history extra credit ch 33

7/30/2019 History Extra Credit Ch 33

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Chapter 33: The Developing World Holley Wright

Section 1: The Challenges of Development

After World War II, many new nations were formed in Africa and Asia. Development was

the main goal in these new nations. They aimed to improve agriculture and industry.

They built school in order to increase literacy in hopes to create a strong economy

through well-trained workers.

Before these countries were developing, the lived and worked in traditional

economies, which relied on habit or custom. Agriculture was used only to meet the local

need rather than for economic reasons. To pay for development, countries made an

effort to get large loans from banks and governments from the north. When developing

countries changed to market economies, companies and individuals invested in the

industries.

New pesticides and agricultural equipment were introduced in developing

countries, which led to new farming methods. This became known as the GreenRevolution. It increased production and fed many more people. Small farmers were

forced to sell their farms due to big landowners causing the price of food to go down.

Population had grown in developing countries for the past 100 years. This many

people puts a burden on families to provide enough food for the family. Many

developing countries have poverty, which puts a burden on the governments who have

little funding as well. Many people cannot escape the life of poverty. Due to small

farmers selling their farms and moving to the cities, child labor became more popular in

large cities. This is because families depended on their children to help the family

income. They needed this just for the basic necessities in life. Due to the revolution,

women have more opportunities to work. Women have more of a chance to receive a

good education.

Section 2: Africa Seeks a Better Future

African nations had to establish industries, build transportation systems, develop

resources, increase literacy, and solve problems of rural poverty in order to develop. But

people did have enough money to invest in these projects. Because of this, countries

had to make difficult decisions on how to run their countries.

Many new countries chose socialism in order to end foreign influence on their

economies and to get rid of economic classes. Other nations chose capitalism. Thesecountries had more efficient economies, but allowed foreign influences on the economy.

Many countries had to import their food, which was very costly. Other nations

became dependent on a single crop and were at mercy to changes in the market. Many

government kept food prices low to prevent unrest among the poor. This caused

farmers to not want to grow crops. Government then had to use money to import the

food from overseas.


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African nations faced many challenges to well-being. Droughts in the late 1900s

caused many areas of farmland to turn to dust. The loss of farmland and pasture led to

famine. The disease AIDS has caused millions of people to die in Africa. The loss of so

many workers has damaged the countries economies. Africa also experienced a high

rate of urbanization. This caused traditional ways to be lost and weakened traditional

cultures.

Africa has faced environmental threats due to urbanization, farming, and logging.

Animal habitats have been destroyed leading to endangered species. The Green Belt

Movement was started to provide lasting well-being for future generations.

Tanzania has been very poor since it gained independence. To improve life, the

government introduced African Socialism. It was based on tradition African village

traditions and shared responsibilities. This experiment failed because farmers refused to

leave their land. It resulted in a huge and inefficient bureaucracy. This put the country in

debt. Tanzania is still poor, but has received an economic boost.

Section 3: China and India: Two Giants of Asia

China and India have faced challenges to economic development. Some of them

have been addressed while other remain untouched. Deng Xiaoping took control of

China and was a practical reformer. He was more interested in improving the economy

then political purity. His program, the Four Modernizations, emphasized agriculture,

industry, science, and defense. The economic reforms brought a surge of growth.

Foreign investment created an economic boom. Some people enjoyed improved living

conditions.

Many Chinese people wanted more political freedom. Many wanted democratic

reforms. Thousands of demonstrators for democracy met at Tiananmen Square andrefused to disperse. Troops were sent to kill the demonstrators. Many of them were

arrested and tortured. It showed that Chinas Communist leaders were afraid of losing

control.

China has the largest population in the world. The government tried to control the

population by creating the one-child policy. Rural families were allowed two children.

Population growth slowed after 1980 due to the policy. Urbanization also occurred in

China which led to poverty and limited resources. AIDS also became a new health

problem.

India, like China, has a large population and had a path of economic

development. India set out to use modern technology to expand agriculture and

industry. India lacked oil and natural gas which are key resources for economic growth.

They had to rely on costly imported oil. India shifted toward more of a free-market

system. Indian companies began to sell publishing, computer, and customer-support

services to the rest of the world.


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Indias population growth hurt efforts to improve living conditions. Demand for

food had risen. The population put pressure on the health-care system which faced

challenges after the spread of AIDS.

Spread of education and a modern economy caused traditional ways to be

changed. The Indian constitution banned discrimination against lower castes. Separate

jobs were set for the people of the lower castes, yet people still discriminated against

them. Under the constitution, Indian women had equal rights. Rich women received a

good education and got good jobs while poor women received little education and were

expected to do unpaid work around the house.

Section 4: Latin America Builds Democracy

Like other developing countries, Latin America experienced rapid

population growth, poverty, illiteracy, political instability, and authoritarian governments.

Latin America relied on one single crash crop to earn money for imports. If the harvest

failed, the economy was hit hard. To reduce the dependence, they adopted a policy ofimport substitution to manufacture goods locally to replace imports. It was of mixed

success. Government also backed efforts to open more land to farming.

The gap between the rich and the poor has also grown, and the wealthy own

almost everything. Latin America also experienced a population explosion that

contributed to poverty. The economies were hit hard to keep pace with the population. A

shortage of land caused people to move to cities. The church was a powerful figure that

stood up for social justice for the poor.

Democracy was difficult to achieve in Latin America due to poverty and

inequality. Many different groups pressed for reform, but they all wanted one thing,

which was to improve conditions for the poor. Conservatives resisted reform, andconflict between Conservatives and reformers were started. Military leaders began to

seize power and imposed harsh rules for order. They imprisoned and killed thousands.

The United States greatly influenced the Latin American countries.

The United States sometimes intervened militarily in Latin America during the

Cold War. They did this to stop the spread of communism. Another reason that the

United States intervened was because of a new drug. They made efforts to stop

smuggling of drugs and destroyed drug cash crops.

Civil wars started in Central America to fight authoritarian governments. Many

countries fought and eventually came out to be democracy governments, some stronger

then others. Pressure from activists and foreign leaders caused most military rulers to

return to democracy. Mexico began new reforms due to pressure.

Argentina went into political chaos and the military seized control. A sort of civil

war started where the military tortured and murdered its own citizens. People were

kidnapped by the government and disappeared. However, Argentinas democracy

survived this crisis and its economy recovered rapidly after 2003.


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history extra credit ch 33

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