Ch. 20 Sec. 1

Conflicts Divide Nations

Many wars and conflict

• Arise over ethnic or religious differences– Differences within a nation leads to civil war– Usually occur because one group believes it is

being discriminated against by another group

• Exceptions:– Malaysia and Singapore for example, have great

religious and ethnic diversity but have avoided internal conflict because they have distributed economic and political power among various groups.

Sri Lanka

• Sinhalese Buddhists– Majority, nationalists made Sinhalese the only

official language, created government support for Buddhism and excluded the Hindu Tamils from power

• Hindu Tamils– Minority, Loss of official language and govt. power

leads to rebellion against the Sinhalese in late 1970s, bloody civil war

– 2002 ceasefire after negotiations created a separate Tamil regional government

Canada

• French speaking people in Quebec – Felt they were mistreated by the English

speaking majority in Canada– Gained support for their language and

culture through democratic means– 1995 vote to remain in Canada

Northern Ireland

• Ireland won independence from Great Britain in 1922 (Catholic majority)– 6 Northern counties

• Protestant majority, votes to remain part of Great Britain• Catholics faced economic and political discrimination

– Want unification with the Republic of Ireland

– 1960s extremists on both sides• IRA (Irish Republican Army) attacked Protestants in Northern Ireland

and engaged in terrorism against Britain• Protestant militia attacked Catholics in N. Ireland

– Intense through the 70s and early 80s, peace talks calmed but drug on til 1998

• Good Friday Agreement - signed peace accord, but still episodes of violence

Former Soviet Union

• Armenians - minority in Azerbaijan, declare independence in region where they are the majority, fighting kills thousands

• Chechen Muslims fought to free Chechnya from Russia– Mid-1990s Russia brutally crushed a

Chechen revolt

Russia

• 1997 - failed peace treaty• Battle goes beyond Chechnya borders• 1999 Russian troops respond to new fighting and won

control of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in 2000• Rebels continue to fight in southern mountains and some

Chechens have turned to terrorist attacks elsewhere in Russia

• Russians have responded by linking the Chechens to Muslim terrorists in other parts of the world