Chapter 23: Capitalism and Culture (Week 13)

April 10, 2018

The Acceleration of Globalization: Since 1945

Here is the timeline of events for this time of globalization:

Chapter 23 is titled “The Acceleration of Globalization” and begins with a giant picture of Earth. In my interpretation, this is because all history that takes place happens here on Earth. The Earth also represents unity and togetherness because we see all of the countries in the world on one single sphere. No matter what religion, race, ethnicity, or differences we may have with one another, we all come from the same place and are all here together. Instead of being divided and competitive with one another, we should unite together as humans. This chapter is all about globalization so it is important to understand what exactly that is. I found a definition on a website that states, “Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.” (Website linked down below).

*http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/*

Here is the picture that I referred to in the above section:

Economic Globalization:

In the second half of the twentieth century, economic globalization began to occur. The aftermath of World War One, World War Two, and the cold war all unknowingly triggered globalization. Many things contributed to globalization such as technology, stable currency values, etc. Globalization is a process that we do not have to go that far back in history to read about, it can be seen in more recent years. Desperate measures and poor economic status drove the globalizing of these countries. While globalization has done much to improve economies, it also has formed some instability as well as inequality. The instability has been caused by an increase of wealth for many individuals. There have also been stock market crashes and financial crisis’, but nothing as bad as the post war impact on the economy and the Great Depression. Globalization has made the economy thrive and struggle, it has been up and down but has not gotten as low as it was before. There are some specific things that indicate development and we can use those things to assess global development.

Here are two pictures from our textbook that show developments globally:

 

American Exceptionalism- The “American Empire”:

During the process of economic globalization, America gained power and began to influence other countries to follow their lead. They became known as the “American Empire” and represented strong modern developments. America’s high level of production is seen as wealth and power to other countries and this makes them want to globalize economically as well. Not only are Americans seen as powerful because of the economy, but also because of the constant use of military force against others. Both of these things are seen as successful and attract many people around the world, so they end up following our lead in hopes to be as successful.

Here is a map that compares the number of military bases and the number of McDonald’s restaurants to demonstrate indication of globalization:

Globalization Of Feminism:

While countries were developing their economies, they also began developing more modern views and ideas. One of the biggest ones being feminism. Women suffered with a lack of equality for many years and in basically every country in the world. Finally, women’s suffrage gained attention and people began talking about it. Women, and supporters of women began to actively fight for rights and made efforts to change the old and traditional ways. The process of modernization was happening, and this modern idea that women and men are equal caused for many different outcomes, some good, and some bad. Women organized protests and took action steps in hopes to finally make a change. Even today in the postmodern era, we see women being treated as the weaker gender. Equal pay is still an issue in 2018!!!! Women have dealt with their share of unequal treatment for years on end. These women that we are reading about in our textbook helped bring awareness to this issue and made a change. Today us women continue to fight for equal treatment and it is astonishing that this issue is still happening after all this time.

Chapter 13: The End of Empire (Week 12)

April 5, 2018

The Global South on the Global Stage (1914-Present)

Here is a timeline of events from this particular time in history:

“Slums and Skyscrapers”:

Before I begin discussing the chapter for this week, I would like to take a minute to analyze the interesting photo that I came across in our textbook on page 997. The photograph is named “Slums and Skyscrapers” and is a representation of the modernization and economic growth in rural areas like Latin America. At this time, countries began to modernize and develop economically, this improvement was odd to see in areas of disparity. In the picture we see a family walking in a poor neighborhood that have houses made out of cardboard and random materials. We also see some graffiti and vandalism, which also are signs of poverty. In the background of the photo, there are tall skyscrapers, these two things in one single picture/area really shows how things were at this time. There were people living in these rural areas in their own traditional ways like they always have, then suddenly the process of modern developments began in the same vicinity and this caused for a great divide.

African and Asian Independence- The Fall of European Empires:

At this time Africa, Asia, the Caribbean region, and Pacific Oceania were all under European colonial rule, which for them meant modern developments were soon to come. These countries wanted their independence back and began to struggle in attempt to gain their freedom. After putting up a fight, Europe’s African and Asian empires finally gained their independence and broke off into their own rule. Self-government became more common and I think that countries were happy about this. I believe the cause of Africa and Asia to form into independent states was the pressure that Europe was experiencing from nationalist movements. There then was a range in efforts all around the globe to develop political independent order. There were many things that made this process hard for these new independent states, things like, poverty and private economies. There were many different freedom struggles happening at this time but they all had different circumstances. It was now time for them to figure out how they were going to bring order to their new province.

A Time for Experimenting:

While things recently changed dramatically, it was now time for experimenting. When I say experimenting, I mean exploring political order, economic development, culture, etc. There was no guarantee of certain outcomes and it was time for figuring out what worked best for each new independent region. I believe that this truly was the time for trial and error, it was the beginning and if mistakes were to happen, these people could learn from it and improve their economy and develop successfully. Everyone had different views on what was the best political system but they now had the freedom to decide what they were going to do. Around the time of 1950 we began to see many places around the world becoming urbanized. Populations began to grow and grow over time due to them transforming into urban areas.

Here is a graph that shows the increase in population from 1950 and 2014 which was not too long ago:

Chapter 21: Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict (Week 12)

April 3, 2018

(1917-Present)

Here is the timeline of events from out textbook to help you understand what point in history I am discussing:

The Rise and Fall of World Communism

This was a time in history when communism came to be quite popular and appealing to countries who were desperate and not thriving. In the previous chapter we saw socialism in Europe fail so that economic system was no longer wanted by many countries. Both China and Russia became communist regimes which was huge considering Russia was the largest territory and China had the largest population. Many communist revolutions took place and followed Karl Marx’s ideas exactly. These countries were tired of traditional ways and wanted change and believed that communism would later on bring them success. It was very surprising that China and Russia quickly became communist countries because Marx preached that industrialization is needed in order to form a communist government and both of these places were not at all modernized or industrialized, they were very rural. I understand that Marxist ideology says that industrialization must happen before forming into a communist regime, but didn’t marx also say that industrialization causes many social classes to form? I was unclear on how this makes sense because to me they sound like two contradicting ideas. Please comment on my blog if you can help me further understand this concept!

Here is a picture of both China and Russia at the time of the Communist Regimes:

The Cold War

The Cold War was a war with very little physical war and that is where the name “cold war” comes from, instead of a hot war. The war was between nuclear armed countries who disagreed on economic views. This caused a major divide in those countries that were communist and those that were western democratic. The war between Russia and America cause conflicts all over the world and sparked the discussion of socialism and economics. I understand that it is important to have your ideas spread through most of the world and help countries in need, but it seems like it would’ve been easier to just stay to themselves and agree to disagree. I find that war does no good and causes even more problems, and hate. Communism in Russia and China failed and ended anyway, if we truly believed in our system, couldn’t we just sit back and watch their communist ideas fail their economy instead of actively fighting about it? War and world history sparks a lot of moral judgement from myself and reading about a lot of what happened is hard to do. However, it is important to learn from our past and also know where we came from.

Lastly, here is a map of the world during the time of the Cold War:

Rise Of Fascism In Nazi Germany (Week 11)

March 29, 2018

Nuremberg Laws:

In 1935, a set of laws were passed called the Nuremberg laws. The two laws were the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. These laws brought structure for the Nazi people. They put these laws into play in order to support their ideas and beliefs. These laws made it easy for the German people to be identified and safe, and for the Jewish people to also be easily identified and targeted. These Nazi ideas were wrong and hateful and I cannot believe that they got away with so much of it. They targeted innocent people just for what they were born into. They saw Jews as different, and to them being different was wrong and bad so they were to be killed. Hitler wanted them extinct because he believed that the world would be better without them. This whole situation went way too far and for way too long, but I understand that it was hard to protest or stop the Nazi’s evil doings beacuse people were afraid to be killed as punishment. This set of laws made it easier for Nazi’s to do what they wanted and not get penalized at all. Although these were two very hard articles to read, it is important to learn about everything that has happened in the past, especially something so huge. Learning about historical evil doings like fascism in Nazi Germany can actually teach us a lot.

Article 1) https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007902

Article 2) https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007903

Chapter 20: Collapse at the Center- World War, Depression, and the Rebalancing of Global Power (Week 10)

March 22, 2018

(1914-1970’s)

Here is a timeline of events from this period in time:

World War One And The Crisis Of Europe:

In 1914, World War One began and many things started to change. When the war was over, many things changed, including government ways and the communism. Like I mentioned in many of my previous blogs, Europe at this time was powerful and seen as being in a high position. After the first war however, things changed and the European civilization crisis began. The country started to lack unity and separation of powers formed. The rivalry was between two groups, the Triple Alliance of Germany, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then there was the Triple Entente of Russia, France, and Britain. As you can see, most of Europe was apart of this rivalry of alliances and this was the collapse of Europe as the center of it all. I was surprised that the world’s most powerful empire came crashing down so quickly, I would have not predicted this to happen.

The Great Depression:

After the First War, things changed and the infamous Great Depression began. Western capitalism was failing and the economy was impacted greatly. Reading that the effects of capitalism caused the Great Depression made me remember all of Karl Marx’s ideas and views on why capitalism is bound to fail. The stock market crashed, employment rates dropped, and world trade decreased immensely. Marx predicted this all to happen and that makes me want to read more about Marx’s socialist views.

World War Two:

Later on the Second War happened and this was another global conflict, hence the name world war. This war involved both the Axis powers and the Allies, Asia refused to accept America’s interests, and the fighting began. Strayer and many others call this war “the most destructive conflict in world history” and that is because of the outstanding number of people who lost their lives in the war. After two World Wars, many countries just wanted peace again and were tired of living life while so many countries were at war. I think that both World War One and World War Two were related to one another in terms of conflict and reason. I personally think that nothing positive came out of these two wars and if there are any, they are small compared to how many negative effect they had on people.

Here is a map from our textbook of the world during World War Two:

Chapter 19: Empires In Collision, Europe, Middle East, and East Asia (Week 10)

March 20, 2018

(1800-1914)

Asia:

Western pressures were coming in from every which way and had a huge impact on the entire world, including China, who was seen as one of the more independent countries during the 19th century. Europe was the most powerful country at the time and everyone knew it, people respected them out of fear and did not want to cause any problems with them. European powers ended up taking over China and dividing it up.

Middle East:

The Ottoman Empire was just like China in the sense that they were very independent and not influenced by the popular Western ideas. The Islamic civilization wanted to focus on preserving what they have had for many years before, but that was hard to do with so much modernization going on around the world at this time. They tried as hard as they could to stay independent and be their own empire, but the European powers were aggressive and determined to get what they wanted. The Ottoman Empire began to decline after competing with European commerce.

Outcome:

East Asia and the Middle East both had to deal with the same complicated situation of European taking over their countries in order to expand their empire. While they dealt with very similar situations, they dealt with them in very different ways and this has to do with the power they already had and the resources that they had. Unfortunately, Europe won again and these empires were destroyed and taken over. This was another success for Europe, but a loss for these other countries that lost any power that they had.

Chapter 18:Colonial Encounters In Asia, Africa, and Oceania (Week 9)

March 15, 2018

(1750-1950)

The Second Wave Of European Conquests:

The first wave of European colonialism was the previous takeover of the Americas. Now there is a second wave and Europe that is focused on Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The Europeans had a great military advantage over these areas and that was seen as power and strength. Europeans used war tactics and the fact that they were feared in order to takeover and create more European empires. The Europeans had economic interests in these countries and they saw the value that they withheld; that was their main motive.Territory was powerful and taking over these three places would just give them more strength and independence. Like the first wave, the second wave cause much of the native population to go down in numbers due to vicious diseases brought over by the Europeans. Many societies lost their homes, family members, and their land.

Here are pictures from our textbook (page 795,796) that shows Colonial Africa and Colonial Asia at this time:

Identity And Culture During The Colonial Era:

European takeovers caused much more racism and stereotyping than ever before. They brought over European culture and expect their ideas to dominate the “weaker” colonies. Asia, Africa, and Oceania had to deal with much change in their lives, but the most impactful changes were the cultural ones. They lost a sense of identity and conformed into what they thought was the right way to be. For me, when I read this, the idea of Eurocentrism that we previously learned about all started to make sense. Europe created many empires by taking over other countries and while doing that, they washed away other’s culture and replaced it with their own. As Strayer would say, their culture began to “echoe” around the world. Not only did their daily life change completely, but their education, religion, groups, and tribes also did. I could see how many native people would feel like their world is falling apart. Everything that they knew is beginning to disappear, they no longer knew who to identify with and who they were.

Scramble For Africa:

The scramble for Africa took place around 1875 and 1900. European countries began to “scramble” and develop into smaller colonies. Powerful countries at the time were Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, and they were all fighting for the African territory. No direct military fighting took place, but I believe that is because these countries were well armed and Africa would not be able to compete and fight for their own land. Each country saw something different in Africa and wanted in for different reasons, but they all agreed that the area was very valuable and could bring them more power. These countries quickly became rivals and it started the scramble for Africa. I understand that countries wanted to great powerful empires and grow their economy, but I believe it is very wrong to takeover land that is already occupied. It is not like this land was empty or “up for grabs”. These native people had to deal with this competition over them and they had absolutely no say.