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.

Chapter 17- Atlantic Revolutions and their Echoes

Feminist Beginnings. Of all the subjects talked about in chapter 17, this really caught my eye. For many years women have not been treated with the same equality that men have been treated with. Everything for a woman has been ten times harder than a man to achieve in society. We are lucky now that in this day in age things have definitely taken a huge transformation and women are just as important as men. This all may have not happened if it wasn’t for the feminist movement. Europe and North America is where it all began. Within the middle class, more and more women found educational opportunities to learn new things, in order to obtain more knowledge to be successful. Some women found free time from household chores. Many many women took part is different activities and became involved in society such as temperance movements, charities, abolitionism, missionary work, socialist/pacifist organizations, and even active trade unionist. On the other countries such as France were not too fond of this movement and “based their claims less on abstract notions of equality and more on the distinctive role of women as mothers.” They were not supportive of women in society to be successful and make a difference. This did not stop anything and by the 1900’s upper and middle class woman were attending universities and women in the United States we able to manage and control their own property and wages. This was a huge break through but many feminists were viewed as “selfish” because they were “willing to sacrifice the family or even the nation while pursuing their individual goals.” There were many conflicts about feminists and their explosion in the world to be treated as an equal with men. In my opinion, I am a female, and I believe that females are just as capable as men to do anything. I think that sex doesn’t change anything and shouldn’t be regarded in any matter because equality is the key to success. Everyone deserves a chance to be what they want to be and do what they desire, with that, being judged on whether or not you’re a male or a female is unfair. I am very thankful for the feminist beginnings and how it has paved a concrete path for other females to live their dreams.

Chapter 18- Revolutions of Industrialization

As most people already know, the Industrial Revolution was one of the BIGGEST things to happen in our past history. It made life ten times easier for people and was a breakthrough for life. There was a great acceleration in the rate of technological innovation which led to major output of goods and services. Many inventions were made to make every day life easier for individual. This was HUGE for the economy. In most cases, the Revolution was helpful and created many of jobs. This was great because it gave people the chance to travel to the cities and get jobs but sometimes that wasn’t the case. Often times there were TOO many people looking for jobs and wasn’t enough to go around. Sometimes people would get sick and lose their job, and wouldn’t really have any money to get by. Their kids would starve, they would starve, and their lives would become a living hell. It was brutal for those who suffered sicknesses especially with all the people and diseases involved in this era. I sympathize for those who had it rough.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution was incredible and the invention I appreciate the most probably is the steam engine. It basically saved our lives because it gave all of us a way to transport. Without that breakthrough we probably wouldn’t be able to have submarines or trains. Moving things around is what our world does best and it’s a necessity to have that. Along with many other things like the telegraph, ELECTRICITY, and steel processing. I mean, take a minute and just think. What if we didn’t have all these inventions in our everyday life? What if we didn’t have a phone to call people or a switch to turn on your light? Life would be a mess and all the conveniences we have now would have never existed. The Industrial Revolution was vital for our everyday life and I’ve definitely learned to appreciate it! J

Chapter 16- Religion and Science

So the subject of the week for my blog is Spanish America! The Conversion and Adaptation in Spanish America. Personally, I think this matter is a little too much. Religion and the belief system is a very touchy topic to talk about seeing that everyone has their own belief’s and faith that there prefer. Honestly, I think it was a poor decision on the Europeans for forcing Christianity on the Native Americans. I think it was unacceptable and unfair to the Native Americans because they had to no choice but to convert seeing that they had no defense but to listen to the Europeans. Personally, my family and I are very strong believers in Hinduism and we could never think about converting to any other religion. If someone came into our home and made us convert to another religion that we were not fond of or ever heard of, it would make us VERY angry and confused. I could only imagine how the Native Americans felt. First coming into their homeland, taking away their pride, and then converting them to Christianity, must be heartbreaking. I don’t know what I would do in that position, but the Native Americans definitely did not deserve that type of treatment. Taking away their cultures and tradition is demoralizing. On the other hand, assimilating two religions together can give a better outlook on life with both peoples. Both the Native Americans and Europeans can have their own faith and tradition and can live in peace with their own beliefs. It can create a more diverse environment and keep everyone content. Luckily in this day, we have the freedom to choose our own religion and belief and have the choices that the Native Americans never had. GOD BLESS AMERICA!