NEW ZEALAND, 1945 1221 1220 ASIA 1910, May 80. Elections for the National Sept. 1S. American and South ltorep Assembly of South Korea gave forces launched a counter-offe~ the llJIljority of seats to the moder­ sive, co-ordinated with an amphibio~ ate forces rather than to the ex­ landing at Inchon (Sept. IS). By the en4 G. THE PAC I FIe ARE A treme Right-Wing supporters of of the month, U.N. forces had reached ~ President Rhee. 88th parallel and General MacArthlD 1. June IS. North Korea proposed negotia­ asked for the surrender of the Nortl\. AUSTRALIA tions for an all-Korean assembly, Korean forces. When his request w~ ~ored, , but refused to deal with the gov­ 19U, Jan. 29. The Duke of Gloucester Nov. 2'1. The Banking Bill, calling for ernment of Syngman Rhee. Oct. 9. General MacArthur ordered .~ succeeded Lord Gowrie as Gov­ the nationalization of the hanks, June 15. Start of the KOREAN WAR, crossing of the 88th parallel, act>! ernor General. was passed after one of the most violent as North Korean troops crossed ing on implicit authority of the U.N.. Ge$ July IS. Prime Minister John Curtin controversies in Australian history. In­ the 38th parallel at eleven points. eral Assembly. Within three weeks, U.1'C> died, after holding office since tended to aid in the prevention of depres­ The United Nations Security forces were approaching the J4anchllrlaJ October, 1941. Joseph B. Chifley sion and inflation, opponents of the bill Council called for an immediate border, reaching the Yalu River at sev~ was elected leader of the Federal branded its adoption as dictatorial and un­ cessation of hostilities and with­ points. Labor Party ,and became Prime constitutional. drawal of North Korean forces. Nov. 1. A North Korean counter-offen.., Minister on July 11. 1949, June IT-Aug. 15. A Communist­ June fltl. The Security Council asked sive halted, and in places drove Nov. 1'1~Dec. 15. A strike of coal work­ inspired coal strike almost stopped members of the United Nations to back U.N. forces. The first Chi;­ ers in New South Wales seriously 611 industrial activity. It was set­ furnish assistance to the Republic nese prisoners were taken by Maar crippled Australian industry before it was tled with the aid of emergency of Korea. The United States in­ Arthur's forces. As the Nor~ settled by arbitration. To counteract ab­ legislation and the use of troops in tervened immediately, to help Koreans failed to follow up theit '1ienteeisrn and strikes, and to improve coal operating the mines. stem the North Korean advance. successes, . . ~ production in general, Parliament, in Au­ July 8. Following a request of the Secu­ Dec. 10. The General Election brought a Nov. 14. General MacArthur launcheO.,.i gust, 1946, adopted the Coal Industry Bill, decisive victory to the anti-Labor rity Council, President Truman general assault in the west to~ '.getting up a Coal Board with wide powers designated General Douglas Mac~ coalition of the Liberal and Country Par­ the Korean War. ·;l -of control over every aspect of the coal in­ ties. In pre-election campaigns they had Arthur as commanding general of dustry. the U.N. forces in Korea. Nov.16. Substantial CHINESE FORCE, opposed the government's socialist meas­ INTERVENED, and by the e .11H.6, Sept. 18. Parliamentary elections ures, especially the Banking Act, and had Sept. IS. At its farthest advance, North maintained the Labor govern­ Korea held most of the Korean of the year had drive!l.the. U';' promised effective action against Commu­ forces back to the viCimty of thlI ment's llJIljority in both Houses. nism. A new coalition government was peninsula except for a U.N. beach~ Oct. 31. . A governmental ordinance head around Pusan in the south­ 88th paralleL formed by Liberal leader R. G. Menzies called for radical improvements in (Dec. 17). The Labor Party did maintain east. the working conditions of natives its llJIljority in the Senate, where most of in Papua. and New Guinea. the new government's legislation wasve~ U47, Jan. 17-Feb. 6. A meeting of repre­ . toed. , sentatives from Great Britain, 19110, Jan. A conference of Commonwealth Fnmce, the United States, the Netherlands, countries at Colombo established Australia, and New Zealand at Canberra the Commonwealth Economic established a Regional Advisory Commis­ Consultative Committee on eco­ sion for the South Pacific to deal with all nomic aid for Southeast Asia, 'common questions concerning the treat­ which in subsequent meetings ment and general improvement of the na­ drew up a six-year plan for that tive peoples. ' region. Mar. 11. W. J. McKell, an Australian dtizen and member of the Labor June. Australia participated in United Party, took office as Governor Nations action against North General. Korea and took measures to J1l1y 12. To help alleviate the manpower strengthen its armed forces. shortage, Australia agreed to ad­ Oct. 19. A bill dissolving the Communist mit 12,000 Displaced Persons per year Party, after passing both Houses, from Europe. was appealed in the High Court.

2. NEW ZEALAND

1946, Aug. Sl. The war cabinet, a coalition government, a,gainst strong opposition, pro­ . of the Labor and National Parties, vided for the nationalization of the Bank of in office since 1940, was dissolved. New Zealand and adopted the New Zealand Nov. As further steps in the socialization National Airways Bill to set up government­ program of the Labor Party, the controlled airlines.

Collaborators JAMES B. HEDGES ~n Encyclopedia of Professor of History, Brown University WILLIAM THOMSON Professor ofArabic, ORLD HISTOR Y CRANE BRINTON Professor ofHistory, Harvard UniverSity PENFIELD ROBERTS La" Pmf""" ofB;"o,y, l\f"",hu""" In,,;,ute of T

New Edition revised with the assistance of HANS W. GATZKE Assistant Professor of History, Johns Hopkins Univer.sity i HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON

Wpt ).\ibet_illt ;p.."" Cambtillg<

~--. L077 If,3 ~ 11'5:6

Preface to the First Edition

THIS Epitome of History itself has a long and interesting history. More than seventy years ago Dr. Karl Ploetz, in his time a well­ COPYRIGHT, 1940, 1948, AND 1952, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY known German teacher, published an Auszug aus der alten, mittleren und neueren Geschichte, intended as a factual handbook for the use ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE of students and for the convenience of the general reader. That THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM his compilation filleda.real need is attested by the fact that within a few years it went through seven editions, and by the further fact that to date more than twenty editions have appeared in Germany, revised and edited by noted scholars. The book has easily held its own despite competition of numerous similar works. Ploetz' Epitome was. translated into English by William H. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUE CARD NUMBER 52-9589 Tillinghast and published by Houghton Mifflin Company in this country in 1883. The translator, recognizing that the original was

PRINTED JUNE, 1956 designed particularly to meet the .needs of the German student and that therefore the history of central Europe was weighted as against the history of ,· England, and America, took the opportunity to enlarge a number of sections and to add others. .No less a scholar than contributed the new sections on modern England and the United States.. Furthermore, Tillinghast first added brief sections on the Middle and Far Eastern countries, which had been completely omitted from the German version. Th.e book appeared under the title An Epitome. of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History, and proved so popular that no less than twenty­ four printings were necessary before 1905. Occasional revisions were made and in 1915 the title was changed to A Handbook of Universal History. Since historical knowledge and historical conceptions are not~ri­ ouslyfluid, it is not to be wondered at that even so sound and reliable .abook as the old Ploetz~Tillinghast Epitome should ultimately have fallen behind the times. After the World War the publishers QtfJt lUbtrJSlbt tlrtJSJS therefore commissioned Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes to overhaul the CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS ,book and bring it up to date. The new editor, with a number of PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. collaborators, left the kernel of the old work (the Greek and Roman history. the medieval sections, and the early modern parts) as it :was, judging quite rightly that in the large it was not so badly out