Secularism and Islam in Europe - Assignment Example

Other emerging economies encouraged cross-border trade with America doing a booming business with Germany. Due to this competition, Great Britain was thus weakened as an economic powerhouse coupled with high military spending in preparation for World War 1.

Nazis carried out anti-Semitic propaganda which depicted Jews as collaborators with the allies to commit treason against the German Republic. They told the citizens through a variety of media including leaflets that their economic woes were caused by the Jews who dominated the financial sector.

With the rise in communism in Germany, Hitler rose on an issue that with the dominance of Communist Party members in the Reichstag, the Russians will enter the German economy and dominate trade. He told them that only the Nazi party could keep communism policies at bay.

Germany's economic dominance was greatly reduced in the region because of short-change from the Treaty of Versailles which hurt local production (Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein, Smith, Lualdi, p.127). The economy went down under the Republican regime; Hitler, therefore, came into power promising economic reforms and a boom that the citizens bought. He promised to squash the treaty, re-energize the Germans, and take back the colonies lost to other powerhouses.

The key changes in strategy and policy that permitted the Axis powers to win World War II include the tactical approach used to fight the Germans. They weakened their economy and resource base first to ensure they had little energy and financial resources to improve their military capabilities. Their oil fields were bombed to cut the energy supply. They had to rely on coal to run their machines which were expensive and had a tedious energy conversion process.

The attack had to be effectively planned due to inadequately trained forces and military gear. Under the directions of Churchill, the allied forces divided responsibilities to get Hitler on all fronts. America was to invade its military establishments in Africa while the rest take the ground force to Germany. This invasion surprised the Germans and divided their command.

The region was so robust with a myriad of infrastructural and geographical challenges which made it difficult to plan. Those in charge of state planning could not deliver on their task as they could not effectively structure devolved systems for spurring economic gains. The energy among the population could not be synergized thus limiting innovation with managers also faking economic indicators’ figures to show the central command that the economy was doing well. Mikhail Gorbachev tried to salvage the situation by establishing more controls as deficits grew; he also reintroduced capitalism so that everyone applies his effort to grow rather than depending on the state for social programs. However, this was not enough and the union eventually fell.

The Soviet Union concentrated on gaining military power by having more military tanks and other military gear; they wanted to reach United States’ military budget and capabilities. By 1971, they were at par with America. What they did not realize is that the US had a budgeting system that ensured the military budget did not consume much of their GDP. The blind arms rush caused budget cuts in vital organs of the economy thus limiting growth. The countries would then disintegrate because of such failed policies and action plans.

There is a steep rise of secularism and Islam in Europe with France being the hardest hit. Mosques are springing up in France while church congregation figures going low day by day (Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein, Smith, Lualdi, p.127). The number of religious leaders and church custodians has reduced by half in 40 years in Europe. The causes of this trend include the rise in political Islam sentimentalism among the population; this is fuelled by globalization and geopolitics. The number of Muslim immigrants to Europe is also increasing and they take with them the radical message that Islam is the future and the western powers are the enemy (Lu, p.71). Secularism on the other hand has been growing due to underlying concerns among citizens that the state should be divided from the church. This enables citizens to practice whichever religion they feel like with state support; Muslims also hail this concept as it has allowed them to practice their customs and adorn their clothes without victimization. Read More