Topic | Name | Description |
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Course Syllabus | ||
1.1.1: The Industrial Revolution in England | Read this lecture to learn about the conditions in England that helped give rise to the industrial revolution. |
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1.1.2: Changing Daily Lives | Watch this video and pay attention to how the Industrial Revolution changed daily life in Britain and the United States. |
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1.2.1: Mercantilism | Read this article about the history of mercantilism to learn about how this theory of trade and industry emerged. |
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1.2.2: Adam Smith | Read this short biography of Adam Smith to understand the context of Adam Smith's thinking about economic change. |
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Browse this work and read the first book to get a sense of the kinds of arguments Smith made in his writing. |
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1.2.3: Max Weber | Read this excerpt from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism to get a sense of Max Weber's argument that religious affiliation affected the willingness of people to engage in capitalist enterprises. Weber is only laying out his main ideas in this opening chapter. |
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1.3.1: Friedrich List | Read this article in preparation for reading List's primary source next. |
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Read this excerpt from List's work. |
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1.3.2: Karl Marx | Read this article to for a basic outline of Karl Marx's theory of economics. |
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Read "The Communist Manifesto". |
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1.3.3: Joseph Schumpeter | Read Schumpeter's article and note his argument about the connection between individualistic economic desire and the community at large. |
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1.4.1: The "Stages of Growth" Theory | Read this chapter from W. W. Rostow's The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto for an explanation of industrialization and economic change. |
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1.4.2: "Dependency" Theory | Read this article to understand the arguments that dependency theorists make about industrialization and trade. |
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2.1.1: Mining | Read this chapter for an overview of Roman society at its height in the first and second centuries CE. |
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Read this article about Roman mining to learn how ancient Romans solved the technical problems of mining. |
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2.1.2: Glass Production | Read this article about the history and evolution of Roman glass production. The manufacture of glassware was known throughout the ancient world, but Roman craftsmen produced glass on an unprecedented scale. The invention of glassblowing during the first century BCE allowed craftsmen to quickly produce glass products in a wide range of shapes, bringing cheap glass to mass markets |
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2.1.3: Markets and Distribution | Watch these 15 podcasts to learn about how Rome was built and how supplies entered and exited the city. This series of podcasts uses images of Roman ruins and scale models to illustrate the architecture and urban development of the city of Rome. Through its port city of Ostia, Rome imported vast quantities of food and other commodities and exported manufactured goods across the Roman Empire. Roman industry often relied on cheap slave labor to supply large urban markets with goods. |
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2.2.1: The "Four Great Inventions" | Read this article to learn about the origins of China's great inventions, which include the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. After reading about China's role in inventing each of these, feel free to read the articles about each specific invention for more history of the use and development of these tools. |
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2.2.2: Metalworking | Read this article to learn about the origins of bronze and copper metallurgy in ancient China. |
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Read this article to learn more about copper in ancient China. |
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2.2.3: Applying Industry to Agriculture | Watch these lectures, which provide a general overview of agricultural change in China. Chinese farmers invented a wide range of devices to increase the yield of farms and to save labor, many of which were diffused to other parts of the world, especially Europe. |
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2.3.1: Germania | Read this article to learn about economic development in Roman-occupied parts of Europe. |
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2.3.2: India | Read the first two chapters of this book to learn about pre-European cotton manufacturing in India. |
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2.4.1: Merchant Capitalism in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas | Watch this video. |
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Read these two pages to learn how early forms of capitalism developed in merchant communities in Europe. |
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2.4.2: Trading Companies and Consumer Goods | Read these notes and listen to this lecture. |
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3.1.1: The "Columbian Exchange" | Read this article about the exploitation and trading networks that resulted from European colonization in the Americas. Pay particular attention to the Columbian Exchange which provided a new basis for new agricultural production in Europe, as new types of crops from the New World came to supplement the European diet, such as potatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, squash, peppers and cacao. For example, potatoes became a vital means of sustenance for the lower classes across Europe. |
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3.1.2: The Agricultural Revolution in Europe | Read this article to learn about the changes in agricultural productivity in England during the agricultural revolution. |
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3.1.3: Demographic Change in Europe | Read this article, which discusses how demographic changes affected urbanization in Europe. |
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Read this section, which includes some first-hand accounts of the demographic changes that resulted from urbanization and industrialization. |
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Read this article which gives accounts of how industrialization transform cities and the urban experience in terms of increased pollution, health and disease, poverty and destitution. |
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3.2.1: Rural Manufacturing in Europe | Read this article to understand how the "putting-out system" (also called the "domestic system") evolved during the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain. |
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3.2.2: Handicraft Production in Asia | Read this transcript of Louise A. Tilly's presidential address to the American Historical Association, which examines early forms of industrial production in South Asia, England, and France. She argues that early industrialization in England stunted industrial development in South Asia, while showing that European and Asian workers experienced major social changes as a result of their shifting economic roles. |
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3.3.1: Raw Materials from the Americas | Read this article to learn how slavery contributed to the development of industry in Europe. |
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3.3.2: Labor from Africa | Read this article to learn about the debates concerning the connection between slavery and industrialization. |
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4.1.1: Coal Mining in England | Watch this lecture by John Merriman to learn about the general course of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. |
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Read this excerpt from Capital and Steam Power to learn about the early history of coal in industry. |
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4.1.2: The Steam Engine | Read these nine pages. Watch the media scenes on each page, which describe the function and evolution of early steam engines. |
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4.2.1: Revolutionizing Wool and Cotton Spinning | Read this two-page article to learn about the rapid changes in textile technology that occurred in England in the late 18th century. |
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Read this article to learn how how new technology changed people's lives. Along with the next article, note that each side tries to make an argument for the common good. |
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Read this article to learn how how new technology changed people's lives. Along with the previous article, note that each side tries to make an argument for the common good. |
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4.2.2: Resistance to Mechanization | Read this introduction and explore the five original sources about machine-breaking movements. |
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4.2.3: The Factory System | Read these thirteen pages, which compare domestic to factory production. Review each of the "Rich Media Scenes" to learn how factories emerged as sites of production and how they differed from earlier forms of work. |
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Read this excerpt of Ure's 1835 book, which gives a contemporary account of the benefits of the factory system in England. |
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4.3.1: Iron | Read this article to learn how iron and steel manufacturing became leading sectors in the Industrial Revolution. |
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Read this page, which describes the Bessemer process and the impact it had on steel manufacturing. |
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4.3.2: Railroads | Read this article to learn about the origins of railroads and their effect on industrialization. |
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Read these pages to see how early railroads were constructed and how people reacted to new industrial developments. You may wish to explore the other pages under "Opposing Voices" and "Illustrated London News". |
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4.3.3: Steamships | Read pages 1–12 of this article. |
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4.4.1: Protection of Trade Secrets | Read this article. |
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Read this article about Eli Whitney to learn about an American case of patent law and industrialization. |
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4.4.2: Economic Espionage and Trade Missions | Read this article to learn how industrial knowledge was transferred from England to the United States. |
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4.4.3: Migrations of Workers | Read this four-page article to learn how workers carried industrial knowledge away from England. |
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5.1.1: Growth of Urban Manufacturing | Watch this lecture by John Merriman to learn how industrialization changed urban life during the 19th century. |
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5.1.2: Rapid Growth of Industrial Cities | Examine this map of population density in 1910 to see where people were most densely concentrated in Europe. |
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Review this interactive map, which illustrates the spread of industry and urbanization in Europe. |
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5.2.1: Women as Workers | Watch Chapter 3 of this lecture, which begins at 16:29. This lecture will help you understand how the Industrial Revolution changed women's lives. |
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5.2.2: Child Labor | Watch this lecture learn how the Industrial Revolution utilized child labor. |
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5.3.1: Wealth from Industry and Trade | Read this article to learn how the Industrial Revolution expanded the middle class in England. |
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5.3.2: Political Aspirations | Read this article to learn how industrialization created political conditions that led to the Reform Acts in England. |
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Read this article to learn more about how industrialization created political conditions that led to the Reform Acts in England. |
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Read this article to learn more about the Reform Acts in England. |
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5.4.1: French Socialism | Read this article to learn how intellectuals and labor leaders viewed the impact of industrialization on politics and society. |
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Read this article to learn how intellectuals and labor leaders viewed the impact of industrialization on politics and society. |
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5.4.2: Utopian Socialism | Read this article to learn how intellectuals and workers tried to use industrialization to create utopian societies. |
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Read this article to learn how intellectuals and workers tried to use industrialization to create utopian societies. |
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5.4.3: Chartism | Read this article to learn about the basic goals of the Chartist movement in England. |
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5.5.1: On the Road to Revolution | Watch this lecture, which explains the ideologies and events leading up to the revolutionary year of 1848. |
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5.5.2: Causes | Read this article. |
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5.5.3: Spread | Read these primary source documents. These documents were issued by the provisional government of France in 1848. The actions and ideals espoused by the revolutionaries in France quickly spread to many other European nations. |
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Read this excerpt from a memoir by Carl Schurz, a German revolutionary in 1848 who later immigrated to the United States and became a general in the Civil War. Note how Schurz describes the excitement sweeping through Europe following the Revolution in France. |
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5.5.4: Restoration of Order | Read this article to learn about the social groups that opposed the Revolution of 1848 in France. Similar groups throughout Europe resisted the revolutions and ultimately prevented the most radical revolutionary forces from making lasting reforms. |
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6.1.1: Proto-Industrialization and Trade in Qing China | Listen to this lecture to learn about the basic path of industrialization in Asia. |
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Read this article to learn how trade was conducted between China and western European countries along with the United States. |
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6.1.2: The "Great Divergence" | Read this review of Kenneth Pomeranz's The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy to learn about the basic argument presented concerning the diverging development paths of China and Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. |
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Read this three-page article to learn how the industrial trajectories of Europe and China diverged during the nineteenth century. |
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6.1.3: The Opium Wars and Western Imperialism | Read these articles about the two Opium Wars. |
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6.2.1.1: Exclusion Acts | Read this article and the primary source excerpts that follow it to learn about the Japanese policy of seclusion from world trade. |
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6.2.1.2: The Opening of Japan | Read this article to learn about how Japan began to loosen restrictions on trade with the outside world. |
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6.2.2: Proto-Industrialization in Japan | Read this chapter on pages 533–549 to learn how Japanese officials viewed the evolution of industrialization in Japan before 1900. |
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6.3.1: New Industrial Policies | Watch this video. |
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Read this article to learn how the Meiji government approached the problem of industrialization. |
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6.4.1: The Scramble for Africa | Read this article to learn how the economic imperatives of industrialization led European nations to expand their imperial control into Africa. |
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6.4.2: The New Imperialism | Watch this lecture to learn how increasing industrialization led to a new type of imperialism in the nineteenth century and how that imperialism set the stage for the First World War. |
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7.1.1: Large Corporations | Read the ten articles in this unit to learn how large corporations emerged in the industrializing United States. |
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7.1.2: Cartels and Monopoly Capitalism | Read this article from the late nineteenth century to learn about industrial trusts and cartels and why people objected to them. |
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7.1.3: Taylorism and Fordism | Read the article to learn about Frederick Taylor's contribution to industrial management. |
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Read this excerpt of Frederick Taylor's work. |
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Read this article. |
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7.2.1: Workers and Capitalists in the United States | Read the fifteen articles in this unit to learn how American workers responded to changes in industry. |
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7.2.2: Workers and Capitalists in Europe | Watch this lecture by John Merriman. Focus on how labor movements formed political organizations in Europe. |
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7.2.3: Workers and Capitalists in Asia | Read this article about the formation of the Japanese labor movement. |
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Read this article about a labor protest in China. |
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7.3.1: Industrialized Agriculture | Read these slides, which provide a background on agriculture and the history of the industrialization of agriculture. |
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7.3.2: Mass Communications and Mass Marketing | Read this article to learn about the new media industries that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
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Read this article to learn how advertising helped industries reach new consumers and sell products in new ways. |
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8.1.1: Industrial Rivalry in Europe | Read this chapter of Lenin's book Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism to learn about the growing competition between capitalist businesses in the years leading up to 1914. |
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8.1.2: Industrialized Warfare | Read these seven pages and explore the linked content. |
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8.1.3: The United States and World War I | Read this article about U.S. involvement in the Great War. |
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8.2.1: Boom and Bust in the 1920s | Watch these videos. |
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Read this article to learn about the main events of the Great Depression. |
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8.2.2: Recovery Efforts | Read this article to learn how governments tried to recover from the Great Depression. |
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8.3.1: Causes | Read this article on the causes of World War Two. |
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8.3.2: The U.S. Economy During the Second World War | Read this article to learn how World War Two transformed the U.S. economy. |
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8.4.1: Postwar Planning and the Bretton Woods Conference | Read this summary of agreements reached at the 1944 United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods to learn about the significance of the conference. |
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8.4.2: The Marshall Plan | Explore this page to learn about the key elements of the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after 1945. |
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9.1.1: The Bolshevik Revolution | Watch this video. |
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9.1.2: Economic Policy under Lenin | Read this article and the related links. |
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Read this article and the related links. |
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9.1.3: Stalinist Industrialization | Read this article and the related links. |
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Read this article and the related links. |
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Read this article and the related links. |
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9.2.1: The Chinese Revolution | Read this overview of Chinese history in the 20th century to understand how the revolution changed Chinese industry. |
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9.2.2: Sino-Soviet Cooperation | Read this article, which discusses how the Soviet Union and China cooperated. |
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9.2.3: The "Great Leap Forward" | Read this article to learn about the objectives of the Great Leap Forward. |
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Read this two-page article to learn about the objectives of the Great Leap Forward. |
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9.3.1: India under British Rule | Read this chapter. |
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9.3.2: State Capitalism and the Five-Year Plan | Watch these videos. |
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9.3.3: Import Substitution | Read this article to learn about the theory and application of ISI policies that were implemented in Latin American countries during the 20th century. |
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10.1.1: Post-1945 Prosperity | Read this article about how Germany recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity. |
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Read this article for more information about how Germany recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity. |
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Read this article about how the United States recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity. |
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10.1.2: Problems of the 1960s–1970s | Watch these videos. |
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10.1.3: Economic Origins of the European Union | Read this page and explore the images and films available. Be sure to read more about the Schuman Plan. |
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10.2.1: Reconstruction of Japan | Read this article to learn how Japan recovered from the destruction of the Second World War. |
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Read this article to learn how Japan recovered from the destruction of the Second World War. |
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10.2.2: The "Four Tigers" | Read this article. |
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Read this article. |
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Read this article. |
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Read this article. |
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10.3.1: Industrialization and Free Trade around the World | Watch these videos. |
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10.3.2: From the GATT to the WTO | Watch lectures 21, 23, and 25 to learn about China's entry into the world economy. |
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Read this timeline to learn how the GATT organization transformed into the WTO. |
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Read this overview of the WTO. |
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Study Guide | ||
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