Chapter 21- The Collapse and Recovery of Europe

Well, I am pretty sure that we can all sit here and agree that this chapter is filled with many saddening events. It contains many of the events, of them starts off with World War I. One of the major things that struck me in this chapter was the Great Depression. Every time I think of the Great Depression it reminds me of the world going down the drain. It reminds me of the many people who suffered loss and terror when they had NOTHING left for them. The Great Depression took place in 1929 when the stock market crashed. Millions of people lost their life savings and the world trade dropped sixty two percent within even a few years. Many businesses were contracted, not to mention the unemployment rate sky rocketed. It was only 30 percent employment rate in both Germany and the United States. If we take a moment out to actually think about this, not only the United States, but the whole WORLD was in a depression. Our country affects the whole world, and the impact was huge on these people. It is very sad to think how much suffering they had to undergo during this time. Can we ask ourselves, why and how did such a huge depression hit the United States? Well, our economy was booming during the 1920’s which meant we were in good shape, but by the end of the decade, factories and farms were producing way more goods that could be sold. Europe by that time was impoverished by WWI and didn’t purchase American products, while producing more goods of their own. The speculative stock market had driven stock prices up artificially high and along with the crash, the economic network shattered into pieces. It is sad to see how many people suffered on the streets, with no house to live in, no food to eat, no money to support their families. It was a time of great hardship that can never be taken back but was a way to learn and become stronger as a country/unit. This topic always interested me the most because it reminds me of what we situation our country is slightly in at the moment. A major recession, but just like in 1929, I think we have the ability to work out of this issue and become that much more independent in leading a strong and stable economic country.

There were also events such as Nazi Germany, Japan Authoritarianism, the Second World War, the Road to War in Europe and the Recovery of Europe which held many more sufferings. They all had  key roles in the collapse and recovery in Europe.

Chapter 20- Colonial Encounters

When European colonial empires formed, it was often a traumatic experience for many of the people. Many of the small societies included loss of life, homes, cattle, crops, and land could were absolutely devastating for these people. Even one senior Vietnamese official wrote a poem expressing his anguish to the world. It was a sad poem showing his grief and his helplessness to their society’s situation. As saddening as it was, they really had no choice but to do what they were told.

On the other hand, throughout the violence in the European conquest, many individuals cooperated with colonial authorities for their own benefits and advantages. Men found jobs in the European military to further their lives. Indian princes, Muslim emirs, and African chiefs, were all able to keep their status and at the same time gained more wealth by exercising authority. Many of these people actually benefitted from the European conquest, which was in a way helpful to them and their lives. European education was explosive for colonial government and private missionary organizations, and created more wealth and more jobs in the Western education class.

Many were cooperative, but at the same time, many didn’t agree with the European rule. The Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858 was the most famous of the rebellions of this time. The colony’s military forces of a new cartridge smeared with animal fat from cows and pigs. Both of these animals are sacred in Hinduism and the religion of Islam. These people took it as a threat that they were trying to be converted to Christianity. I can understand this situation because I myself am a Hindu, and I would feel VERY offensive in the same situation. It is almost heartbreaking that people can do such a low thing as to attack other people’s religion in a time of colonization. I don’t think it morally correct in any way at all and it was a great wake up call for the British because ALL of India was aflame. They were a lot more cautious of trying to change Indian society.

"Collapse"

Well this week’s blog was about the book “Collapse” by Jared Diamond. I thought the whole thing was pretty interesting and the twelve ways of the fate of human societies. It showed how societies choose to surrender or fail. I totally agreed with all of his topics because I think each of them have a very large impact on our environment, but at the same time I felt some were more important than others. One in particular that really stood out to me was the destroying of natural habitats. I think that in order to run a healthy world we need our natural habitats for our animals as well as ourselves. They are vital to the environment, especially trees in which give us our oxygen. Without having these habitats our animals unfortunately die and our world would become just plain cement and city life. It does not work well with the balance of both environments, which means that the destroying of our natural habitats is probably the worst thing that can happen. On the other hand, another problem I think that stands out is the population impact. Our world is highly populated, some places more than others. We are a growing world and day by day more women are giving birth to more babies. Over population can have a HUGE impact on society. I mean can you imagine what that can do? Lack of food, water, shelter and much more. We wouldn’t have the resources to accommodate all the population plus that adds on to the fact that we are over producing. We are over producing our natural resources, therefore having a significant impact on the world. I mean all these problems lead to another problem, and it is unfortunate that we face these dilemmas. I think that it is up to us humans to know what the right thing to do is and to make wise decisions. We all need to stop taking our earth for granted and start realizing that it won’t be here forever.

Chapter 19- Internal Troubles, External Threats (E.C.)

In the 19th century Europe's age of global expansion took place. Europe basically was the center of the economic world and the country attracted many people. Countries such as India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands were considered European states. This diminished the independence of China, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia. Europe's global expansion was HUGE and held a lot of weight on the rest of world. The Industrial Revolution gave Europe a big advantage to its expansion because that is where it took place. Many many countries were dependent on Europe for goods and services. This led to economic needs to become larger than usual. Goods and services were needed throughout the whole country such as bananas from Central America and cocoa and palm oil from West Africa. Often times Europe was not selling its own products. It manufactured goods that their own people were unable to buy due to it not being affordable. On the other hand, European investors found it a lot more beneficial to invest their money in other countries abroad then at home. In 1914 countries such as Europe, North America, and Australia were equally invested in 3.7 billion pounds of sterling along with Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Imperialism also took place in Europe. It was particularly popular in the late nineteenth century because of the growth of mass nationalism. Europe's competitive political system became even more competitive due to the unification of Italy and Germany which therefore made it difficult for colonies and economic concessions in Asia and Africa. Many invents took place in the nineteenth century along with the global expansion of Europe.