The United Arabs Emirate is a country in the Middle East. It is about 30,000 square miles with a population of around six million people. The climate of the united Arabs Emirates is hot and humid with considerably low rainfall. The country is largely a desert but there is little agriculture practiced in some areas.
Its capital city is Abu Dhabi with Dubai as a major and established city. The Arab world is majorly Islamic with other religions like Christianity and Hinduism forming a minority. Arabic is the official language of the countries but English, Hindu, Urdu and Bengali are also common languages in the locality.
This paper seeks to discuss the United Arabs states after the Second World War and the aspects of the six-day war. The paper will contain details of: pan Arabism and the rise of Nasser in Egypt, goals of the Arab states, involvement of Syria in the United Arab Republic and the events that led to the constitutional monarchy. The paper will also discuss the events that led to the six-day war, the major events of the war, the outcome of the war and its contribution to the current political situation in the Middle East.
The Pan-Arabism and Nasser of Egypt
The pan Arabism was an ideological movement among the Arab society to be united under one government system. According to Wagner (2009), the history of unity of the Arabs can be traced to the spread of the Arab culture. The formal move however began in 1913 at an Arab congress in France where calls were made for greater independence of the then Ottoman empire.
The unity was then encouraged by Britain and France as a move to undermine Turkey who was their opponent. The control of the region by Britain and France derailed the movement which was later provoked by the settlement of Jews and the establishment of Israel. There was a revolt in Palestine to oppose the presence of the Jews in the region in the year 1936. This was followed by pan Arab conferences that saw different Arab governments coming together.
After the Second World War, the Arab states received external support from Germany and Italy over the independence of the Arabs. Negotiations among the Arab states and with their colonial power, Britain, led to the formation of the league of the Arab states. A preparatory chatter, the Alexandria protocol, was drafted and adopted in the year 1945 to establish the League of Arab States. The members of the league were: “Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Yemen” (Wagner, 2009, p. 1).
Abd-al Nasser was identifiable as the champion of the pan Arabism after the Second World War. Nasser was primarily a nationalist but had a great urge to push the united Arab world towards independence. The then Egyptian president succeeded in suppressing colonial imperialism, a fact that made him and his country Egypt to be the hope of the Arab world.
The movement was further marked by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic under Nasser. It was Syria that initiated the talks with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic. This move further agitated unity among the Arab states (Science, 2011).
Goals of the United Arab Republic
The goals of the United Arab Republic were similar to the goals of the parent pan-Arab movement. The goals were to unite the Arabs under one leadership and free the Arab world from colonial imperialism.
Events That Led To Constitutional Monarchy in Jordan
The constitutional monarchy that was established in Jordan was a result of the political struggle against a selfish dictatorial government. The moves by the opposition to establish reforms together with the media helped in achieving the change to the constitutional monarchy (Aruri, 1972).
THE Six-Day War
The six day war was one of the wars that were witnessed between Israel and the Arabs. It is actually said to be the third of the wars between the two entities. There were a series of events that led to this particular war. One of the events to the war was a series of attacks on Israel. The Palestinian liberalization organization had been making a series of attacks on the Israeli border.
The Palestinian policies were criticized but their intentions were never reversed. The Arabs continued to build tensions against Israel and culminated it with attacks on Israel. It is recorded that about thirty five terror attacks were launched against Israel in the year 1965. The attacks continued and escalated to a rate of thirty seven attacks in the first quarter of the year 1967.
There were other preliminary attack caused by tension between Israel and the Arab nations. The national water carrier project built by Israel for example increased tension between the two groups. Syria, on the ground of these tensions had also been attacking Israeli citizens along a contested border between Syria and Israel. Another event that led to the war was a set of military provocations that continually emanated from the Arab states.
There were attempts by the Israeli side to have a peaceful negotiation into the settlement of the row with the Arabs, an opinion that the Arabs led by Nasser of Egypt, never wanted to consider. The Arab states otherwise expressed their preparedness for war which was finally exercised by the Syrian attack on Israel in April of the year 1967. The psychological support from Russia then led to the military provocation on Israel by the Arabs led by Egypt (Palestine, 2007).
Also significant in the times to the war was the “blockage of the straits of Tiran” (Palestine, 2007, p. 1). Egypt, in May 1967, closed the strait to all vessels of Israel. The strait was the only connection between Israel and its oil supplier, Iran. The closure of the strait was in addition unpleasant to Israel as it violated the agreement that was formerly made on any attempt to close the strait.
It had also been recognized by United Nations that Israel had a right to use the strait. The final event that triggered the war was the Egyptian move to set its joint Arab troops at Sinai. The troops with crude weaponry from many Arab nations including Iraq and Kuwait were ready to launch attach on Israel. This made the Israeli parliament to approve for a necessary step to defend Israel (Palestine, 2007).
Effects of the Six Day War
One of the immediate effects of the war was the anti-Jewish protests in the Arab states that even threatened the extinction of Jews from the Arab world. The war has led to the perception that Israel is the “cause of conflict rather than the effect” (Six Day, 2007, p. 2). This could be due to the fact that Israel won the war and opinion favors the weaker side (Six Day, 2007).
Conclusion
There seems to be a special conflict between Israel and the Arab nations in the Middle East. Conflict of interest between the Arab world and Israel is the main cause if the tension which has ever been present since the nation of Israel was created. A specialized mechanism should be initiated so solve the conflict between the two parties.
References
Aruri, H. (1972). Jordan: a study in political development (1921-1965). New York, NY: Springer.
Palestine. (2007). Six day war background. Palestine facts. Web.
The United States entered World War II when Japan attacked their military equipment in Hawaii. Involvement in the war was expected because the US was against Japan’s entry into Middle East, and colonization of Africa and certain regions of Europe by Germany and Italy. The US was greatly perturbed after the invasion of Poland and the fall of France.
Many Americans opposed direct participation of US military in the war. However, they supported a decision to offer military aid to nations that were fighting aggression. In addition, they wanted improved security by eradicating the possibility of being attacked. Texans were in full support of the decision to offer aid to their allies in order to guarantee their security. Role played by Texas and Texans
Texans supported the Lend Lease bill that offered war supplies to nations that opposed aggression. Senator Thomas T. Connaly facilitated enactment of the act into law. At the time, Connaly was the chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He convinced fellow congressional representatives to vote in favor of the act. Only Thomas Mansfield declined to support the act. Texans reacted swiftly to US’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
After a short while, Connaly declared war on Japan and its allies including Germany and Italy. Texas governor Coke Stevenson’s contributions were monumental because he convinced Texans to offer any aid they could afford whether financial or material. As a response to the governor’s call, many Texans went to recruitment camps to volunteer for military service. They were so enthusiastic that 7% of soldiers who participated in the war were Texans. The largest portion of people in the armed forces was composed of Texans.
Texas served as a center for military operations during the war. Texans offered support to military troops in terms of voluntary service, foodstuff, and moral support. More than 20,000 flyers and thousands of gunners were trained in various training camps located in Texas.
In addition, Texas housed prisoners of war from Germany, Japan, and Italy. These prisoners worked as clerks, carpenters, farmers, and mechanists because many people had abdicated their jobs to join the war. Others worked in the medical field where they assisted the few doctors and nurses left in hospitals because many medical professionals left their jobs for better paying ones with the military.
The fact that Texas was the center for military training and operations had great impact on Texas. Money was used to build new military camps and renovate existing ones. Farmers worked hard to increases agricultural production that enabled the US provide food to its allies in the war. Many people left their professions for military jobs that were paying highly. High schools and colleges created patriotic programs in support of the war.
Many teachers and students abdicated school for military service. Clent Breedove and Dagley were monumental in training pilots for war. They were part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which Harold Humphries headed. George Brown, James Abercrombie, and James Elkins provided technological assistance to the military. Companies focused on manufacturing rubber and petrochemicals that were highly useful during the war.
Conclusion
Texans played a significant role in supporting the US in World War II. They volunteered for military service, produced products such as synthetic rubber and fuel needed during the war, and supported the president’s decision to support countries that opposed aggression. In addition, Texans provided war supplies that sustained soldiers during the war and joined the war as nurses, trainers, and doctors.
Development is highly treasured in the world since it indicates major changes that take place within a given time period. It is a key component to a country’s economic, social, and political status. In China, the term development came into use after a rough period when the European colonial powers had taken pre-eminence in most other states, thus controlling the economic, political, as well as social aspects.
The end of the World War II was made possible by the initiation of the so-called development processes in the nations that had been involved in the rapid wars, i.e., the implementation of policies that would help to end wars as well as those which could prevent the occurrence of other similar wars. However, the development was possible because of the presence of certain historical and geographical forces that ideally shaped many nations at the end of the world wars.
Historical processes are those that can define why certain empires/territories declined or inclined, the economic, political and social processes that took place at a particular time to cause change, as well as the importance of some individuals who played important roles in the development.
Geographical dynamics represent the aspects of the human surroundings that mainly depend on time, which are influenced by human beings in their activities. In addition, they affect the same human beings who influence them in one way or the other. In china, there occurred numerous processes in history, which made it fall during the world wars; but a simple change in the same processes caused major developments in all aspects (Zhang, 197).
The following paper is written with an objective of investigating into the processes in history and geography that led in the shaping of the country after the World War II. Additionally, it seeks to establish the contribution of these historical and geographical dynamics in situating the phase for development.
For a concise understanding of the concept of theory and development, it is also important to study the process into which China was incorporated into the global economy during the period when the colonialists invaded and occupied other territories, as well as in the first half of the 20th century.
More over, it is deemed crucial to establish the groups that exercised economic and political dominance during the colonial period as well as the influence they had on the economical and political aspects. Ultimately, it will give an insight of the kind of relationships that existed between distinct groups and classes that were present during the colonial period as well as the contributions of the relationships helped to reshape the economic, social and political aspects in china (Zhang, 142).
Historical and geographical dynamics that shaped China by the end of World War II
The historical and geographical aspects of a country are very crucial in every form of development. The world wars took immense paths that ruined every kind of political, social, and economic organization of China. The development process thus required the implementation of quite new processes and policies that would totally change the phase of the country.
China, having been a development conscious country even before the war decades was set to renew every economic, social, and political structure in order to create room for change and ultimately develop into a powerful state. Development was therefore shaped by the interplay of a number of political, social, and economic forces that were in abundance at the time of colonialism as well as during the period when the world war two was ending (Riskin, 14).
The social forces at play during the colonial period and at the end of the World War II had a massive influence on the country’s development. Long before the world war, China’s social system was marked by a kind of a slave society, with classes of people depending n the economic and political status. There were those referred to as the powerful elites, middle class and low class, who mostly were slaves to the ones in power.
Relations were quite poor between the subordinate and powerful groups and the middle class. Those in power were in possession of the economic property, while there existed a class of people who were property less, thus leaning on the powerful for simple jobs to a point of some becoming slaves. The colonial period was also marked by a violation of culture among the people where the colonialists tried to instill their own culture to the indigenous people (Zhang, 166).
The economic forces were mainly governed by rampant capitalism. The powerful and the subordinate people owned a lot of property while the middle class people owned very little to almost nothing. Additionally, property was owned privately and mainly controlled by the capitalists; hence, imperialism aspects had taken pre-eminence.
The operation was based on a market economy that is free, where no government control was in operation but capitalists controlling it in all ways as well as those in power especially the colonialists. All including the financial institutions belonged to the capitalists, and no regulations put in place for the control of the economy.
There was as well no set boundary as to what extent the colonialists/imperialists could control the land; but it was up to them since the indigenous government and its people had been oppressed to an extent of letting go every thing. Though the economy was controlled, the Chinese government as well as the citizens was not as silent since the world war occurred as a result of resistance in order to pave way for development (Riskin, 14).
The political forces that governed the country had a fatal influence on the Chinese livelihood and government. The indigenous political set up and structure was no longer functional due to imperialists’ invasion at work towards the twentieth century. An elected parliament on centralized basis was governed mainly by capitalists, ignoring the autocracy idea.
Worldwide suffrage had become a rare asset, though the democracy based on capitalism may be extended to the entire population. Various methods were used by capitalists to control government acts in all ways, thus violating the country’s democracy in all aspects (Howarth, 236).
Contributions of the dynamics in setting the stage engagement with Development
The herein discussed forces helped in setting the stage for development in China at the end of World War II. The social erosion that had existed created awareness to the indigenous people that togetherness and unity was crucial in development.
It had been challenging in the fact that social classes existed, but this finally became strength since by the end of World War II, the Chinese people discovered the power in unity of a people, embraced socialism, and eroded a class system to become one. Oneness enabled them to set up policies that helped to intervene in the colonial rule and fostered development in all ways (Hershatter, 128).
Additionally, the political dynamics where capitalists were in control of the government had already a set up system, which made it possible for the intervention policies to work best. The unity through socialism enabled the Chinese people to capture the government during the World War II and used the same to advocate for development before setting up another.
It was easy to defeat the colonialists, initiate their own processes, and use them for development that could not be easily ruined by the colonialists. More over, on the realization that it was possible to develop together, all the social classes abolished and this created a sense of belonging to all in the land.
The powerful who had originally owned massive property realized the importance of sharing, thus development worked towards eradicating the idea of private ownership, to pave way for communal ownership of property. Initially, peasants were paid poor wages but this made it possible for them to take part in the development process to ensure the end of oppression.
It was also possible for development in the market economy where it was no longer free, but in control of the government. The social, economical and the political set up during the second world war was crucial in the identification of the thriving weaknesses at the time, and created room for rectification. Lack of the forces would have hindered development in that it would not have been possible to identify the weaknesses, which acted as the basis for development (Hershatter, 133)
Integration into the world economy during the colonial period, and up through the first half of the 20th century
The colonial period was very crucial for the country, since it was possible for the country to be integrated in the world economy, though it had very negative effects (Glass, 2).
The country’s natural resources became an instrument for development as they all looked forward to exploit them for the sake of their economic growth and integration into the world economy. The Chinese people are always committed to the best results, and at the same time, the land has numerous exploitable resources that are of help to the globe, the reason for European, and other powers invasion of the fertile country. They exploited the resources and used them to produce powerful commodities that would be supplied to many parts of the world.
The French and others who scrambled for the country led to the divisions that occurred in the country, a factor that led to china being connected directly to the world, specifically the western powers. The colonialists had also introduced the land tenure system of ownership, which entailed the powerful and the subordinate owning the land, while peasants worked on the land and paid low wages. This connected the country into the world economy due to development of the slave trade (Abdillah, 17).
At the end of the world war, rapid industrialization and urbanization took place in the country, when there emerged a group of elites who enlightened the others about development, and led to the integration of the country into the world economy.
Additionally, the twentieth century saw the country succeed in overcoming all powers that intended to take control of the economy, paving way to focus mainly on industrialization and urbanization. Up to the fist half of the twentieth century, china had become more successful in development, with the creation of cities and numerous industries (Glass, 5).
Groups that exercised political and economic dominance during the colonial period
The colonial period was marked by dominance in all social, political, and economical grounds. China, being among the countries where economy had thrived well in the period when the European powers tried to scramble and partition Africa, was invaded by a number of competing powers. The French were in the forefront in the scramble for the country, owing to the fact that the country had powerful natural resources. More over, Japan also developed interest in the land and started to scramble for the same.
Furthermore, the Russian empire struggled hard in order to acquire apart of the land, creating a lot of pressure on the indigenous people. The same period of colonization saw the country consist of a class system, where there were powerful and subordinated individuals, and surrounded by a majority of peasants and slaves (Abdillah, 12).
The imperialists were mainly in control of the country’s resources, including all financial institutions. The economy was controlled by capitalists; therefore, the idea of capitalism was very rampant at the time. In the political arena, an elected parliament on centralized basis was governed mainly by capitalists, ignoring the autocracy idea. Worldwide suffrage had become a rare asset, though the democracy based on capitalism may be extended to the entire population (Hershatter, 325).
Various methods were used by capitalists to control government acts in all ways, thus violating the country’s democracy in all aspects. Before development began, the relations among powerful and subordinate groups and classes changed. The decades had been marked by a class system, which embraced private property ownership, thus the powerful and the subordinate owned a lot of property, having peasants work on their fields at low wages.
The pre-world war period was marked by a class of the ruling and another of those that were ruled. However, there emerged a period of realization that saw all kinds of people unite to foster for development due to the occurrence of colonialism, ultimately leading to the world wars. The transformations during the pre-colonial period in the social, economic and political grounds caused positive relations that paved way for development which was the key idea at the end of the world wars, and up to date (Howarth, 236)
Conclusion
Development is deemed a crucial element all over the world. Thus, China, having not been excluded form the world wars as well as the colonialism was at the forefront in advocating for the noble idea. Colonialism in the country was marked by great changes in the economic, social, and political grounds. A number of historical and geographical dynamics became a key to setting the stage for development that took place at the end of the world wars.
The end of the world wars and the period in the first half of the twentieth century also created a realization on the Chinese people that unity is crucial, a factor that led to industrialization and urbanization during the phase of change. It also saw the people unite into a harmonious group, working together for a common goal. Nevertheless, the aim of the paper was achieved, having established the historical and geographical dynamics that shaped the country during the colonial period, and at the end of the World War II.
Works Cited
Abdillah, Noh. Small Steps, Big Outcome: a Historical Institutional Analysis of Malaysia’s Political Economy. 2010. Web.
Glass, Frank. “China after World War II.” Fourth International, Vol.7, No. 7. Ted Crawford and David Walters publishers. 1946. Web.
Hershatter, Gail. Remapping China: fissures in historical terrain. CA: Stanford University Press. 1996.
Howarth, Peter. China’s rising sea power: the PLA Navy’s submarine challenge. NY: Taylor & Francis. 2006.
Riskin, Carl. China and the Human Developmental State. Queens College, City University of New York. 2007. Web.
Zhang, Yongjin. China’s Emerging Global Businesses: Political Economy and Institutional Investigations. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 2003.
Propaganda has always been one of the most important tools of the government. Having a group of people think alike and believe a particular agenda is very useful, as it eliminates doubts and perturbations and focuses its members on the completion of certain tasks. However, in the 20th century, propaganda has become a euphemism for lies, slander, and corruption aiming to brainwash the people into passivity in the face of evil or into committing atrocities in the name of obscure and unjust goals.[1]
While always present and utilized to push various agendas both within countries and across their borders, the first half of the 20th century could be considered the Golden Age of propaganda as a tool of control. The emergence of two ideologically inclined superpowers, such as Nazi Germany and the USSR, also meant the emergence of two powerful propaganda machines. The fierce military conflict between these nations, the bloodiest and fiercest theater of the Second World War, took the lives of more than 34 million people.[2]
At the same time, it showcased the power and usefulness of propaganda to unify the people under one goal, motivate them to sacrifice their lives for the cause, and commit atrocities and acts of heroism in the name of their leaders, their people, and their country. The purpose of this paper is to examine the confrontation between the German and the Soviet propaganda machines during the period of the Second Patriotic War (1941-1945), outline the goals and purposes of each, and identify the changes that both of them had on the psyches of both German and Soviet people.
What is Propaganda?
Before proceeding with the historical dissemination of the available facts regarding propaganda during the Second World War, it is important to understand the meaning of the word. Propaganda is a word of Latin origin, derived from the word “propagate,” or “to propagate.” For the first time, the word propaganda was utilized in 1622, as a name for a particular department within the Catholic faith responsible for external missions to non-Christian countries with the intention to spread the faith.[3]
Although initially the word was utilized with a religious connotation, its meaning in the 21st century is different. Modern dictionaries define propaganda as means of providing information that is not objective with the purpose of influencing the audience and altering their perception of facts by providing false or selective information in order to further a political agenda. Propaganda utilizes any means of conveying its message, be it the press, the radio, the news channels, demonstrations, word-of-mouth, etcetera.
The first historical evidence of propaganda being used as a political tool goes way back to the 6th century BC and the rise of Darius I of the Persian Empire.[4] The ultimate goal of propaganda, thus, is to influence the minds of the people in a particular way, and rulers have acknowledged the need for public support since the dawn of time.
Tools of Propaganda
Scholars of propaganda have identified over 60 effective techniques used in order to sway individual and public opinions in the direction required by those initiating a propaganda effort. While these tools are many, this chapter is going to cover seven staple propaganda techniques actively used by both sides of the conflict in order to either bolster their own civilians or troops or sow discord within enemy ranks. Some of these techniques are as follows:[5]
The demonization of the enemy. Perhaps, one of the oldest propaganda techniques. It involves dehumanizing the enemy by portraying them as something subhuman, evil, making it easier to justify any atrocities committed against them and any measures aimed against them.
Ad nauseam. This technique involves constant repetition of an idea or a slogan in order for the people to start believing it is true. Frequently used in various demonstrations or through other means of communication, such as radio, TV, and the press.
Appeals to fear. This technique is used in order to instill fear and dread of something within the general populace in order to advocate measures and decisions that are supposed to be aimed against such a development.
Demoralization. A set of propaganda techniques aimed at eroding the spirit of the enemy in order to cause discord, desertion, and instability within their ranks. Usually comes in the form of messages that depict the futility of struggle or directly offending the leadership of the opposing side.
Loaded language. This tool helps influence the listeners by using words that have either strongly positive or negative connotations in order to achieve a particular goal.
Media control. This technique usually goes in tow with Ad nauseam, as it involves the media presenting facts piece-meal or blatantly lying, but repeating the message enough for it to stay in the minds of the populace. Very similar to techniques used in classical conditioning, but on a much wider scale.
Exaggeration. Intentionally maximizing personal successes and victories, as well as the flaws and failures of the enemy while minimizing own failures and shortcomings. Frequently used by both sides of the conflict.
While during the confrontation between Nazi Germany and the USSR, both sides have utilized a much wider variety of methods and tools in order to win, these methods were the most visible and easy to spot. The propaganda war between these nations was multi-layered and had lasting effects on the psyche of both nations, some of which persist even up to this day.
Nazi Propaganda between 1941-1945: Goals, Tools, and Effects
Reich Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels is considered the architect of Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine and the father of modern propaganda in general.[6] He was among the first to recognize the potential behind media control and its ability to influence the minds of his nation. The effects of his propaganda were profound and immense, as up to the last days of the war, a good portion of Germans believed in close victory and continued to fight for an already lost cause.
The goals of Goebbels’ propaganda were changing as the war went on and were highly connected to the Nazi Party’s overall agenda as well as the situation on the frontlines. The overall purposes of his propaganda were four:
To bolster the morale of the troops.
To instill discipline as well as inspire loyalty, selflessness, and dedication to the cause at home.
To introduce the doctrine of Total War.
To breed hatred towards the Reich’s enemies based race and political views.[7]
Although German propaganda avidly used all informational outlets in order to convey its message to the masses; its primary tools were the cinema and the radio. At the beginning of the war, Germany was already a highly industrialized and wealthy nation, as riches from conquered countries were poured into Germany. The country’s military complex also produced numerous household appliances. Almost every German home had a radio, which exposed it to Goebbels’s propaganda on a regular basis.
Cinema was also very important in his propaganda efforts, as it allowed to convey a verbal message in addition to striking and patriotic visuals. Every movie showed at German theaters began with an obligatory 15-30 minute propaganda picture of Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Overall, out of 1300 German movies produced between 1941-1945, almost 200 were made with the sole purpose of propaganda.[8]
At the beginning of the war, German propaganda was largely motivated by the Nazi doctrine titled “Lebensraum,” which translates into “Living space,” which suggested a military push eastward in order to free those lands for the Germans. Freeing those lands, subsequently, meant the extermination of over 70% of the Slavic population occupying it and enslavement of the rest in concentration camps.[9]
To accomplish these inhuman goals, Goebbels needed to mold and prepared the German psyche into accepting the war as inevitable and being willing to commit atrocities in the name of the Reich. This preparation started at least a decade before the war. The Soviets were depicted as a threat to Germany and the Western way of life as a whole. The soldiers were being taught not to view the enemy soldiers and civilians as people, with crimes and atrocities against the civilian populace and prisoners of war being permitted by the official orders and documents of German high command. The soldiers were being convinced of a quick and easy victory, drawing parallels with France.
However, as the war went on, and it became apparent that the USSR would not be defeated quickly and easily, the tone of German propaganda began to change. Fact obfuscation and exaggeration techniques were used to great effect in order to convince the Germans that the war was still going as planned. At the same time, patriotism and selflessness for the cause were widely propagated as a means of increasing recruitment rates and bolstering the production by involving women and children.
Near the end of the war, when the situation was desperate, Goebbels’ propaganda started aiming at children as a makeshift replacement for soldiers lost in the Eastern front. Hitler Youths and Volksturm were widely utilized in a vain attempt to contain the Soviet offensive. Due to how effective and all-encompassing Goebbels’ propaganda machine was, many Germans lived in ignorance of the war until it came to their doorstep.[10]
However, Goebbels’ propaganda was not aimed at Germans and its allies alone. Working with the populations of occupied territories was paramount to the German war effort as well. Germans used loudspeakers and dropped leaflets on Soviet positions in order to convince the soldiers of the opposing side to switch sides or surrender. While these techniques were effective at the beginning of the war, as the crimes committed against POWs and civilians behind enemy lines were discovered, the effectiveness of German propaganda efforts against the Red Army dropped significantly.[11]
Due to the unpopularity of the Soviet government in some occupied areas such as Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus, attempts were made to separate and disintegrate the communities by creating myriads of factions that were supposed to be hostile to one another.[12] Other than that, Goebbels fueled nationalistic tendencies in those territories, which resulted in the formation of various collaborationist paramilitary forces such as the Russian Liberation Army, Polish SS legion, etc. Efforts were made to make the population support the occupation troops and refuse to engage in guerrilla warfare that was undermining the German lines. In occupied territories, leaflets, pictures, and loudspeakers were the main tools of propaganda, as peasant households did not have radios.
Soviet Propaganda between 1941-1945: Goals, Tools, and Effects
The Soviet propaganda machine started off, arguably, in the worst position when compared to its German counterparts. The beginning of the war was disastrous for the Soviets, with many divisions located near the Soviet-German border being surrounded and captured by the Germans. Mass surrenders, coupled with a lack of will to fight, promised to lose the war within months. Thus, the first and main goal of the Soviet propaganda machine was to bolster the country’s spirit and ignite the will to fight the foreign invaders.
The main propaganda instruments utilized by the Soviets were the press, word-of-mouth, and loudspeakers. Unlike Germany, the USSR was only rebuilding its means of production. The majority of the households did not possess any radios, which was a significant limitation. Fortunately, the results of the War on Illiteracy, which was conducted by the Bolsheviks in 1920-1930, managed to increase literacy rates among the Soviet people from 20-30% according to the data collected in 1916 to nearly 90% by the end of 1939, which enabled the use of the press and informative leaflets as primary propaganda outlets.[13] Word-of-mouth was also widespread.
In the Red Army, propaganda efforts were conducted by political commissars, who were re-introduced in 1941 in order to ensure loyalty among the commanders and troops. Their primary role involved reading informative leaflets to the troops and use personal knowledge and charisma in order to make propaganda more personified and efficient.
The three core motives found in almost all Soviet propaganda of that period revolves around hatred, heroism, and sacrifice. The atrocities committed by the Germans towards civilian populations of the occupied territories served as powerful propaganda fuel for Soviet soldiers. Pictures of executed civilians, villages and cities burned to the ground, murdered women and children were vastly more powerful than any rhetoric that German propaganda was able to provide.
The Soviets engaged in psychological warfare in an effort to demoralize German troops. One of the famous techniques used by the Soviets is the “Metronome.” Using loudspeakers, they broadcasted pleasant music over to the German positions, which was suddenly interrupted by a loud ticking of the metronome. During it, a somber voice informed the Germans that every 7 seconds, a German soldier dies. This technique was utilized to a great effect in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Motives of revenge were a powerful weapon of Soviet war propaganda. Soviet poets and writers managed to produce many hate-field poems with great utilization of loaded language to convey the atrocities committed by the Germans on Soviet soil. Examples of poetry and music used for propaganda purposes include Ilya Ehrenburg’s poem titled “Kill the German,” as well as “The Sacred War,” written by Alexander Alexandrov and Vasily Lebedev-Kumasi. Both pieces are extremely powerful in their own right, capable of instilling righteous anger and inspire soldiers and civilians alike to fight and toil in defense of their country.[14]
Notable Effects and Changing Impact of German and Soviet War Propaganda
One of the more notable effects of German and Soviet propaganda alike is that they both helped escalate violence against each other. German propaganda was more efficient in that regard. If we take a look at Soviet losses suffered during the war, out of 27 million dead, more than 10 million are civilian casualties. Although certain apologists argue that the majority of atrocities were committed by the SS, the sheer magnitude and number of civilian casualties, as well as overwhelming evidence obtained from various sources, suggests that regular Wehrmacht was also actively taking part in the subjugation and extermination of the civilian populace.[15]
The demonization and dehumanization of the enemy, propagated by German media, made this a reality. Soviet propaganda, who also used hatred as a weapon, is to blame for the atrocities committed by Soviet troops on German soil. The most famous and notable act of violence against the civilian population was in the aftermath of the Battle of Berlin, where thousands of German women were either raped or killed.[16]
Aftereffects of German and Soviet war propaganda are visible even in the 21st century. In Russia and many post-soviet republics, the word “fascist” is considered one of the worst insults, as it is used with a malicious connotation. The dismounting of Goebbels’ propaganda in Germany after the Second World War caused a nation-wide cognitive dissonance, followed by nation-wide feelings of guilt and effective dissemination of national identity.
The effectiveness of propaganda for either side largely depended on how it correlated with the reality of the situation at the frontlines. Soviet propaganda was on the back foot for the first year of the conflict, as it tried to inspire the troops by using unpopular political slogans and demanding loyalty to the Communist Party. However, once German war atrocities were exposed and the message changed from loyalty to communism towards loyalty to the Motherland, the effectiveness of Soviet propaganda was increased tenfold.[17]
German propaganda, on the other hand, was at its peak at the beginning of the war, when the promises of easy victory correlated with successes of the German Wehrmacht. However, after the Soviets managed to stop the Germans in the Battle of Moscow, and the perspectives of ending the war within a year became more and more unlikely, the effectiveness of propaganda among the troops began to drop.
The Eastern front turned out to be a nightmare when compared to relatively easy victories the Germans had in France, Poland, and the majority of Europe. Goebbels’ propaganda machine managed to deceive the German population at home, up until the point when Soviet artillery began shelling the city. Ultimately, no amount of brainwashing and propaganda was able to hide the truth of Germany’s imminent defeat.[18]
Conclusions
Although the word “propaganda” used to have a neutral connotation to itself, the application of it during World War 2 managed to demonstrate its terrifying power. Words alone were capable of moving armies, brainwashing entire countries, and having soldiers commit acts of terror that the world has never seen before. At the same time, tools of propaganda were used to mobilize the nations in times of great need, which changed the course of history.
Without propaganda, Nazi Germany would not have existed, and the nations of the USSR would not have survived the battle for survival. The legacy of these countries in the field of propaganda lives on; however, as many nations across the globe have adopted their tools in order to further their own political agendas. As long as there will be states and governments, propaganda will continue to exist. It is useful, to a degree, as a tool of the state. The challenge, however, is to prevent history from repeating itself.
Bibliography
Balfour, Michael. Propaganda in War. London: Faber & Faber, 1993.
Bartov, Omar. The Eastern Front, 1941-45: German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare. London: Palgrave, 2001.
Burds, Jeffrey. “Sexual Violence in Europe in World War II, 1939-1945.” Politics & Society 37, no. 1 (2009): 35-73.
Cull, Nicholas, David Culbert, and David Welch. Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present. Oxford: ABC Clio, 2003.
Fateev, Andrew. Image of the Enemy in Soviet Propaganda. 1945-1954. Moscow: RAN, 1999.
Herz, Martin. “Some Psychological Lessons from Leaflet Propaganda in World War II.” Public Opinion Quarterly 13, no. 3 (1949): 471-486.
Kallis, Aristotle. Nazi Propaganda and the Second World War. London: Palgrave, 2005.
Pauley, Bruce. Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century. New York: Wiley, 2014.
Reese, Willy Peter. A Stranger to Myself. The Inhumanity of War: Russia: 1941-1944. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2003.
Short, Kenneth. Film and Radio Propaganda in World War 2. London: Croom Helm, 1983.
Sobolev, Ivan. Results of the Second World War. Moscow: IIL, 1957.
Thurston, Robert, and Bernd Bonwetsch. The Peoples’ War: Responses to World War II in the Soviet Union. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
Vincent, Arnold. The Illusion of Victory: Fascist Propaganda and the Second World War. New York: Peter Lang, 1998.
Nicholas Cull et al., Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present (Oxford: ABC Clio, 2003), 23.
Omer Bartov, The Eastern Front, 1941-45: German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare (London: Palgrave, 2001), 12.
Nicholas Cull et al., Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present (Oxford: ABC Clio, 2003), 7.
Balfour Michael, Propaganda in War (London: Faber & Faber, 1993), 9.
Aristotle Kallis, Nazi Propaganda and the Second World War (London: Palgrave, 2005), 54.
Bruce Pauley, Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century (New York: Wiley, 2014), 43.
Arnold Vincent, The Illusion of Victory: Fascist Propaganda and the Second World War (New York: Peter Lang, 1998), 20.
Kenneth Short, Film and Radio Propaganda in World War 2 (London: Croom Helm, 1983), 83.
Ivan Sobolev, The Results of the Second World War (Moscow: IIL, 1957), 19.
Arnold Vincent, The Illusion of Victory: Fascist Propaganda and the Second World War (New York: Peter Lang, 1998), 55.
Martin Herz, “Some Psychological Lessons from Leaflet Propaganda in World War II,” Public Opinion Quarterly 13, no. 3 (1949): 475.
Arnold Vincent, The Illusion of Victory: Fascist Propaganda and the Second World War (New York: Peter Lang, 1998), 91.
Robert Thurston and Bernd Bonwetsch, The Peoples’ War: Responses to World War II in the Soviet Union (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 39.
Andrew Fateev, Image of the Enemy in Soviet Propaganda. 1945-1954 (Moscow: RAN, 1999), 69.
Andrew Fateev, Image of the Enemy in Soviet Propaganda. 1945-1954 (Moscow: RAN, 1999), 69.
Jeffrey Burds, “Sexual Violence in Europe in World War II, 1939-1945,” Politics & Society 37, no. 1 (2009): 50.
Willy Peter Reese, A Stranger to Myself. The Inhumanity of War: Russia: 1941-1944 (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2003). 140.
Arnold Vincent, The Illusion of Victory: Fascist Propaganda and the Second World War (New York: Peter Lang, 1998), 91.
Anti-German poster.Anti-Japanese poster.American support poster.
Introduction
Propaganda was used during the war to sway American opinion against the Germans and the Japanese as much as it was devoted to bolster American nationalistic sentiment. Propaganda is essentially the use of messages to manipulate the beliefs and opinions of the audience. A number of studies have been conducted looking into the ‘evil’ and ‘shameful’ use of propaganda evidenced by Hitler in order to gain and maintain support for his Nazi movement, but other countries engaged in these same techniques during the war. In the following three posters, created and used in America, it can be seen that imagery, text and use of color was specifically designed to manipulate public feeling and opinion.
Main body
The anti-German poster features the image of a giant Nazi boot in the process of stepping on a white church with steeple. The boot is identifiable by the dangerous red swastika blazoned to the ankle. It’s made immediately dangerous and cruel by the sharp barbs on the spur and it seems impending by its giant size and its ability to already be stepping on the church. The imagery of the boot stepping on the American church is not just a threat to the religious ideals of the country but a threat to freedom itself as the church often doubled as the government meeting hall.
This danger to the American way of life is reinforced with the slogan on the poster which announces “We’re fighting to prevent this”, suggesting that without full-hearted resistance, this type of scene is inevitable. The colors used are either grey or greyed out, suggesting a world in which all variety and color has been leached out of existence. The poster is intended to convey a sense of immediate Nazi threat, oppression and hopelessness should one not obey the title and resist.
The anti-Japanese poster is even more explicit in its message. The imagery includes the hopeless march of a long line of ragged prisoners as backdrop to the image of a ragged and starved-looking white man with his hands apparently tied behind his back reacting to the blow he’s just received from the butt of a rifle held by a sneering Japanese soldier in hard-hat and uniform. A newspaper clipping seems burned onto the surface highlighting the headline. The headline contributes to the text of the poster.
It reads, “5200 Yank Prisoners Killed by Jap Torture in Phillipines: Cruel ‘March of Death’ Described.” The larger text of the poster at the top reads, “What are you going to do about it?”, insisting upon personal involvement while the text at the bottom encourages long-term support by insisting that the country “Stay on the job until every murdering jap is wiped out!” These messages are delivered in highly alarming oranges, reds and blacks that heighten the emotional response through its very warm palette.
The pro-American poster is also guilty of using propaganda techniques in its presentation through its imagery, text and colors. The imagery makes blatant appeals to the national symbol of strength in the form of the bald eagle as it poises to strike. The impression of movement is reinforced by the slightly diagonal stripes seen behind the eagle. The top stripes are predominantly blue while the bottom stripes are red, introducing the red, white and blue of the American flag. The text of the poster announces “America Calling” prompting an almost automatic response to answer. This text is followed by the catchy slogan, “Take your place in Civilian Defense”, with its repeating /s/ sounds that initiate an urge toward movement and involvement.
Conclusion
It’s easy enough to point fingers and claim propaganda, but much of the literature we see today could fall within the definition of this technique. Nothing more than an appeal to sway opinion through hard-hitting imagery and emotional appeals, America was equally as guilty of using propaganda on its citizens in seeking support for the war effort and in encouraging nationalistic bias.
The World War II, which occurred towards the end of the first half of the twentieth century, is important for the history of the United States. The consequences of the war had an impact on the political affairs of the world and resulted in a major change of the course of the history of the world.
The majority of the powerful nations in the world participated in the combat that was categorized into two conflicting military coalitions: the Axis and the Allies. During World War II, there was a massive engagement of army recruits and at the end of the war, there were many casualties, consisting mainly of civilians.
As such, the war was the most extensive and severest battles in the history of humankind. Because of these, the memories of the bloody battle still linger in the thoughts of most individuals who participated in the combat in one way or the other.
Specifically, in my interview with a former United States soldier, called Andrew Livingstone, who was engaged in the battle at only eighteen years old, I have learnt a lot about the history of the country during this period of battle.
Similar to the account in most historic books, Andrew told me that the war began on September 1, 1939. In my interview with him, I asked him if he knew any causes of the historic conflict. He said, “I cannot really remember many reasons that spurred the conflict to start; however, the major one I remember was due to the Prussian militarism that developed for close to two hundred years.”
He explained that this power made Germany to be influential and gave the opportunity for a madman and a gimmick in politics, like Adolf Hitler, to have a domineering influence in the affairs of the world, especially after the Germans were conquered in the First World War.
As a result, he was the man behind the start of the Second World War as he had the motive of increasing the territorial boundaries of Germany so as to enable his country to rule the whole world. In the same way, Raum, in the book World War II: an Interactive History Adventure, also say that the evil intentions of Adolf Hitler are what led to the war. Nonetheless, Raum also notes that Hitler had developed hatred for the Jews since he considered them to be weak and thus he wanted a way of getting rid of them (10).
Andrew (now deceased) was compelled to join the war on 10 January 1942, which was about one month after the U.S. joined the war. He said, “I opted to join the war because I was under pressure from my family and friends to engage in service to my country.”
Andrew’s father served the U.S. military as a soldier and although he died in the battlefield, he played a crucial role in ensuring that his son takes part in the battle, especially when Japan carried out a surprise attack on the U.S. on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor.
Because the threat of the Japanese was huge in the war, every citizen was urged to do what he or she could perform to ensure that the foreigners did not annihilate the U.S. Thus, with the desire to serve his country, Andrew willingly accepted the call to be of service in the military so as to defend his country. Similarly, Isserman and Bowman also note that there was intense mobilization for the war.
They say, “In the early days of 1942, a spirit of unity gripped the nation. It was best summed up by the slogan “Remember Pearl Harbor” (36). Additionally, Isserman and Bowman note that the U.S. was under threat because it had not engaged in any conflict since the end of the First World War; thus, it was compelled to search for recruits to strengthen the army.
After joining the military, Andrew learnt that the Japanese were incapable of matching up the strength of the U.S. in war and that they had started a conflict that they were not able to win. Andrew later learnt that the renowned Japanese military leader, Admiral Yamamoto, had cautioned his country against starting a war with the U.S. but the extreme militarist management of the army failed to heed to his advice.
One major occurrence that still lingers in Andrew’s mind is the battle of Midway in which the Japanese experienced a major loss. Taking place a half a year after the battle of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army lost the majority of their aircraft carriers force during the historic battle of Midway (Yoshida and Boyd, 76).
Even though Andrew was not allowed to take part in this conflict because he was considered inexperienced in matters of war, he was endowed with the responsibility of taking supplies to the soldiers who were in the battlefield. Sadly, he lost his dad who was among the casualties that the United States experienced in the historic combat of Midway.
A question I raised to Andrew is to explain to me how some countries formed the Axis and the others the Allies. I realized that his explanation was similar to that given by Raum. He said, “Germany, Italy, and Japan came together to form the Tripartite Pact, which resulted in their forming a military coalition referred to as the axis.”
The aggressive Japan army attacked Asian nations, causing extensive damage to infrastructure and several individuals ended up losing their lives. The government of Japan then was very ruthless. In order to support its war engagements, it forced its people to endure long working hours, deprivation of necessities, economic difficulties, and other forceful malpractices.
And, as a major axis power in Europe, the Germans also carried out inhumane treatments to people that resulted in massive loss of lives. Notably, the German forces carried out the holocaust in Europe that involved the slaughter of approximately six million Jews and subjecting several others to brutal conditions in the camps. The Germans tortured, starved to death, and even shot their victims who were serving as internees.
On the other hand, the United States, the Great Britain, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came together to form the keys allies of Word War II. In my conversation with Andrew, he made me understand that the allies decided to engage in the combat due to their previous invasion or because they considered the advancement of the axis powers a threat to their superior status in the world.
Specifically, he mentioned that extensive mobilization efforts to compel people to participate either directly or indirectly in the conflict established the beginning of the U.S. participation in the global warfare. As pointed above, this is the reason why he himself participated in the war.
After the U.S. was provoked to enter into the conflict, it encouraged several dedicated men and women to participate directly in the war abroad. Similarly, those left behind struggled to provide them with assistance through providing necessary resources for their sustenance in the battlefield.
During his engagement in the war, Andrew observed that the economy of the U.S. was getting back on track after about one decade of suffering from depression. Several of the Americans who had been without jobs quickly found means of earning income so as to sustain them and pay off previous debts.
The United States government feared that the Japanese could attack its West Coast; therefore, they detained several of the Japanese Americans who dwelt in the country in internment camps. Following the end of the confinement program, three years after the war, several of the Americans who came from other countries had served as internees.
A vivid memory that Andrew still retained appertained to the last scenes of the combat that resulted in the collapse of the axis and victory to the allies. “Following bloody years of battle, on June 6, 1944, the western allies eventually were prepared to invade Western Europe with the intention of taking up Germany from the West that matched up with the advancement of the Russians from the East,” Andrew said.
He explained that the attack by the French forces was on the D-Day but this played a little role in changing the outcome of the conflict, since the German forces had started giving up. Eventually, the culmination of the bloody conflict came in 1945 when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Japan. World War II resulted in the demise of over 400,000 United States soldiers and several others suffered severe injuries (Dickson, 1246). As the war ended, the allies were declared victorious and the axes were compelled to surrender to them.
Because he lived through the major part of the second half of the twentieth century, Andrew observed how the war was significant in shaping the relationship between the United States and other countries around the world, especially Japan.
Following the Word War II, Japan distinguished itself as one of the close associates of the U.S. in international relations and trade. And, this close association between the two countries turned attention from Japan’s responsibility in the war and has assisted it in improving its economic growth from the devastations that were caused from the Second World War. After the war, Japan began to imitate the free world’s ideologies in societal norms and even in governance structure.
After admitting defeat, the U.S. established a democratic system of governance in four of Japan’s islands, established a new constitution that reduced the powers of the Emperor in the new democratic government, and assisted in the addressing of human issues in the country. This is an example that Andrew gave me to illustrate that the Second World War indeed has been of great economic and societal significance to the people in the world.
In conclusion, my talk with Andrew assisted me to know the history of the United States and its role in the Second World War. As one of the major conflicts of the twentieth century, the war played a critical role in defining the position of the United States as the world’s superpower. Similar to Andrew whom I managed to interview, the events of the war are still vivid in the memory of most people who participated in the conflict either directly or indirectly.
Works Cited
Dickson, Keith D. World War II almanac 1. New York: Facts on File, 2008. Print.
Isserman, Maurice, and Bowman, Stewart J. Word War II. New York: Facts on File, 2003. Print.
Raum, Elizabeth. World War II: an interactive history adventure. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press, 2009. Print.
Yoshida, Akihiko, and Boyd, Carl. The Japanese submarine force and World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002. Print.
Fascism is a political ideology that promotes high expressions of nationalism and aggressive approach in the defence of one’s nation (Passmore 72).
It is characterised by a one-party rule usually under a dictator and denial of individual rights. The basic principles of a fascist nation include authoritarianism, a deep understanding of state being more important than the individual, presence of an enigmatic leader and action oriented governance.
Unlike communism, fascism did not strive for a class-less society. Rather, it was supported by industrialists, lower middle class and the military. Great examples where fascism existed are Italy under Benito Mussolini, Germany under Adolf Hitler and Spain under Francisco Franco among others (Payne 15).
Dr. Britt Lawrence (22) found fourteen distinct defining characteristics common to every fascist regime. These were powerful and continuing nationalism where symbols and patriotic slogans were used in public displays; disregard for the recognition of human rights which led to executions and torture; identification of a perceived common enemy which was used as a uniting cause like communists and socialist were used as scapegoats; the military is highly idealized with great amounts of government funding going to them in the expense of domestic agendas; most fascist nations are male-dominated hence rampant sexism; censorship of mass media, where the government directly controls the media content; fear and intimidation is used to motivate the masses towards National security under fascism rule; they use a common religion that supports their ideals and uses it to manipulate public opinion; the industrial and business upper classes which form corporate power enjoy government protection; in fascist nations labour unions are either banned or harshly suppressed; contempt for intellectuals and the arts with hostility to academia; occurrence of a police force that has limitless power showing fascination with crime and punishment of opponents; rampant corruption and eventually fraudulent elections.
Fascism in Italy and Germany
The First World War had a great impact and devastating consequences for Italy, although it was among the winning powers. The war brought inflation which increased greatly due to military expenses; there were political divisions and frequent social unrest, and unsatisfactory peace treaty because it received a small portion of the territory they wanted. There was mistrust in the Liberal politicians leading to the rise of Fascism.
As Martin Blinkhorn puts it, one cause of the rise of fascism in Italy was the problems it faced after World War 1, which are post war economic crises, mass demobilisation and acute social unrest (Blinkhorn 34). After the unification in Italy, which was dominated by the elite, the south was neglected leading to chronic poverty that was worsened by limited spending and soaring taxes.
The Liberals failed to transform the economy which was severely suffering from post-war depression after World War 1, giving fascism a chance to increase its mass backing.
The western powers which included Britain and France, failed to fulfil the agreement after World War 1 and Italy felt the land they were promised was not given to him; hence Italy did not want to corporate much with them. These gave Mussolini a great opportunity to grip the power and he set up a Fascist Party which promised to have solutions to Italy’s problems
Alexander De Grand cites the opportunistic nature of Italian fascism when he says that Mussolini recognised that the Liberals did not create peace with the church and he lessened anti-clerical feelings in the Fascist Party (De Grand 89). This created an influential ally and improved the appeal of the Party. Fascism looked to be an easy answer to immense economic and social problems.
Mussolini undertook to restore Italy and reinstate the Roman Empire. He organised armed gangs called the “black shirts” which helped him come to power in 1922. King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini as the Prime Minister of Italy to prevent a communist revolution. The famous 1922 March on Rome took place to institute Mussolini and the Fascist Party as the most significant party in Italy.
The rise of Mussolini to power instigated the birth of Versailles and combat communism. Mussolini as the leader (II Duce) ended democracy and banned all other political parties except the Fascists (Macdonald 19). The government was run by secret police that he controlled and often jailed his opponents. The Fascist Government took over the media and ensured only Fascist doctrines were broadcasted or published. He outlawed strikes and allayed the Fascists with the industrialists and large landowners.
In Germany, the group, Nazi (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), had policies like fascism, hence Nazism- the German brand of fascism. Hitler as the Nazi Party leader was impressed by Mussolini’s March on Rome, and he plotted for Nazi’s to seize power in Munich in 1923, but the attempt failed and he was arrested. He was tried for treason and sentenced to five years in jail but only served less than nine months (Woolf 18).
Just as in Italy, the great depression caused the German economy to collapse and civil unrest broke out. Hitler’s Nazi party looked to be the solution to the economic crisis.
As a chancellor and by winning majority of parliament, Hitler turned Germany into a totalitarian state. Just like Mussolini, other opponent political parties were banned. Being against Hitler meant that one was an enemy to him and his loyalties, and arrest and murder would follow. The Nazi secret police, Gestapo, used brutal action and terror to shock many Germans to total obedience.
Despite their aggressiveness, the Nazis under Hitler had several achievements such as they constructed factories, built highways, manufactured weapons, served in military thus dramatically reducing the number of unemployed. Beyond his economic and political power, Hitler also took control over the media; both print and press making them his propaganda tools.
He was successful in raising the Germany economy from the great depression, giving him popularity with the middle class (Blamires and Paul 16). It is worth noting that Mussolini never had the total control in Italy as achieved by Adolf Hitler in Germany.
Effects of Fascism in Italy and Germany
Some effects of fascism were World War II, preservation of social classes and dictatorship. As in all fascist governments there was absolute dictatorial government. The citizens were oppressed it was not acceptable to speak against the dictator. The dictators become the only men who had the authority to make any decisions.
Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany were among the main causes of World War II. Fascisms ideals were aggressive in nature hence it led Italy and Germany directly to war. Labour unions were banned besides political parties. Education was reviewed to favour the fascist government.
There were similarities in Italian fascism and German Nazism in the following respects. In both cases individuality was rejected and emphasis was on role will power in individuals to protect their state. There was a negative view if the masses human understanding and the dictators used propaganda to manipulate them politically.
They viewed that the leader was from the elite and there were great differences between the intellectual capabilities of the masses and the political elite. Liberals and social democrats were viewed as the enemies in both cases. However several differences were evident between the German Nazism and Italian fascism.
Firstly, racialism was strongly evident with the Nazis and less evident with the fascist. Moreover, Italian foreign policy objectives were limited to gaining additional territories, while German foreign policy objectives were huge and were driven by their biased attitudes especially toward the Jews. Generally, there were positive effects in both fascist governments in that they stabilized the economy after the great depression, and there were great cuts in unemployment levels as well as decrease in social unrest.
Mussolini political agenda
Benito Mussolini is best remembered as the father of Fascism. He began his political career as a Socialist. He is well admired by his fellow fascist in the successful execution of the March on Rome which bestowed him the powers he wanted. After Mussolini became the Prime minister, he did not have control over the parliament hence he formed a coalition government (Smith 17).
Mussolini and the Fascists party were highly successful in their efforts to promote a growing economy and industrial powerhouse. Mussolini wanted to model his government after the Roman Empire and saw himself as Julius Caesar. He was a strong believer in the strength of the people as the backbone of the country and not the strength of the individual.
He felt that his country would be the strongest if the citizens of Italy would come together as one, under a central idea and philosophy and be allied by the bonds of nationalism. This government primarily pursued economic policies which included balancing the budget through several cuts to the civil service.
At the same time he reinforced his control over the Fascist Party by forming an executive body for the party, the Grand Council of Fascism, responsible for governing the party but whose agenda he was in full control. In addition, he formed corporations for every single line of work to reinforce both economic and social control. This ensured labour unions had no power hence minimal workers’ strikes or social unrest. Mussolini’s supporters carried out operations of violence towards opposing political parties and against anyone who did not agree with their ideals. He was successful in changing the election procedure to favour him and assumed dictatorial rule in 1925-26 by dissolving all other political parties (Townley 52).
Mussolini’s foreign policy of anti-imperialism commanded an extreme form of nationalism with the attack of Corfu in 1923 marking his policies (Lowe and Marzari, 81). The fascist Italy pursued an aggressive foreign policy which led to attacks in several nations such as Albania, Ethiopia and Libya, to fulfil Mussolini’s ambition of expanding the Italian territory. It also planned attacks on Turkey and Yugoslavia.
These lead to mass killings and forced starvation of thousands of people. Mussolini was dedicated to solidifying Italy’s army, while tirelessly supporting that war was essential in keeping the economy alive. Mussolini did this with flawless effort and succeeded on the highest level by tweaking the media in his favor, and using force to persuade the citizens of Italy to support him and their country. The fascist government made improvements in various sectors in Italy.
This included; Increase in acreage of cultivated land, irrigation was introduced in the marshes found on the Northern part of created more employment opportunities. To win the support of the Roman Catholic Church, Mussolini reached an agreement with the Papacy (Lateran Pact), which gave the Pope full authority over the Vatican City (Macdonald 21). Mussolini was able to gain power since he had a following from the middle class Italians who supported fascism due to general anxiety, fear and insecurity.
The pact of Steel
The Pact of Steel was Mussolini’s name used to refer to the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Nazism Germany and Fascism Italy (Kallis 20). He had originally named it ‘the Pact of Blood’ but was advised that it was likely to be received poorly in Italy if it went by that name hence ‘the Pact of Steel’.
It was signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers, Count Ciano for Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop for Germany, in Berlin in May 1939. The Pact of Steel was an agreement in which Germany and Italy entered into an alliance, pledging neutral support in war. Generally, the Pact of steel obliged Italy and Germany to co-operate in military and war production. They would aid each other in the occasion of a war starting, militarily or otherwise (Tonge 39).
The agreement was divided into two parts; the first part was an open declaration of continued mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries; the second section was a ‘Secret supplementary protocol’ which encouraged a union of military and economic policies. Within its clauses it stated that the validity of the pact within the time of its completion until 1949.
It also urged the two countries to maintain relations with nations that were only friendly towards either of them. An enemy of one was to be perceived as an enemy of both. The ‘Secret Supplementary Protocols’ part was further divided into two sections; the first section pressed hasty joint action on military and economic cooperation; the second section urged the two countries to promote power and image of fascism through propaganda via media.
This part as the name depicts was not made public during the signing of the agreement (Gregor 23). The agreement made sure that neither nation was able to make peace without consent from the other. The Italian’s, mistakenly, signed on the verbal understanding that neither power would start a war before 1943. The understanding was that Italy would direct Mediterranean strategy, leaving Germany free to conquer Europe.
The signing of the pact of steel
It was after World War 1 that Italy and Germany underwent different problems in governance that led them to look for support in one another. Both countries were unsatisfied with the status quo imposed on them after World War 1. Germany was on the losing side of the Central Powers during World War 1.
Germany lost significant portions of its territory including border lands along the Polish borders and critical sectors along the western French border (Payne 45). It was Germany’s ambition to regain its military might that led Nazism to power. Italy on the other hand was on the victorious Allied side, which include Britain and France in World War 1, paying a heavy price in its involvement to the victory.
Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost fighting for the Austrians and Italians were seriously unhappy at the marginal gains they were rewarded compared to the heavy cost they paid. To them they received a raw deal after the end of World War 1. Italy became ambitious to expand the territory.
Like Germany, the western powers lost good will with Italy due its aggressive conduct. Between 1936 -1939, Italy and Germany cooperated in the Spanish Civil War where they fought on the same fascist side to help the authoritative regime of Franco to achieve victory over the Socialist opposition.
This really encouraged their relationship. Mussolini withdrew from the League of Nations in December 1937 after receiving sanctions by the United Nations, and in the same year he visited Germany when he was captivated by the splendour and ceremony of Hitler. This drew the two countries together and given they had two similarly driven powers, Hitler and Mussolini developed a close relationship. Hitler, in a Munich conference, impressed Mussolini further with his boldness and aggressive stand on the weakness on the West (Gregor 47).
The ambitions of the two fascist leaders lead Germany and Italy to conquer territories each felt were rightfully theirs. Hitler decided to move his military into the Rhineland, a de-militarized zone that was protected by the Treaty of Versailles in in order to protect France. It was when Hitler occupied the devastated Czechoslovakia in March 1939, that Mussolini’s pathetically poor reaction was to invade Albania where he acted individually, making it impossible for any reunion with the other western powers.
In fact the Allies responded with strong threats of military response if territorial conquests continued. By May 1939, Mussolini’s concern was to safeguard his alliance such that Hitler could not abandon him and hence Italy was propelled into the Pact of Steel with Germany. Italy and Germany being under dictators Mussolini and Hitler respectively ensured the two countries’ shared comparable fascist ideologies and an antagonistic view on governance hence the signing of the Pact of Steel. This sparked the beginning of World War II and the beginning of the Mussolini- Hitler era.
The effects of the agreement on Italy and Germany
Italy
During World War 1 Italy had lost many men while fighting along Austria along its borders, since it was among the Allies. Having fallen apart with the Allies, and found new alliance with Germany, Mussolini abandoned Austria, whose independence he had avowed to secure by agreement, letting Hitler to gain a great strategic victory.
In 1936, army general Franco attacked the republican government leading a Spain into a civil war between the republicans and the Nationalist whom he lead. Mussolini saw yet another opportunity to expand his power and influence by getting involved in the war in Spain. He joined with Hitler to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War, provoking armed conflict in Europe. Back at home, his reputation was falling.
Mussolini’s stock in the League of Nation fell further when Britain and France eventually revealed that he was pretending to be neutral arbitrator at the Munich conference while he was aiding Hitler achieve his goals. Mussolini did not support a Europe-wide conflict, but he was powerless to influence events, when Hitler decided on military action and invaded Poland. The League of Nations finally imposed economic sanctions on Italy (Reich 197).
As Hitler’s influence over Mussolini increased, Mussolini become unpopular among the Italian people who did not have their hearts in Hitler’s wars and wanted nothing to do with the persecutions of the Jews. As much as Hitler’s assistance was valuable to Mussolini a number of times when Italians found themselves in trouble, the end result was utter defeat on all fronts. Mussolini popularity diminished and he was eventually removed from power, and eventually executed.
Germany
It was after the great alliance with Mussolini that Hitler felt confident enough to initiate his aggressive moves. Without Mussolini, he would have been isolated diplomatically, he would have not taken over Austria and the Munich Conference would have been a flop. The Munich conference gave Hitler a great chance to denude the Czechs giving him a strategic position to invade Poland (Tonge 67).
Without the Alliance of the two fascist leaders, may be World War II might well have been avoided. World War II led to Germany’s total defeat and it was Mussolini who enabled Hitler in his pursuit of the war.
Hitler advanced to conquer France and when Mussolini realized that Hitler was defeating France, he mobilised his troop to invade France, only his forces were soon pushed back and Hitler’s forces were to come to his rescue to save Mussolini’s ‘honour’. Mussolini went ahead and invaded Greece without consulting Hitler and once again found himself in trouble.
Hitler was again forced to send troops to assist the Italians, necessitating him to divert from Barbarossa costing him another necessary victory. Hitler was also forced to sacrifice troops which would have been utilised in the Eastern front to rescue Mussolini in his African adventure.
In the end, Italy’s Military alliance was more of a hindrance to Hitler’s conquests and Mussolini proved himself to be more of a liability than a valuable reinforcement though his assistance was of great value to Hitler’s pre-war diplomatic manoeuvring. There were adverse effects to both nations in the quest to fulfil the agreement in the hope of achieving their goals. In the end, the pact of steel became a great disaster for the two fascist leaders and their countries and lead to their eventual fall and defeat in the World War II.
Significance of the Pact of Steel on the World War II
In view of his understanding of the Pact of Steel, the eruption of war between Germany and the Allied western powers in September 1939, following Hitler’s conquest of Poland come as a surprise to Mussolini ( Blamires and Paul 56). It definitely offered him some food for thought, and from uncertainty he opted for neutrality.
He felt that Hitler had bitten more than he could chew by provoking the hostility of Britain and France and he had slim chances of defeating them. He was also unhappy with the direction that the Germany foreign policy had taken since the pact of steel.
Since the agreement minimized the possibility of reconciliation between Mussolini and his former allied friends, the western powers, Hitler pursued to protect his position in the Eastern part of Europe by the Non-aggression Pact with Stalin in August 1939 which opened the way for a successful invasion and defeat of Poland (Tonge 29). This may be when Mussolini seriously suspected Germany duplicity.
Mussolini supported his ‘non-aggression’ to the Germans with the fact that Italy was totally unprepared to engage in war in September 1939. The Italian armed forces were awfully ill-equipped to fight a major war due to enormous expenditure of military resources in their quest to conquer Ethiopia, Spain and Albania as well as the underlying economic weakness (Townley 78).
However, Mussolini frequently reiterated his moral and Diplomatic support for Hitler, and continually insisted that he intended to enter the war just as soon as the circumstances would permit. As the Germans occupied more countries, Mussolini felt the urge to join the war so as to share the spoils of victory alongside Hitler and his army.
Mussolini’s original hesitancy turned into an urge for war as Hitler’s armies advanced in their invasion of France and it didn’t take him long to declare war on Britain and France. Many writers who sided with fascism claimed that Mussolini did was unwilling to engage in a war against Britain and France in 1940 but was forced into the decision by the slip-ups, inflexibility and antagonism of British diplomacy.
This picture of Mussolini does not fit the circumstances given that Mussolini being a fascist opportunist wanted to acquire domination over the Mediterranean at the expense of Britain and France, and he saw the opportunity to do so in a splendid, warlike manner. Mussolini’s war aims were very predictable from the creation of a new Roman empire to the hazier goal of Italy becoming a world super power.
He also had a secondary agenda where the Fascist Italy were to conduct its military operations parallel to and free of Nazi Germany, and with a clear line of separation between their relevant spheres in Europe. By this he hoped to establish the power balance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. However Mussolini did not have a very articulate or coherent plan to rival that of Hitler.
The Post WWII Era
World War II was viewed by many to be the last good war with a clear purpose of abolishing Nazism and Fascism and all the horrible ideals they stood for. The triumph of the Allies in the World War II was the greatest defeat of Germany and Italy. It marked the downfall of fascism and the victory of democratic ideals and values over totalitarianism and dictatorial rule. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were transformed into unthreatening democracies.
Prior to World War 2 Italy had completed two conquests in Ethiopia and Albania, and despite the Pact of steel, it did not join the war until1940, planning to get a share of the Allied territory. With the defeat of France, Italy’s war efforts went poorly resulting in defeats in Greece, North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea (Payne 110). In 1943, Italy was invaded by Allies and Mussolini’s government collapsed.
Though the Germans kept to the agreement and helped him back to power, it was only for a while before he was removed from power again. Italy was also split an occupied allied South and the remnants of the fascist government in the North. Eventually Italians embraced democracy and Italy became a member of NATO after the war. After the war, German was divided into four occupied zones among France, Britain and America.
Conclusion
After World War 1, there was extensive damage in all countries across Europe, both for the winning allied side and the losing central powers. Italy having been on the victorious allied side had high expectations after the peace treaty that ended the war, but when it came to sharing the territories it didn’t get its share as expected.
They felt the other western powers, United Kingdom and France, had short-changed them, and hence began their own ideals to fulfil their enormous ambitions of being a super power. The great depression was a perfect chance for the fascist Mussolini to acquire leadership and preach the doctrines of fascism.
On achieving this, he impressed his fellow fascist Hitler, in the neighbouring Germany, which was on the losing side after WWI and was looking to regain its military powers. Hitler borrowed a leaf from Mussolini and used the same fascism doctrines, in the version of Nazis to take control of Germany. The relationship of the two fascist, Mussolini and Hitler, grew to greater lengths having been driven by similar ambitions for their countries and fascist ideologies that gave them power as sole decision makers.
Their growing ‘friendship’ and mistrust with the Allies (Britain and France) led them to make an Alliance of friendship and military assistance in the form of the ‘Pact of Steel’ agreement. This was to fulfil their own selfish goals of territorial conquest to be powerful empires.
This was to be the poorest decision for them and their countrymen. They did not know they were signing a ticket to their downfall. Both were too ambitious to be cautious of the aftermath. After terrible defeats in the World War II for both Italy and Germany, fascism was replaced by democracy.
In my own informed view, both countries would have been better off without the Pact of Steel agreement, and just may be World War II would never be in our History books. On the other hand, it was a great lesson for most countries in Europe on Fascism and its effects.
Works Cited
Blamires, Cyprian, and Jackson Paul. World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia; Vol.1. California, USA. ABC-Clio Inc, 2006. Print.
Blinkhorn, Martin. Mussolini and Fascist Italy. New York, USA. Lancaster Pamphlets, Routledge, 1984. Print.
World War Two, which started in 1939 and ended in 1945, caused more deaths, several countries got involved and a lot of money was used than any other war in global history. Above 60 million army men participated in the war and about 18,000 soldiers died during the war.
Around 20,000 million soviet people, seven million Jews in European, and 11 million Chinese were killed in World War Two (Nash & Graves 67). This war was actually an international war since around 75 nations participated in the war and this conflict happened on Europe, Asia, and Africa continents.
It also took place on the high seas. The war is believed to have been motivated by Germany and Japan and it came with severe consequences which, to some extent, exist. This paper discusses the causes and consequences of World War Two.
Consequences of World War Two
Geopolitical
As shown above, around 50,000 deaths were reported, which represented 3% of the world population. Some studies reported that the war caused around 62 to 80 million deaths, and this made it the deadliest fighting in the global history in terms of reported number of deaths compared with the world population (Foner 947).
World War Two showed a huge fault in the international power structure and when this structure was unsuccessful, the outcomes were severe and disastrous. The inconceivable degrees of devastation in the war made several countries to decline a balance of power system.
Alternatively, the successful nations launched a system of collective security through the League of Nations where assault by any nation would cause other nations to react. However, after World War Two, this process did not work since each nation had different views and ideologies.
The British Empire decolonization was not actually caused by World War Two but relatively due to several continuous practices like increase of anti-colonist movements which upset the way of colonization by British Empire.
Thus, irrespective of the timing of the World War Two, the British Empire could have been caused to undergo decolonization afterward but the fighting aided to accelerate the process. Europe’s supremacy was damaged and new institutions assisted in weakening the colonization of Europeans in Africa.
The Soviet Union and United States became more powerful and both were against colonization of Europeans in Africa. Some of the European powers, such as France and Britain, faced hard time sustaining their domains both economically and physiologically (Hill 56).
The course of European integration which facilitated the creation of European Union (EU) started immediately after World War Two and it was partially motivated by the occurrence of that disastrous war.
Some heads of Europe like Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman decided that any war would not be allowed to demolish the European nations. The best way to protect this promise was to unite all the European nations that they would not fight one another.
The Cold war was established after World War Two and was intended to control global affairs for decades and several major crises happened such as Berlin Wall and Cuban Missile Crisis.
Several people and nations were worried about the developments of mass destruction. Most theories claim that as the USSR and USA was in same position during Second World War (Nash and Graves 65), their association after the fight was predicted to be strong and sociable but this never actually occurred and any emergence that both were allies in the war seems misleading.
Holocausts particularly aimed Jews and most people did not understand or were not bothered with that. Before the war, some nations which allowed fleeing Jews had firm quotas, and in the war several other persons except Jews were killed also.
Actually, several people furtively followed the Nazi strategy and expected that they would be killed like vermin, and this was mostly due to established anti-Semitism in Europe.
Domestically
Huge legacy was left by the depression and New Deal made people to depend on government for assistance instead of Private donations. After the Second World War, every government tried to prevent the reoccurrence of the Great Depression and economic plans was created to be firm and more inflationary.
Having the gold standards vanished, governments had increased liberty to customize their economies with growth of credit and money. The protectionism of 1930s facilitated the post-war attempts to decrease tariffs and other business blockades.
Lastly, the inconsistence of exchange rates which happened after countries left gold standards prompted the formation of the Breton Woods structure of fixed exchange rates in 1945. This system stated that all currencies were to sustain fixed exchange rates relative to U.S. currency, but this arrangement collapsed in 1970s (Hill 68).
After the end of Second World War, the GI Bill facilitated the formation of so-called middle class in United States, permitting people who served an opportunity for schooling. The legacy of GI Bill is exist, but currently the aid, if provides, hardly attain veterans’ costs.
Governmental influence of science at the course of the Second World War shows the government administration on growth of technology which offers several benefits to the communities, economies, and armed forces in their plans during the fighting.
After the United States got involved in the war, taxation became directly linked with national survival and top rate attained 90% (Nash and Graves 121). In 1944, the government enforced a maintenance system on income tax payers, creating process simpler and increasing the country’s income in the same year which was an essential aid in the wartime.
After the war, the income taxes somewhat decreased, simply the increase after the some times. Japanese were put into internment sites and this internment happened although they had been registered citizens of America and even through they did not create any threat.
Before their displacement, they had experienced several issues, for instance Japanese bank accounts in United States had been frozen. Some of the political leaders were relocated or arrested and their relatives were not informed about their whereabouts. Most Japanese lost their homes or sold them with a loss.
Causes of World War Two
The Gathering Storm (1930s), German and Japan Ambitions
In the Gathering Storm, written by Sir Winston Churchill Book, stated that Second World War was motivated by unhealthy ambitions of Adolf Hitler who was reluctantly helped gutless and unreliable French and British leaders who chose conciliation above resistance (Nash and Graves, 121).
In the start of 1950s, roughly all diplomatic history on the causes of Second World War went with Churchill’s aim in reproving French and British leaders for pacification in the 1930s (Foner 948). Hitler’s intentions to expand it boundaries was one main cause of the war.
The German participation on the war did not actually influenced America to get involved in the war, but Japanese made them participate after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Relatively, this attack accelerated the motive for United States to respond and declared total war against Germany since several Americans considered that Germany was either a partner or the director of Japan.
This made Hitler to be guilty just like Japan for the assault on Pearl Harbor. The assault on Pearl Harbor was the crucial point for United States to participate in Second World War (Hill, 2003, p. 2).
US Isolationism
Poland was attacked by Germany, and this caused France and Britain to go for war against Germany. United States was considered to be in a state of Isolationism and did not wish to participate in the war. After America was attacked, they declared war against Japan and Germany.
If Germany could not have declared war, people would have not supported Roosevelt government for the decision to participate in war. Hill (5) stated that there is no more explanations of the intentions for the new United States policy of European attacks are provided and United States revenge to German participation in war is projected to be patently obvious.
European War
Soviet Manpower-Economic Revival
The World War Two was very severe and all the countries which participated were led to the moral and physical survival, where most of them faced huge impact of their economy and labor. Soviet countries were forced to experience very depths of moral and physical survival.
Most countries experienced manpower shortage and no other war had brought these sufferings in the world history. It took sometimes for countries to revive to their usual position. Civilians and fighters participated in this war and both parties were victims or died.
American Economy and Air supremacy
The impacts of war were varied and extensive and it determinedly finished the depression itself. The federal government appeared from the war to act as a possible economic player where there had a capacity to control economic actions and to, in part, manage economy through expenditure and consumption (Nash and Graves 129).
American industry was regenerated by Second World War and several industries were, by 1946, either piercingly willing to protect their assets or fully reliant on them (Atomic energy).
To be effective and stronger, some means have to be enforced and use of air planes act as effective methods to provide a major impact as an air supremacy fighter.
For instance, the Me-262 jet fighter was debatably the preeminent fighter plane of Second World War, especially against United States heavy bombers, but was implemented late in the war and it merely had a smallest influence.
American theater commandants went for the options for planes and they created their plans around the necessity for strategic air superiority. In 1943 in Pacific, the allies won the battleground air superiority (Foner 58). This showed that the Allies would enforce their strike forces anywhere they content and overpower the opponent with a prevalence of weapons.
Pacific war
Midway
In mid 1942, Japanese Admiral wanted to take the United States pacific Fleet into a fight where they would overpower and demolish it. They positioned themselves in Midway Island so that they could plan effectively the attack on Hawaii.
Through the application of decrypted Japanese radio intercepts, they were capable of offsetting the insult. After a month, United States aircraft attacked and ruined four Japanese shippers, making Yamamoto to surrender and the battle of Midway reported the defining moment of Second World War in the Pacific.
Firebombing and A-Bombing
Firebombing is a way of bombing intended to destroy a target place by using fire which is produced by inflammable devices, instead of blast effects of huge bombs.
Japanese firebombing caused more death and demolition than the A-bombs and probably powerful firebombing of bordering regions and all plants could perhaps have permitted the United States arm forces ultimately to overpower Japan, but the number of deaths would have been nearly unthinkable. It might have led U.S. not to use A-bombing (Nash and Graves 125).
After the Battle of Midway, it was a clear indication to the American people and soldiers from both sides that Japan would not win the war. Just through strategic standards, Americans had more benefits.
Superior industry and several options to fuel its industry permitted it to extend it naval resources more than Japanese would ever expect to challenge. In order for the war to end, there were orders to attack Japan with a nuclear weapon. It was first dropped in Hiroshima.
Upon bomb explosion, around 80,000 people were killed instantly from the extensive heat produced from the explosion. About 60,000 more civilians died from the radiation-related diseases which accompanied the explosion. Another atomic bomb were dropped in Nagasaki and caused additional deaths (Hill 79).
Conclusion
Second World War cost all countries several casualties and more than 60 million deaths were reported. In United States alone, 400,000 people died and in both international and domestic affairs, its outcomes were extensive and some are still being felt currently (Hill 79).
Depression ended because of Second World War and caused several married women to enter labor force, radically extended existence of Government in United States citizens, and started wide changes in the lives of the country’s minority people.
Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give me liberty!: an American history. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 2008. Print.
Hill, Richard. Hitler Attacks. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003. Print.
Nash, Roderick and Gregory Graves. From these beginnings: a biographical approach to American history, Volume 2. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005. Print.
The book Walking Since Daybreak: A story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of our Century by Modris Eksteins is a story of war and family at a time when the nation of German was going through tough times. It is centred on two of the world’s greatest events. These are the first and the second world wars.
The author presents a story of a people mixed with fear, anxiety and hope as the main characters of the book are caught in the traumatic experience of the war. This essay seeks to explore the main aspects of the story as far as the author’s writing style, source of inspiration and conveyance of information are concerned.
The writer of this essay is of the stance that Modris Eksteins sufficiently and efficiently manages to achieve the sole purpose of writing the book.
The information in this book is told in such a way that the reader gets the full perspective of what was happening at that time. The fact that the author tells the story from a first person point of view lends credence to the story.
Because Modris tells of his personal experiences and those of other people he was close to, the reader is left with no doubt that all that is written in the book is certain and actual. The information in the book also tallies with other historical works that were written on the same topic of the two world wars. The correlation of these two further lends credence to the accuracy of the information presented in the book.
The language used by Modris Eksteins is the most appropriate type of language to describe such a situation as this war. This is because the author vividly describes all the events and sceneries in such a manner that leads to exact conceptualisation of the whole situation.
The author’s use of poetic language that keeps the reader turning the pages is a major aspect that has contribute to the worldwide acknowledgement of the literary work as one of the greatest historical works that have ever been written on the first and second world wars. This rating was done by prominent historians who obviously rated the content of this book as appropriately detailed and presented.
Through the story of his family, and most specifically his grandmother, Modris Eksteins not only tells his personal version of the two world wars but also the story of hundreds of thousands of other families that went through the same ordeal. The book tells of a time when the Baltic countries were thrown into a terrific pandemonium that was as a result of two great wars that paralysed any human activity in the region.
The hard times and the struggle that the author and his family went through during this period were replicated among millions others who were forced to move back and forth around the lowlands that are next to the Baltic Sea.
As a matter of fact, countless families were left homeless and were forced to spend many nights in the biting cold1. This was also the period that the countries involved in the first and the second world wars lost thousands of people, mostly women and children, to diseases such as malaria and pneumonia.
Modris Eksteins’ great grandmother is perhaps the character whose experiences impact on the lives of each and every of the other characters in the book. The great grandmother, who is simply described as the “girl with flaxen hair” is right at the onset of the story when she serves as a chambermaid for a prominent German baron.
It is through an unexpected twist of events that the author’s great grandmother ends up bearing a child to the very German baron who had been her master.
It is openly astounding how the author can interweave the events of the nineteenth century with those of the twentieth century and still manage to bring out the correlation and relevance that each of them has to the other.
This strength of the author portrays him as a great historian who is in a position to create an amazing connection between historical events that happened at different times and in different places. The events happened at different times because there is a gap of more than a hundred years between them.
They happen in different places because while the story of the Modris Eksteins’ great grandmother takes place in German, the second part about the story of the author’s family takes place in the lowlands that border the Baltic Sea.
The Second World War
The book is not only about the history of the Baltic nations during, before and after the Second World War but is also partly a personal autography of Modris Eksteins. The story is majorly about the state of the author’s family before, during and after the Second World War.
Through the author’s first person narration, the reader gets an insight into the devastating effect that the Second World War had on the families that were victims to the war. Before the war, the family that is described in the earlier chapters of the book is one that is happy, big and has almost anything that they could ever wish to have.
However, in the course of the war, the author sadly recalls as he loses everything that he once held dear. It all begins with the massive loss of property. The property was either looted by soldiers or other people or was set ablaze by arsonists from their opponents.
As Modris Eksteins watched as their property went up in flames, little did he know that this would translate into the loss of human lives and not just other people but his own family members. The history professor from the University of Toronto vividly recalls as one after another of his family members were lost to the Second World War.
It all began with his younger and more energetic brothers and cousins who were forcibly recruited into the on-going war. Because of lack of military experience, they were easily taken down at the first shootout. Other people were lost through imprisonment, brutal murder and displacement.
The most painful part of it is when the author’s home was raided by armed soldiers who then killed almost everyone including those that were too weak to fight back in retaliation. The seriousness of the situation is brought out when the author narrates how he narrowly survived the whole tragic period.
Any reader would agree with the writer that it is through a series of luck that the author of the book was able to live till the end of the Second World War. The book therefore serves as the most appropriate outlet of Modris Eksteins’ tormenting experiences and thoughts. In writing this book, the author hoped to get rid of the nightmares and wild dreams that had never ceased tormenting him ever since that tormenting fateful war.
Hour Zero
It was almost unbelievable that after what seemed like an everlasting storm, there suddenly came a period of total silence, hour zero2. With Hitler’s death, it was the conviction of every mind to recollect on the ugly experiences of that war.
Although almost everything had been turned into heaps of smouldering rubble, the very thought of peace at last was overwhelming, especially due to the high level of insecurity and turmoil that had rocked the Baltic nations. It was a time to rebuild what had so far been lost. It was also a time for getting rid of the experiences and building a new life that won’t be ruined by the effects of war ever again.
Key Themes
In this book, Modris Eksteins tactfully includes key themes that are the heart of this century’s political world. These themes include totalitarianism, self-determination, fanaticism and war. The author keenly looks into each of these themes and their effect on the war and its outcome.
The reader does not miss to get the role that such factors played in the cause, propulsion and even the stoppage of the war. The author’s story is one that appraises the great values in society that lead to liberation and disregards some of the traits that are likely to lead to a repeat of the Second World War.
It is indeed true that the author of this book portrays life in the Baltic nations and the troubles their citizens had to go through during the Second World War. All this is evident in a statement the author makes at the beginning of the story when he describes the whole situation as “images of civilization in ruins.”
The heartrending experiences that the Baltic republics went through because of their positioning between Russia and German are emphasized throughout the story. The nationals of these republics suffered continuous abuse from these two nations which were superior to them3.
Shortcomings Of The Book
Modris Eksteins’ maternal great grandmother, Grieta Pluta, is the main focus in the whole book because she is mentioned on virtually every page of the book. The main subject of discussion about Grieta Pluta is her involvement with the aristocratic German baron.
However, one shortcoming of the book is the thoughts and speculations that Modris Eksteins has concerning his great grandmother. Although they never met, it is quite strange and unexpected that the author goes ahead to draw conclusions about her basing on the German baron’s obsession with her.
This could be misleading because the author never had the chance to know his great grandmother on a personal basis. The second shortcoming of the book is its lack of organisation. It is not clear whether it discusses the author’s autobiography, the Second World War or the history of the Baltic republics. It simply intermingles these three into the text at the same time.
Latvia
One of the things that the book successfully puts across is the way of life of the citizens of Latvia. This is where the author was born. The book focuses on a brief history of the same. It tells of the struggle of the author, his family and other countless people in a bid to survive those trying moments during the Second World War.
Latvia is first brought into context with the mention of Grieta Pluta, the author’s great grandmother. She was also a native of Latvia before she moved to work for the German baron who then became her husband. The author inherited the aristocratic blood of the German baron when one of the couple’s daughters got married to one of the Eksteins.
Summary
After a critical analysis of the book Walking Since Daybreak: A story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of our Century by Modris Eksteins, the position of the writer of this essay has not changed. Although the book may contain a number of flaws, it is still the best resource for the history of the Baltic republics and the Second World War.
It can also be helpful to those who want to get a glimpse of the author’s biography. It also exposes the tragic circumstances that the author, his family and other people went through during the Second World War.
Conclusion
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that Modris Eksteins’ book is an expansive historical account of the lives of the citizens of the Baltic republics as well as their tragedies during the Second World War. Most specific, though, is the author’s biographical account which is dominated by thoughts of his great grandmother, Grieta Pluta.
The book also presents an insight into the culture and history of the author’s birthplace and hometown, Latvia. In addition to that, it is also clear from the above critical analysis of the book that there are many untold stories of the victims of the Second World War, especially the Jews.
Reference List
Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War. London: Phoenix, 2009.
Jardine, Bayne. World War Two. Harlow: Longman, 1968.
Keegan, Jerry. The Second World War. London: Penguin, 1989.
Footnotes
1 Martin Gilbert, The Second World War (London: Phoenix, 2009), 31.
2 Bayne Jardine, World War Two (Harlow: Longman, 1968), 201.
3Jerry Keegan, The Second World War (London: Penguin, 1989), 13.
It is clear to modern people, as well as many people who lived in the 1930s, that the Second World War was inevitable. Some believe that the United States of America could prevent the outbreak of the war. However, this could hardly be possible due to several reasons. The American government maintained an isolationist foreign policy in the 1930s. The period was challenging as all countries had to address severe economic issues (Corbett et al., 2021). Americans wanted to concentrate on domestic matters, including a threatening spread of communist ideas (Russett, 2019). It is noteworthy that the USA could hardly interfere and have a considerable impact on European affairs due to the country’s comparatively low economic might. The United States was not a financial leader at that period, so its influence was limited.
Moreover, the USA alone could not prevent the world war because it was outbroken as a result of the clash between European countries. The outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles laid the ground for the new war, as almost all stakeholders were dissatisfied. Germany accumulated resources and developed alliances with other dictatorships, so any country could not play a decisive role in this conflict. No nation could prevent the start of the new war as the regimes that emerged in Europe (the communist USSR, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy) were likely to start a new military conflict that would inevitably grow into a world war. Therefore, it is possible to assume that the USA could not have prevented the start of the Second World War even if the American government had abandoned its isolationist foreign policy. At that, the country made a tremendous contribution to stopping the war and establishing a new world order.
References
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, T., & Vickery, P. (2021). U. S. history. OpenStax College.
Russett, B. M. (2019). No clear and present danger. Routledge.