What is a Policy A country’s government is responsible for developing both domestic & foreign policies

Domestic policies:

• Guides decisions about what to do within a country

• affects how every person in the country lives every day, as it shapes such issues as environmental protection, laws, education, welfare programs, transportation and law enforcement.

Foreign policies:

• Guides decisions about official relations with other nations

• including international trade, and peacekeeping

Questions

How Can National Interest Shape Foreign Policies?

National Interest & World War 1

• Prior to WWI, nationalism had flourished in Europe

• Europeans were expanding their territory within Europe and in their colonies

• This was seen to be in their national interest

• Foreign policies were created to form alliances with other countries if one country was threatened

• A reason for why countries were made to enter in the war quickly

Beginning of WWI (1914-1918)

• World War I (the Great War) began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian Nationalist(he wanted to end Austro Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• Germany, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were known as the Central Powers and fought against…

• Great Britain, France, Russia(supported Serbia), Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States who were known as the Allied Powers

Treaty Negotiations in France pg. 117

• Peace talks took place in Paris from 1919-1920

• Allies (Britain and France) wanted to punish Germany

• The three leaders of the United States, Britain and France led the most powerful allied countries and as a result made most of the treaty decisions

• Benefited Britain and France as they were compensated

• They were viewed as the most powerful

• The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that involved Germany and it called for Germany to:

-Reduce its military strength

-Pay war reparations to compensate the Allies for the costs of the way

-Give up territory in Europe as well as its colonies

-To accept responsibility for “Causing all the loss and damage” that had affected the Allies

Questions

How was the foreign policy during WWI beneficial? And who did it benefit?

Ultra-nationalism

• Ultra-nationalism  is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific interests

Questions

What Are Some Examples of Ultra-nationalism?

What is the Relationship between Nationalism and Ultra-nationalism?

Ultra-nationalism

• Ultra-nationalism is the extreme form of nationalism

• One of the most destructive forces in the world

• Ultra-nationalists have a strong sense of their own national identity but little respect for others

• Can believe that their country can do no wrong, even when denying human rights to some

• Ultra-nationalists sometimes have and “us” vs “them” view

• Ultra-nationalism can include elements of racism and fanaticism that can lead to conflict

Ultra-nationalism in WWI

• Austria blamed Serbia for the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand as he was killed by a member of the Black Hand (a secret organization aimed to promote Serbian nationalism)

• European countries focused on building their military forces expanding their influence in Europe

• There was an intense arms race and naval race between several European nations in the buildup to World War I

• France and Germany were heavily involved in an arms race in which each country doubled their armies between 1870 and 1914.

Ultra-nationalism in Japan

• Commanders of Japan’s armed forces decided to create and agree to foreign policies that took Japan into World War II (done in the country’s national interest)

• Military leaders invaded China and decided to capture territory that belonged to other countries

• This was done to create markets for Japanese products as well as to supply raw materials to Japanese industries

• Once Tojo Hideki became the Prime Minister, Japan became a dictatorship who often threatened to use Japan’s military might to dominate Asia

• In the years leading to WWII, Japanese leaders fostered the racist belief that Japanese people were superior to all other peoples

• They believed that they had the divine right to expand their territory and rule Asia

• Japan’s education system was based on The Way of Subjects where students were taught to:

-take pride in their race & culture

-and to practice duty and obedience to leaders

-Western liberal thoughts, books and culture was forbidden, while ideals of Nazis Germany were praised

-Young people were taught contempt for death, exaltation of victory and blind obedience

Ultra-nationalism & the Creation of Internment Camps

• During WWI & WWII, Canadians were also involved with racism and ultra-nationalism

• By 1914, there were an estimate of 171,000 Ukrainian immigrants living in Canada’s Prairie Provinces

• These Ukrainians held Austrian passports as Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled the part of Ukraine that they came from

• As Austria-Hungary were allies with Germany, people faired that the Ukrainians then viewed as “Austrians” in Canada would leak information to the enemy(as Canada was on the side of Britain)

• Due to this, Austrians were sent to 24 interment camps

• About 5,000 of the 8579 enemy aliens were ethnic Ukrainians and 80,000 Ukrainians Canadians were made to carry ID cards and report to authorities regularly

• During WWII propaganda circulated depicting Germans, Italians and Japanese people as “the enemy”

• Due to this, Canadians of German, Italian & Japanese descent were often discriminated against

• Prior to WWI, Japanese Canadians were often marginalized as they were not allowed to vote and could not hold certain job posts

• After Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong in 1941, their experiences grew worse

• In 1942, Japanese Canadians were rounded up and forced into internment camps(similar to prisons) in the BC interior or to farms on the Prairies

• The government seized their homes, property and businesses and sold them at bargain prices

• They then used the $$ they received to fund these internment camps

Conscription Crisis in Canada

• Compulsory military service (Conscription) was pushed in many countries during WW1 and WWII

• This was believed to be in the national interest

• When WWII began, the Canadian Armed Forces were entirely made up of volunteers

• Once the war began, PM William Lyon Mackenzie King introduced a limited form of conscription(promised to only defend Canada, if need be, and that they would not be sent overseas)

• Conscription had been introduced in WWI after the allies had suffered great losses

• It created a rift within Canadian society as some supported conscription’s and others did not

• As casualties increased during WWII, King held a special vote to ask Canadian’s permission to break the promise he made at the start of the war

Nationalism and self determination

• the process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, form their own state and choose their own government

• When a people pursue national self-determination, they are trying to gain- or keep- the power to control their own affairs

• American historian, Louis. L. Snyder said that a people’s desire for self-determination underpins their right to freely choose how they will be governed

• Snyder also noted how self-determination can either bring people together, or drive them apart

Effects of Pursuing National Self-Determination

• An action that is in one “people’s” national interest may not be in another “people’s” interest

• Many struggles for self-determination are the result of events that caused a people to lose control over their government, their economy, their society or their culture

Unintended Results of Pursuing National Self-Determination

• One nations pursuit of national self-determination can sometimes lead to unintended results for other people

• Refugees:

-A refugee someone who is forced to leave their home to seek safety because of war, natural disaster or persecution

-Sometimes travel on foot or unsafe conditions on forms of transport

-Often face an uncertain future/ attacks by people who do not want to assist them along their journey or in new destination

• Host Countries:

-The countries that refugees flee, but these countries can also experience conflict

-The arrival of a flood of refugees can strain the resources of a host country, creating resentment

-Host countries are not required to allow refugees stay and become citizens(sometimes many can be forced to leave)

-The United Nations and other countries often supply aid to host countries

Questions

Why/ How did Indonesia take control of Timor- Leste?

What caused the violence on the Timorese? What were they trying to achieve?

How were the people of Cambodia living under the communist dictator and the Khmer Rouge party?

How did Cambodians try to achieve self-determination? Were they successful?