Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Colonialism in the Middle East
Democracy after World War 2
Comparative politics us vs france
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Colonialism in the Middle East
Throughout the middle of the 1900’s, decolonization was flooding the globe. Many third world countries were growing tired of living in the shadow of the super powers of the world. The time of imperialism was ending and freedom of all states was on the rise. However, this freedom did not come without sacrifice due to the controlling empire’s refusal to let go. Many countries had bloodshed due to fighting for their freedom. However, some, such as the French, released countries without a fight (p. 23-24). As the super powers began to come across other issues, the colonized countries began to seek independence. An important ordeal that occurred during the twentieth century was the cold war. The cold war enhanced the will for decolonization by driving
The super powers were trying to stretch their beliefs to the rest of the world, especially the former colonized countries. The countries that choose to side with the Soviet Union were seen basically as victims of communism by the rest of the world. The Soviet Union were determined to spread Communism to countries around them and eventually the world. The United States made it their duty to stop this spread by interfering with the Soviet Union’s plans. For example, the Vietnam War, where the United States stepped in to aid South Vietnamese against Communism (p. 152). The United States feared the spread of this ideology to the point of sending soldiers to stop it from scattering out to smaller countries, South Vietnam in this case. However, the result was not victorious for the United States. Ben Bella compared the Vietnamese people to the Algerian people when it came to fighting for independence with a foreign power hovering over them (p. 155). Ben Bella was faced with many questions as to what would happen to the people with the influence of opposing powers of the cold war (p. 153-154). As people strived for their independence, the two sides that arose in the world following the cold war truly impacted the third world counties as they struggled to stand on their own feet. The struggle to influence the third world with two completely different ideologies only caused more conflict in the
After World War II, Europe emerged as a continent torn between two very different political ideologies, Communism and Democracy. As the two major superpowers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States, struggled to defend their respective governmental policies, the European Continent was caught in an intrinsic struggle to preserve the autonomy which had taken so long to achieve. During the Cold War, Eastern European nations struggled to achieve autonomy with the help of the West's dedication to break the Soviet sphere of influence. After the disintegration of the USSR, the struggle for autonomy among nations shifted from an intense, inward, nationalistic struggle to break away from a superpower to a commitment of international unity and cooperation as nations began to take moral and political responsibility for their actions.
During the 20th century, the rise of communism sparked rage in people throughout the world. More towards the end of the 1900's the fall of communism and dictatorships was just the beginning of what would eventually be a large democratic change for several countries. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End, speaks about the change brought to several different countries from the 1980's-1990's and plans to show "the global transformations that marked the end of the cold war and shaped the era in which we live"(Pg V). During the cold war, communist had power and control over a large area and spread communism throughout several continents. This book specifically hits on six different studies of where communism and dictatorship affected these areas and what they did to stop it. Poland, Philippines, Chile, South Africa, Ukraine, and China throughout the end of the 20th century created revolutionary movements which brought them all one step closer to freeing themselves and creating democratic change.
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raised the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
Moving forward from the Industrial Revolutions, the course emphasized World War I, as a truly world-redefining war. Stromberg may argue that the First World War was devastating and then arbitrarily move on to the next period in history, which was the rise of Communism and Fascism, but through the lecture we see the connection. “Communism and Fascism were the two big movements out of WWI” (6/1). As the lecture explains, World War I produced many extremist ideas, and the reason for these extremist ideas was the problems the world identified inherently from the conditions it was left in after the war. The role of communism and fascism did not end here though, its impact continued until after the Second World War and led to giving fuel to decolonization. In isolation, we may treat the two wars as having impact on each nation individually, the truth is far from that, and many nations leaned on common ideas in order to decolonize. “Class, religion and race were all forms of identity that transcended national borders, and movements of national independence drew from international movements” (6/3). The highlighted idea being “international movements. From this we understand that the big story was that imperially ruled nations wanted to decolonize and start anew as independent world. The big story, is not, as Stromberg may have us believe that each nation, in isolation, worked on
The Cold War was a series of global conflicts connected by the common goal of self determination. The global war which spanned from the 1940s to the 1990s was not solely based on the differing ideologies of communism and capitalism, but rather stemmed from the opportunity after World War II to alter the international system. Countries like the USSR, US, and the global south engaged in conflicts in order to defend their self determination. During the Cold War period self determination could be described as having the ability to make independent decisions within the international system, such as by determining its own statehood, government, and treaties. In the first part of the Cold War, ranging
In Todd Shepard’s work Voices of Decolonization, the featured documents provide keen insight into the geopolitical environment of the era of decolonization (1945-1965) and the external and internal pressures on the relationships between colonial nations and the territories that they held dominion over (Shepard 10). Decolonization is the result of a combination of national self-determination and the establishment of functional international institutions composed of independent sovereign nations united towards common goals. As decolonization progressed, it intersected with points of significant sociopolitical tension between colonies and the nations that colonized them. Some of these moments of tension came in the form of progressive ideals held by international agencies which colonial nations were allied with, the revolt of colonized populations against their standing government in favor of independence, and in moral and political conflicts that arose when decolonization takes a form unexpected or undesired by the primary agents of progressive international institutions.
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union opposed each other over the expansion of their power. The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe became the East nations, and the United States, centered on NATO formed the West nations, dividing the world in two. Belonging to neither the East nor the West, developing countries were called Third World nations and became a stand-in for wars between the East and West (Gaddis, The Strategies of Containment 70-78).
Americans were afraid of one. country in South Asia turned to communism, it would extend to other. countries, which is known as the "Domino Theory". The United States thought if they stopped communism in Vietnam, it would stop the spread. of the communism of the world.
Third, do we really know a country 8000 miles away from us? Knowing them so well that we are sure they would like our ideology. Fourth, our government had sent a “boy scout” to fight with those sophisticated Vietcong, some of our troops were composed of those people who just graduated from high school. In the 1960’s, according to the American government’s “Domino Theory”, if the Vietnam came under control of the communism, then the entire southeastern Asia would fall into communism too. Americans had already lost China, we certainly wouldn’t allow the southeastern Asia to follow in China’s footsteps, otherwise we would lose access to the huge resources and markets of Asia.
The United States failed to see that in a democracy, people vote for what they want, and they were not allowing the people of Vietnam to be communist. One ...
With the shock of two destructive world wars and then the creation of the United Nations, whose aim is to preserve peace, it is unconceivable for these two nations to fight directly in order to promote their own ideology. But the US and the USSR end up to be in competition in numerous ways, particularly in technological and industrial fields. In the same time they start to spread their influence over their former allies. This phenomenon have led to the creation of a bipolar world, divided in two powerful blocs surrounded by buffer zones, and to the beginning of what we call the Cold War because of the absence of direct conflicts between the two nations.
The Cold War historiography, specifically the issue of nuclear deterrence has provided historians the classic dialectic of an original thesis that is challenged by an antithesis. Both then emerge in the resolution of a new synthesis. Unfortunately, each evolution of a new synthesis is quickly demolished with each political crisis and technological advance during the Cold War narrative. The traditional/orthodox views were often challenged by the conventional wisdom with the creation of synthesis or post revisionism. There appears to be a multiple historiographical trends on nuclear deterrence over the Cold War; each were dependent and shaped upon international events and technological developments. I have identified four major trends: the orthodox, the revisionist, the post revisionist, st and the New Left. Each of these different historical approaches had its proponents and opponents, both in the military as well as the political and
At the same time, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were involved in the Cold War. They were competing against one another, constantly trying to show that their country (and therefore their form of government and ideals) was the better choice. They were competing for influence over the rest of the world. Eventually the USSR and Communism lost, but far more important results came out of this competition instead.
...he US and the USSR, but decolonised out of their own interest. For Britain, the Suez crises lead to the empire becoming a burden on the pound, and to avoid bankruptcy, Britain accelerated the process of decolonisation, realising that that nuclear warfare was the real show of greatness. With France, although the FLN played a major role, the crises in France over the issue of decolonisation meant it was impossible for France to cling on to Algeria. Even De Gaulle declared that decolonisation was in France’s interest, an admission of the impossibility without more expense and bloodshed. France became exhausted rather than converted. With both countries having different reasons to decolonise, it was ultimately both countries view of colonialism that decided what experience of decolonisation they would have, with Frances experiences being much bloodier than the British.
Smith, Tony. The End of the European Empire: Decolonization after World War II. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1975. Print.