Treaty of Versailles and Economic Factors during World War Two - Assignment Example

Running Header: Essay Questions Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission Introduction The world had witnessed events in the 20th century that had exceeded human expectation. During this period imperialism was as its height with Britain in the leading pack. The two World Wars also occurred during this period. These were referred world war due to their magnitude and they involved almost the whole world. During the war, there was massive destruction of human lives and infrastructures. This was enabled by the use of very high technology which had not been used previously. The period after the end of World War II witnessed the emergence of another global conflict known as Cold War. This was an ideological conflict that threatened to throw the world into another World War. This Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The United States of America (US) has since then been the only superpower. This war was won by the US without firing a single bullet. 1. Was the Treaty of Versailles doomed to fail from the moment it was signed? It is true to a great extent that the Treaty of the Versailles was doomed to fail right from the moment it was signed. The treaty of Versailles was signed after the end of the First World War (Best 2008, p.26). The treaty was among the results of the Paris Peace Conference. The main intention of the Peace Conference was to ensure that there will be occurrence of a major conflict in the future. However the negations were mainly dominated by the five major super powers. These were Italy, Britain, France, United States and Japan. This created a perfect environment in which the major super powers sought punish Germany severely. Their determination to achieve this was very evident in the details of the treaty. In the treaty Germany was totally responsible for the war. Germany was made to pay a total of 132, 000 million gold marks in reparations. In addition they were also to lose 1/8 of its land, and all monetary assets they held oversees. They also lost all of her colonies and were to have a limited the size of their military. Germany was made to sign this treaty forcefully. This made the Germans feel that they were punished unfairly which led to a lot discontentment. There was also lack of the will power by the League of Nations to enforce most of the provisions of the treaty. This created a recipe for another World War. 2. To what extent did economic factors contribute to the outbreak of war in Europe and the Pacific during World War Two? The economic factors had indeed a large contribution of the outbreak of war in Europe and the Pacific during the Second World War. The Treaty of Versailles had brought several severe economic repercussions to Germany. She was forced to pay huge reparations. In addition she lost some of her territories and also her colonies. This did not only mean a loss of revenue to the Germans but a lot of humiliation to the Germans. The Great Depression witnessed from the year 1929 served to aggravate this situation. The Germans felt that they were being overburden by the huge reparations that were imposed on them in the Versailles. They were also desperate for a leader who would lead them out of their oppression by the Allies hence the rising of Adolf Hitler. He took advantage of the situation of the rising nationalism fuelled by the aggression towards the Allied nations to further his selfish ambition of conquering the whole world. The invasion of Poland by the Nazi troops marked the start of the Second World War (Cashman and Robinson, 2007, p.230) In the pacific region Japan had experienced a rapid industrialization. Because of her size she lacked enough raw materials to feed her industries. Japan embarked on ambitions of expanding her empire. They began a war with China after seizing Manchuria in the year 1931. The America in response to Japan aggressive behaviour towards China cut off her trade ties with Japan. This aggravated Japan as she had for a long time coveted the South-East colonies held by the Dutch and Britain. The attack of the Americas military in Pearl Harbor drew the USA into the war. This attack was motivated by the fact that the US was the only inhibitor for the access to the mineral rich South-East Asia. The fight for mineral resources can be seen as major contributor for the occurrence of the Second World War 3. To what extent have interpretations of the origins of the Cold War been influenced by the trends in US-Soviet relations? Discuss through an examination of the historiography on the topic. The Cold War is said to have began way back during the Russian Revolution of 1917(Pons, 2001, p.3). The inception of Bolshevik regime witnessed the beginning of the present day conflict, West on one side and the East on the other. The genesis of this cold war was as a result of mistrust. This mistrust between two sides the Soviet Union on one side and the Western Democrats on the other. The Soviet felt that they had a reason not to trust the West. When Bolsheviks came into power in the year 1919, the First World War Allies supported the “White Russians” in ousting the Bolsheviks after the revolution. This intervention was not successful and the Bolsheviks assumed power. As result the new USSR government always suspected the Western Democracies. The West also never at one time trusted the Soviet. The International Communist Party led by Bolshevik had an aim of securing a global communist revolution. The fear of socialism in Europe and America increased. This led to a strain relation between the Western Democracies led by the US and the Soviet Union. The mistrust continued after the First World War. However during the World War II the mutual mistrust was suppressed as they formed an uneasy ally. Their common enmity towards Hitler Germany brought them together. After the war the need for world supremacy by the US and the Soviet saw the mistrust raise a notch hire. The division of Germany by the Allies meant that each Super power had an area of influence. The activities of the Soviet in an effort to spread Communism in the whole of Eastern made Europe to be divided into two sides for the next 45 years. This marked a lot of strain relations between the US and the Soviet as the US tried to put the Communism influence at bay. 4. Walter Hixson has stated: ‘If the Cold War was, at its core, a battle for public opinion-a struggle for hearts and minds-its outcome could only be decided on cultural ground.’ Was hard power or soft power more important during the Cold War? After the end of the World War II there was an agreement between the victory Allies to divide the administration of Germany among them. This saw Germany being dived into four major parts. The Soviet took the Eastern part. This saw the Red Army take the opportune to expand it occupation on countries East of Europe. After occupation the Russian imposed it will on these territories hence the continued spread of communism. This made the US to become unsettled and moved fast to occupy the West part of Germany. This reignited the cold war which had been suppressed during the World War II. The cold war saw the world divided in two sides the East and the West. The West led by the US was trying to contain the spread of communism. Although the two super powers did not get into direct conflict in their soils the rivalry they had was very evident in many areas (Graebner, p.54). The Cold War which was being fought by the two sides was responsible for many conflicts that were witnessed in the world. This occurred in the countries that were newly emerging from colonialism. The two superpowers took sides in these conflicts by supplying arms. Help also came in form of financial aid. In those countries in which the influence was successful the country either assumed either the capitalist values or adopted socialism. There was therefore cultural change as the residents tried to feel as sense of belonging to either of the sides. For example those that took up capitalism were said to Westernise 5. According to Margret Thatcher: ‘Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot.’ Critically examine the notion that Ronald Reagan “won” the Cold War. The soviet communist controlled over 40 nations. It is estimated that this dark tyrannical rule claimed the lives of about 100 million people. The suddenly 20 years ago it collapsed without a single shot being fired. The short period between the years 1989-1991 saw the disintegration of the Soviet and consequently the end of Marxism-Leninism. The successful end of the cold war can only be attributed to one man, Ronald Reagan. The US leader made the Soviet Union to abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine and give up the arms race. He also made them to bring down the Berlin wall and witnessed the end of the cold through negotiation without going to the battlefield (Edwards, 2009 p.109). Reagan was on the offensive against the communist Soviet Union right from when he assumed power. With help of intelligence reports and using his own analysis he came into conclusion that the Soviet Union was on the decline. He embarked on the new victory strategy personally. He criticised the legitimacy of the regime hence making it to give up its goal of socializing the world. 6. To what extent did Britain stand aloof from Europe during the twentieth century? Britain had indeed stood aloof in the 20th century in terms of imperialism. Imperialism took both an economic, social and political aspect (Smith 1981 p.79).The Age of Imperialism has it s roots from the period in the year around 1870. This is the time in which the nations which were relatively developed were taking control of the seemingly lees developed. Imperialism had existed for a long time before. However the era of Age of Imperialism refers to the activities of the countries such Britain, France Germany, Italy, and Portugal among others. The drive to occupy other countries was driven by the fact that these countries provided the much needed minerals and raw materials for their industries. As compared to other European countries Britain was more successful in the Age of Imperialism. Britain having industrialized earlier than other European countries was the first to look for other alternatives to get raw materials to feed her industries. There was also the need to look for overseas markets for her goods. By the time that imperialism was being abolished in the world after the World War II Britain had by far the most number of territories. This made her to benefit immensely from these colonies compared to other European countries. Conclusion In conclusion the 20th century saw the shift of the balance of power. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the USA remains as the only major super power. This has given it the privilege of influencing the world affairs to favour them. The 21st century however presents a new challenge to the position of the US as the major player in the world affairs. Other countries which were not regarded as a challenge such as China are coming up very strongly and may soon emerge as the new super power. References Best, A, & 2 Hanhimaki, M, et al, 2008, ‘International history of the Twentieth Century and beyond,’ (2nd ed). Oxford. Routledge Cashman, G, Robinson, C, 2007, ‘An Introduction to the Causes of War. Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq,’ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. London Edwards, L, 2009, ‘Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism,’ The Heritage Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1141, pp.103-125 Graebner, A. 2010, ‘Cold War origins and the continuing Debate,’ Review of Recent Literature on Conflict Resolution Vol. 8, No.1, pp. 54-77 Pons, S, 2001, ‘Stalin, Togliatti, and the Origins Of The Cold War In Europe,’ Journal of Cold War Studies Vol.3, No. 2, pp. 3-27 Smith, T, 1981, ‘The Pattern Of Imperialism: The United States, Great Britain, And The Late-Industrializing World Since 1815,’ Cambridge University Press New York Read More