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a hearty welcome to Unit 8 y'all and
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really there are only two developments
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that we're going to consider in this
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unit the Cold War and decolonization but
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both are massive and ridiculously
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complicated but don't worry in this
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video we're just setting the stage for
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these two developments so if you ready
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to get them brain Cals milked let's get
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to it okay first as is proper let's
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start with a definition a cold war
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describes a state of hostility that
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exists between two states chiefly
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characterized by an ideological struggle
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rather than open Warfare but that's just
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a cold war in general the Cold War was a
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standoff between the United States and
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the Soviet Union that transformed global
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politics for about four decades after
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World War II so let me get this straight
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World War I was called the war to end
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all wars but then we got the even more
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devastating and deadly World War II
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which definitely should have ended all
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wars and then before the ink was dry on
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the peace treaty we've got the Cold War
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what in the fresh heck is going on well
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the Allied Powers won World War II but
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as it turns out the enormous cost and
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destruction of that war meant that they
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weren't as much leaping in Victory as
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limping away from Victory and trying not
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to bleed out everywhere however in the
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wake of that devastation two Global
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superpowers emerged from the war namely
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the United States and the Soviet Union
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and they were ready to Fleck their
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post-war pectorals on the world stage
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but says you why did those two states
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emerge as superpowers while the other
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Victorious Powers were the equivalent of
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a damp ham sandwich an excellent
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question and there are two reasons their
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economic and technological advantages
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before I tell you what those were let me
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just mention that if you two want to
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flex your superpower pectorals on the AP
00:01:23
exam then you might want to grab my AP
00:01:25
World History himler review guide which
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has everything you need to study as fast
00:01:28
as possible it's got whole unit review
00:01:30
videos that you won't see here on
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YouTube note guys to follow along
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practice questions practice exams and
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answer keys for every dang bit of it so
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you know that's something you're into
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check the link in the description okay
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so let's start with the economic
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advantages that led to the rise of these
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two superpowers and just for poops and
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Giggles let's consider the United States
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first so although the United States
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suffered profoundly during the Great
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Depression in the 1930s mobilization for
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World War II created the occasion for a
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complete economic turnaround as much of
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their industrial sector ramped up to
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meet wartime production demand
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additionally aside from the Japanese
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bombing of Pearl Harbor the US
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experienced almost none of the
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destructive consequences of the war
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unlike European countries whose cities
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lay in Ruins and who now had to face the
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Monumental and expensive task of
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rebuilding so put all that in a pot and
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baby you got a stew going and that stew
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smells like the United States becoming
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the most prosperous nation in the world
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which of course means it's time to pause
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and high five a bald eagle anyway one of
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the most momentous results of the US's
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post-war Prosperity was their ability to
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help pay for the rebuilding of Western
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European nations through programs like
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the Marshall Plan through this plan the
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US sent over $1 13 billion in aid for
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economic recovery in war torn Nations
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and on the whole the Nations that
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received those funds experienced their
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own economic Revival and so now that
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Americans became the geopolitical
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equivalent of a fortnight loot llama for
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much of the world that meant that the
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global balance of power shifted
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decisively toward the United States but
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over in the Soviet Union it was kind of
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a different story now recall what we
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learned back in unit 7 namely that since
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the 1920s the Soviet economy was heavily
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directed by the state and although that
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kind of command economy Drew all sorts
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of skepticism from more free market
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minded folks in the Years leading up to
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World War 2 the Soviet economy did grow
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pretty rapidly even if that growth led
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to the suffering and death of millions
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of Soviet citizens but unlike the United
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States the Soviet Union was hit hard by
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World War II not least by Hitler's
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attempted Invasion and Siege of lening
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grand even so after the war the
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centralized command economy of the
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Soviet Union had the benefit of drawing
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natural resources from its enormous
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territory not to mention a comparatively
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large population to work towards
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economic recovery and thanks to the
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government's large-scale investment in
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heavy industry before World War II much
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of the infrastructure they needed for
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Recovery was already in place and it
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wasn't long before the Soviet Union was
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economically powerful again although
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later in the century their emphasis on
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coal extraction and steel production at
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the expense of the production of
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consumer goods would contribute to a
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weakening economy but for now they're
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doing just fine so yeah economics played
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a big role in these two states becoming
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superpowers in this period but so did
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their technological advantages the
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United States developed the most
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advanced and devastating technology of
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the war namely the atomic bomb and their
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deployment of two of those bombs on
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Japan effectively ended the war in the
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Pacific Theater and the effect of this
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display of new technology made it clear
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to the rest of the world that the United
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States was the technological King on the
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global map but the Soviet Union not
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content to stand in the technological
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shadow of the stupid Americans reacted
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quickly and developed their own Atomic
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weapons the first of which was tested in
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1949 just four years after Hiroshima and
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Nagasaki and that led to one of the most
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defining characteristics of the Cold War
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namely an arms race in which both Powers
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spent stupid amounts of money to develop
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bigger and more destructive bombs and
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now that both Powers had enough nuclear
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and hydrogen bombs to reduce the Earth
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to a charred pile of space Ash in a
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moment it was clear who was in charge on
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the global stage okay now let's set the
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stage for the second major development
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this period namely decolonization like
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for a good chunk of this course we've
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been talking about how various Imperial
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States had built up Empires all over the
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world and in this period we're going to
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witness a complete reversal of that
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Trend and in truth it was the two world
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wars that created the conditions for
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decolonization now recall that the
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imperial powers that fought in World War
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I called up millions of troops from
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their colonial Holdings to help them win
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the war though they really had no choice
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in the matter many Colonial troops
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fought for their Imperial parents' cause
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hoping that their sacrifices would be
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honored with a greater degree of
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self-rule or even Independence and then
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adding to this desire was woodro
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Wilson's insistence in the peace
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conference that self-determination for
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all nations should be the guiding
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principle after the war however after
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the war many colonies of the defeated
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power simply changed hands to the
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Victorious powers and through the
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mandate system the Victorious Powers
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claimed that they were organizing
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colonies around the world into a
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hierarchical system with varying degrees
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of self-rule based on their ability to
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sustain themselves however in practice
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the mandate system essentially continued
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the colonial system unchanged and that
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makes Colonial peoples more than a
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little Saucy but it was World War II
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that really set the process of
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decolonization in motion again Colonial
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troops fought for their Imperial parents
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cause but this time after the war was
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over and there appeared to be no clear
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intention of the Imperial countries to
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Grant Independence to their colonies
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massive anti-imperial movements broke
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out across the world however the
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difference this time was that Imperial
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States like Britain and France and the
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rest had almost no resources to resist
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these movements the war had devastated
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their economies and their militaries
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were severely weakened on account of
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World War II therefore after 1945 the
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these developments would lead to a
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worldwide process of decolonization
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which broke apart colonial empires and
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created something like 80 new states on
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the world map Okay click here to keep
00:06:07
reviewing for Unit 8 and click here to
00:06:08
grab my AP World History H review guide
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which has everything you need to get an
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A in your class and a five on your exam
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in May I'm glad we got to hang out not
00:06:14
catch on the flipflop hler out
