Survey of Our Greate World History - Coursework Example

Survey of World History Order No. 314825 No. of pages: 7 6530 How has the nature of cultural encounter changed over time? In particular, howhave cultural encounters in different regions of the world been shaped by wars, changing political systems, institutionalized ideologies, and new economic processes?   The face of the world has received a totally new makeover as constant changes have taken place over time. The different wars with their changing governments and political systems, each possessing their own ideologies that led to diverse economic processes have all contributed in a big way to the process of globalization. In this paper, we are going to take into consideration, the different cultural encounters that took place in various regions of the world from the 1800’s up to today. This paper would examine the chief wars that took place, the de- colonization of Africa, the Cold War and Japan’s opening to the outside world. One of the main wars that occurred due to military conflict was the “Vietnam War” which took place between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959, (Bernard Fall, 1958) which came to an end only in 1975. The origins of the Vietnam War took place between the 1940’s and 1950’s with nationalists groups like the Ho Chi Minh’s ‘Viet Minh’ fighting against colonial rule. This war took place between the communists and the allies of North Vietnam against the South Vietnam government which was supported by the United States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) (American Experience, 1983) (Encyclopedia Britannica) the chief conflict that led to the war was North Vietnam’s desire to unify the whole country and bring it under the Communist regime. On the other hand, the government of South Vietnam battled to preserve Vietnam on the lines of the West. In the 1950’s a good number of military advisers introduced combat units that were trained and stationed in Vietnam. The Vietnam War was one of the worst wars in history destroying both life and property and raising the toll of casualties to about 2 million civilians, 1.1 million from north Vietnam, about 200,000 from the U.S. military forces and from south Vietnam the death toll was about 250,000 soldiers. Though Vietnam had emerged a recognized military power when the war ended, yet the scars of the war had not left them because their business, industries and agriculture suffered a great deal due to the countryside been destroyed by land mines, bombs and heavy defoliation. The cultural face of Vietnam was defaced by this tragic war. The aftermath of the war was that there was a deep slump in the economy and disorientation among the communist regime in trying to impose reconstruction in a country whose people were demoralized and divided. President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the U.S accepted the de facto partition of Vietnam and assisted them in halting the spread of communism across Asia. Diem had strengthened his power in the south by calling for a referendum and thereby made himself the President of the Vietnam Republic in 1955, (Encyclopedia Britannica). The Vietnam War was catastrophic when looking at it from a global point of view because it not only drained the economy but also suffered heavy losses by way of life and property which served to give it a major setback in its progress both culturally as well as socially. In a film titled “The Quiet American” (2002) which is adapted from a best-selling novel written by Graham Greene, depicts the typical American culture set against a Vietnamese background. The film speaks of the American involvement and the political turmoil that led to the devastating war in Vietnam. It brings out the American outrage when the communists are wrongly blamed for a series of terrible bombings that take the lives of a large number of women and children. Michael Caine received the Best Actor Award for this movie (The Quiet American” (2002) which was considered a huge box- office grosser. During the 18th century, the Founding Fathers brought in a governing value system called ‘Republicanism’ which formed the basis of the American revolution and emphasized values such as sovereignty and liberty of the people and rejected the inheritance individual political power and corruption. "Republicanism was the distinctive political consciousness of the entire Revolutionary generation." (Joyce Appleby, 1986) During the late 18th century this modern ideology termed ‘Nationalism’ gradually found its origins in Europe. ‘Nationalism’ refers to an ideology, a sentiment, or form of culture, or the social movement that focuses on the nation.” (Smith, Anthony D. 1993) Nationalism served to be a significant force both politically and socially because it had an immense influence on both the World Wars especially when a radical authoritarian ideology such as ‘Fascism’ came into force. Quite unlike ‘Fascism’ the ideologies of ‘Nationalism’ centered around the people and in fact was the foundation for a modern society. Nationalism had a great impact on globalization as it promoted solidarity among the people and supported economic redistribution and promoted industrialization. Quite in contrast is ‘Fascism’ which is based on the authoritarian nationalist ideologies by encouraging national collectivism and revolution. In sharp contrast to the ideologies of ‘Republicanism’ was ‘Imperialism’. During the beginning of the early 20th century, the United States adapted the policy of aggression with an idea of expanding its territories. The era of imperialism was a pivotal age in our nation’s history when the U.S. exercised its influence in political and economic matters. This influence can be clearly seen during the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion and its intervention in the affairs of Latin America. Therefore, on the global front imperialism created unrest among many nations and divided them culturally. Another salient feature that led towards globalization was the de-colonization in Africa that was triggered by the eventuality of the independence India won in the year 1945. The process of de-colonization was not smooth and required rebellious movements until the British were shaken. The non violent struggle was a result of the British’s willingness to evacuate colonies in response to the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s. It can definitely not be forgotten that the British were fierce in their commitment but finally conceded when they could not handle the situation any more. The British gave a very graceful exit thus bringing down the curtain on colonization in Africa through the downfall of a mighty empire. Africa was gaining support from the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics who emerged as the two Super Powers after the Indian independence. The reasons for the growing strength of the Africans to rebel against the British were, that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R) were against capitalist imperialism and the sympathy the United States showed on the colonies because they were formerly British colonies themselves. However the colonial rage was exhibited in a different manner in each of the African countries. In Uganda the opposition was led by the traditional ruler Kabaka Mutesa II, in Tangayika a nationalist movement was created by TANU which extended to local organizations, youth and women’s groups. Globalization spread further when once again during the mid of the 19th century, the European powers triggered colonialism and this time their primary purpose was to exploit the resources of the African and Asian countries as they were considered as a rich reservoir of raw materials, labor and an expansive territory that ensured future settlement. With the advent of World War II, and the emergence of Japan as an imperial power, a spirit of nationalism spread far and wide and nationalist movements were encouraged in the Asian countries claiming independence. Globalization was also triggered by the Cold War between the two new Super Powers - the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and this had a definite impact on the decolonization of the British Empire. The cause for the U.S support was offset by the concern for communist expansion as there exited a fear that the Soviet Union would gain control of the newly developed independent states, thus shifting or tilting the international balance of power towards themselves. The United States however, encouraged the newly independent nations to get aligned with the West and Soviet Unions’ communism which they considered as non- imperialist but this political idea was resisted by the newly decolonized countries that joined the “nonaligned movement” and concentrated on their internal development that gradually moved in the direction of globalization among the different countries. The combined efforts of the new countries towards making the UN accept resolutions for independence of the other colonized territories brought an end to the colonial era. Wide spread Globalization was triggered after the fall of colonialism. Being rich in resources and labor Africa did not take advantage of using globalization as a potent tool for progress, as much as it could have. The economic and political globalization was not significant though they slowly worked towards it. It must be noted that most of the African states that have made good progress through globalization are considerably small like Botswana, Namibia, Ghana and Uganda. It is unfortunate that the African countries are globalizing at different paces yet promisingly well. The significant number of challenges in the international economy should be tackled appropriately by completely taking advantage of the progressive dimension of globalization. Bibliography Bernard Fall, (1958) The Pentagon Papers. Gravel Edition. Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954-1960" Boston: Beacon Press, 1971 Decolonization of Asia and Africa, 1945 - 1960 www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/98782.htm Elements of Non-violent Resistance www.civilresistance.info/bibliography/B Encyclopedia Britannica on the ‘Vietnam War” retrieved on 5th March 2008. Joyce Appleby, “Republicanism in Old and New Contexts,” in William & Mary Quarterly, 43 (January, 1986), pp 3-34 in JSTOR Smith Anthony D. (1993) National Identity. Reno: University of Nevada Press. P. 72 The Quiet American (2002 film) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_American_(2002_film) The Age of Imperialism www.smplanet.com/imperialism/toc.html Read More