Power Acquisition and Balance: Modern World History

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Table of Contents

Marxism-Socialism in Germany vs. Communism in the USSR: Analysis
Power Acquisition Throughout History: Examples and Analysis
Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente and the Balance of Power Factors
Works Cited

Marxism-Socialism in Germany vs. Communism in the USSR: Analysis

Essential Differences: Looking into the Theoretical Framework

In contrast to the ideas of Communism, Marxism stressed the victory of capitalism over feudalism and emphasized its role in the development of the economy. In addition, at some point in his theory development, Marx pointed out the impossibility of the Utopian Socialism that Communism was based on, thus, turning Marxism more practical. Moreover, in contrast to Marxism, where the role of classes was downplayed greatly, Communism put a strong emphasis on the significance of the role of proletarian members of the society.

The frameworks also have a different understanding of the social forces. According to Marxism, revolutions occur once the capitalist ideas have a strong effect on society. Communism, in its turn, claimed that revolutions are sparked in societies with weak capitalist tendencies. The premises for the development of both movements are also different. Unlike Marxism, which had already been developed as a platform when it gained its followers, Communism was comparatively half-baked when it was first used as the ideology of the 1917 revolution (Duiker and Spielvogel 839).

Role of the Ideologies in the Context of German and Soviet Environment

Apart from triggering a gradual economic and political demise of the states included in the USSR, Communism contributed to the collapse of economies of a range of states. Particularly, the nationalization of productive assets causes the inability of the state to compete in the global arena. In addition, the social environment, which Communism created, prevented from providing people with basic human rights including the right to free speech (Henry 39).

Power Acquisition Throughout History: Examples and Analysis

Historical Examples: From Brutal Force to an Economic Miracle

With the increase in its political power, a state attempts immediately to secure its new position in the global environment by acquiring even more power, as historical examples show (Dunne, Kurki, and Smith 67). Particularly, one may consider the notorious fight for power that could be observed as the Nazis were attempting at capturing other states and building the Third Reich. Similarly, the earlier Napoleonic wars as the endeavors of making Continental Europe a colonial part of the French Empire can be deemed as an example of gaining more influence among the rest of the states and becoming the superior one. Finally, the stellar economic success of the USA in the 20^th and the 21^st century despite the IMF crisis (Cox 17) needs to be brought up when considering the process of gaining power on a global scale. However, while the previous two examples resulted in bloodshed and triggered disastrous effects for all states involved, the increase in the economic power of the USA has a strongly positive effect on the progress of all parties involved and can be deemed as an example of a correct policy of power increase (Sneddon 32).

Power Increase and the Safety of Europe: Evaluation

Needless to say, both the Napoleonic Wars and WWII weakened Europe significantly in terms of both its political and economic progress. The economic revival and the following expansion of the United States into the global domain, in its turn, has had a rather positive effect on the development of the economy in Europe, as it offered a plethora of opportunities for economic development to all members of the global market (Phelps 13-14).

Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente and the Balance of Power Factors

In many ways, the WWI and the WWII conflicts along with the confrontation of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente can be viewed as a balance of power situation. Particularly, the beginning of WWI is often viewed as the effect of the inconsistency in the balance of power, which was broken once the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente started competing in the global context. According to the theory of the Balance of Powers, world peace is the effect of maintaining the balance of power between the key states having the greatest economic impact. At first, the Triple Alliance played the role of the latter. However, after the Entente was created, the balance was broken, and the following struggle for domination started, causing WWI to erupt (Duncan, Jancar-Webster, and Switky 43).

One might argue that the factors that predetermined the confrontation between the states involved in WWI are far more complicated. Indeed, the political disagreements and the lack of understanding between the participants were also very evident and played a crucial role in the escalation of the conflict. More importantly, the economic factors triggering WWI can also be interpreted from the perspective of the Hegemonic Stability Theory, which argues that it is the lack of stability that predetermined the conflict development (Duncan, Jancar-Webster, and Switky 43). Nevertheless, the role of the Balance of Power Theory in understanding the premises from the WWI escalation seems to have the most sense as it allows tracking the effects of actions taken by every participant and, therefore, learn more about the motivations of the parties involved.

Works Cited

Cox, Ronald W. Corporate Power and Globalization in US Foreign Policy. New York, NY: Routledge, 2012. Print.

Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. Cengage Advantage Books: World History. Vol. 2. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.

Duncan, W. Raymond, Barbara Jancar-Webster, Bob Switky. World Politics in the 21st Century: Student Choice Edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.

Dunne, Tim, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith. International Relations Theories. Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford, 2013. Print.

Henry, Michel. From Communism to Capitalism: Theory of a Catastrophe. New York, NY: A&C Black, 2014. Print.

Phelps, Nicole M. U.S.-Habsburg Relations from 1815 to the Paris Peace Conference: Sovereignty Transformed. Boston, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print.

Sneddon, Christopher. Concrete Revolution: Large Dams, Cold War Geopolitics, and the US Bureau of Reclamation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2015. Print.

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