The Political and Social Problems of the Middle-East - Assignment Example

Assess the arguments for and against the following statement - "The political and social problems of the Middle-East today are the result of one factor more than any other, artificial political geography created in the region by European powers after World War One. Europe is the second smallest of all the continents on the basis of area. Europe is often referred to as the “peninsula of peninsulas”. Peninsula is a part of land which is surrounded by water from all the three sides. Europe is said to be the peninsula of the Euro-Asian countries and it is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean in the north. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Mediterranean and black sea in south. The European culture is rich as it is has the long history of human development and it is also the birth place of the western civilization. At present this cultural wealth of Europe is used as a binding force to unite and solidify all the communities present in Europe. This cultural wealth of Europe is also exported to various other parts of the world as one of the greatest assets of Europe. European history of economic progress and failure is only the result of its political geography. Political geography is said to be the internal as well as the external relationship that the government, territories and citizen share. These were the early Europeans who were responsible for shaping up the idea of citizenship and formation of government. The scope of this idea was tested during the peace as well as political conflict. This idea has redefined itself today. In Europe, Greece is said to be the birth place of democracy. The states of Europe were different from that of the others states of the world, as they were governed by the political power not by any hereditary ruler. This political party, which ruled the whole state, was considered as the representative of the state. The citizenship also fosters the citizen to stand up and speak for the community in case of any injustice. This idea of citizen which promotes the connection of the people with its community was considered to be the essential building block of democracy. The political geography of Europe has been affected by the world war one and world war two. In world war one (1914-1918) almost sixteen million people died. It was by the end of the world war one, that the Ottoman and the Hungarian power collapsed and were broken into small territories and separate nation. The borders that Poland and Russia share have been redrawn as the result of the formation of separate territories [ CITATION Wil03 \l 1033 ]. It was due to the drastic effects of the world war two that the leadership as well as the European politics, diminished. It was the result of this that America started to rule over the European world, while the Soviet Union, which had its capital in the European cities like Russia and Moscow, were leading the eastern bloc. The relationship that the Soviet Union, America and the free market shared at that time was considered as the cold war between all of them [ CITATION Eur13 \l 1033 ]. Before 1914 there were three dominant powers in the Eastern Europe. These were Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia. At that time Poland did not exist in Europe, therefore a common border was being shared between Russia and Germany. In 18th and 19th century Poland was dismantled. There were several problems taking place between Serbia as well as Austro- Hungary. Pressure existed between Bulgaria, Romania and Russia and also between Ottoman Empire and Greece. The death of the Austro-Hungarian noble occurred in Sarajevo, during the First World War. The Austro Hungarian Empire was diminished and Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were formed. It was during this time that Germany divided into two parts and Poland was being recreated. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the Baltic States became independent then. The Second World War as well contributed towards bringing important consequences in the political geography of the European countries. Poland became the gain of the Soviet Union and the loss for of Germany. Koenisburg (Eastern Prussia) was also lost by Germany and was integrated into Russia. Germany also divided itself into federal and democratic republic. The Baltic States were been attached to the Soviet Union. Rumania as well Czechoslovakia lost their territories to the Soviet Union. The political geography of Europe is referred as the “iron curtain” during this period of the cold war between the three. It was the “iron curtain” that caused the division of Europe into two different parts, the Western Europe which was under the influence of America and the Eastern Europe which was under the influence of the Soviet Union. At that point of history in Europe, military organizations as well as the international economies were being developed in both parts of Europe. Nuclear arsenal was built by the America as well as the Soviet Union, which aimed toward its target, which was Europe. The iron curtain transformed itself into the corporal shape of defenses, borders, wall as well as limited diplomacy. During that time the nation of Germany was also been divided into two parts. The Berlin wall was considered to be the most famous symbol of the “iron curtain”. The main reason for the wall being the symbol of the “iron curtain” was that it divided Germany into two parts which were controlled by the east and west separately. It was the political and the economic death of the Soviet Union that led to the end of the “iron curtain” (1980). At this point of history there were many anticommunist revolutions taking place which as a result swept the central as well as the Eastern Europe. As the result of these revolutions the cold war was finished in Europe. This demise of the cold war in Europe is symbolized as the abolition of the “wall of Berlin” in 1989. The world war one had many adverse consequences on the political geography of Europe. After the world war two, decline of the European power occurred and instead the democratic states came into power. The communism and the fascism started arising in Europe. There were also various negative consequences that hit the European economy and caused the United States to grow as a global economy power. Britain, who was the biggest investor before the world war one was in debt, as the value of pound decreased. The failure of the WWI disappointed the citizen of America, because they considered that the war was only the mean of fulfilling the cruel desires of Woodrow Wilson. This was one of the main reasons that caused the stock market to crash in 1929. This crash of the stock market initialized the great depression. After WWI and before the great depression America helped Germany financially. The reason behind this support was that America wanted Germany to be back in power in Europe. In Europe after the world war one, it was the democracy which was being blamed. People in Europe got scared that if they have to vote for a candidate, they might end up choose a wrong one. They all needed a wise leader, who could make decisions in their favors and for their betterment. This fear of people gave rise to a new movement called the “totalitarianism” which was quite similar to “absolutism”, but in totalitarianism majority of the powers resides with the leader. Totalitarianism gave power in the hands of the leaders to decide where the people will be working, what religion they will be practicing, and many such aspects were now under the control of the leaders. Totalitarian leaders propagated and made strategies due to which the people started thinking that their life is better under their governance [ CITATION Pos13 \l 1033 ]. There were many technological developments that occurred post WWI. The technologies developments that occurred after the WWI led to the mass advancement of mass communication. The first invention post war was a radio. Radio was based upon the theory of air waves and was made by Marconi. It was a mean of communication through which one can reach a mass audience through a single mean, at the same time. After radio another important technological advancement post war was a “camera” which allowed people to watch movies. This new technological development also became a mean for leaders to communicate with people and make them aware about their decisions. These means of communication were also used by the leaders for communicating their propaganda to the mass audiences. There were many social changes that occurred after the WWI. The horrible effects of the war caused great distress among the people. It destroyed the optimistic thinking of the people in 1900’s. These changes caused the polarization of the public away, or towards nationalism. The sentiments of the Europeans were destroyed to a great extent. This destruction of sentiment was severe in the area most affected by war. The immediate effects of the world war one was the formation of the treaty of Versailles that served as a factor for finishing the war. Although various arguments were raised against the treaty saying that the treaty was unfair, the arguments raised were that the economic clause regarding the treaty was foolish and it made Germany to pay reparation to a great scale [ CITATION Win48 \p 32 \l 1033 ]. The article 231 of the treaty stated that Germany was responsible for the World War One. This section of the treaty was considered to be unjust by many [ CITATION Winey \p 7 \l 1033 ]. Another drawback of the treaty was that it was devised by different people which had different objective and interpreted the scenarios differently. These people also interpreted the “fourteen points” of Woodrow Wilson differently, which was the basis of the treaty. Therefore this treaty was said to be the clash of many ideas as well as objectives which were not harsh enough to stop Germany from war but at the same time they weren’t weak and therefore, caused the gradual reintegration of new Europe after war [ CITATION Geone \p 101 \l 1033 ]. France too was not pleased with the treaty of Versailles. This contributed towards the feeling of nationalism and gave rise to the totalitarianism leadership in many countries in Europe which ended up the optimism that people had for democracy. The self-esteem and the decision making power of the citizen was destroyed. Germany became a social Weimer republic, post war. Although Germany was not present at the treaty, it has been forced by other countries to obey it. Also the new republic was force to pay a whopping amount of 132 billion which was not paid by them until October 2010. During this time inflation was so harsh that the people found it cheaper to use the paper money instead of woods for heating. The Ottoman Empire also supported Germany in WWI. They lost the war, which led to the decline of the empire. It was in 1917 that the Russians withdrew themselves from the war. The new countries which were formed left the war before it ended; therefore they did not receive any reparation. They left the war by signing the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany.  The Austro-Hungarian Empire as well as Germany was split into small countries. The military decline of Europe was also linked to the world war one. Great numbers of lives were lost during the world war one. A number of young soldiers died, causing a great loss for the economy of the United States. The life lost in war destroyed an entire generation, as majority of the youth working as soldiers for the defense of the country died. Twenty percent of the youth residing in the military lost its life [ CITATION Low05 \p 32 \l 1033 ]. The countries involved in world war one struggle to safeguard the lives of the people in their labor force to avoid the collapse of their country’s economy. World war one also damaged the roads, infrastructure and vast area which again served as a disaster for the economy of many countries [ CITATION Gom07 \l 1033 ]. Work Cited CITATION Wil03 \l 1033 : , (Hay), CITATION Eur13 \l 1033 : , (Europe: Human Geography), CITATION Pos13 \l 1033 : , (Post WWI Europe and America), CITATION Win48 \p 32 \l 1033 : , (Winston Churchill 32), CITATION Winey \p 7 \l 1033 : , (Churchill 7), CITATION Geone \p 101 \l 1033 : , (Blainey 101), CITATION Low05 \p 32 \l 1033 : , (Lowe 32), CITATION Gom07 \l 1033 : , (Gomez), Read More