Capitalism and Culture

In the past century, the economy of the world has transformed in a number of ways. Many factors played part in economics globalization in the second half of the century. Members of the US were unwilling to live the way they did during the Great Depression again. They set up relatively easy trade with other capitalist countries. This new idea of Capitalism linked the people of the world. World Trade skyrocketed between 1947 and 2009. Goods from other countries began to be sold in American stores. While this is good, Capitalism has caused some lines to be more sharply drawn. Oil priced also raised to new highs, which created global instability in continents such as Asia and Latin America. Many businesses faced foreclosure and many suffered. The idea of Capitalism and world Trade changed the world, with many problems and many accomplishments.

Around this time, feminism and women's rights became a topic of discussion. However, the way this was discussed varied in different areas of the world. Many Caucasian women wanted to work outside the home, as they found the home oppressive. Women of color experienced racism outside the home and found staying home to be a safer, more desirable option. In many ways, equal rights for women was a difficult process because the treatment of women in different parts of the world varied so widely.

Religion was also modernized during this time. Many religious people, though, did not want to be modernized. They felt that modernization was attacking their religious views. They did find though that modern technology could better help convey their messages. The Islamic renewal movement took the religious world by storm. Factors such as the fall of the Ottoman Empire and lack of technology set Islamic people's back largely. The movement expressed itself by creating public service institutions dorm Muslim people. It sought to better their nation.

The End of the Empire : The Global South on the Global Stage

It is no secret that multiple countries had to struggle for their right to independence. The demise of Europe's empires in Africa and Asia differed widely from other such cases. Despite being determined to rise into power, they were doubted by many countries. They were not seen as such powerful nations like the others. An onslaught of factors contributed to the demise of colonial empires. Educated elites from Asia and Africa began an anti colonial movement in order to become successful. However, they were faced with obstacles, such as elites attempting to relate to commoners while rallying for these movements. Indeed, gaining independence is no simple task. 

Struggles for freedom occured all over the world. India's freedom movement was a gradual one. At first, they were more gentle and not demanding of Britain, as they were peaceful, Hindu elites. Eventually, Mahatma Gandhi became a part of this fight for peace by holding large campaigns in which he spoke of Hindu values, though the movement was eventually divided because Hindus and Muslims, which made up much of the Indian population, became at odds with one another. African rule in South Africa, on the other hand, was being delayed. This was because most of the goods that South Africa needed to thrive was provided by Europe. Eventually, white domination did shift as peaceful protests began, led by Nelson Mandela. What many continents have in common was the struggle for freedom. 

Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict

In the early twentieth century, communism was on the rise. Communism is a form of government that greatly influenced several parts of the world. It began to take rise after World War II and took off in the 1970s. Mostly the Soviet Union and China were influenced by it, but eastern Europe and Mongolia, Laos and Cambodia were also influenced. The Communist Party took shape and held major influence over the opinions of many.

Revolutions that took place led many to switch to communism. However, the Russians and Chinese turned to communism in very different ways than other nations did. They came from organized Marxist governments. Their thought was to exploit peasants in a way of advocating for them. At this time, a group called the Bolsheviks gained power in Russia. Russia was in great turmoil at the time, with a failing economy. They made promises of land for the peasants and an end to war. China was also very interested in Communism. China had a successful government, but those who benefitted were a very small portion of the nation. The rest greatly wanted a change. Many roads led to the rise of communism.

Another form of government that rose to power was Socialism. These changes in regimes led to changes for women. Conferences that educated and empowered women were held. Literacy classes were taught to women and they were taught to work in daycares and clinics. Collection of agriculture began to differ between the Soviet Union and China. Agriculture collectivization in China was rather peaceful. However, in the Soviet Uniom, peasants were forced into labor and led to deaths and famine. In many ways, communism successfully adopted an industrial way of life for many nations, but that created some issues. On one hand, population grew and way of living was improved. However, the Communist Party gained more control and peasants were forced into more labor often. Ultimately, the Communist Party generated much fear among people. Many Communists were accused of questionable behavior, and we're sentenced to either death or imprisonment which led to death. This became known as the Great Terror. Socialism has had many achievements as well as drawbacks.

The rise of communism eventually led to the Cold War. This war was expressed in a variety of ways. The United States became involved and created a horrific war for much of Asia. Eventually, Vietnam was encouraged by the Communist Party and busted the United States. On the subject of the United States, they played a fairly large role after World War II. The United States gained power when the made the decision as to whether government should be strong or imperial. The Communist world was strong in the 1970s, but also had an intensely strong hold on its participants. The war showed a weak side to the Communist Party.

Eventually, the Party did face a downfall. The Communist Party began to decline rapidly. A major part of this decline was economic. Communist economies could not keep up with capitalist economies, and citizens complained of delays in receiving goods. Communism fizzled in both the Soviet Union and China, though like their formation, their devises largely differed. The demise of communism in Russia was far messier, despite a movement for cultural freedom, the late 1980s uncovered shocking discoveries practiced in Russia. Overall, communism shook up the world, with its demise as shocking as its formation.

Collapse at the Center

World War I began a revolution in our modern world. Nineteenth century  Europe contributed to some of its causes. The intense nationalism of Europe encouraged thoughts of war, as then it was considered manly to fight. Women were to present a white feather representing cowardice to men not fighting, so the competitive mentality of Europe brought on much of the war. The war changed the course of history in many ways. The war denounced Enlightenment values. Many Europeans did feel as though the war was a waste. The war made numerous changes to the ways of the world.

The war brought on many changes, as well, to the United States. One such change is the Great Depression. It was brought on by a major crash in the stock market after a booming economy in the 1920s. It escalated so much that Americans could no longer afford American goods. Everybody was affected by this time in some way.

Unfortunately, this was also the time that democracy was denied to many people based on race. The rise of fascism denounced ideas of early democracy. An idea of materialism came about that disgusted many. Independence was taken as big business took over. Of course, with fascism came the rise of the Nazis. Previously, German imperial government had collapsed and the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Many Germans blamed Jews for this defeat by claiming they had betrayed them. Japan found themselves in a somewhat similar situation. They too had adopted an authoritarian way of government. However, Japan had barely participated in the first World War, and their economy had flourished as they had avoided British rule. Overall, fascism quickly found its way into the world, damaging millions of lives.

The Second World War proved equally as damaging. Europe and Asia were in similar situations heading into the war. In many ways, both continents had been heavily involved with these alliances and struggles. However, what fueled Japan was the thought the racism kept them from being an equal power. Although similar, World War II was very different from the first. The war was very harsh, with a want to wipe out entire races. Also this time, they had the means to carry this out. It was a brutal war, with an extreme number of lives lost.

These struggles eventually took their toll on Europe. However, they did recover. An imperialistic government is strong, once it is built, and that helped restore the prosperity of Europe quite a bit. Europe was also finally able to calm the nationalism in order to restore peace and tranquility. Europe underwent many changes over this period.

Empires in Collision

In the nineteenth century, hordes of Chinese peasants rebelled against the circumstances that they were under. Several factors account for this. Due to the large population of the country, corruption was frequent and often soldiers were ordered to beat and pester the peasants. Also, taxes were increased upon them. This was around the time that Europe began to influence a change in China. This influence was forced after Britain began a war when China opposed am opium trade and ended the war by opening ports for European trade. This greatly impeded Chinese independence. Surrounded by issues, China used both old and new strategies to try to solve them. They relied on foreigners for expertise in certain areas. They also worked to strengthen individual local authorities rather than the country as a whole. Overall,  the nineteenth century was a trying time for China.

Also in the nineteenth century was the fall of the Ottoman Empire. There are also factories that led to this fall. The Ottoman Empire was heavily overthrown by the British. The British had gained plenty of momentum during this time and had become much stronger. Like China, the Ottoman Empire faced a great deal of issues, and their solutions defined them quite a bit. The Empire had advised the military to use European techniques to make them strong as well. A group called the Young Ottomans favored a stronger more European style military and government. The Ottomans struggled to remain strong in the nineteenth century.

Elsewhere in the eastern world, Japan faced changes during the Tokugawa Era. Over time, Japan began to change for the better. Fertilizer and rice business was booming and laborers were becoming more literate. This was likely due to the peaceful nature of the Japanese as a whole at the time. This change was revolutionary to the Japanese. The nation became more United than ever before. Also, unlike the Ottoman Empire, Japan focused on a central government rather than individual authorities. This also changed Japan's  relationship to the rest of the world. Japan escaped colonialization from the west. Also, they became a stable military powers. Of all of the eastern countries, Japan especially held their own.

Colonial Entounters in Asia and Africa

The Industrial Revolution had shaped European imperialism in that goods were beginning to be sold in other continents rather than Europe. With all of the technological advances produced in the industrial revolution, Europe was producing more products than what Europeans could afford. Therefore, Europe turned to other countries. These countries include China and India. This has sparked interest in trading with other countries. China is a highly populated country and there was potential for great business. Success with China was significant to Europe. This changed European imperialism drastically.

This caused Europeans to gain a superiority complex. Europeans gained such wealth from their endeavors, they became arrogant. They felt that their religion made them superior as well. They thought that they could "help" those on other continents by overthrowing and assimilating them. These events made Europeans rather unreasonable.

Europe soon gained control of Africa and Asia. Europe forcibly established empires in these continents through the military. They enforced rule upon these continents using the power that they lack. It was simple to overpower them, which is unfair. This is partly due to the advances in firearms. European had developed automatic forearms which, by a long way, overpowered others. They clearly used this to their advantage. They used their developments to gain control over others.

Revolutions of Industrialization

Europe receives the most credit for the industrial revolution, yet as in most cases, Europe is not the only place undergoing a great transformation. Many Asian countries were the original pioneers of many industries. For example, India headed textile production. China had been on the verge of industrial revolution long before, but the Asian countries successes had subsided by the time Europe reached revolution. It is interesting that, again, Europe is remembered for accomplishing something that they are not the first to accomplish.

However, Britain did end up with the breakthrough revolution for a reason. Britain had the largest interest and amount of resources for business out of all the competing countries. Britain ended up with substantial business related possessions in multiple other countries. Their inventions, such as crop rotation, smaller plows and selective breeding were used heavily by the eighteenth century, highly replacing farmers. Britain had the means to start an industrial revolution more than the others.

The Industrial Revolution changed British society. The success of the aristocracy declined as industrial success arose. Those who owned land were no longer the most wealthy. However, aristocrats still managed to maintain their wealth despite this. It is intriguing to see the power shift, even if not by much.

The mind set of the British middle class began to change during this time. The middle class, who mostly held industrial jobs, began to see poverty as a mindset. They revolted until middle class men were granted the right to vote. Self help became popular, with the hopes of making middle class  wise. It was during this time that the middle class began to be granted rights.

Karl Marx noted in his writings that he was against the industrial revolution. It created laws that Marxist tried so hard to protest. Marx discovered scientific socialism and figured that the industrial revolution provided the wealth to make that possible. He had made great discoveries in social development and found these ties to the revolution. He had decided that socialism and revolution were going to happen inevitably. His predictions were correct, as many read his writings. He had been compared to Newton with his discovery of the laws of motion. Karl Marx had clear opinions on the industrial revolution and was a great influence in that time.