Mains Marathon – GS test 2 – Reference material

1. The prosperity which World War 1 brought to US, also became the very reason for the great depression of 1929. Discuss. Also, highlight it’s global impact.   

After world war, when the rest of  the capitalist world was recovering from the destruction caused by the war, USA began her industrial expansion based on major advances in technology.

USA emerged as the main creditor nation in the world, and most countries of Europe were her debtors.

An indication of the tremendous industrial expansion may be seen in the fact that in 1929 more than five million cars were sold in USA.

But this economic expansion could not be sustained by America due to unequal economic growth. Only small portion of population could get benefitted.

Causes of 1929 depression

• The industrial expansion was accompanies by a further concentration of economic power thousands of small companies were swallowed up by the few big ones.
• Due to monopoly of few companies Competition between different manufactures, which had been a characteristic feature of capitalist economies almost ended.
• The growth of concentration of economic power led to increased corruption and there were many scandals involving politicians and top levels of the bureaucracy.
• This unequal economic growth brought little benefit to the workers, most of who continued to lead lives of poverty and misery besides low wages.
• Between five and seven per cent of the non-agriculture population had been unemployed throughout the 1920s.
• In spite of almost a decade of unprecedented economic growth more than half the families in America lived on the edge of or below the minimum subsistence level.
• The tremendous increase in production facilitated by advances in technology and increasing profits created a situation in which there were not many people who had the means to buy what was being produced.

Global Impact

• Outcome of the Great Depression was a collapse of world trade.
• In 1931 German industrial production decreased more than 40 percent; 29 percent in France; and 14 percent in Britain from 1929 levels.
• Austria’s largest bank collapsed in May 1931 and concerns over the possible weak financial condition of other European banks immediately led to European residents rushing to banks where they had their money deposited.
• The rush of crowds of depositors all at once further weakened banks and even affected banks not previously in financial trouble.
• This run on banks led to failure of German banks by mid-June. As a result, Germany announced it could no longer keep paying its debts resulting from World War I.
• This led to economic problems in other European nations and the United States, reliant in part on those payments to fund their own government operations.
• By 1933 unemployment rates in Europe were soaring. Of the available workforce in each country, unemployment rates were 26.3 percent in Germany, 23.7 percent in Sweden, 14.1 percent in Britain, 20.4 percent in Belgium, and 28.8 percent in Denmark.
• In France social unrest was escalating with the effects of unemployment in addition to the rise of the Nazi Party in neighboring Germany.

 

2. Treaty of Versailles was supposed to bring stability, but it brought another war. Discuss.

The Treaty of Versailles was established after World War I to limit Germany’s power and hopefully help prevent another world war. However, the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles rendered Germany vulnerable and aching for revenge, the result of which led to the rise of Hitler and indirectly, World War II.

Provision of treaty of Versailles

A dictated peace: The Germans were not allowed into the discussions at Versailles; they were simply presented with the terms and told to sign.

Wilson’s 14 points formula not followed: Germans claimed that they had been promised terms based on Wilson’s 14 points that many of the provisions were not based on the 14 points

Loss of territory in Europe: This included Alsace-Lorraine and especially West Prussia, which gave Poland access to the sea. Upper Silesia, an industrial region with a mixed population of poles and Germans, was to be given to Poland. But later Germany was allowed to keep two-thirds of the area.

Loss of Germany’s African colonies: The mandate system allowed Britain to take over German east Africa (Tanganyika, now part of Tanzania) and parts of Togoland and the Cameroons, France to take most of Togoland and the Cameroons, and South Africa to acquire German south West Africa (Now known as Namibia)

Disarmament clauses: Germans claimed that 100 000 troops were not enough to keep law and order at a time of political unrest. The Germans became more aggrieved later, as it became clear that none of the other powers intended to disarm, even though Wilson’s point 4 mentioned ‘All-round reduction of armaments’.

The ‘War Guilt’ Clause: The Allies wanted the Germans to admit responsibility for war so that they would be liable to pay reparations.

Reparations: Reparation payment was fixed at $6600 million. The figure of 6600million enabled the Germans to protest that it was impossible to pay, and they soon began to default (Fail to pay) on their annual installments.

How provisions led to World war 2

• As a country which had declared war on several powers, to lose the war and then be forced to pay for and sacrifice land to their enemies was a blow to the German pride.
• Nationalism declined and the population felt betrayed by their government for allowing the Treaty to pass. In 1920, the Kapp Putsch, a rebellion in Berlin against the Treaty of Versailles, attested to this.
• The signing led to a distrust of the new government, and when the rising fascist party, stated that they would abolish the Treaty of Versailles, the German population naturally gravitated towards their campaign.
• The Treaty of Versailles repossessed German territory, leading to the German desire for expansion and the regaining of their lands.
• Hence, when Hitler promised to regain lost German land and expand the nation to gain power and respect, the German public supported the cause.

Thus it can be argued that the Treaty of Versailles was the direct cause of World War II. As the provisions of the treaty led to chaos and vulnerability within Germany that allowed leaders such as Hitler and the fascist party rise to power

3. Comparisons of the fascist regime of Italy with the nationalist socialist regime of Germany is inevitable. The similarities are obvious, but there are differences which are worth mentioning.” Comment.

Fascism and National Socialism are often mistaken for being one and the same thing. Yes, these ideologies did have a lot in common, yet some of the differences are substantial.

Similarities

• Both pursued collectivism i.e. ownership of the land and the means of production by the state, as a part of an economy led by the state.
• Both ideologies supported the establishment of a dictatorship led by a leader who literally has all power.
• Both rejected Democracy and traditional left and right wing parties.
• They were opposed to the freedom of speech, Communism and Capitalism, Feminism and homosexuality alike.
• Both were totalitarian ideologies which means that they seek to control all aspects of public and private life alike.
• Neither believed in class conflicts and conflicts of interest as a result of their idea of: class collaboration instead of class struggle.

Difference between Fascism and National Socialism or Nazism:-

• The most important difference between Fascism and National Socialism is the latter’s racist character and accent on ethnicity.
• Fascists focused more on their own state, whereas race was more important to the Nazis.
• The National Socialists were very revolutionary as opposed to reactionary in the sense that they wished to create a radical new order.
• Nazis had no positive attitude towards Modernism, which they considered to be a sign of Bolshevism and cultural degeneration. Instead, they much rather promote art reflecting the Nazi doctrine.
• Fascists on the other hand generally had no problem with Modernism. For example, the Italian Fascists didn’t restrict artistic expression and even encouraged creativity
• Mussolini actively endorsed the Roman Catholic Church for political legitimacy while Hitler founded Positive Christianity as an attempt to redefine the Christian belief in such a way that it would benefit his anti-Semitic rule.

4. The rise of nationalism post world war II in European colonies was one of the major reasons behind decolonization. Critically Analyze.

Nationalism can be defined as the aspirations common to one nation which can be expressed through patriotism and social movements.

The growth of nationalism among native peoples in European colonies in Asia and Africa often played an enormous role in the process of decolonization. Indeed, without the growth of nationalist movements in colonies themselves, it was highly unlikely that colonial powers would unilaterally surrender their colonies.

How nationalism led to decolonization:-

• After World War various factors led to the growth in intellectual circles, nationalist movements generally spread outward to all sectors of colonial society.
• Members of the nationalists movement disseminated the message and informed their compatriots of the often imbalanced nature of colonial economics and the detrimental effect colonialism had on the society and culture of the colonized people.
• As movements grew, nationalists often rallied around symbols and ideas, which they could easily identify as their own, in essence asserting their cultural independence from the colonizers even before they could assert independence politically.
• After world war these strong nationalist movements, started to receive diplomatic help from international community.
• International organizations like the United Nations and countries like the United States increasingly became proponents of national self-determination in the post-WWII era.
• This often led to international pressure upon European states to peacefully sever control of their colonies when those colonies began clamoring for independence.
• Another reason was that after world war European powers weakened and found themselves bot strong enough to spend their economic and military resources for suppression of these nationalist movements.
• After World War 2 nationalists became very determined and strong as now they knew that European powers are not that strong and can be defeated, these strong and determined movements were not easy to stop by colonial countries.

Reasons of Post-World War nationalism:-

1. Before the war, colonial peoples believed it would be impossible to defeat the militarily superior Europeans by force of arms. Japanese successes in the early part of the war showed that it was possible for non-Europeans to defeat European armies.
2. Asians and Africans became more aware of social and political matters as a result of their involvement in the war.
3. Many Africans, who had left their homeland for the first time to flight in the Allied armies, were appalled at the contrast between the primitive conditions in Africa and the relatively comfortable conditions they experienced.
4. Some European policies during the war encouraged colonial peoples to expect independence as soon as the war was over.
5. 1941 Atlantic Charter set out joint Anglo-American thinking about how the world should be organized after the war. Two of the points mentioned were:-

• Nationals should not expand by taking territory from other nations
• All peoples should have the right to choose their own form of government

 

 

5. World War II was not only a war among militaries but also a ‘Total War’. Comment

Total war is a military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory, as distinguished from limited war.

Characteristics of a total war:-

• In total War countries mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.
• The entire economy in Total War is subject to the needs of the government.  Consumer goods are hardest hit by Total War.
• In a total war, differentiation between combatants and non-combatants diminishes and sometimes vanishes completely.
• Total war is warfare includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets.

Why World War 2 was a ‘Total War’:-

• Japan passed National Mobilization Law which provided for government controls over civilian organizations, nationalization of strategic industries, price controls and rationing, and nationalized the news media.
• Japan practiced chemical and biological warfare against the Chinese and routinely abused or murdered enemy soldiers who had surrendered.  Those taken captive by the Japanese were simply prisoners and were not treated as Prisoners of War.
• In Britain, not only were men conscripted into the armed forces from the beginning of the war, but women were also conscripted as Land Girls to aid farmers.
• In the US no automobiles were built in 1943 and 1944 as those factories were needed to build tanks and other military vehicles.  Refrigerators and other appliances were either not built, or severely restricted.
• In the German-Russian war of 1941 to 1945 Total War reached perhaps it ugliest.  The Soviets had never ratified the Geneva Conventions on War.
• Hardest hit were the Poles who saw 20% of their entire population die during WWII including nearly all Polish Jews in the Holocaust.
• The Soviets practiced Scorched Earth as they retreated in the face of German attack.  Later, when the Russians advanced, the Germans did the same.  The region was utterly destroyed by the end of the war.

Hence after looking at the above, we can come to the conclusion that World War 2 was the Total war.

 

6. Discuss the various factors that give rise to the cold war towards the end of World War II. Also, outline the reasons for the thaw in cold war after 1953.

The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states).

Factors that give rise to the cold war:-

• Main and most important factor behind cold war was the difference of principle between Communist and Capitalists states, as these ideologies were followed by the 2 opposing world powers at that times.
• When communism started to rise in Russia, private and wealthy owners were feared of loss of their political power in case the communism spreads into west, hence they supported the anti-communist forces in Russia at that time. This convinced the communist leadership in Russia that capitalists can never be trusted.
• Stalin’s Foreign policies: After the Nazi Germany collapsed Stalin tried to occupy as much as possible of the Germany, Poland, Finland and Romania. And Wes t took it as the Stalin’s strategy to spread Communism world over.
• Mistrust and suspicion was already presented between Communist Russia and Capitalist west even during World War, it was only aggravated when there was no common enemy present after world war.

But after 1953 tension between both the world powers started to get calm temporarily, many developments like signing of Austrian State Treaty in 1955, Russia giving up of military bases in Finland etc. took place. The following were the reasons behind thaw:-

Reasons of thaw in cold war after 1953:-

• After death of Stalin new leadership of Russia wanted to improve relations with the USA.
• Both sides had nuclear bombs by 1953, so now there were equally destructive weapons with both the countries. Hence in efforts to avert a nuclear war, both countries tried not to create tensions.
• Anti-Communist feelings in the USA, which had been stirred up by senator Joseph McCarthy began to moderate when McCarthy was discredited in 1954.