World Politics in a New Era and Illusion of Victory - Literature review Example

The World War I As We See It Today Analysis of World Politics in a New Era and Illusion of Victory The Great War that swept all over the world in the year 1914 to 1918 was the First of its kind that started in Europe and slowly captured the rest of the world as it traversed and travelled all over. It gathered with itself men and their emotions and hearts and it brought two sides willing to fight for their rights and hope for a better tomorrow. Two alliances were created which consisted of the major powers or strong countries that the world has; The Allies consisted of people from the UK, France and Russia and opposing them were the Central Powers that consisted mainly of powers from in and around Germany. The US was also heavily involved with all the destruction and ‘prowess’ that was taking place with a role to play in supplying army men, fighters, arms and other such supplies. A large number of books and movies have been written and made on the after effects as well as consequences of this World War I. there have been movies and books on the lives of people that have suffered mainly through the war and also many such connotations on the lives of people during the War, the lives of those affected by either being in the War or losing their family and friends due to the same. This paper is mainly an analysis of how the two books titled ‘The Illusion of Victory’ and ‘World Politics in a New Era’ have helped to play their respective roles in trying to counter and contain the gist of the entire World War I. Both these books are different from each other in many ways and at the same time carry a heavy comparison with each other as they both mainly talk about the same War and how it affected the lives of millions around the world. The main difference between the two books would be how one is based on the kind of politics that warped on the world post the First World War, and the second is a collection of works on the basis of how certain countries ‘won’ post the First World War. “The years after the Cold War witnessed the beginnings of dramatic changes in peoples' identities and the symbols of those identities. Global politics began to be reconfigured along cultural lines. Upside-down flags were a sign of the transition, but more and more the flags are flying high and true, and Russians and other peoples are mobilizing and marching behind these and other symbols of their new cultural identities.” (Spiegel, p.19) Written by Thomas Fleming, ‘The Illusion of Victory’ is purely the work of a historian and tells the readers how things would be different had people not fought the way they had, and how everything would be easier had the World War not occurred at all? This book helps the reader to fantasize about a world sans the War. It talks about the different sects that were prevalent within American society during the time of the War. For example, an excerpt from the book that says, “Wilson’s long resistance to joining the war that had already consumed hundreds of thousands of French and British lives had alienated the leadership of America’s putative allies. In 1917 and early 1918, the president had repeatedly declared that he saw no difference between the warring powers from a moral or ethical point of view… What Mr. Wilson is looking for, we are fighting for.” (Fleming, Thomas J, p.81) The book gives the reader a clear picture of how different groups of people, mainly the blacks, were kept out of such matters even thought fighting for the country in the War was a matter of great pride for everyone. People wanted to defend themselves and their country and the blacks were kept out under the orders of Woodrow Wilson is what has been mentioned as a record within this very book. Understanding a quote from the text, it speaks in affirmative of the opinion spoken about here saying, “The next day, hundreds of white workers invaded black neighborhoods, beating and shooting blacks, including women and children, and setting three hundred of the mostly wooden houses on fire… The federal investigation in Saint Louis was superficial and hid behind a suggestion that the upheaval had been triggered by German agents. Investigators did not interview a single black person.” (Fleming, Thomas J, p.110) All these aspects help the reader to understand the kind of ethnic tensions that were going on within the country at the time when the War was too. Therefore, even though the War was taking place on a massive global level, this book helps the reader to understand the kind of pain and trauma that people were bring subject to on a more national and localized level during the time of the War, within the country of America. Fleming has helped to put forth a vast amount of research work through the pages of his book. One can clearly understand through the same, how America’s entry into the World War at large was the result of a lot of reluctance and hesitance. His research has helped to uncover and portray the kind of feelings and emotions that the leaders and army men were going through during the time of the War and how they were always trying to seek out information and ideas from the rest of the parts of the world and other influential people with regard to what was to be done. Very few people can actually understand the kind of love that was lost between the various citizens of the country and how they were completely opposed to the idea of entering into a War. His book has helped the reader to understand a clear picture of how families did not want to send out their children and men folk into the War for fear of losing them and never having to see them again; it also helps modern day readers to analyze the root cause of the War and the aspects behind it because of which people engaged into warfare and fighting in the first place. Fleming’s book also helps to give an insight into the morally ‘incorrect’ propagandas that the government had launched before the War had taken place and the entire deception that was employed by the same in order to fight in it. There was a vast amount of seditious activity going on as well as many people were opposed to the idea of the government involving the public within the War by use of force. Many tried to arm themselves away from the government and break free from the official propaganda that was going on in alliance with other countries. This also led to further tension among the people and many even took to forming their own groups, unions and associations away from the government. Thus, such kind of heavy politics could be seen brewing in almost every country that was engaged heavily within the confines of the War. All this has been better portrayed in Spiegel’s ‘World Politics in a new Era’. This is one of the main bouts of comparison within the two books. Both of them talk about the kind of propagandas that the governments at the time of the War were engaged in and how they got the entire country to kind of side on their matters and help them in the War. (Spiegel, Steven L) Moving on to Spiegel’s work, it is an excellent reference for those studying or interested in learning about international relations theory and how the same makes a difference in today’s modern world with respect to the World Wars that have taken place in history. The book mainly emphasizes a bit on the First World War and how it took over the world leading to the formation and establishment of a new era of politics altogether. It talks of the kind of unions and associations that emerged out of the political tensions going on in different countries during the time of the War and how all this has helped today in understanding the political framework and structures of each and every country around the world. “With war spurred inflation at 102 percent, and other unions getting raises, the nation’s policemen began to wonder if they too deserved a piece of action.” (Fleming, Thomas.J, p.415) Through this book the author talks about the various formations and compositions of legal structures that have been formed within different countries and how they are adding to the world in terms of politics today. A lot of economics regarding the countries have also been talked about within this book. This is where it is different than Fleming’s work in ‘Illusion of Victory’. Spiegel has devoted the pages of his book to trying and understanding the kind of differences that different economies and political strata of society were going through and suffering while Fleming has merely put forth his account of how things happened during the War and why exactly they happened. Thus in this sense, one can clearly state that Fleming’s work consisted more of facts and ideologies on the basis of how things occurred during the War and on the other hand, what Spiegel did was to write about an in depth analysis covering various parts of what makes up a country in terms of its economy, politics as well as its international and global side towards the rest of the world and how all of this operates, therefore making the book a little more subjective and normative. “Parker urged the president to give Roosevelt his division and put General Wood in charge of it: “I beg of you…at this crisis not to play politics!” he said.” Such quotes from the book help us understand the kind of turmoil that was raging in the political situation of the country at the time, all through the help of Fleming’s written word and research work. (Fleming, Thomas J, p.91) Spiegel, according to a few reviews regarding his book based on how politics has warped on the modern day and age with respect to the history of the World War, has treated international relations theories with a great amount of respect and dignity in trying to understand and state each country’s stance and state with regard to the War. He has put in a great amount of passion in his writing which can be clearly coerced with relation to his works. The material that he used for referencing and writing his modus operandi is very relevant in studying the subject for many students world over. Spiegel’s work is thus very expansive as opposed to Fleming’s which is focused mainly on the various aspects, twists and turns that the War took. Each area of the book written by Spiegel has a detailed analysis on how various leaders fought against each other both physically and mentally in terms of their ideas and verbal conflicts. His work has a great amount of detail with respect to the security measures taken by different countries, international stances taken by different leaders and people, as well as the kind of analytical backdrop that different countries based themselves upon with respect to the War. In comparison, Fleming’s book also talks about the skepticism that was faced by the US government due to their involvement within the First World War and how they were overtaken by the British propaganda and society in terms of a vast number of opinions and steps taken by them. Where the two books lie apart from each other is where the two authors try and base themselves globally; in other words, the books are different from each other in a way that Fleming has only covered the ideas followed by the US government and their outlook towards the rest of the world during the First World War whereas on the other hand, Spiegel has tried to unearth the mysteries and secrets of the governments belonging to different countries all over the world and how they were each trying to place and establish themselves as super powers during the time of the First World War. “…The U.S Government was determined to make sure the vast mobilization of the nation’s men had a positive moral outcome- in addition to winning the war.” Such stances have been explained well in the book with respect to the government of the U.S and the other countries. Fleming has also tried to base all his work with respect to the US government on hands of the British officials and how they were trying to influence their country and citizens. It has been stated that many readers have found his writing a little too repetitive in terms of him having to convince his readers a certain deal to understand and read more of his work. On the other hand, one can see clearly that Spiegel’s work has no such prompting and that one can really enjoy what has been written by him so beautifully. His work has been portrayed as a true work of art (not blaming or criticizing the work of Fleming in any way whatsoever), but it has a lot more insight into the kind of conflicts that different countries were engaging into with each other despite the ongoing War in the world. Fleming fails to talk about the kind of conflict that was raging in the hearts of the people all around the world; however he does make a mention of how the victory that one side probably faced by the end of the War was not an outcome that the rest of the world was hoping for. The War left the world to savage on its own; it killed thousands of people on both sides of the bad and good, it left people wounded and injured and broke millions of hearts all around; it led to the destruction of the planet in many ways including wastage of a vast number of resources as well as the usage of nuclear weapons for the purpose of destruction, and thus Fleming asks, through the title of his book itself, whether or not the entire War victory faced by one side a mere illusion. Both books are also an excellent source of political science in the real world today as they each give a heavy description of how the War affected millions of lives and how in the long run, the same has affected world politics, military status in different countries and also led to the creation of mere alertness among governments all around the world. Would there be a United Nations serving the people of the world today in the modern world if not for the War that took place in the world more than half a century ago? Would there be people trying to sort out their differences today if they hadn’t learned from their past mistakes? These are some of the fundamental questions that both these books aim to answer in their own ways. Fleming has tried to counter these questions on a more humanitarian aspect whereas Spiegel has tried to do the same on a more factual and subjective outlook as he has tried to base all these questions by answering how they have led to the creation of a new world order on the basis of government and politics in the world today. Therefore, the Illusion of Victory is more like an antidote to anyone undergoing fever because of the War and trying to parade across America in the modern day with respect to history and the past. World Politics in a New Era on the other hand, is more of a substitute to understanding theories on the basis of international relations all around the world, both post and pre War, with the book giving a better picture of how politics has presumed and made itself into something more vital and important as a part and parcel of every person’s life straight from the War that started it all in the year 1914. Both the books are very complex in nature and require an understanding and backdrop of the First World War so that the reader can get a better grasp on the situation at hand that has been talked about in both books. They maybe compared to each other on the basis of the topic and theme that they have been both based upon however differs in terms of research work and thoughts that have gone into writing the book. Both Spiegel and Fleming thus have been quite informative and influential in putting forth their views regarding the topic of the War, albeit better than most historians and research workers. They have helped to provide a clear picture of the War as it was and as it has affected the rest of the world with respect to the US government (as well as other governments around the world), and at the same time, both authors have also presented their views on a different basis with different stances and platforms to show how their emphasis has not been lost on the matter of the War despite them each putting across their personal views and opinions. Works Cited Fleming, Thomas J. The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I. New York: Basic, 2004. Print. Spiegel, Steven L. World Politics in a New Era. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. Read More