Medieval Japan

Japan consist of hundreds of small islands of which four are major island- Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu & Shikoku. Almost the entire country was unified into a single state by around the 7th century AD.In the 8th century Edo(modern kyoto) became the capital and continued to be the seat of the emperors of Japan for over 1000 years. the real power, however, was in the hands of an aristocratic family.

   Toward the end of the 12th century, a new political institution Shogun came into being. The Shogun or the General became the commander of Japan's army and ruled Japan , while the emperor remained at his capital at Edo. Until 1867, The Shoguns were the real ruler of Japan. Tokugawa Leyasu was the founder of last shogun dynasty. In 1867 the last Shoguns of Tokugawa dynasty was overthrown and the power was restored to the emperor. Now Japan launched itself on the road of industrial development, modernization and expansion.

   Samurai or the warriors were similar to the knights of western Europe. The most unique contribution of medieval Japan to literature was a form of poetry called Haiku. Haiku poems are short poems of only 17 syllables.The important contribution of medieval japan to art was Ikebana or the art of flower arrangement, which is being imitated throughout the world.

      Buddhism reached Japan early in the 6th century from China through korea and during the course of centuries it became widespread. In certain periods it even eclipsed Shintoism, the old religion of Japan.Gradually , tha Japanese developed their own distinct schools of Buddhism, the most famous of which is Zen Buddhism. The word Zen is derived from 'Dhyana'

Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most significant events of 20th century. It established  the ideology of Marxism. It was a great revolution after French revolution which was not limited to Russia but affected several countries of the world. The great revolution in Russia took place in two stages. The first stages of Russian revolution began in march 1917 with the overthrow of the Czar Nicholas II. The second stage in nov. of same year led to the establishment of the world's first communist state by Bolsheviks under Lenin.

                    The basic causes of the revolution were deep seated. The government was Autocratic. The Czar was the source of all authority and his powers were vigorously exercised by corrupt and inefficient bureucracy. The general standard of living of the people was tragically low. There was little social freedom. All Russian were forced to support the orthodox church.The intermediate cause of the event was however  the suffering and confusion caused by Russian disastrous defeats during world war I.Her armies lacked arms and ammunition. Prices soared high and economy was in shambles.Russian revolution began with March Revolution . Disorder broke out in Petrograd, the Russian capital in march 1917.Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate.

                   A provisional government composed of liberal and democratic elements under the successive premiership of Prince Lvov and then Aleksandr Kerensky lost ground to the radical wing of the social Democratic labour party.The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized power in Petrograd on nov 7, 1917- November Revolution. The Kerensky Government was overthrown and authority was vested in council of commissioner with Lenin as Premier. The new Government immediately decreed the abolition of private land ownership and set up a dictatorship of the Proletariat- actually of the communist party, as the Bolsheviks came to called.

             The Bolsheviks extended their authority over a large part of European Russia, but elsewhere they faced the resistance of the anti-Bolshevik Parties. the resulting civil war lasted till 1920 and was complicated by foreign intervention. The communists were ultimately in undisputed control of the country.In the period between 1917 and 1920, the communists took drastic action against

internal enemies . Former Landlords, capitalists, Czarist officers, etc. were arrested, exiled or executed, the Czar and his family were killed. In 1923, the Union Soviet Socialist Republics came. Its constitution declared the establishment of a 'republic of workers and peasants'. Ownership of the means of production, including land, factories, mines, banks, and railroads was vested in the state. The state is officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also commonly referred to as the Soviet Russia, or just Russia.

First World War

First world war was happened from july 28, 1914 to november 11, 1918.

Causes:- The causes of first world war are as under:-

• Militarism:- This means the dangerous and burdensome mechanism of great standing armies and large navies along with an espionage system.
• Narrow Nationalism or competitive patriotism:- The love of one's country demanded the hatred of the other. Love of Germany demanded the hatred of France and vice versa.
• Economic Imperialism:- It led to international rivalries. Every country tried to capture markets in every nook and corner of the world. This led to bitterness and heart burning.
• Anglo-German rivalry & the character of William II:- Anglo- German rivalry proved to be the main cause of world war I. Germany had become a great industral country and wanted to have more markets for trade.Germany was jealous of the colonial and naval Greatness of England. William II, emperor of Germany was very ambitious and wanted to gain influence in Turkey by linking berlin with baghdad by a railway line. This gave rises to a great rivalry between England and Germany.

                             William II was arrogant, haughty and ambitious. He wanted germany to be the strongest power in the world. He believed in the policy of "world power or downfall".

• Lack of international organisation:- There was an international organisation to control international relation .

          Immediate cause:- The immediate cause of the war was the murder of Archduke Ferdinand who was the heir to the Austrian throne. He and his wife sophie were killed at Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia, an annexed territory of Austria, by a Serbian.The Austrians held government of Serbia responsible for the murder and ultimately attacked Serbia. There was strong Rivalry alredy between austria- Hungary and Serbia in the balkans.

   Course of war :- To begin with, Austria was in favour of local war but as time passed, the situation became more grave. Other countries jumped into the fray. Germany, austria- Hungary turkey and Bulgaria were on one side; they were called central powers.

On the other side were England, France, Serbia, Belgium, Japan and Russia; they were called the Allied powers.The allied power joint by Italy in 1915 and USA in 1917. The war started on july 28 1914 and ended on november 11 1918.

Peace Settlement (1919-1920):- The central powers were completely defeated by the allied powers and an armistice was signed on nov 11, 1918, followed by ap peace conference at Peris. The defeated countries were not represented at the peace conference. though the number of countries represented at the peace conference was 27, the terms of peace treaties were really decided by three countries- USA, Britain and France. The three persons who played the determining role in framing the terms of treaties were woodrow Wilson(president of USA), Lloyed, George (prime minister of Britain) and George Clemenceu(prime minister of France). After prolonged discussion , the treaty of Versailles was signed between the allies and allies and germany on june 28 1919. This Treaty rearranged the boundaries of Europe, and many new states - Polland , Czechoslovakiya,Yugoslavia,Estonia,Lithuania, etc were formed. William II, the German emperor , abdicated and took asylum in the Netherland 

                 The peace settlement of 1919 to 1920 has been severely criticised. The terms of the treaty of Versailles were harsh and humiliating for Germany.The peace settlement was based on the principal :-' To the victors belong the spoils and allies are the victors'. Meanwhile the many suggestions were made from time to time for the creation of an international organisation which could check wars in the future. at the instance of Woodrow Wilson, the president of America, the League of Nations officially came into existence of jan 10 1920. It's headquarter was fixed at geneva in Switzerland.