Modern European History: 1789-Present - Essay Example

Q3 .DISCUSS THE RANGE OF THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY POLITICAL POSITIONS AVAILABLE TO THE WESTERN EUROPEANS . COMPARE AND CONTRAST SOCIALIAM ,RADICALISM TRADITIONAL CONSERVATISM.,AND “THE NEW RIGHT” The Western Europeans had lot of changes in their country’s political position .It faced those changes from the provision of straight laws that were proposed by both the parties. In the beginning there were two major parties , namely the “Conservative and the Unionist party ,on the one side and the “Tory” on the other side. The Conservatives were strong supporters of the Church of England and the aristocratic government . They played an important role in reforming factory laws and in making a sensible poor law of 1834 The Reform Bill of 1884 and the Primerose League collected great support and laid strong foundation for the conservatives .With the advent of Benjamin Disreli from [1874-1880] resorted Conservatism to modern reforms ,0peeped out their influence as a result of the imperialistic and electoral plans of Disreli. In 1912 the Liberal parties united with the Conservatives ,since they had the same kind of opposition towards THE HOME RULE in Ireland. This was the changing political position of the 19th century . COMPARE AND CONTRAST SOCIALIAM ,RADICALISM TRADITIONAL CONSERVATISM.,AND “THE NEW RIGHT” Socialism stands for an economic theory and cooperation among all classes of people . It came out as a reaction to bring social and economic change as an effect of the Industrial revolution .Conservatism concerns with the social and political changes as an effect of the French Revolution. The conservatism had the politics of rights in preserving the power of the king and in maintaining the influence of the landlords. Conservatism had the bind between the Church and the State. Where as Liberalism believes in the rational behaviour of the individuals .they insisted on the rationality of the people so that they could find out a solution for their own problems. Radicalism is concentrated in maintaining radicalism principles in economic and social circumstances . It paved the way for protest against hunger and want .It also paved the way for betterment of the society.The new right refers to different categories in different ststes.In United kingdom it refers to neo-liberalism , in France it refers to new thinking in political aspects ,declaring their thought to be the right . On the whole while comparing all these Socialism finds to be the most favourable for the people , Liberalism seems to show a kind of taking own risk on one’s own life . Q 4 .IN CONTARAST TO THE NATIONALIST LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, A NUMBER OF HISTORIANS ARGUED THAT GERMANY UNIFIED THROUGH WAR AND DIPLOMACY. SUPPORT OR CHALLENGE THIS STATEMENT. DESCRIBE OTHER SOLUTIONS OR PROPOSALS TO THE QUESTION OF UNIFICATION THROUGHOUT THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The unification of Germany has been one of the major political events. When we talk of thee unification , we should be aware of the facts that Germany played a very important role in the post - cold war .Europe’s participation was an ever green sight for the politicians and economists. Bismark had deep conservative monarchist and aristocratic observations. He was the one who worked out the diplomatic ideologies and created war fronts to get Germany united. He was strictly obsessed with Prussia . He does not want Prussia to be an individual province , to be more precise , he wanted Prussia to come under the German constituency. He took the rewards of the diplomatic policies.His idea was to make the South German states under an united constitution . Bismark was a long opponent of Austria , applied his diplomatic conflict to rouse Austria to declare war on Prussia in 1866. But the result came out reversely Prussia won the war. Bismark planned for another war , this too a result of his diplomatic tactics .The war was between French and Prussia . As a result France seized Lorraine and Alsace two great Roman empires were apprehended by the French. This resulted in the union of the German states. This reference substantially proves that The Germans unified through war and diplomacy. While coming to the views on the unification of Germany throughout the nineteenth century , Germany required full unification in politics and economics. Gorbachev insisted on an inevitable unification in Germany. In 1990 unification of economy resulted in the use of Deutsche Mark became the common currency for Germany. The main feature of the unification was assessing the status of Germany. One of the major proposals of unification was the reaction of the people . fortunately the Germans had self determination to demand for an unification. The final solution came out as a resut of the people being self- determined. Q 5. HOW DID A LOCAL CRISIS THE ASSASINATION OF ARCHDUKE FERDINAND IN SARAJEVO TURNED INTO A WORLD WAR?.DISCUSS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUSTRO-SERBIAN WARAND THE GENERAL EUROPEAN WIDE CONFLAGARATION. WHAT WAS THE “JULY CRISIS” AND WHAT WAS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PROVINCES OF BOSNIA AND HERCESGOVINA TO THE HABABERG EMPIRE AND SERBIA RESPECTIVILY? The Archduke was assassinated by a Serbian black , because the blacks had the idea of making Austro-Hungary monarchy included with Serbia . Austria considered the murder of their king as an Serbian attack in spite of the reason that Austria was helpless in finding out the witness of the assassination .Thus Austria was waiting for a chance to make the most of Serbia. The situation was like that, if they war against Serbia , Russians will come to lend their supporting hands to Serbia .In that case it will be like warm with Russia. So Austria seeked the support of Germany Keisar in the idea of supporting Austria. The following were the ultimatum given by Austria to Serbia. On July 5th Kaiser lended his support to Austria .the crisi broke into open on July 23. Russia gave strong support to Srebia and Austria war against Serbia on July 28. This was the July crisis. “Ultimatum to Serbia’’ Having received the wholehearted support from Germany, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914. The ultimatum was to be answered within 48 hours. It included the following demands: (i) Serbia was to suppress all anti-Austrian (and Pan-Slav) publications, societies and propaganda. (ii) Serbia was to dismiss all anti-Austrian officials objected by Austria. (iii) Austrian police and officials were to enter Serbia and to take part in the Serbian police force in order to carry out the suppression of anti-Austrian activities and investigations concerning the Sarajevo murders”. [www.thecorner.org.com] Serbia accepted the first two conditions but rejected the last . War was declared on July 28th. Russian mobilization “heSerbian ally, Russia, learnt of the ultimatum on July 24. On July 26 the Czar reassured the Serbian crown prince that "Russia will in no case be indifferent to the fate of Serbia." Russia certainly could not bear humiliations from Germany any more; if she failed to defend Serbia again and again, Russia could no longer set her foot on the Balkans as the leader of the Slav nations. The Russian Czar was probably encouraged by the French to take a firm stand against Germany, for France had learnt of the Schlieffen War Plan . France urged Russia to mobilize for fear of an immediate German attack. After the bombardment of Belgrade on July 30, the Czar was persuaded by his ministers and Chief of staff to order full mobilization.” [www.thecorner.org]. Hence the assassination of the Archduke resulted in the beginning of the world war . The Habsburg empire comprices of Austria and Hungary . Both had internal independence but under the province of the Habsburg Empire. The crisis of Bosnia led to three consequences .the following reference will help in understanding this situation. Firstly, Russia felt humiliated and was determined that this must not come again. Immediately after the crisis, the Russian government intensified her armaments programme and sent Izvolski as ambassador in Paris in order to get more support from France. Secondly, the annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina made Serbia the irreconcilable enemy of Austria. Without Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia could never become a united state and could not have an outlet to the sea. The Serbian nationalists foamed a secret society, the Black Hand, in 1911. The society aimed to provoke revolt in Bosnia and war with Austria. Young Bosnians were trained to assassinate Austrian officials in Bosnia. Thirdly, as a result of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria had more Serbs than the Kingdom of Serbia itself . Three fifths of the South Slavs were now under Austrian rule. The Slavs were opposed to the annexation, so Austria had great difficulties in ruling these two provinces. Troubled by the restlessness of the Slavs and encouraged by the German promises of support (Moltke, the German Chief of Staff, wrote to Conrad, the Austrian Chief of Staff, "the moment Russia mobilizes, Germany will also mobilize", and "his deepest regret is that a chance has been let slip which will not soon offer itself again in favourable conditions!"), Austria wanted to crush Serbia if a new opportunity arose.[ www.thecorner.org/hist/htm, WORLD HISTORY TOPICS] Since Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied by the south slavs. Serbia had a strong idea of making the two united with Serbia. Austria was opposed to this. The Bulkan wars united the small and near by provinces of Serbia , in which slavs were dwelling. The victory of the Bulken wars strengthened Serbia .this is the significance. Q 6.DISCUSS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TACTICAL/TECHNOLOGICAL STALEMETE OF TRENCH WAR FARE DURING WORLD WAR ONE .WHEN THE WAR BEGAN ,W HASORT OF WAR DID THE EUROPEANS EXPECT? IT MAY BE USE FULL TO CONSIDER COLONIAL WARFARE IN YOUR STATEMENT. “he main fighting during the First World War occurred in the trenches. There were two main areas the trenches were built: from the Belgium coast of the British channel, right up to Switzerland, that became known as the Western Front and the Eastern Front between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Trenches were basically very heavily guarded ditches, that were dug into the ground to the depth of just over a man, though this could range between 1.8 meters and 2.5 meters. “[WWW.pokemonultimate.wandoo.co.uk]. Most of the wars of the first world war occurred in the trenches.’There were two main areas the trenches were built: from the Belgium coast of the British channel, right up to Switzerland, that became known as the Western Front and the Eastern Front between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Trenches were basically very heavily guarded ditches, that were dug into the ground to the depth of just over a man’ [ www.pokemonultimate.wandoo.co.uk] The trenches proved to be more a defensive method in war time.The combined forces of Britain and France found very difficult to break through the German defenses . As a resut of that they too were involved in digging their own trenches . But neither side could go in such a direction that they would meet thus ending in a stalemate. The following reference would help in understanding the plan and the significance of the trench. Plan of a Trench To say the fighting in the Western Front lasted so long, with neither side being able to find a way to overcome the enemies trenches, leading to so much unnecessary slaughter, the idea of a trench was relatively simple, and was an old idea. 1. Barbed Wire - stopped the enemy marching into the trenches and attacking. 2. Sandbags - protected from enemy fire, when shooting them. 3. The trench - protected from enemy fire. 4. Fire Step - stepped on to allow you to see over trench when shooting the enemy. 5. Ammunition shelf - Where ammunition (bullets) were kept. 6. Duck Boards - Stopped you getting feet in water at the bottom of the trench. 7. Dugout - Protected you from enemy artillery. [www.pokemounltimate.wandoo.co.uk] With the preparation of these trenches the Europeans found stalemate . Thus the technology worked as a strong protection . Q 7.COMPARE AND CONTRAST EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY FRENCH AND GERMAN NOTIONS OF NATIONALISM.IN YOUR OPINION WHO BELONGED TO THE NATION FOR BOTH PERMUTATION OF NATIONALISM. The concept of notion was strong in the political thinking of the France and Germany . The thought of Nationalism made people to believe in their obedience to their state. The following reference taken from a website helps in comparing the two notions of nationalism .But both centered in rivalries . National Rivalries Two Kinds of Nationalism There were two kinds of nationalism in 19th Century Europe: (i) the desire of subject peoples for independence - It led to a series of national struggles for independence among the Balkan peoples. Other powers got involved and caused much instability. (ii) the desire of independent nations for dominance and prestige - As the powers try to dominate each other in Europe, their rivalries may be regarded as one of the causes of the First World War.[ www.thecorner.org/hist/htm]. While saying about the nationalism of Germany , their unification took place as a result of the Franco-Prussian war . After that Germany seemed to have had an enormous victory in the economic and military power. From 1871 onwards Germany had the thought of maintaining their supremacy over the other parts of the world also particularly in other parts of Europe. As a step towards this idea they wanted to form peaceful alliances with their powers. But this spirit of nationalism proved Germany to be very hostile. This antagonistic out look gave them the attention to to develope their influences in every part of the world. Their foreign policies were best known for their assertiveness. Their aims to globalize Germany spread to many parts of the world. As a result Germany came into Conflict with many powers of Europe. As far as the nationalism in France is concerned , Nepoleon 1 and 111 came with a very strong force of nationalism , inspite of their imperialism. France gained more power in the world and found to be a dominating one because of the influences of the Nepoleons 1 and 111. But later in 1871 France was defeated by Germany and lost Alsace and Lorraine , which were her prestigious provinces. This became a prestigious issue and after that France’s main thught was to get back Alsace and Lorraine , but at the same time did not wanted to be defeated by Germany again. But then this nationalistic spirit remained stubborn in them and wanted to become make more alliances in Europe. While comparing the nationalism of both the countries , they seem to have almost acquired a same wavelength in their nationalism . But Germany stands one step further in her thinking capturing a supreme position in the world. Q 8 IN WHAT WAYS THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 HAVR UNDERMINED THE COHESION OF THE MULTI- CONFESSIONAL AND MULTI-ETHNIC COHESION OF HABSBURG EMPIRE? DISCUSS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1867 AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SERBIAN INDEPENDENCE FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 1878 TO THE ABOVE QUESTION. The revolutions of 1848 furnished ways for lot of internal explosions in Western and Central Europe due to the economic effect of failure in agricultural products during the year 1846-47. As part of the German Confederation, the German-speaking Habsburg lands were also caught up in the revolutionary events in Germany. The revolutions within the Habsburg Empire demanded a more autonomous role for he nations. Habsburg wanted Austria to come under one notion in order to get a combined effect on the economic and the social classes. Within the Habsburg boundary the following people were dwelling they were Austrians , Germans , Hungarians , Slovenes , Czechs , Serbs , Italians and Romanians. During that time emperor Ferdinand was found to be less competent. Business demanded more reforms in addition to an expectation of solid finance, transportation, press freedom was also needed because no article was published with out the Government’s approval. Workers in the factories were found in miserable condition. Where as the Revolution started in Austrian lands. The Paris revolution cleaned over to Vienna , the Capital of Austria which concentrated in calling for a liberal reform. On March 14th the employer’s violence broke out in the destruction of properties and resulted in the freedom of press. A new office of nation was formed with he help of Lajos Kossuth , a famous laywer . He was very much helpful in bringing reforms in the social , political, and economic life of the Hungarians with the implementation of the March Laws. On the whole the demand for the upliftment of the employers and a overall reform in the social , economic, and political condition as a common one by the occupants of the Habsburg empire paved the way for a multi-ethnic cohesion. The significance of the compromise was that Austria and Hungary became two countries with their constitutionals laws different for each . They both got a political structure in a perfect format .They had “dual monarchy”[www.thecorner.org/hist/htm]. The king was for Hungary and Emperor for Austria. In 1878 the Congress of Berlin granted independence to the following minority nations such as Serbia , Russia , Prussia , Rumania and Bulgaria on condition tha the Ottoman Empire should should respect the rights of other empires. The Congress further stated that each independent state should give protection to the minorities in their respective places.Thus giving way to the minority rights. Q 9 . HITORIAMS ARGUED THAT NEPOLEON EXPORTED THE GAINS OF THE FRENCH TO THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. WHAT ASPECTS OF THE REVOLUTION WERE EXPORTED? WHAT ROLES DID NEPOLEONIC WARS PLAYED IN ENGENDERING NATIONALISM IN THE FUTURE TERRITORIES OF GERMANY AND ITALY? To begin with France was a place backward in its political and social level. It was governed by the advantageous classes but the tax was put over the heads of the prolific classes. The agricultural methods were very much out of time and resulted in the shortage of food. The assembly of 1789 on the fourth of August, passed a declaration of the ‘Rights of Man and the citizens . In 1792 began the French Revolution. Nepoleon Bonaparte enterd in 1799. By the year 1806-1810 he was in his peak of powers. Historians say that the memory of Nepoleon still sustains mainly because of his adaptation of liberal principles to Europe. In 1815 the constitution of Benjamin Constant proposed high wages system for the peasant community .The follow up of liberalism was of a great significance for Nepoleon’s popularity . Though some suspected his principles, the revised wages for the peasantry was a major proof to show that Nepoleon exported liberal gains of the French revolution. This earned him the name among the lower class as a man of people. On the whole inspite of his imperialistic overlook Nepoleon brought out a nice change in the lives of the lower class people. As far as Nationalism is concerned it played an important role in the course of French revolution.It laid the stress on brotherhood and solidarity against other country people .This gave a welcoming response in the very beginning . As a result Nepoleon received a mass of army during his era.Nepoleon’s spread of the principles of the French Revolution helped in the spread of nationalism also. “The French aroused nationalism in two ways : by means of making themselves hated oppressors and thus arousing the patriotism of others in opposition to French nationalism and by Showing the people of Europe What nationalism was and what a Nation in arms could do?’ [Jackson Spielvogel , “Western Civilisation:vol ii”.published by Thomson Wadsworth 2005]. Nationalism started spreading as a powerful force in the German and Italian provinces also . Many historians are of the view that it came as an effect of the Nepoleonic influence.It has become a sentiment to those countries which followed it. Read More