prep for IB History exam. Move to Global War. Authoritarian Regimes. European 20th Century.
| Front | Peace Preservation Law |
| Back | (1925)Japanese law that made it a crime to organize or join a group with the goal of subverting the country's "national polity" (kokutai) or the system of private property. Primary legal tool used by the government to suppress political dissent and crush left-wing movements, particularly those with socialist or communist leanings. Passed the same year that universal male suffrage was introduced, a move conservatives supported to manage the political effects of an expanded electorate. Vagueness allowed authorities to criminalize any form of perceived political opposition.Key provisions and implementation:Targeting of ideologies: Joining or forming any association that sought to alter the kokutai—the Emperor system and Japan's unique national identity—or abolish the private property system punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment.Expansion of scope: Amended and made more severe over time, especially in 1928 and 1941. The 1941 amendments expanded the law to include religious organizations and increased the maximum penalty to include death.Enforcement by "Thought Police": Special Higher Police (Tokkō) created to enforce the law and investigate "thought crimes". The police used torture and psychological pressure to force suspects to renounce their beliefs.Crackdown on dissent: Between 1925-1945, more than 70,000 people were arrested under the law, including academics, religious figures, and political activists. Context and consequences:Rise of militarism: Played a critical role in fostering ultranationalism by eliminating the government's perceived threats from the left and legitimizing the suppression of any criticism of imperial ideology.Legacy of repression: Peace Preservation Law, along with other legislation, created a climate of fear and contributed to the erosion of democratic institutions during Japan's transition to a militaristic state in the 1930s and 1940s.Abolition: Abolished in 1945 by the Allied occupation authorities. |
| Front | Nuremburg Trials |
| Back | Series of international military tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II to prosecute the leaders of Nazi Germany for atrocities committed during the war.Set precedent in international law by establishing that individuals, not just states, could be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.The International Military Tribunal:The most prominent of the Nuremberg proceedings was the International Military Tribunal (IMT), which took place from 20 November 1945-1 October 1946. Organizers: The tribunal was organized and overseen by the four main Allied powers: the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.Location: The trials were held in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, a symbolic choice as the city had been the site of major Nazi Party rallies.Defendants: Of the 24 high-ranking Nazi officials indicted, 21 appeared before the court. Notable defendants included Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, and Joachim von Ribbentrop. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels were not tried, as they had committed suicide.Charges: The defendants were charged with four main crimes:Crimes against peace: Planning and waging of aggressive war.War crimes: Violations of the laws and customs of war.Crimes against humanity: The extermination, enslavement, and persecution of civilians on political, racial, or religious grounds.Conspiracy: Participation in a common plan to commit any of the above crimes. Key aspects of the trials:Evidence: The prosecution presented overwhelming evidence, including thousands of captured Nazi documents, eyewitness testimony, and film footage of concentration camps.Defense arguments: The tribunal rejected the common defense claim that defendants were simply "following orders," establishing the principle of individual responsibility for international crimes.Verdicts: On October 1, 1946, the tribunal delivered its verdicts.Death sentence: Twelve defendants were sentenced to death by hanging. Ten were executed, while Hermann Göring committed suicide hours before.Imprisonment: Seven defendants received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life.Acquitted: Three defendants were acquitted of all charges. Subsequent Nuremberg TrialsFollowing the main trial, the United States held 12 additional military tribunals from 1946-1949, also in Nuremberg. These focused on lesser-known but still culpable individuals, including: Medical professionals who performed inhumane human experimentation.SS commanders and other personnel who ran concentration and extermination camps.Industrialists who used slave labor.Einsatzgruppen officers who led mobile killing units. Impact:New legal framework: Established a precedent for holding individuals accountable for state-sponsored atrocities. Helped form the basis for modern international law, eg., concept of "crimes against humanity"Creation of international courts: Principles influenced the creation of later international tribunals.A historical record: Evidence gathered created an undeniable historical record of Nazi crimes. |
| Front | Great Leap Forward |
| Back | (1958 to 1962)Catastrophic economic and social campaign launched by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Intended to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into an industrial powerhouse. Resulted in one of the deadliest famines in human history, killing between 15 and 55 million people.Goals:Mao's attempt to accelerate China's development and surpass the Soviet Union's pace of industrialization. Central objectives were the forced collectivization of agriculture and the promotion of widespread industrialization, primarily steel production. Collective farming: Private farming was banned, and peasants were organized into large-scale "people's communes." These cooperatives controlled all farming, labor, and resource allocation.Rapid industrialization: Diverted millions of peasants from farm work to industrial projects. The goal was to increase steel production without needing heavy, imported machinery.Mass mobilization: Mao believed that China's large labor pool could be mobilized to overcome the country's lack of capital and technology. Ideological fervor was emphasized over practical expertise. Disastrous policies and consequences:Failed spectacularly due to a confluence of mismanaged policies and social coercion. Industrial failuresBackyard furnaces: Peasants were forced to melt down metal objects, including cooking utensils and farm tools, to produce steel. Much of the resulting iron was of such poor quality that it was useless.Labor diversion: Vast redirection of agricultural labor to these flawed industrial projects severely disrupted farming and resulted in crops being left to rot in the fields. Ecological and agricultural blundersFour Pests Campaign: As part of a larger hygiene campaign, Mao ordered the mass extermination of sparrows, believing they ate too much grain. The plan backfired, as the lack of sparrows led to a plague of locusts and other crop-eating insects, which devastated the harvest.Flawed farming techniques: Promoted unproven agricultural methods based on the ideas of Soviet agronomist Trofim Lysenko, including close-cropping and deep plowing. These practices further decreased crop yields. Exaggerated production claimsLocal officials, desperate to please their superiors and meet unrealistic quotas, massively inflated production figures.This "illusion of superabundance" led the government to collect nonexistent surpluses for the state, export grain, and establish wasteful communal mess halls. Left millions of peasants with nothing to eat and triggered the Great Chinese Famine. Human and economic toll:Mass starvation and death: Famine and forced labor led to tens of millions of deaths. Mortality rates were significantly higher in rural areas, where peasants were banned from private farming and experienced the most severe food shortages.Social breakdown: Commune system shattered traditional family and community life. In some areas, desperate villagers resorted to cannibalism to survive.Official indifference: Central government initially ignored or covered up reports of the widespread starvation. Despite the famine, China continued to export grain to maintain face on the international stage. Aftermath:Catastrophic failure forced Mao to retreat from day-to-day leadership by 1962, though he remained the head of the party. Temporary rollback of policies: Pragmatic moderates like Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping took control and began to repeal the disastrous programs by restoring private plots and allowing some free market activity.Mao's retaliation: Mao blamed the failures on "rightist" elements within the party. Later launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to regain his authority and purge his political enemies. |