Democracy Facing Collapse during the Great War - Research Paper Example

History and Political Science   9 April Why was Democracy Facing Collapse in the Wake of the Great War Introduction Democracy can be traced back to early Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Many countries claim to be oldest in democracy, but the bottom line is the definition of democracy they associate to. However, Europe and America have a long history in development of democracy, before being passed on to other countries in the age of the colonial period. The wake of the Great War is believed to have led to the triumph of the liberal democracy around the world, and laid a foundation to the modern democracy. The war which involved numerous powers in the western communities left enough damages and destruction, in the social and economic aspects of many countries. Although it was meant to make the world safe for democracy from the destruction that millions of civilians recruited for the war experienced and lost their lives, some empires collapsed and some civilians were left homeless from the civil war, the western economies, trade patterns and flow of goods were interfered in the regions.1 In the long run, the democracy struggled for, faced numerous obstacles in operation and seemed unsafe in application with the consequences of the war. 2. Totalitarian regime The introduction of democracy in most nations involved in the First World War had not strongly been established, and their effectiveness was not appreciated by the people being governed within the short period. Instead, they opted for the former autocratic leadership, which between the WW1 and WW2 some forms of government that exercised full control of the people, the society, and state affairs were formed in some states that failed to retain democracy. According to Brym and Lie, the aftermath of the war, within 1922 to 1942 under the totalitarian rule, 2/3 of the world’s democracies failed because of the communists, fascists and military movements. 2The rule suppressed the rights and will of the people to express themselves in all activities, including occupational, social, and political affairs. Germans, Italians, and Russians democracies were overthrown by the totalitarian or authoritarian rules that imposed dictatorship in the states. In Germany, where the political leadership has a long history of shifts between democracy and dictatorship, the social democratic party that had led to the establishment of the first democratic constitution and government was undermined by the existing legislative house, the reaction of the people due its signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, and further by the rebellions from the communists. 3 The national socialists (Nazis) later got the opportunity for power control and dictatorship after engagement in the government and responding towards the needs of the German people, in hope to reverse the treaty signed by the social democrats party. Under Hitler’s leadership, Hitler got approved power through the enabling Act passed into law, allowing him to influence government’s decisions, consolidate power, and support that later paved way for his emergence in power. According to the Democratic web, under Hitler’s totalitarian rule, opposition parties were banned, civil, security, and judiciary forces altered to pave way for the NAZI controlled force, and the number of arrests and executions of opposing members were high.4 This suppressed the political, economical, and social democracy of civilians and society activities in their country. In Russia, the provisional government was overthrown by the Bolshevik opposition group (communist power), and also challenged by the Lenin group who later took charge of the Petrograd. As a communist party, Bolsheviks outlawed political oppositions, closed the constituent assembly and seized power by force; the succeeding Stalin’s dictatorship exercised a series of purges, either as exiles, arrest or executions to his opponents, prevented criticizing publications of his government, corrupt and interfered with the justice system, spied on people and introduced collectivism in agriculture.5 The people of Russia were subjected to fear and suppressed, marking the period of great terror that restricted democracy and justice. Italy also experienced struggles with power and oppression after becoming a fascist state, under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, with a private army that would ensure law and order by suppressive means. 3. Imperialism The western countries and empires had a tradition of expanding their territories to increase power and wealth in their empires. At the beginning of WW1, some countries had offered support to their allies, in the promise of acquiring control of some territories after the war ended. Imperialism not only limited people from forming their own national identity, but subjected people under foreign authority that ignored their cultures. It had existed before the First World War and appeared to disrespect the conquered minority nations and their patriotism, forcing them to reorganize on certain grounds (like race and tribe), for easy control under the imperialist territory. According to Steigerwald, Wilson opposed European imperialism arguing that it hindered democratic unity, due to its national interest that failed to consider the subject people, and extended self interest qualities exhibited in the Europe’s feudal past all through to the international issues.6 Most countries in Africa were under control of imperialist powers and most of their law came to be adopted in Africa. The conquered territories suffered from interference with social freedom and democracy, as the people were divided under different colonies, separating families and causing forced migration and rule by new powers. It also affected the social and economic democracy in terms of religion and beliefs in fear of death; with the control of colonial masters, Africans were forced to work under the conditions of their masters on plantations, and lived in lower housing set ups (like squatters) in their own land. The western empires in Europe, the United States, and Russia were too powerful in their indirect rule for minor opponents; the British influenced the pricing and taxation system in Africa on the exported raw materials, that most Africans like Nigerians began rebelling and promoting independence after WW1.7 Imperialism and the exchange of territories among themselves squeezed the conquered nations between the allies, putting them in a position of limited opportunities to form political oppositions, or react to seek democracy and freedom. Imperialism crushed the spirit of democratic pacifism (that was an opportunity of enforcing democracy) among the people, since it was associated with the lack of support and loosing battles in WW1, and the civil wars that followed later. 4. Economic Crisis Towards the First World War, the United States, European, and other western economies had been flourishing due to industrialization and improved trade that generated raw materials, especially from Africa. The War lasted for a longer period than anticipated by the nations in war making them to heavily spend more of their strained resources, to finance and support their armies with the necessary materials. As a result, those nations that run out of resources were forced to borrow from their allies to finance their military and run their governments. At the end of the war, the loans acquired had to be repaid, putting most countries in debt, while the cost living worsened with the hyperinflation experienced, especially in European countries than in the United States. The existing governments had to deal with the rising problems from debts and societies’ anguish, after losing their family members in wars that were never won. The people failed to trust the existing governments, since the beginning of war and their leadership demonstrated weakness to manage the countries situations. According to McDonald, besides the Italian weak governance, the German’s Weimar government was heavily indebted to the USA, and nations that supported her like France and Britain required compensations from her to repay their owed debts to the USA, which not only crippled Germany, but created opportunities for endorsement of fascist and communists parties by the people, to challenge the weak governments and come into power.8 With promises of reversing the economic situation, totalitarian regimes (under leadership of dictatorships like Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Bolsheviks in Russia) came into power repressing democracy to serve their interests. The Versailles Treaty in 1919 also contributed to the humiliation of the economic situation of Germans, forcing them to be liable of the damages (imposed on them the burden of reparation) while imposing certain harsh demands of their democratic political setup and behavior, which oppressed the social democratic party that formed after WW1 to fully cooperate, and execute its roles that promoted social and political democracy.9 As the populations turned towards the radical political parties that they perceived to better, to solve their economic problems, leaders of these parties took advantage of the defects in the constitutions and governments, to undermine the legislative powers and gradually shifting towards a system of authoritarian rule that controlled the social, political, and economic affairs in the countries. 5. Military establishment After WW1, political and social functioning was characterized with confusion in the mass destruction of human lives and properties, and although some states gained democracy with immediate effect, the struggle and anger of the retuning veterans from the war forced some military groups to split or retrieve their support from the governments. Most veterans had become accustomed to war and violence. According to Spielvogel, the aftermath of WW1 was that few veterans became pacifists, while most of them used violence in the social settings to oppose the governments, through the establishment and control of the new political movements that exercised power by force (authoritative or totalitarian rule) in the 1920s and 30s.10 It was evident that the military reorganizations and use of violence allowed them to have a greater influence on the public polices. The strain on democracy was even made worse when the military had influenced governance and took advantage of dictatorship of their leaders to cause fear, and forced actions as orders from their totalitarian or authoritarian leaders. According to Rosefielde, the 1930s period exhibited China and Japan confrontations over the Manchurian incident and Manchukuo establishment that paved way for the Japans shift from Taisho democracy to Showa militarism that obstructed and made powerless the civilian government.11 With the military taking over the Japanese Government, there were too many conspiracies over their intended destruction and assassinations that limited the will of the civilians, and power of the overthrown government to exercise democracy. Most of the wrongs carried by the military were suppressed in the justice system, letting them go unpunished. Similarly, in Europe, some nations feared the power of their allies, because conflicts between their militaries not only left destruction, but also hampered democracies in their states. 6. Conclusion Other factors related to failure of democracy were associated with racial instabilities due to ethnic groups’ conflicts, lack of firm and effective democratic leaders, and constitutions in different nations where democracy was only short-lived after WW1. Works Cited Brym, R. J., and Lie, J. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth | Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. Democracy web. “Rule of law: Country Studies-Germany.” democracyweb.org. n.d. Web. 9 April 2013. Inozemtsev, V., and Dutkiewicz, P., eds. Democracy versus Modernization: A Dilemma for Russia and for the World. Oxon: Routlegde, 2013. Print. Jewsbury, W. “The Eclipse of the Democracies.” history-world.org. 1992. Web. 9 April, 2013. McDonald, T. “Account for the growth of fascism in Europe in the period 1919 -1939.” eircom.net. 2003. Web. 9 April, 2013. http://www.homepage.eircom.net/.../... – Ireland Rosefielde, S. Red Holocaust. Oxon: Routledge, 2010. Print. Spielvogel, J. J. Western Civilization: Alternate Volume: Since 1300. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009. Print.  Steigerwald, D. Wilsonian Ideolism in America. New York: Cornell University Press, 1994. Print. “The Colonial and Pre- Colonial eras in Nigeria.” historians.org. n.d. Web. 9 April, 2013. http://www.historians.org/tl/lessonplans/nc/trask/colonial.htm “Unit 2-Russia 1917 to 1939: The Collapse of Tsarist Regime 1917.” weebly.com. n.d. web. 9 April 2013.   Read More