Junior Cycle History Guide
Junior Cycle History Guide
By Harry O’Meara
Contents-
▪ The historian ▪ Irish independence
▪ The archaeologist ▪ The emergency
▪ Ancient Ireland ▪ 1960s Ireland
▪ Early Christian ▪ The troubles
Ireland ▪ Women 20th
▪ Ancient Rome century Ireland
▪ The Middle Ages ▪ WW1
▪ The renaissance ▪ Communism
▪ The age of ▪ Fascism
exploration ▪ WW2
▪ The reformation ▪ Genocide
▪ The plantations ▪ The Cold War
▪ The American ▪ 1960s wider world
revolution ▪ European
▪ The 1798 rebellion integration
▪ Parliamentary ▪ Technological
tradition change
▪ The famine ▪ Patterns of change
▪ Irish politics,
culture and sporting
movements
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The historian
History is the study of the past and is based on the study of sources.
A source is anything that gives us information about a person place or
thing in the past. History usually concerns human activity in the past
and includes the lives of common people, the citizens of a country.
The word prehistory refers to the period of time before writing was
used. Archeology is the study of remains left behind by people in the
past. For example, a weapon from medieval times. There objects are
called artefacts, these are any man-made object which can help us
learn more about our past. History refers to when writing was first
used to present. History is important because it allows us to learn
from our mistakes by connecting past present and future, this is
known as historical consciousness. Cross checking is the process
of using multiple sources and comparing them to ensure accuracy.
Historians have to be objective; this means they cannot have bias. A
museum collects and displays artefacts for public education. An
archive collects and preserves all types of sources. Primary sources
are from the time, secondary sources are second hand (not from the
time), and tertiary sources are compiled from secondary sources.
Chronology is the study of time. Reinterpretation is shedding a new
light on a topic.
The archaeologist
Archeology is the study of remains left by people in the past.
Archaeologists conduct excavations or digs to find artefacts
underground as they get buried with time. Archeology is our only
source of prehistory. They use aerial photography to help decide
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Ancient Ireland
The first people arrived in Ireland during the Stone Age. Most likely
they traveled to Ireland from Scotland. The Stone Age was the period
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of time when all tools were made from stone, people used animal
skins for clothing. They were hunter gatherers, this means that they
hunted for their own food, they were self sufficient. They were
nomadic this means that they moved from place to place. They
buried their dead with grave goods which were axes and other
valuable possessions. After 4000 BC new settlers arrived in Ireland
bringing farming to Ireland. Houses were made of wattle and daube
this was stickers woven together and coved in a mud mixture. They
built megalithic tombs meaning big stones. Copper came to Ireland
around 2000 BC and was easier to use than stone, yet it was stronger,
bronze was made by smelting, this separated the ore from the metal
by melting it down. Houses became much larger although made the
same with miner additions such as fortifications. When the celts
arrived in Ireland they brought iron along with them. They were a highly
organised society. They lived in man-made islands called crannogs
and ring forts. Nature was prevalent in their intricate artwork. Ogham
was their version if writing using lines and was found mostly on graves
called ogham stones.
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Ancient Rome
The ancient Roman Empire was one of the strongest civilisations in
history as it controlled majority of the land across Europe. It lasted for
nearly 1000 years. It also was one of the main causes for the
renaissance because of its inspiration as a powerful nation. Rome
was founded by brothers Romulus and Remus in 753 BC. It was
known as the Holy Roman Empire until it became a republic, albeit
run by a senate and not functioning like a republic leading to its
collapse. By 100 AD they controlled most of the Mediterranean.
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Roman towns were extremely well organised with many of their key
principals still being used today. The towns had walls for defence. The
romans used the grid system, this is still used today. The forum was
the town square. There were temples for all the gods. Aqueducts
brought fresh water from springs. They built magnificent structures to
show their victories. Entertainment was one of the most vital
successes of the empire because it kept the plebeians support for the
patricians. Plebeians were the common working class. They lived in
an insulae, this was an apartment block with cramped conditions.
Patricians were the wealthy elites of Rome who controlled the
senate. They lived in a domus/villa. Theatre was important for
entertainment. All roles were played by men with masks, even female
roles. Public baths were popular and had three rooms a cauldarium,
a tepidarium, and a fridgarium. Public toilets and drinking fountains
were used from aqueduct water. Roman streets were paves with
concrete and or tiles. Gladiatorial games were held at an
amphitheatre. All women wore a stola. Plebeian men wore a tunic,
and patrician men wore a toga. Slavery was common with over
300,000 slaves. Marriage happened when a woman was vey young
and often to an older man. They were expected to look after the
family. Arranged marriage was extremely common but divorce was
legal. There were three stages to a Roman boy's education. Ludus,
grammaticus and oratory. They had fancy funerals with the dead
having to pay the tax to get to heaven. Empower Constantine
changed the official religion the Christianity.
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often called the Medieval times because war and disease were
widespread. It was a classed society under the feudal system. Kings
were the most powerful with lords, nights, and peasants coming
after. They were vassals. This means that they were given land and
protection in return for work. They used the open field system this
was when farmers did not have a fence to divide their separate farms.
They instead were divided by crops. Fallow means to leave empty.
The commons were for pastural farming. A tithe was a tax that serfs
payed (1/10 of their income in grain) to the priest. Serfs lived in small
wattle and daub homes. Meat was rarely eaten. A motte and Bailey
was a temporary build while waiting for the completion of a full castle.
Stone castles were extremely well fortified until the invention of new
technologies such as a catapult. Knights were soldiers on horseback.
Towns could run their own affairs but needed a charter from a king.
This made them have to pay taxes. People had to pay a toll on entry or
tax. Main street ran through the market square. Houses were made of
wood, so a curfew was enforced of no fires after sundown.
Craftsmen were people who specialised in a trade. They were usually
male. They formed guilds. These organisations oversaw quality.
Master craftsmen had to become apprenticed, then had to become a
journeyman and could sell their work. They then made a
masterpiece where the guild decided on whether or not to accept the
craftsman. Europe became known as the christendom or the
kingdom of Christ. Gothic architecture allowed for much higher roofs
and larger buildings. Huge, pointed features and flying buttresses
were used. Priests were literate and asked to help with letters and
legal problems. They believed that the four humours of the body had
to be balanced for health. These were yellow bile, black bile,
phlegm and blood. To do this they used practices of blood letting
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disease was extremely widespread and the Black Death caused over
1/3 of Europe do die of disease.
The renaissance
Renaissance means rebirth in Latin as it was hugely inspired by
ancient Roman culture. People started to look at the world in a new
light. The church was immensely powerful and was able to pay artists
to explore new ideas to show off their wealth. This was one of the
largest periods of learning in our history as a species. Humanism is
the ideas that humans should be at the centre of everything, and what
we do should be done to help the lives of ourselves and others. This
was different because before the church had absolute control over
opinions. The fall of Constantinople brought books to Rome with new
ideas. Rome was immensely wealthy due to its prosperous trade. This
also brought new ideas as people were looking for more ways to make
money. Patrons were wealthy people/families who funded art during
the renaissance. A famous patron family was the de Medici family.
The renaissance started in Florence, one of the wealthiest cities at the
time. New art brought perspective (the adding of depth with vanishing
points), sfumato (the adding of depth with blurring), vivid colours,
fresco (painting onto wet plaster) and anatomy, this was the study of
the body. De Vinci was born in 1452 in de Vinci. He became
apprenticed at 14 and his master realised his skill. In 1482 he went to
Milan as a military engineer. His designs were ahead of their time as
seen in his impressive diaries. In 1499 he painted the Mona Lisa a
painting of a patron's wife. He used mirror writing in his 5000 pages of
notebooks. He had very few finished works. The first printing press
was called the moveable type printing press which was invented by
johannas guttenburg. It helped people become literate. The study of
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anatomy meant that science was more accurate. Galileo also made
the first telescope which confirmed the heliocentric model. This
meant that the sun was at the centre of the solar system.
The reformation
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called the index. Catholics could not read them. The biggest
consequence was sectarianism, hatred and conflict based on a
religious divide.
The plantations
The plantations were when the British confiscated Irish land and
colonised it with British settlers. They influenced Irish identity in a
huge way. The old English were people living in the pale who were
loyal to the crown. The Anglo Irish were descendants of Anglo
Norman’s who invaded during the 12th century. The Gaelic Irish were
people who followed brehan law, which dated back to the Iron Age.
Made up of chieftain families. The Tudor family was responsible for
the plantations. Surrender and regrant was the policy where people
would give up their land to the crown and be given a British title and
their land back. The British used succession for land ownership.
Planters was the name given to settlers. The ulster plantation was
by far the most successful plantation. Ulster was mostly controlled by
Irish chieftain clans. The O’Neill and O’Donnell clans in Ulster. At first
queen mary hoped to gain support by calling Hugh O’Neill the earl of
Tyrone. This worked fine at first but then she started to enforce British
common law and adventurers started to settle. He asked prince Filip II
of Spain for help as he was catholic. He refused but the rebelled in
1594 anyways. This became the 9 years war. Spain sent help which
arrived in 1601 in Kinsale, but it ended in 1603 with the treaty of
Mellifont, although the plantations did not stop there. The flight of the
earls happened in 1607. The official plantation started in 1609 under
James l and Derry was divided amongst the guilds. The rest was set up
into estates for people loyal to the British during the nine years war.
The penal laws were introduced to reduce the influence and power of
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French help arrived in 1775 and helped turn the tides as the British
army was far superior. In 1776 the second continental congress read
out the declaration of independence. The constitution was written in
1787 and was called the United States of America. It became a
federal republic and Washington was the first president in 1789. The
capital is named after him. The us grew to 50 states that it is today. It
inspired the French Revolution and future Irish independence
attempts with the 1798 rebellion. The idea that all men are created
equal started to spread although it was not really followed even in the
USA which had it it in the constitution.
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Parliamentary tradition
Ireland and Britain were extremely different countries during the
Industrial Revolution although they were both run from Westminster.
In Ireland agriculture was extremely important for the well-being and
survival of the population. The British Industrial Revolution meant that
industry was growing at exponential rates that Irish small companies
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The famine
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The great famine happened between the years 1845 and 1850. It
happened when the potato crop failed, although this was only one
crop it had such a devastating effect for Irish people especially
cottiers because of their limited land space. Sub-division was the
policy under the penal laws where land had to be divided which left
people with very little land. Potatoes could grow in a tiny area which
meant that majority of the population relied on them. Blight was first
found in the national botanical gardens in Glasnevin. The Irish
population has not reached pre famine levels since as a result of
emigration and disease. Blight was a fungal disease which infected
potatoes in moist conditions and spread easily because all potatoes
from the same plant are genetically identical meaning future crops
failed. Eviction is when somebody is forced out of their home.
Laissez faire was the attitude of let it be employed by the British
government. Maize was sent but was useless help because the
cooking instructions were written and people who were poor and
effected found not read or write. Public work schemes were set up
to give people jobs in return for money, but prices had risen due to
shortages. Workhouses were large buildings where people worked in
return for basic accommodation and food. People donated and the
most famous was the soup kitchens run by Quakers which was the
religious society of friends. They gave people soup for free to the
starving. The famine resulted in further hatred towards the British as
they could have helped, the Irish language declined as they were often
the poorer people in Ireland, a reform in farming was necessary, the
population fell by 2 million people. Emigration continued far after for
better opportunities. The Irish diaspora is the scattering of Irish
migrants and their descendants around the world. They were often
treated poorly, and a common statement was no Irish need apply.
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be vetoed but only delayed for two years in 1912 a third attempts was
made and delayed by 2 years making home rule come into effect in
1914. Many unionists hated this and signed the solemn league and
covenant which stated they would do whatever necessary to stop
home rule. The cultural movement split because of WW1 which saw
some people supporting the British as they believed they would get
freedom and others who didn’t believe this.
Irish independence
Between the years of 1916 and 1923 Irish nationalists pursued full
independence from Britain. The 1916 Easter rising was the start of
this, although not successful it did send a message of inspiration to
future nationalists. The IRB was a paramilitary organisation which
infiltrated many organisations to spread its knowledge and control. A
secret military council was formed to plan the rising including Patrick
Pearse who read out the proclamation of the Irish republic. He
believed in blood sacrifice, hence the rising taking place on Easter. It
also meant that the British would be ill prepared. The IRB knew that
the Irish volunteer force would be needed for any success. They
forged the castle documents saying British was planning an attack,
so they joined. Erin McNeill found out they were forged and withdrew
his forces although many did not obey him. The rising happened on
the Monday. The rising was confined to the capitol. They had initial
success but were overwhelmed by the next Monday. This resulted in
hatred towards the British because of how they dealt with the rising
leaders. 1916 is commemorated every year, this means
remembered. Sinn Fein rose in popularity because people thought the
rising was related to them. When Sinn Fein won in 1918 it showed
that people wanted a republic. On 21st January 1919 the first Dáil was
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The emergency
The emergency was the name given to WW2 in Ireland because
although not directly involved it had devastating effects for the
citizens. It got its name from the emergency powers act which made
it so that the government could use censorship to ensure neutrality
this was important as Ireland could not afford to be in another war.
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Neutrality is the act of not supporting a side in war, although the Irish
government did favour the allies. The new government had made
progress on dissolving the Anglo-Irish treaty. Ireland wanted to stay
neutral to show that it was completely separate to Britain. Rationing
was used to ensure everyone got enough supplies and the rich did not
get more than necessary. They did this using rationing books.
Glimmer men would make sure that people were not overusing their
gas supplies. Turf replaced the shortages of coal but was far worse at
producing energy. Northern Ireland fought with the British however it
did not use conscription like the British did because of nationalists to
appease them. Belfast industry grew dramatically as Britain needed
all of the help it could get. Their economy boomed. However, the
Republic of Ireland did not fare as well with supplies being extremely
limited. Belfast was attacked by the Luftwaffe during the Belfast blitz
over 1000 people were killed. The north and south grew further apart
as a result.
1960s Ireland
The 1960s saw huge changes in Ireland. Since WW2 Ireland was in a
state of economic crisis. This was because of protectionism which
discouraged international trade. Making them very expensive. Since
Irish businesses were protected, they were often poor quality. As a
result of limited jobs people moved to cities. This was called rural
depopulation. Ireland was also still being led by people who had
fought during the rising and had old ways that needed reform for
modern society. A series of weak governments resulted in the dail not
being able to solve any real problems. Sean Lemass brought in
radical change. He was first the minister of supplies in charge of
rations. He became Taoiseach and encouraged international trade
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The troubles
The troubles happened as a result of the creation of Northern Ireland
which was a controversial topic. The government of Ireland act
1920 created the partition between the two states. This created
Northern Ireland which was and still is the six counties Derry, Antrim,
Down, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh. 5e state had a majority British
population but even in the areas it did not have a majority used
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spread across the world at the killings. The British brought back their
direct control of the north and removed the existing government. The
Sunningdale agreement created a power sharing government to
undermine the IRA and show that peaceful means would also work. It
didn’t work. The unionist workers council went on strike. Terrorist
attacks created hatred of the IRA in Britain. Hunger strikes were used
by people in prisons to achieve their goals. This made people
sympathise with nationalists and British hatred increased. The Anglo-
Irish agreement in 1985 would make the republic have some control
in Northern Ireland. This outraged unionists. The IRA and Unionists
had a ceasefire in 1993 because of the Downing Street declaration
making peace the only way to be involved. The Good Friday
agreement in 1998 had the goal of creating sustainable peace. There
was a referendum with a landslide victory. It was difficult to keep as
neither side stuck to the terms but there has been no return to
violence by either side since.
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but this gradually changed. Women helped in 1916 which was huge
progress. The voting age for women was higher than the voting age for
men. Women in the dail had little to no influence. Until 1979 there
was no female government minister. The Irish state was very
conservative and a women’s ’role in the house’ was often accepted as
the truth by both men and women. The marriage bar caused many
women to emigrate. The 1960s along with a lot of other culture
change also saw the feminist movement. More jobs were needed
benefiting women, free education also benefited women. More
higher-level qualifications opened up for women such as lawyers. The
late late show helped to shift people’s traditional views of a women’s
role to align better with the modern world. Feminism aimed to get
gender equality and protest marches placed pressure on the
government. 1972 the commission on the status of women
recommended the removal of legal discrimination. The European
community also pressured Ireland. The anti discrimination act
1974 banned the pay gap which until then was legal. The
employment equality act 1977 outlawed discrimination based on
sex or martial status. In 1993 the ban on contraception was abolished
but was gradually phased out even before this. Divorce was
introduced in 1996. By 2000 over 40% of the workforce was made up
of women. Mary Robinson became the first female president in 1990
and women made huge progress in other areas too such as sport and
television.
WW1
World War One happened during the 20 th century which saw massive
advancements in science and technology. This new technology led
to the sheer scale of the war with over 18 million deaths. Society
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Communism
The emperor (tsar) of Russia was forced to step down after riots at
Russia’s poor performance in WW1. The provisional government was
overthrown in the 1917 October revolution and Vladimir Lenin came
to power. Lenin was leader of the bolsheviks who had Marxist beliefs.
They believed in the ideas of Karl Marx who didn’t believe in private
ownership. This was called communism. The state controls all
aspects of the economy and of society with limited rights for the
citizens. Religion was discouraged. The red army was communist and
defeated the last of the white army (anti communist) in 1922. Lenin
suffered from two strokes and wrote a testament saying how he
wanted communism to be run after his death. He did not want Stalin
to rise to power. Leon Trotsky was the assumed successor but when
Stalin took control of Lenin’s funeral arrangements people started to
change their mind. Stalin played other people in power against each
other rising to power in 1928. He used any means to hold his power.
Collectivisation was his policy of taking smaller unproductive farms
to make a large state-owned farm. Kulaks were wealthy indipendant
farmers. Gulags were work/forced labour camps. Five-year plans
were set up to help Russia catch up with the rest of the world. There
were two full ones which were successful, and the third one was
switched to help in WW2. He used terror to keep his power. He did a
purge of all his opposers. Show trials were fake political trials where
the defendants would confess to being horrible people who had
betrayed Russia. Propaganda was used to brainwash the youth. Stalin
was treated as a god. Although communism made men and women
equal Stalin didn’t believe in this part.
Fascism
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this was referred to as the 3Ks. The birth rate was high. Propaganda
and terror were used to ensure Hitler absolute control. Anybody who
went against him was killed by gestapo or secret police. Hitler hatred
of Jews was prevalent in his rule. The Nuremberg laws were passed
in 1935 discriminating against Jews. He believed in the perfect race of
aryans. Antisemitism was very popular, so it helped him to gain
public support as seen in Kristalnacht or the night of falling glass
which was a pogrom or government organised protest against Jewish
people.
WW2
World War Two was caused by Germany, under Hitler's rule defying
the treaty of Versailles. The army was rebuilt, the Rhineland was
reoccurred, they regained territory, they used lebenstraum to create
the third Reich. Hitler knew the other nations would avoid war at all
costs. Britain made an agreement with Germany allowing the
expansion of its navy. This gave Germany confidence. In 1935
conscription was reintroduced, Hitler created the Luftwaffe or
German airforce. Germany united with Austria in direct defiance of the
treaty. Austria was absorbed into the third Reich. The Sudetenland
was when the German speaking areas of Czechoslovakia were
absorbed into the Reich. The french and British believed in
appeasement, meaning they would not interfere with Hitler out of
fear of a war, France believed that it was safe because of the Maginot
line which fortified its border. British people thought the treaty was
too harsh and had sympathies. The Munich conference gave Hitler
more land in return for no violence. Hitler broke the agreement. The
nazis had a nonaggression pact with the Soviet’s. Hitler wanted to
invade Poland and this agreement would make this much easier. In
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September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. Two days later Britain and
France declared war on Germany starting WW2. The allies consisted
of Britain, France and Poland (later also the ussr and USA) and the
axis powers of Italy, Japan and Germany. This war effected the entire
world much more than WW1. Technology changed the war
dramatically. Over 60 million people were killed and 40 million more
refugees. Better naval technologies including radar meant that
stealth technology had to be developed. Aircraft carriers were used.
German gals called panzer tanks were extremely dominant. The
allies made amphibious tanks. The British royal airforce and
German Luftwaffe were both extremely advanced. The Germans
created the first long range rockets. The atomic bomb was invented
by the USA under the manhattan project. Two were dropped in Japan
which is still a very controversial topic. Fronts moved quickly because
of this new technology. This also had the devistating effect of the
highest ever death toll from conflict. Blitzkrieg was a German war
method of surprise attacks by the Luftwaffe followed by panzer tanks
and then infantry. It worked extremely well on both Poland and
France. Poland was the first invasion and was taken in 5 weeks. They
split Poland with the soviets as in their pact. The phoney war
happened when neither France nor Germany actually fought but
tensions along the border were high. The German tanks could traverse
land the French though impossible to cross. Operation dynamo was
the evacuation of allied soldiers at Dunkirk. Germany occupied
northern France and in the ‘free zone’ Vichy France was set up as a
puppet government. The Battle of Britain or operation sea lion failed
because the royal airforce was far superior. The British also had
access to radar. The Germans had to refuel back in the third Reich.
The blitz was when the German Luftwaffe bombed London throughout
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the night. Britain used anti aircraft guns to defend against these
attacks. There were air raid sirens to warn the public. Over 100,000
people slept in the London Underground. Children were evacuated
from cities and were sent to relatives in the countryside where it was
safer. Seven million women entered the workforce. Operation
Barbarossa was when Germany invaded the USSR in 1941. Blitzkrieg
worked well at first because Stalin was shocked. The red army used
the scorched earth tactic which destroyed anything that was useful
to the enemies. Germany had some initial successes, but the Russian
winter was too harsh, and the German engines froze. The battle of
Stalingrad the Russian cut off the Germans ending the invasion. The
USA entered WW2 when Japan attacked pearl-harbour. The USA
declared war effect of immediately. The battle of the Atlantic was
when German u boats sank millions of tonnes of allied shipments. D
day also known as operation overlord was the planned landing of
troops in Normandy to take back France. They led Germany a false
trail which made it even more successful. Paris was liberated on 25th
august. The allies then began air raids on Germany to damage war
supply production. About 25,000 people were killed. After d day the
ussr launched operation Bagration driving the Germans out of the
USSR. The final offensive was the battle of the bulge, but they were
defeated, and Germany was invaded. 1945 was he end of the war
when Berlin was captured. Hitler committed suicide. This is called
VE day. Japan surrendered a few months later in august after the two
atomic bomb strikes. WW2 had devastating impacts economically
with cost, socially with deaths and denazification and environmentally
with pollution.
Genocide
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between June 1948 till April the following year. This was when over
100,000 flights brought supplies to West Berlin showing that the west
would not give up easily. The Soviets eventually realised that their
efforts were futile and gave up removing the embargo on travel. This
was also called operation vittles. NATO was set up; it was and still is
a military alliance. The Warsaw pact was set up. In 1949 the Soviets
detonated their first atomic bomb starting the arms race. Korea was
split along the 38th parallel after WW2, the north was communist
(backed by the soviets) and the south capitalist. There were clashes
along the border in 1949, and the Korean War started the following
year. The north invaded the south, the USA sent troops and pressured
the UN to follow suit. The North Koreans were driven out of the south
and were ordered to keep pushing. At the Yalu River the Chinese
thought they were being invaded and sent 500,000 troops which
brought the war to a stalemate along the same parallel as before.
There was little to no change. North Korea is still a brutal communist
government. The Cuban revolution was when Castro led a communist
government to power in Cuba. The Soviets agreed to trade and deal
weapons with Cuba when the USA stopped all trade. The bay of pigs
was when the CIA authorised an invasion to retake Cuba. This failed
and the communist government asked the Soviets for more aid. Soviet
leaders wanted the European nuclear weapons removed and they
refused so the USSR built a missile base in Cuba. In October 1962 the
USA found out about these missiles and announced a naval blockade.
This was the closest we have ever been to a nuclear war. After several
days an agreement was made to remove both sides missiles. Nuclear
tests were banned, and a hotline was set up for crises. The Vietnam
war was similar to the Korean War with a communist north and
capitalist south. The conflict started due to a vote not taking place.
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History Long Answers for Every Junior Cycle Topic-
By Harry O’Meara
The north attacked the south. The USA sent over 500,000 soldiers.
This war very controversial. The USA used controversial methods
which strengthened communist support. A treaty was made in 1972
because of a stalemate. The anti-war movement led to the troops
been brought home in 1973. The north invaded the south in 1975 and
the country feel to communism. Containment failed and even spread
to neighbouring countries. The USA had a huge defeat. The eastern
bloc was how the ussr kept control over all aspects of its related
countries. The Soviets interfered only when there was a threat to
communist rule.
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History Long Answers for Every Junior Cycle Topic-
By Harry O’Meara
European integration
After WW2 new European leaders committed to working together to
prevent future conflicts. States were encouraged to work together
because the idea of the war was terrifying, many economies suffered
and working together would benefit everybody much more. The USA
also wanted an ally against communism. The Benelux agreement
was between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg and
abolished customs. It was made in 1947. The OEEC was set up to
raise living standards across Europe. In 1949 the council of Europe to
promote common ideals and values to further unify Europe. It outlined
human rights in Europe. The European court protected the people.
NATO was set up to prevent war across the world. The ECSC was
made in 1952 and was arguably the most important development
because industrial production more than doubled. The EEC was made
in 1958. It aimed to promote economic activity, raise the standard of
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History Long Answers for Every Junior Cycle Topic-
By Harry O’Meara
living and to bring European nations closer than ever. It was designed
to adapt to the times to best fit the goals. This made a common
market, freedom of movement, a minimum wage for farmers which
also oversaw quality, and the development fund to aid further behind
nations. The EEC enlarged or grew in phases. Phase 1 was Britain,
Ireland and Denmark, phase 2 was Greece, Portugal and Spain, phase
3 Austria, Sweden and Finland and phase 4 was Eastern Europe. In
1986 the single European act was signed to create one single market.
The EEC shanked to the EU with the Maastricht treaty. It also
introduced the euro currency. The treaty of Amsterdam 1997 and the
treaty of nice 2001 made reforms necessary for the Eastern Europe
expansion. The EU achieved its aims, peace has been maintained in
Europe, wealth in Europe has increased dramatically, member states
have flourished, it is the largest trading bloc in the world. Some people
believe that the EU causes countries to lose their national identities.
The Irish government saw Europe as a way for Ireland to reengage with
the European community. Ireland used to discourage international
trade but made it cheaper and when Britain joined Ireland did too.
Ireland has benefitted hugely from the EU because we are an island
with limited resources, this makes it even more important for us to
trade with a larger market. The Irish passport is one of the most
powerful in the world, more so than the American passport, the EU
was largely the cause for this. Ireland has also rejected EU policy on
multiple occasions including to protect neutrality.
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History Long Answers for Every Junior Cycle Topic-
By Harry O’Meara
example of this is the atomic bomb which gave humans the ability to
annihilate humans as a species. Patterns of change can be seen in
topics such as the American revolution, then the French Revolution
and 1798. This shows patterns of change as one historical even
spread the idea that similar change could be implemented elsewhere
leading to a change from monarchal societies to democratic societies.
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