Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record, Sources of Global History Vol. II (Cengage) hereafter AO - Essay Example

The Human Record The idea of violence as a central ideology in the interpretation and focus on culture is interesting phenomenon worth noting. Specifically, in the 20th century, violent episodes noted by the Holocaust, World War II, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the disintegration of Yugoslavia have contributed immensely to the understanding of violence. As the paper will prove, prevalence of a violence culture is something often rooted to ideologies as currently witnessed in the threat of terrorism around the world.

Before terrorism gained global attention as a new threat characterized by violence and based on religious ideology, Europe had other violent episodes that marked its civilization. The Holocaust, for instance, propagated by the Nazi regime in Germany always stressed the impurity of Aryan blood because it disrupted the lives of most Germans. Therefore, the anti-Semitic statements justified the Nazi to kill a million of Jews as purge to remove them from society (Andrea & Overfield 234). It is scenario similar to World War II fought by countries such as Germany, Britain, former USSR, and the US among others.

Most of the countries believed the war as a nationalist cause for safeguarding their sovereignty and maintaining pride. Alternatively, disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s was guided by violent ideology of removing some Balkans from the national discourse. However, today’s terrorism has roots in religious fundamentalism that supports Islam over Christianity hence the clash of civilizations. It is, therefore, imperative to note a culture of violence is only propagated because Europe started the narrative as part of cultural dominance.

The domination is now manifested in global terrorism. Work CitedAndrea, Alfred & Overfield, James. The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Volume II: Since 1500, 4th Edition. New York, NY: Springer. 2001. Print.