Thoughts and Reflections on Chapter 19

      Society (in the developed world at least) likes to think of itself as having long since abandoned such horrific and backward practices as genocide, which is why the willingness to accept Hitler's regime is so shocking. Yet at the time of Hitler's rise to power, Germany's situation was so disordered that it could hardly be considered a developed nation by today's standards. The circumstances leading to the systematic elimination of Jews and other groups neatly parallels the concatenation of events present in Soviet Russia under Stalin's leadership. Both countries were in a state of economic crisis, and both leaders found scapegoats suitable to their respective purposes. While a very few spoke out against the obvious brutality of the massacres of Hitler and Stalin, the consequences for doing so coupled with the propaganda issued by the two leaders ensured the silence of the majority. Again, the developed world likes to think that such horrific events as the holocaust and the purges of Stalin could never happen in our enlightened modern society. Yet this pattern suggests that the moment the stakes are down, the majority are more the capable of being hoodwinked by a charismatic leader with a semi-plausible scapegoat. 

Thoughts and Reflections on the Communist Manifesto

     When comparing the idealistic world of the ruling proletariat portrayed in Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto to Stallin's Russia in the 1930s, it is clear that somewhere along the line something must have gone awry. A large part of what Marxism boils down to is the abolition of private property, the ruling of the working class, and the permanent removal of the bourgeoisie. While Stallin did deliver on the first and third of these, he fell short in terms of proletariat rule. Private property was indeed done away with, much to the chagrin of the kulaks, and this (along with the exploitation of anyone who owned more than a cow and a handful of grain for slave labor) resulted in the apparent destruction of class. The difference between this and the approach outlined by Marx is that Marx did not intend for mass famine and harsh working conditions to kill people by the hundreds of thousands. Indeed, these very conditions are what spurred on Marx and Engles to write their manifesto. As for the rule of the proletariat, there were two primary classes of citizens: Stallin and not Stallin. Once the revolution which Marx had predicted had installed a leader (the leader in this case referring to Stalin, not Lenin or any of his rivals), the conditions were far worse than they had ever been in industrial Europe. 

Red Empire Part 3: Class Warriors Presentation

WWI Final Assessment

WWI Book Review

Book: Henry Ford: Contributions to Industry and Warfare

Author: John Doe Jr. 

Publisher: Penguin

Price:  $19.99

     Born and raised on a small farm in Michigan, Henry Ford went on to permanently shift the foundation of American industrialism. He left his rural life at the age of sixteen, when he moved to Detroit to pursue a career in mechanics. In his spare time, Ford tried endlessly to create an affordable and practical automobile for the masses. Though initially unsuccessful, Ford's tenacity and innovation eventual won through with the invention of the Model T, a cheap easy to produce car for the masses. With this momentous step forward in automobile history, Ford inadvertently created a technology which would fuel the immanent conflict of WWI.

     The Model T sold so well that Ford needed to boost production. This led him to perfect the invention of the assembly line, which had been in use for the past eight years or so. By implementing a conveyer belt system, Ford got the production time for a Model T down to 93 minutes per unit. Soon other production companies began taking their cues from Ford, and when war broke out, his methods of production were adopted by manufacturers around the world. 

     Ford’s version of the conveyer belt contributed immensely to the “total war” state of the world which characterized WWI. Everywhere factories were being retrofitted to produce vehicles, weapons, ammunition, and every other conceivable form of supplies. This form of production allowed the French to manufacture everything they needed. 

Thoughts and Reflections on Redrawing the Map

     Much like Africa, the borders of the Middle East were drawn with solely European interests in mind. While colonization in the Middle East was not as big a problem as it was in Africa, the arbitrary borders set by Europe still posed many of the same challenges. The post World War I borders in the Middle East failed to take into account any conflicts that may arise as a result of access to resources or religious or ethnic differences. While another set of borders were proposed by Lawrence of Arabia based on the geography of the region, these plans were rejected in favor of the more lucrative solution set forth be France. The fact that Europe was able to create the borders of other continents is a testament to the fact that the world was, for better or worse, moving towards a more globalized and modern world. 

Thoughts and Reflections on Chapter 17

     While the outbreak of global conflict may not have been an inevitability in 1914, certain factors transformed Europe into a veritable tinderbox waiting to be ignited. The alliances in place at the time (such as the triple alliance, the dual alliance, the three emporers' league, etc.) ensured that if war broke out in Europe, it would likely draw the rest of the continent into the conflict. This, combined with tensions created from geopolitical differences in Africa and Asia along with the Balkans and from the ongoing arms race in Europe, constituted an environment in which world war was possible. The outcome of the (arguably) preventable war was obviously disastrous, both in the long and short terms. While the nine million casualties which led to the lost generation were devastating, the aftermath of the war was arguably worse. The unethical violation of Germany's sovereignty outlined in the Treaty of Versailles established the conditions which were conducive to World War II. Unlike WWI however, the war which arose from the Treaty of Versailles created an environment in which global intervention was necessary as opposed to simply required by alliances.