World Wars-Blog 7

Reading through chapters 19-21 and specifically chapter 20, which mostly talks about World War I, II the Holocust, Hiroshima etc.., made me wonder if the history of wars is repeating itself today?  In many places in the world today yes there is still fighting and killing going on as well as other wars such as political, economic, cultural, equality, homosexuality and racism still going on even here in the United States. I spent all my childhood years living in a country filled with civil war horrors, lived with uncertainty every single day wondering whether my family and I will be alive the next day, find food to eat or even go back to school some day.  Those readings brought back memories of pain and suffering of human beings who lived and survived genocides, wars, holocaust etc..  Wouldn't it be nice to wake up one day and find out that this world we are living in is all peaceful now: free of racism, prejudice, wars, genocide and so on.

As we look back to the world history we want hope to look out from the eyes of despair.  There is so much pain and injustice in our world, that in every civilization’s history, we don’t want to live without hope.  Throughout the history of humanity, we somehow had the ability to live and survive through wars, create economic development through a recession, turn murdering war sites into memorial of reminders for a need for peace.  Looking at the great depression which was the time when economic development and fiscal innovation was really necessary to change the pace of a great failure of the current system.  World War I had ended and the social-economic situation was poor, depressed, with the burden of hunger, joblessness and stagnation into Europe and America.  When the stock market crash happened and most money makers lost their ambition and there was a profound sense of hopeless.  What did President Franklin D. Roosevelt do?  He put a team of people together to create jobs, economic development into the nation and instilled hope among the people.  He said: “We respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live” (Strayer p.915).  This role of government spending to influence the market and progress of development in our nation continues today with loans to farmers, social welfare programs and most important, economic stimulation and other help for the homeless, elderly, disabled and war veterans.    

Many important figures came and gone through the world history leaving their track marks on the society and the people who survived the tragedies and abuse.  Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party (1889-1945) (Strayer 2009), for example, was a perfect example of a powerful, highly intelligent, and extremely manipulating dictator that used the Nazi party as tools in his disturbing goal. Part of his propaganda from day one was to allow the Jews and the world to think he had a plan to put them on an island, and/ or, they could still remain in Germany and Europe peacefully under the Fascism.  His goal was to make Germany a pure race, and to conquer the world. Hitler's goal was power over Europe and he believed the extermination of all Jews and a variety of other not perfect Germans would solve the problems.  What mistake did the six million innocent Jews do to deserve death?  Is this just?

Chapter 21, talks about the rise and fall of world communism, and what I found interesting was the reading about the “Communist Feminism”.  Strayer talks about women’s liberation in the West as well as in the Soviet Union in Pre-World War I Russian where it was “declared full legal and political equality for women; marriage became a civil procedure among freely consenting adults; divorce was legalized and made easier; as was abortion; illegitimacy was abolished; women no longer had to take their husband’s surnames; pregnancy leave for employed women was mandated; and women were actively mobilized as workers in the country’s drive to industrialization” (Strayer p. 940).  This was great accomplishment for women as before they were not able to do many things that they wanted to do.  These privileges of course were adopted in the West granting women the freedom they deserve and of course today we still have a lot to do to seek for many other privileges we still lack such as equal pay.  It is difficult for me to imagine now living in today’s world and not having all these rights.  My heart goes to all the women who lived through the history facing tragedies, suffering and lack of freedom and human equal rights.