Summary
Highlights
The 20th century was marked by significant conflict and violence. This video will explore different responses to these conflicts after 1900, focusing on both nonviolent resistance and violent solutions.
Mohandas Gandhi advocated nonviolence and civil disobedience for India's independence. As leader of the Indian National Congress by 1921, he embodied nonviolent resistance against British Imperial policies through acts like the Homespun movement (boycotting British textiles) and the Salt March (protesting the British salt monopoly). Despite arrests, his efforts were crucial in India gaining independence after World War II.
Martin Luther King Jr., a Black Baptist minister in the United States, was inspired by Gandhi's methods in his fight against racial segregation. As a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, King used civil disobedience, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to challenge unjust laws. His actions, like Gandhi's, led to political change, including the outlawing of racial discrimination in schools and the passage of anti-discrimination laws.
Nelson Mandela initially led nonviolent resistance against apartheid in South Africa, including boycotts and strikes. However, after events like the Sharpeville Massacre and his treason trial, he shifted to advocating violence as the only path to equality. Despite being jailed for decades, he was released in 1994, ran for president, and helped end apartheid.
Violent responses to conflict were more common. Augusto Pinochet in Chile led a military coup, supported by the United States during the Cold War, to overthrow the democratically elected Marxist president, Salvador Allende. As a dictator, Pinochet violently suppressed opposition with raids, executions, and torture against political enemies.
Idi Amin, after seizing power in Uganda in 1971, responded to ethnic conflict with extreme violence. He demonized the South Asian population and carried out campaigns of violence against his own people, ethnic groups, and political rivals. His chaotic rule led to him being known as the "Butcher of Uganda," with estimates of deaths ranging from 80,000 to half a million.
A different form of intensified violence emerged with the military-industrial complex. Countries like the United States and the Soviet Union built up their militaries and stockpiled nuclear weapons, fueled by fear and economic pressure. This created a self-feeding cycle where military spending became economically profitable, increasing global violence and making it difficult to cut defense budgets due to job reliance.
Some groups used violence against civilians for political goals, known as terrorism. Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, was a militant Islamic group with grievances against U.S. involvement in the Middle East. They carried out terrorist acts, most infamously the September 11th attacks, to pressure the U.S. to change its policies, which ultimately intensified U.S. involvement in the region.