# The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child ## Volume 4: The Modern Age From Victoria’s Empire to the End of the USSR ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ![](images/00051.jpg) ![](images/00052.jpg) ## Also By Susan Wise Bauer ***The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child*** (PEACE HILL PRESS) Volume 1: Ancient Times (Revised Edition, 2006) Volume 2: The Middle Ages (Revised Edition, 2007) Volume 3: Early Modern Times (2004) ***The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome*** (W.W. Norton, 2007) ***The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade*** (W.W. Norton, 2010) ***The Well-Educated Mind*** **A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had** (W.W. NORTON, 2003) ***Though the Darkness Hide Thee*** (MULTNOMAH, 1998) WITH JESSIE WISE ***The Well-Trained Mind*** **A Guide to Classical Education at Home** (Revised edition, W.W. NORTON, 2009) [www.susanwisebauer.com](http://www.susanwisebauer.com) ![](images/00057.jpg) Copyright © 2005 by Susan Wise Bauer All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Manufacturing by BookMasters, Inc., Ashand, OH (USA), M8671, June 2011 Cover design by Andrew J. Buffington Cover painting by James L. Wise, Jr. Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Bauer, S. Wise. The story of the world. Volume 4, The modern age :      from Victoria’s Empire to the end of the USSR / by      Susan Wise Bauer ; illustrated by Jay L. Wise and Sarah Park. p\. cm. Includes index. “History for the classical child.” **SUMMARY: Chronological history of the modern age, from 1850 to 2000.** Audience: Ages 5–12. LCCN 2004112538 **ISBN    0-9728603-3-9    978-0-9728603-3-8** (paper) **ISBN    0-9728603-4-7978-0-9728603-4-5** (cloth) 1\. History, Modern — 19th century — Juvenile literature. 2\. History, Modern — 20th century — Juvenile literature. \[1. History, Modern —19th century. 2. History, Modern — 20th century.\] I. Wise, Jay L. II. Park, Sarah. III. Title. IV. Title: Modern age. D299.B35 2005909.8 QBI04-200396 Print Year                2011 Printing Number        10 Peace Hill Press • 18021 The Glebe Lane • Charles City, VA 23030 [www.peacehillpress.com](http://www.peacehillpress.com) # Table of Contents - [Table of Contents](#filepos6209) - [Table of Maps](#filepos20945) - [Table of Illustrations](#filepos28812) - [Foreword](#filepos31310) - [Chapter 1—Britain’s Empire](Chapter1.md) - [Victoria’s England](#filepos37504) - [The Sepoy Mutiny](#filepos45382) - [Chapter 2—West Against East](Chapter2.md) - [Japan Re-Opens](#filepos53817) - [The Crimean War](#filepos61479) - [Chapter 3—British Invasions](Chapter3.md) - [The Great Game](#filepos69968) - [Wandering Through Africa](#filepos79681) - [Chapter 4—Resurrection and Rebellion](Chapter4.md) - [Italy’s “Resurrection”](#filepos88091) - [The Taiping Rebellion](#filepos97927) - [Chapter 5—The American Civil War](Chapter5.md) - [South Against North](#filepos107565) - [After the Civil War](#filepos116137) - [Chapter 6—Two Tries For Freedom](Chapter6.md) - [Paraguay and the Triple Alliance](#filepos124457) - [The Dominion of Canada](#filepos133354) - [Chapter 7—Two Empires, Three Republics, and One Kingdom](Chapter7.md) - [Two Empires and Three Republics](#filepos143196) - [The Second Reich](#filepos153218) - [Chapter 8—Becoming Modern](Chapter8.md) - [Rails, Zones, and Bulbs](#filepos162655) - [Japan’s Meiji Restoration](#filepos170548) - [Chapter 9—Two More Empires, Two Rebellions](Chapter9.md) - [The Dutch East Indies](#filepos178177) - [The Sick Man of Europe](#filepos186078) - [Chapter 10—A Canal to the East and a Very Dry Desert](Chapter10.md) - [The War of the Pacific](#filepos196272) - [The Suez Canal](#filepos205007) - [Chapter 11—The Far Parts of the World](Chapter11.md) - [The Iron Outlaw](#filepos212878) - [Carving Up Africa](#filepos222190) - [Chapter 12—Unhappy Unions](Chapter12.md) - [Ireland’s Troubles](#filepos230322) - [The Boers and the British](#filepos239650) - [Chapter 13—The Old-Fashioned Emperor and the Red Sultan](Chapter13.md) - [Brazil’s Republic](#filepos252220) - [Abdulhamid the Red](#filepos261244) - [Chapter 14—Two Czars and Two Emperors](Chapter14.md) - [The Next-to-Last Czar of Russia](#filepos270469) - [Ethiopia and Italy](#filepos278223) - [Chapter 15—Small Countries With Large Invaders](Chapter15.md) - [The Korean Battleground](#filepos287291) - [The Spanish-American War](#filepos295635) - [Chapter 16—The Expanding United States](Chapter16.md) - [Moving West](#filepos306463) - [Stocks, Philanthropists, and Outlaws](#filepos315727) - [Chapter 17—China’s Troubles](Chapter17.md) - [The Boxer Rebellion](#filepos325679) - [The Czar and the Admiral](#filepos336666) - [Chapter 18—Europe and the Countries Just East](Chapter18.md) - [Persia, Its Enemies, and Its “Friends”](#filepos346412) - [The Balkan Mess](#filepos358071) - [Chapter 19—China, Vietnam—and France](Chapter19.md) - [The Last Emperor](#filepos369197) - [The Vietnamese Restoration Society](#filepos376075) - [Chapter 20—Revolution In the Americas … War In the World](Chapter20.md) - [The Mexican Revolution](#filepos382853) - [World War I](#filepos393143) - [Chapter 21—A Revolution Begins, and the Great War Ends](Chapter21.md) - [The Russian Revolution](#filepos404434) - [The End of World War I](#filepos415541) - [Chapter 22—National Uprisings](Chapter22.md) - [The Easter Uprising](#filepos423520) - [Indian Nationalism](#filepos433758) - [Chapter 23—“Peace” and a Man of War](Chapter23.md) - [The Peace of Versailles](#filepos442459) - [The Rise of Joseph Stalin](#filepos453496) - [Chapter 24—The King and Il Duce](Chapter24.md) - [The First King of Egypt](#filepos462983) - [Fascism in Italy](#filepos471105) - [Chapter 25—Armies In China](Chapter25.md) - [Japan, China, and a Pretend Emperor](#filepos482509) - [The Long March](#filepos491595) - [Chapter 26—The Great Crash, and What Came of It](Chapter26.md) - [Black Tuesday and a New Deal](#filepos502158) - [Hitler’s Rise to Power](#filepos512764) - [Chapter 27—Civil War and Invasion](Chapter27.md) - [Red Spain, Black Spain, a King, and a General](#filepos520396) - [Rebuilding the “Fatherland”](#filepos531432) - [Chapter 28—The Second World War](Chapter28.md) - [The Three-War War](#filepos540753) - [The Holocaust](#filepos550485) - [Chapter 29—The End of World War II](Chapter29.md) - [The War that Stretched Across the World](#filepos558524) - [The Atom Bomb](#filepos571590) - [Chapter 30—Partitioned Countries](Chapter30.md) - [Muslims and Hindus in India](#filepos580147) - [The Partitioning of Palestine](#filepos587902) - [Chapter 31—Western Bullies and American Money](Chapter31.md) - [The Suez Crisis](#filepos595470) - [The Marshall Plan](#filepos606785) - [Chapter 32—Africa and China After World War II](Chapter32.md) - [One Country, Two Different Worlds](#filepos617387) - [Two Republics of China](#filepos626630) - [Chapter 33—Communism in Asia](Chapter33.md) - [Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh](#filepos634428) - [The Korean War](#filepos643485) - [Chapter 34—Dictators in South America and Africa](Chapter34.md) - [Argentina’s President and His Wife](#filepos652471) - [Freedom in the Belgian Congo](#filepos664015) - [Chapter 35—The Cold War](Chapter35.md) - [The Space Race](#filepos673536) - [Thirteen Days in October](#filepos681703) - [Chapter 36—Struggles and Assassinations](Chapter36.md) - [The Death of John F. Kennedy](#filepos695810) - [Civil Rights](#filepos706071) - [Chapter 37—Two Short Wars and One Long One](Chapter37.md) - [The Vietnam War](#filepos719196) - [Trouble in the Middle East](#filepos728807) - [Chapter 38—Two Ways of Fighting](Chapter38.md) - [Soviet Invasions](#filepos739469) - [Terrorism](#filepos747362) - [Chapter 39—The 1980s in the East and the Mideast](Chapter39.md) - [India After Partition](#filepos756587) - [Iran and Iraq](#filepos765924) - [Chapter 40—The 1980s in the USSR](Chapter40.md) - [Chernobyl and Nuclear Power](#filepos776947) - [The End of the Cold War](#filepos787532) - [Chapter 41—Communism Crumbles—but Survives](Chapter41.md) - [Democracy in China?](#filepos794805) - [Communism Crumbles](#filepos803512) - [Chapter 42—The End of the Twentieth Century](Chapter42.md) - [The First Persian Gulf War](#filepos810069) - [Africa, Independent](#filepos817506) - [Afterword](#filepos826759) - [Table of Dates—A Chronology of the Modern Age](#filepos828171) # Table of Maps - [Victoria’s England](#filepos37117) - [India During the Sepoy Mutiny](#filepos47070) - [Japan Re-Opens](#filepos53504) - [The Crimean War](#filepos65434) - [The Great Game](#filepos69653) - [Livingstone’s Travels in Africa](#filepos81093) - [The Nation of Italy](#filepos87768) - [The Taiping Rebellion](#filepos99228) - [America During the Civil War](#filepos107245) - [The War of the Triple Alliance](#filepos124140) - [The Dominion of Canada](#filepos135571) - [France—Republic and Empire](#filepos142815) - [The Second Reich](#filepos154292) - [Railroads and Time Zones](#filepos162342) - [Japan During the Meiji Restoration](#filepos173869) - [The Dutch East Indies in the Time of Dien](#filepos177848) - [The Declining Ottoman Empire](#filepos189211) - [The South American Coast After the War of the Pacific](#filepos195935) - [Egypt Under Ismail Pasha](#filepos206643) - [Australia During the Time of Ned Kelly](#filepos212553) - [European Control in Africa After the Scramble](#filepos224476) - [Ireland During the Potato Famine](#filepos230009) - [The Boer War](#filepos241824) - [Brazil Under the Reign of Pedro II](#filepos251837) - [Massacre in Armenia](#filepos263488) - [Russia Under the Rule of Alexander III](#filepos270142) - [Ethiopia and Italy](#filepos281568) - [Country Borders Before the Sino-Japanese War](#filepos286956) - [The Spanish-American War](#filepos296300) - [Claiming the West in the United States of America](#filepos306136) - [China at the End of the Qing Dynasty](#filepos325359) - [The Rise of Japan](#filepos336549) - [The Fight for Persia](#filepos346077) - [The Balkan Mess](#filepos361860) - [Rebellion in China](#filepos368869) - [French Control of Indochina](#filepos375958) - [The Mexican Revolution](#filepos382469) - [Europe Before World War I](#filepos397198) - [The Russian Revolution](#filepos404088) - [Europe During World War I](#filepos416435) - [The Easter Uprising](#filepos423199) - [India During the Time of Mohandas Gandhi](#filepos434508) - [Europe in 1919, After the Peace of Versailles](#filepos442126) - [Russia Under the Rule of Stalin](#filepos453379) - [Egypt Under a King](#filepos462659) - [Mussolini’s March to Rome](#filepos473998) - [Japan Under Hirohito](#filepos482190) - [The Long March](#filepos493690) - [The United States and the Dustbowl](#filepos501819) - [Europe During Hitler’s Rise to Power](#filepos516850) - [Spain Under the Rule of Franco](#filepos520069) - [Europe During Hitler’s Rule](#filepos531315) - [The Second Sino-Japanese War](#filepos540428) - [Germany During the Holocaust](#filepos551835) - [Europe at the End of World War II](#filepos558197) - [The End of World War II](#filepos573680) - [India Partitioned](#filepos579827) - [Israel Partitioned](#filepos591269) - [The Suez Crisis](#filepos595133) - [Germany Divided](#filepos606668) - [South Africa Under the National Party](#filepos617049) - [Republic of China](#filepos628344) - [Vietnam and Korea, Divided](#filepos634106) - [Argentina During the Time of Perón](#filepos652130) - [The Congo Under the Rule of Lumumba](#filepos663898) - [The Cold War](#filepos673220) - [Struggles and Assassinations in the United States](#filepos695479) - [Communist Vietnam](#filepos718860) - [Israel’s Gains in the Six-Day War](#filepos730058) - [The USSR Tries to Expand](#filepos739144) - [Terrorism in Europe and the Middle East](#filepos750368) - [India Under Indira Gandhi](#filepos756246) - [Iran and Iraq](#filepos765807) - [Nuclear Power in the United States and the USSR](#filepos776628) - [China After Mao](#filepos794470) - [Germany Reunited](#filepos805695) - [War in Kuwait](#filepos809735) - [Independent Africa](#filepos819619) # Table of Illustrations - [Queen Victoria, ruler of the British Empire](#filepos42611) - [David Livingstone, attacked by a lion on the African savannah](#filepos84516) - [Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States](#filepos114822) - [Two years after inheriting the throne, Wilhelm II (left) forced Bismarck (right) to resign.](#filepos161324) - [One of Peru’s iron warships, the *Huáscar*](#filepos204557) - [Abdulhamid the Red](#filepos268517) - [Korea’s Queen Min](#filepos291905) - [A pioneer family on the Oregon Trail](#filepos309569) - [Pancho Villa, Mexican guerilla fighter](#filepos387996) - [Mohandas Gandhi taught noncooperation and *satyagraha*— the nonviolent fight for freedom and justice.](#filepos440758) - [President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivering a radio address](#filepos512425) - [Adolf Hitler, führer of the Nazi party](#filepos556553) - [Chairman Mao](#filepos631357) - [U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon](#filepos680784) - [John F. Kennedy, 35](#filepos698265)[th](#filepos698265) president of the United States - [The great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.](#filepos712377) - [Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India](#filepos758848) - [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein](#filepos814981) - [Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and president of South Africa](#filepos824954) # Foreword The four volumes of the Story of the World are meant to be read by children, or read aloud by parents to children. Each of the first three volumes increases slightly in difficulty. Although older students can certainly make use of them, the primary audience for Volume 1 is children in grades 1–4. For Volume 2, the primary audience is grades 2–5; and for volume 3, grades 3–6. This volume is targeted at students in grades 4–8. The first three volumes (which cover history from roughly 5000 BC up until 1850) are designed so that siblings can use them together; so, a first grader could certainly make use of Volume 2 if her third-grade sister were using it as well. I wouldn’t study this particular volume, though, with children younger than fourth grade. The events that shaped the twentieth century—by which I mean the events that have laid down the borders of countries and dictated the ways in which those countries relate to each other—have almost all involved violence. As an academic, a writer, a historian, and the mother of children ranging in age from four to beginning high school, I have done my best to tell this history in a way that is age appropriate. Because of that attempt, this volume is less evocative than the previous three. I have always tried to tell history as a story, to bring out the color and narrative thread of events. But with this history, I have found myself veering continually toward a more matter-of-fact and less dramatic tone. The events of the twentieth century—the bombing of Hiroshima, the purges of Stalin, to name only two—are dramatic enough. Turned into story, they would be overwhelming. Despite their violent nature, I don’t think these events should be ignored by parents of young children. A fourth grader hears the news on the car radio, on the TV, or in the conversation of his elders. He hears the words (“terrorism”) and senses the worry of the adults around him. A fourth or fifth grader who has a vague idea of what is going on in the world deserves to be started on the path to understanding. The shape of the world today is not random; it has been formed by a very definite pattern of happenings. To deny a child an understanding of that pattern is truly to doom a child to fear, because war, unrest, and violence appear totally random. Even in this book, violence is not random. It is alarming, but not random. As you read, you will see, again and again, the same pattern acted out: A person or a group of people rejects injustice by rebelling and seizing the reins of power. As soon as those reins are in the hands of the rebels, the rebels become the establishment, the victims become the tyrants, the freedom-fighters become the dictators. The man who shouts for equality in one decade purges, in the next decade, those who shout against him. Boiling history down to its simplest outline so that beginning scholars can grasp it brings this repetition into stark relief. Again and again, while researching this book, I was reminded of the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent eleven years in the labor camps of the Soviet Union, and who, when he became powerless, finally understood that revolution never brings an end to oppression. Solzhenitsyn wrote, “In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer and an oppressor. … And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. … Even in the best of hearts there remains … an unuprooted small corner of evil. Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the *evil inside a human being*. … And since that time I have come to understand the falsehood of all the revolutions in history: They destroy only those carriers of evil contemporary with them.” Revolution shatters the structures; but the men who build the next set of structures haven’t conquered the evil that lives in their own hearts. The history of the twentieth century is, again and again, the story of men who fight against tyrants, win the battle, and then are overwhelmed by the unconquered tyranny in their own souls. A note on accuracy: Historians vary widely on such matters as the number of war casualties in any given conflict, the sizes of armies, and even specific dates on which treaties were signed or independence declared. Since this is a basic text for young students, I have decided (fairly arbitrarily) to use *Encyclopædia Britannica* as the final authority on dates and numbers. There is no single accepted method of transliteration for Arabic and Chinese names. I have chosen to use the Pinyin system for most Chinese names, unless another transliteration is extremely well known (“Manchuria” instead of the Pinyin “Dongbei,” for example). I have generally followed *Britannica* for names in other languages. — Susan Wise Bauer Charles City, VA March, 2005 ![](images/00060.jpg)