Ch. 20, 21, 22, 23

The Great War

The long term changes that came about after the end of the Great War were very interesting, particularly with regard to how the United States was now considered to be a global power:

1.     The Enlightenment and its values of progress, tolerance and rationality were to many no longer valid as they doubted the validity behind these values given the war and the casualties that resulted from it.

2.      Millions of returning veterans led to the creation of housing programs that assisted soldiers in reintegrating back in to civilian life.

3.     Women received the right to vote in many countries (Britain, the United States, Germany, Soviet Union)

4.      Independent nations arose such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, representing the principle of “national self-determination” (988)

5.     The Treaty of Versailles – Germany lost its colonial empire and 15% of its territory and was required to pay reparations to the winners, its military forces were restricted and had to accept sole responsibility for starting the war.

6.     Asian and African men had learned new military skills and political awareness, and in turn had less respect for their rulers along with expectations for better treatment due to their service.

7.     The United States was seen as a global power, turning from a debtor nation to Europe’s creditor.

European Facism

It was interesting that Strayer states how the Nazis were selective in using certain aspects of European culture to promote their policies while at the same time rejecting other European elements from the Enlightenment which would run counter to it. For example, values such as rationalism, tolerance, democracy, human equality were largely rejected. However, using modern science the Nazis relied on “scientific racism” (999) which draw on the size and shape of the skull to support their movement.

The way in which Hitler appealed to the Germans to increase Nazi popularity was also disturbing, in that after World War I, the blame of the end of the war was shifted to civilian socialists, communists and Jews, who were looked upon as traitors. Hitler exploited the situation, and in addition by investing in projects which improved Germany’s economy and by using propaganda to blame the Jews for the failures of the nation, he exploited anti-Semitism that already existed in Europe.

Communist Feminism, Industrial Development

I was not aware that Communism was tied to feminism with the organization Zhenotdel, even though this organization was later abolished in 1930. Furthermore, the Marriage Law of 1950 in China fought for free choice in marriage, easier divorce, end of child marriage and concubinage, the right for widows to remarry and equal property rights.

With an emphasis on Industrial Development, both China and Russia’s literacy rates and educational systems improved, which in turn fostered greater social mobility. However, the response to the social outcomes was different. In Russia, Stalin promoted individual competition and differences in wages, whereas in China, Mao believed that following Russia in this manner would lead China away from socialism and towards inequalities regarding individualistic pursuits.

Despite pushing a feminist agenda and promoting industrial development, with the Great Purges of the 1930’s in Russia, and the Red Guards search for capitalist sympathizers in China, many ordinary people were killed due to this "search for enemies" (1051).

The End of Communism

Strayer states two general failures of the communist governments which led to their end:

1.       Economic – the communist economies were unable to keep up with the more advanced capitalist countries: consumer goods were largely unavailable and people had to wait in long lines, which was counter to the claims that communism was “a better route to modern prosperity” (1061).

2.       Moral – the slaughter of many with Stalin’s Terror and the gulag, as well as Mao’s Cultural Revolution destroyed claims that communist morality was superior to that of capitalist morality.

The economic reforms that occurred in China after such events led to economic growth for many: with the welcoming of foreign investment in special enterprise zones, giving foreign capitalists tax breaks, and private entrepreneurs joining village enterprises to produce goods, this led to better diets, lower mortality rates and declining poverty in China.

The opposite occurred in Russia, where despite Gorbachev’s attempts to address economic stagnation, his policy of glasmost did not lead to economic prosperity as was the case with China. Rather, his reforms led to a further weakening and collapse of the Russian economy before a working market-based system could be implemented. In turn, inflation grew and goods were in short supply.

Feminism in the 1960’s

It was interesting that Strayer identified three types of feminism that arose during the 1960’s, each with its own set of concerns and agendas:

1.       Feminism of the West – with the book The Feminine Mystique, there was an emphasis on the identity crisis of educated women with an agenda that targeted equality regarding employment and education instead of voting.

2.       Feminism in the Global South – emphasized that Western Feminism was too individualistic, too focused on sexuality and not on issues regarding motherhood. This form of feminism dealt with issues not directly related to gender, such as colonialism, racism, poverty and political oppression. Feminist movements in Morocco and Chile also prompted the new Family Law Code, and the return of a democratic government respectively.

3.       International Feminism – Feminism was recognized as a global issue when the UN declared 1975 as International Woman’s Year, with the next ten years as the decade for women. This international recognition also led to the questioning of who would represent feminism and the movement at international meetings. However, there was backlash from The Vatican and some Catholic and Muslim countries over feminist aspects regarding abortion and birth control.

The Global Environment

Strayer lists three factors that serve as the reason for an increased human impact on earth’s ecological systems:

1.       The explosion of human numbers with the quadrupling of the world’s population within a decade: over 7 billion people in 2012 compared to 1.6 billion in 1900.

2.       The ability of humankind to harness latent energy in the form of fossil fuels, coal, oil, in addition to hydroelectricity, natural gas and nuclear power.

3.       “Phenomenal Economic Growth” (1164) – the increase of production of goods and services due to modern science and technology.

It was disappointing yet not surprising to read about how industrialized and developing countries will not come to an agreement on setting specific limits on growing emissions. In many ways this ties in to the idea of a Capitalist globe, where every country want to reap the benefits of the resources of the planet without any curtailments. However, this approach comes at the cost of an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers and ice caps, rising sea levels, and the thinning of the ozone layer. In turn, humankind is destroying its own home in exchange for monetary compensation which is foolish. I hope in the coming years enough people will foster change that will reverse the damage that has been dealt to our environment and home, thus far.

Strayer, W. (2013). Collapse at the Center: World War, Depression and the Rebalancing of Global Power, Revolution, Socialism and Global Conflict, The End of Empire, Capitalism and Culture: A New Phase of Global Interaction 985-989, 996-999, 1045-1051, 1061-1066, 1151-1155,1164-1169.