United States · Common Core State Standards
10th Grade World History II
The Age of Revolution through the Modern World (1750–Present). US 10th Grade Social Studies covering revolutions, imperialism, world wars, the Cold War, and contemporary global challenges.
The Age of Revolutions
Political and economic transformations that ended the early modern era and birthed the modern state system.
Philosophers challenge absolute monarchy and religious authority with reason and natural rights.
The collapse of the Ancien Régime and the rise of radical republicanism.
From revolutionary general to Emperor of the French and his impact on European law.
The only successful slave revolt in history and its global implications.
Bolívar, San Martín, and the struggle against Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule.
The shift from hand production to machines, beginning in Great Britain.
Changes in family structure, child labor, and the emergence of the middle class.
The intellectual battle between Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism.
Nationalism and Imperialism
The consolidation of nation-states and the competitive expansion of European power across the globe.
Realpolitik and the redrawing of the European map.
Motivations for the late 19th-century surge in colonial expansion.
The formal partition of Africa by European powers.
From the East India Company to direct Crown rule after the 1857 Rebellion.
The Opium Wars, Unequal Treaties, and the Spheres of Influence.
Japan's rapid modernization and transition to an imperial power.
The Zulu War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Ethiopian victory at Adwa.
The Great War and Its Aftermath
The collapse of the 19th-century order and the emergence of global instability.
The M.A.I.N. causes and the "July Crisis" of 1914.
Trench warfare, new technologies, and the home front.
The fall of the Romanovs and the rise of the first communist state.
The peace settlement and the creation of the League of Nations.
The systematic destruction of the Armenian population during WWI.
The "Lost Generation," Surrealism, and the Age of Uncertainty.
The Rise of Totalitarianism and WWII
The failure of democracy in the face of economic collapse and the most destructive war in history.
The impact of the US market crash on international trade and German reparations.
Mussolini's "Blackshirts" and the Spanish Civil War.
The collapse of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's path to power.
Collectivization, Five-Year Plans, and the Great Purge.
The invasion of Manchuria and the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."
The Munich Agreement and the invasion of Poland.
Stalingrad, Midway, El Alamein, and D-Day.
The "Final Solution" and the systematic genocide of European Jews.
The Yalta Conference and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Cold War World
A bipolar world defined by ideological struggle, nuclear brinkmanship, and proxy conflicts.
Containment, the Truman Doctrine, and the Marshall Plan.
The Chinese Communist Revolution and the Korean War.
The Arms Race and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Decolonization meets the Cold War in Southeast Asia.
Gorbachev, Glasnost, Perestroika, and the collapse of the USSR.
Decolonization and New Nations
The end of European empires and the challenges of nation-building in the Global South.
Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, and the creation of India and Pakistan.
Comparing Ghana (Nkrumah), Kenya (Kenyatta), and Algeria.
The creation of Israel, the Palestinian displacement, and subsequent wars.
The system of institutionalized racism and the struggle led by Nelson Mandela.
The overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of an Islamic Theocracy.
Globalization and the Modern Era
The integration of the global economy and the rise of new social and environmental challenges.
The impact of the internet, social media, and the digital divide.
The WTO, NAFTA, and the rise of multinational corporations.
Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur: "Never Again" again.
Deng Xiaoping's reforms and the "Socialist Market Economy."
The history of global environmentalism and the challenge of sustainability.
Current Global Challenges
Analyzing the pressing issues facing humanity in the 21st century.
9/11, the War on Terror, and the evolution of non-state actors.
Migration caused by war, climate, and economic instability.
The global struggle for education, suffrage, and bodily autonomy.
The rise of populism, authoritarianism, and democratic backsliding.