Episode 2: War for (and Against) Human Rights (1900-1945)
Welcome back to Teaching Big Concepts in Small Spaces, a podcast brought to you by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.
In this episode, PhD Candidate in History Tibisay Navarro-Mana continues to explore the development of human rights, this time after the turn to the 20th century. Characterized by the two World Wars, the first half of the 20th century witnessed several landmarks, both advancements and contradictions, in the development of human rights.
Today, we explore how human rights were actually used as a rationale by many European powers to engage in the First and Second World Wars. We explore the creation of the League of Nations, and its significance for the development of human rights. Moreover, we will analyze the different types of human rights and how they are categorized, exploring the distinction between civil and political rights, which encompass freedoms such as speech, religion, and the right to vote.
Discover the complexities of balancing these rights and the challenges faced by governments in their implementation in Episode 2: War for (and against) Human Rights (1900-1945).
Probing Questions
Why has it been argued that the narratives around human rights were actually used as a rationale to fight in the two World Wars?
Why is it a contradiction that European colonial powers defended the right to self determination of other European nations? Did they defend the right to self determination of all nations in the world?
Why was the shift from “citizens” to “humans” important when talking about the first examples of human rights language?
What happened during the interwar period in terms of human rights advancements?
Explain the difference between civil and political rights and social and economic rights.
Provide examples of civil and political rights and social and economic rights.
Discuss the complexities and challenges in balancing these different types of rights.
Supplemental materials and Sources Mentioned in the Episode:
Book The Rights of Man. Or what are we fighting for?, by HG Wells.
Read the transcript of this episode here.