Congo)
 ■​ Belgian government was better than Leopold but was harsh
at times
●​ In 1950s people of Congo fought for independence (Set up political parties,
demanded self-rule)
●​ On June 30th, 1960 Congo gained independence and became a free nation
●​ Now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo
●​ A LOT OF INSTABILITY AFTER INDEPENDENCE
○​ UN helped govern the state for 2 years after failure of government

There’s a really great Crash course video on Power in Congo

[Link]
COLD WAR
 SUPERPOWERS, EMPIRES, &
SUPRA-NATIONAL ALLIANCES &
ORGANIZATIONS
Colonialism – The practice of acquiring full/partial control over another country,
occupying it with settlers and economically exploiting it

Imperialism – A policy of extending a country’s power through colonization, use of

military force or other means

Power – The capacity/ability to direct or influence the behaviors of others or the course
of events

Balance of power – A state of stability between competing forces, alliances formed to

prevent any one entity from becoming too strong

Mercantilism – Belief in the benefits of profitable trading

​

​Balance of Power
●​ The posture and policy of a nation or group of nations protecting itself against
another nation or group of nations by meeting its power against the power of the
other side
●​ States can pursue a policy of balance of power:
○​ Increasing their own power (armaments race or competitive acquisition of
territory)
 ○​ Policy of alliances (currently applied, trade and globalization more
important)
●​ Term used to denote the power relationships in the European state system from
the end of the Napoleonic Wars to World War I
○​ In European Balance of Power, Great Britain played the role of ‘balancer’
or ‘holder of balance’. It was not permanently identified with the policies of
any European nation, and it would throw its weight at one time on one
side, at another time on one side, guided largely by one consideration –
maintenance of balance itself
●​ Balance of power from the early 20th century onward underwent drastic changes
and destroyed the European power structure as it existed since the end of the
Middle Ages. Prior, the political world was composed of many separate and
independent balance of power systems, e.g., European, American, Chinese and
Indian. WWI and its political alignments triggered a process that eventually
culminated in the integration of most of the world’s nations into a single balance
of power system.
●​ Bipolar balance of power – Democratic West vs. Communist East

Mercantilism (1500s-1700s)
●​ Favorable balance of trade (import < export)
●​ Colonies would help mother countries in mercantilism
○​ Raw materials and manufactured goods
●​ European countries viewed wealth as being ‘zero-sum’
○​ ZERO-SUM – Old ideology: must lose the equal amount gained
○​ POSITIVE-SUM – New ideology: Both sides can gain and trade
●​ Government has control over foreign trade
●​ Mercantilism was eventually replaced by capitalism

Holy Roman Empire

●​ The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western Europe (800 AD – 1806
AD)
●​ Initially known as Empire of the West
●​ Holy Roman Empire title was adopted in the 13th century
○​ Fredrik-I coined the term HRE
●​ Principal area was always that of German states (over time the borders shifted
greatly)
●​ All German States had individual kings but looked to the ‘Holy Roman King’
●​ After collapse in 1806 AD, Kingdom of Prussia, and Austria, as well as other
empires were formed
●​ Feudalism formed a hierarchy
 ○​ Emperor <- King <- Duke <- Count <- Baron <- Knight
●​ Charlemagne -> Otto
●​ People were not loyal to the king, but to their own feudal lords
○​ These lords got more power, and started becoming more like countries
○​ These lords decided to vote for the HRE leader
○​ Due to CORRUPTION family of Hapsburg kept winning
●​ 30 year war was ended by Treaty of Westphalia, HRE ended, and countries are
formed (area by different feudal lords; mentioned earlier)
●​ Church vs. State
●​ Essentially Church was ruling HRE (the Holy Roman Church)
●​ Bishop of Rome crowned himself Pope (Got immense power)
○​ Monopolized literature (changes to the bible)
■​ By doing this, any power given to the people would give more
power to the Pope
○​ Charlemagne + Pope (military + social power) State + Church
●​ Legal System invented
●​ Catholicism became very important during this time period

World War I (1914-1918)

Dates from 1879-1914
●​ 1879 – Dual Alliance (Germany + Austro Hungary)
●​ 1881 – Austro-Serbian Alliance (Didn’t want Russia to take control of Serbia)
●​ 1882 – Triple Alliance (Germany + Austro Hungary + Italy)
●​ 1907 – Triple Entente (Britain + France + Russia) (no peace treaty)
●​ 1908 – Austro Hungary forcefully takes over Bosniq
●​ July 29th, 1914 - Garvilo Princip of the Black Hand (Serbian militant group) kills
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro Hungary
○​ Hungary gives Serbia 24 hours to surrender Princip (and publicly execute
him) or claim that they have caused the assassination. Threatens to
declare war on Serbia
○​ Serbia does nothing
○​ Garvilo Princip is not hanged, given life sentence
●​ Austro-Hungary at war with Serbia
●​ Russia supports Serbia, at war with Austro-Hungary AND Germany (since
Germany was an ally)
○​ This leads to Germany declaring war on France (Ally of Russia)
○​ UK sides with France (alliance)
○​ Ottoman Empire joins Germany

CAUSES OF WWI
 ●​ Nationalism (After French Revolution)
●​ Economic Rivalry (France/Germany/Britain)
●​ Military Expansion
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A FEW FACTORS IN WWI
Imperialism – Africa and South Asia
Militarism – Military Centric (Britain and Germany had a DAMNED GOOD navy, part of
the economy)
Nationalism – Bosnians wanted to be part of Serbia, not Austro-Hungary

*Machine Gun

*Trench Warfare

*Chlorine/phosgene gas

*Tanks

*Radios and telephone

*Planes

*U-boats

*Zeppelin airships
1918 – Ceasefire agreement (Allied Force + Germany)
World War II (1939-1945)
●​ continuation of WWI
●​ Axis and Allies
●​ Locarno Pact
●​ Kellog Briand Pact
○​ 60 powers for peace
■​ So much peace, not well prepared for WWII
■​ Easier for Hitler

Asia for Asiatics

●​ Aim: Remove colonial powers
○​ But Japan wants to colonize these areas (Already in mainland China)

USA – Neutrality Acts, Land lease, stop spread of communism

Britain & France – Let Hitler expand, 1939 declare WWII

Nazi-Soviet Pact – Territory Pact with Germany and USSR

●​ This shocked allies (No ally on East of Germany???, oh shit)
●​ Russian Revolution 1917
●​ Communist Stalin, received US Aid and eventually joined Allies

GERMANY – POST WW1

Treaty of Versailles (TOV) led to hyperinflation (printing more money than they have)
Weimar Period – First free elections in Germany
*** Increased gap in classes (Lower, Middle, Rich)
1933 – Chancellor of Germany -> Adolf Hitler
*By going against TOV, Hitler builds self-esteem of Germany
●​ Militarism
●​ Land grabbing
●​ Stop paying money to League of Nations

Useless League of Nations:

●​ Precursor of the United Nations
●​ Britain, France, Italy & Japan
○​ All imperial powers, competing against each other anyway (don’t exactly
have time to listen to other problems)
●​ Trying to avoid WWII, that’s why not doing anything against Hitler when he does
things against the TOV
●​ Dealing with various independence wars over the world
 ●​ In debt from WWI already, need Germany to pay that money, so that they can
pay back the USA
●​ Does not have an army (to preach peace)
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3 MAIN & SIMILAR IDEOLOGIES
Nazism (Germany) – Idea of authoritarianism rule (racism + nationalism)
Fascism (Italy) – Radical authoritarianism nationalism, characterized by dictatorial
power, forcible suppression of opposition and control of industry and commerce
Militarism (Japan) – The belief that a country should maintain a strong military capability
and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests
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●​ Resulted in deaths of 40-50 million people
●​ World power shifts from Western Europe to USA & Soviet Union
●​ Soviet Union grasps control over large areas in Eastern Europe
●​ China becomes communist
●​ 1920 – Adolf Hitler leader of Nationalist Socialist Party (Nazi Party)
●​ Hyperinflation in Germany in 1930s due to New York Stock Market Exchange
Crash in 1929
●​ 1933 – Hitler becomes German Chancellor (dictator)
●​ Hitler orders Germany to begin a large program of arms production
●​ Sept 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland
●​ Sept 3, 1939 – Britain and France declare war on Germany
●​ Hitler wanted to get back what Germany had lost, and create a larger ‘Greater
Germany’ with living space. He wanted control of fertile lands of Ukraine,
allowing Germany to be an economic and military power
●​ Slavic people (subhuman according to Hitler) occupied lands in the Eastern
Soviet Union (under communist rule of Dictator Stalin). Hitler wanted his Aryan
master race to control this land
●​ Hitler blamed the Jews for defeat in WWI and later economic problems in
Germany
●​ Persecution of Jews in 1930s
●​ Concentration camps for some religious groups, gypsies and mentally ill, where
many died from disease, starvation, overwork, being gassed or shot
●​ 1940 May – Germany invades France with great speed
●​ 1941 – German U-Boats sink supply ships from USA to Britain in ‘Battle of the
Atlantic’
●​ 1941 December – Japan attacks American Pearl Harbor, USA declares war on
Japan; Germany and Italy declare war on USA
●​ 1942 February – Japanese capture Singapore
●​ 1942 May – Allies begin large scale air attacks on Germany
●​ 1942 June – Germany invades Soviet Union
●​ 1942 November – Soviet Union attacks Germany
●​ 1943 February – Soviet Union forces German army to surrender at Stalingrad
●​ 1944 June – ‘D-Day’, allies invade France, Paris taken by Germans
●​ 1945 February – Allies invade Germany
●​ 1945 May – Germany surrenders, Hitler commits suicide
●​ 1945 August – Atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forces Japan to
surrender
SIGNIFICANT INDIVIDUALS
 SIGNIFICANT INDIVIDUALS
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against
Britain with the establishment of the so-called Continental System of European port
blockades against British trade. In 1807, following Napoleon’s defeat of the Russians at
Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace settlement,
the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram,
resulting in further gains for Napoleon.

During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the

French Revolution) and began handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family
as his empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental
Europe.

I​n 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six
years his senior who had two teenage children. More than a decade later, in 1809, after
Napoleon had no offspring of his own with Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so
he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed Marie Louise
(1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth
to their son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became
known as Napoleon II and was given the title king of Rome. In addition to his son with
Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children.

​ fter a disastrous French invasion of Russia 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two
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years later and was exiled to the island of Elba. He briefly returned to power during his
100 Days campaign in 1815. After a defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he again abdicated
the throne and was exiled to the island of Saint Helena. Here he died at the age of 51. ​
Also known as Napoleon I, he was a French military leader and emperor who
conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. He was born on the island of
Corsica, and rapidly rose through ranks of the military during the French revolution
(1789-1799). He was the second son of eight surviving children, and though his parents
were members of the minor Corsican nobility, they were not wealthy.
​
After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself
emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious, and a skilled military strategist, he successfully
waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. He
worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France by centralizing the government,
instituting reforms in areas like banking and education, supporting science and the arts,
and improving relations with the pope and his regime.
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One significant accomplishment was the Napoleonic Code, which restructured the
French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.
​
From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major
conflicts with various coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise
funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana Territory in North America to
the newly independent United States for $15 million, a transaction that later became
known as the Louisiana Purchase.
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In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.
However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be
one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the
Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman
Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.
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​

Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)

Serbian-American engineer and physicist, he made dozens of breakthroughs in the

production, transmission and application of electric power. He invented the first
alternating current (AC) motor and developed AC transmission and generation
technology. He is known to be one of the most underappreciated and unknown
geniuses in history. Unlike Edison, he was unable to make his inventions and
discoveries into financial success for himself.

​ ikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian
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Empire. His father was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox church and his mother
managed the family’s farm. In 1863 Tesla’s brother Daniel was killed in a riding accident.
The shock of the loss unsettled the 7-year-old Tesla, who reported seeing visions—the
first signs of his lifelong mental illnesses.

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Tesla arrived in New York in 1884 and was hired as an engineer at Thomas Edison’s
Manhattan headquarters. He worked there for a year, impressing Edison with his
diligence and ingenuity. At one point Edison told Tesla he would pay $50,000 for an
improved design for his DC dynamos. After months of experimentation, Tesla presented
a solution and asked for the money. Edison demurred, saying, “Tesla, you don’t
understand our American humor.” Tesla quit soon after.

After an unsuccessful attempt to start his own Tesla Electric Light Company and a stint
digging ditches for $2 a day, Tesla found backers to support his research into alternating
current. In 1887 and 1888 he was granted more than 30 patents for his inventions and
invited to address the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on his work. His lecture
caught the attention of George Westinghouse, the inventor who had launched the first
AC power system near Boston and was Edison’s major competitor in the “Battle of the
Currents.”

​ estinghouse hired Tesla, licensed the patents for his AC motor and gave him his own
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lab. In 1889 Edison arranged for a convicted New York murderer to be put to death in an
AC-powered electric chair—a stunt designed to show how dangerous the Westinghouse
standard could be.

Buoyed by Westinghouse’s royalties, Tesla struck out on his own again. But
Westinghouse was soon forced by his backers to renegotiate their contract, with Tesla
relinquishing his royalty rights.

I​n the 1890s Tesla invented electric oscillators, meters, improved lights and the
high-voltage transformer known as the Tesla coil. He also experimented with X-rays,
gave short-range demonstrations of radio communication two years before Guglielmo
Marconi and piloted a radio-controlled boat around a pool in Madison Square Garden.
Together, Tesla and Westinghouse lit the 1891 World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago
and partnered with General Electric to install AC generators at Niagara Falls, creating
the first modern power station.

​ esla lived his last decades in a New York hotel, working on new inventions even as his
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energy and mental health faded. His obsession with the number three and fastidious
washing were dismissed as the eccentricities of genius. He spent his final years
feeding—and, he claimed, communicating with—the city’s pigeons.

​ esla died in his room on January 7, 1943. Later that year the U.S. Supreme Court
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voided four of Marconi’s key patents, belatedly acknowledging Tesla’s innovations in
radio. The AC system he championed and improved remains the global standard for
power transmission.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the
great-souled one.” He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the
early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India’s
struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he
often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was
imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a
number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among
other injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between
Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu
fundamentalist.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the

present-day Indian state of Gujarat. At the age of 19, Mohandas left home to study law
in London at the Inner Temple, one of the city’s four law colleges. Upon returning to
India in mid-1891, he set up a law practice in Bombay, but met with little success. He
soon accepted a position with an Indian firm that sent him to its office in South Africa.
Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for
nearly 20 years.

​
Gandhi was appalled by the discrimination he experienced as an Indian immigrant in
South Africa. On a train voyage to Pretoria, he was thrown out of a first-class railway
compartment and beaten up by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his
seat for a European passenger. That train journey served as a turning point for Gandhi,
and he soon began developing and teaching the concept of satyagraha (“truth and
firmness”), or passive resistance, as a way of non-cooperation with authorities.

I​n 1906, after the Transvaal government passed an ordinance regarding the registration
of its Indian population, Gandhi led a campaign of civil disobedience that would last for
the next eight years. During its final phase in 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South
Africa, including women, went to jail, and thousands of striking Indian miners were
imprisoned, flogged and even shot. Finally, under pressure from the British and Indian
governments, the government of South Africa accepted a compromise negotiated by
Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts, which included important concessions such
as the recognition of Indian marriages and the abolition of the existing poll tax for
Indians.

I​n July 1914, Gandhi left South Africa to return to India. He supported the British war
effort in World War I but remained critical of colonial authorities for measures he felt
were unjust. In 1919, Gandhi launched an organized campaign of passive resistance in
response to Parliament’s passage of the Rowlatt Acts, which gave colonial authorities
emergency powers to suppress subversive activities. He backed off after violence broke
out–including the massacre by British-led soldiers of some 400 Indians attending a
meeting at Amritsar–but only temporarily, and by 1920 he was the most visible figure in
the movement for Indian independence.

​ s part of his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for home rule, Gandhi stressed the
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importance of economic independence for India. He particularly advocated the
manufacture of khaddar, or homespun cloth, in order to replace imported textiles from
Britain. Gandhi’s eloquence and embrace of an ascetic lifestyle based on prayer, fasting
and meditation earned him the reverence of his followers, who called him Mahatma
(Sanskrit for “the great-souled one”). Invested with all the authority of the Indian
National Congress (INC or Congress Party), Gandhi turned the independence
movement into a massive organization, leading boycotts of British manufacturers and
institutions representing British influence in India, including legislatures and schools.

​ fter sporadic violence broke out, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance
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movement, to the dismay of his followers. British authorities arrested Gandhi in March
1922 and tried him for sedition; he was sentenced to six years in prison but was
released in 1924 after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He refrained from
active participation in politics for the next several years, but in 1930 launched a new civil
disobedience campaign against the colonial government’s tax on salt, which greatly
affected Indian’s poorest citizens.

I​n 1931, after British authorities made some concessions, Gandhi again called off the
resistance movement and agreed to represent the Congress Party at the Round Table
Conference in London. Meanwhile, some of his party colleagues–particularly
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a leading voice for India’s Muslim minority–grew frustrated with
Gandhi’s methods, and what they saw as a lack of concrete gains. Arrested upon his
return by a newly aggressive colonial government, Gandhi began a series of hunger
strikes in protest of the treatment of India’s so-called “untouchables” (the poorer
classes), whom he renamed Harijans, or “children of God.” The fasting caused an
uproar among his followers and resulted in swift reforms by the Hindu community and
the government.

I​n 1934, Gandhi announced his retirement from politics in, as well as his resignation
from the Congress Party, in order to concentrate his efforts on working within rural
communities. Drawn back into the political fray by the outbreak of World War II, Gandhi
again took control of the INC, demanding a British withdrawal from India in return for
Indian cooperation with the war effort. Instead, British forces imprisoned the entire
Congress leadership, bringing Anglo-Indian relations to a new low point.

​ andhi strongly opposed Partition, but he agreed to it in hopes that after independence
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Hindus and Muslims could achieve peace internally. Amid the massive riots that
followed Partition, Gandhi urged Hindus and Muslims to live peacefully together, and
undertook a hunger strike until riots in Calcutta ceased.

In January 1948, Gandhi carried out yet another fast, this time to bring about peace in
the city of Delhi. On January 30, 12 days after that fast ended, Gandhi was on his way
to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi when he was shot to death by Nathuram Godse,
a Hindu fanatic enraged by Mahatma’s efforts to negotiate with Jinnah and other
Muslims.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968)

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in
the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.
King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically
disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving
force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963
March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil
Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday
since 1986.

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A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was
admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal
grandfather, where he studied medicine and law.

Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry,
he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin
Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After
graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where
he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected
president of his predominantly white senior class.

​ ing then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his

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coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later.
While in Boston he met Coretta Scott, a young singer from Alabama who was studying
at the New England Conservatory of Music. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in
Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church.

​ hey had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King
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and Bernice Albertine King.

​ he King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly
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segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in
America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Educationdecision of 1954.

​ n December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of the National
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Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her
seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists
coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days, placing a severe economic
strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin
Luther King, Jr. as the protest’s leader and official spokesman.

​ y the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses
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unconstitutional in November 1956, King—heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and
the activist Bayard Rustin—had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational
proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance.

​ ing had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home
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that January.
In 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father
as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and
his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil
rights battles of the 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the
Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to
protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most
racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known
as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of civil disobedience
addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

​ ater that year, Martin Luther King, Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious
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groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political
rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across
the country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is
widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights
movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

​ he March on Washington culminated in King’s most famous address, known as the “I

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Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a
masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial—a monument to the president who a
century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he
shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.'”

​ he speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year
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he was named “Man of the Year” by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest
person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attention to the violence
that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma,
Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
had organized a voter registration campaign.
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Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired
supporters from across the country to gather in Alabama and take part in the Selma to
Montgomery march led by King and supported by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who
sent in federal troops to keep the peace.

​ hat August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to
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vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

​ he events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King, Jr. and young
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radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the
established political framework.

​ s more militant black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael rose to prominence, King
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broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and
poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an
ambitious program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a
massive march on the capital.

​ n the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally
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shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where King had traveled to
support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept
major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of
mourning.

J​ ames Earl Ray, an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and
was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained some
unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
INDUSTRIALIZATION