Communists and Nationalists in China
Japan had a strong hand in the formation of nationalism and communism in China. During WWI Japan had managed to capture Shandong province. Several other regions of China including Manchuria and some parts of Mongolia remained under the Japanese control. This was attributed to the Twenty-One Demands. China’s unsuccessful war against Germany later made them resort to accepting the Japanese stipulations. Therefore, they accepted to offer Shandong Province to Japan during the Paris Conference of 1919.
When the signing of the pact between China and Japan became public, several people including students and politicians staged demonstrations that eventually resulted into the formation of the Guomindang under Sun Yat-Sen. Not being recognized by the West, he sought assistance from the Soviets who resorted to assist both Sun and the CCP Party. The main target of the Soviet was to ensure that the two parties merged. After the death of Sun, Chiang Kai-Shek, who had been trained in Moscow continued the Nationalist movement and conquered half of China in 1925.
Due to frictions between Guomindang and CCP, there was a split in 1926. This split resulted into three distinct capitals within China which were the internationally valid one in Beijing, the Guomindang capital in Wuhan and the CCP capital in Nanjing. By 1927, the CCP and the communists had experienced a complete failure. The power rested in the hands of the nationalists. Progress was witnessed during the reign of the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek.
What brought the Communists to power was the revival of the power of the peasantry through Mao Zedong. Despite his failure during the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Zedong continued with his mobilizing of civilians until he formed his headquarters at Jiangxi. Zedong’s final effort that promoted his communist movement in China came when he became the head of the CCP party and organized the Long March of the Red Army that saw communism and Zedong acquire publicity. The March amassed followers to communism from 11 Chinese provinces after a 12,500 kilometer walk and crossing of 24 rivers. By the end of the mobilization, communism was the most popular movement in China.
Friction between Japan and the US
During the ensuing war, Japanese fatal decisions led them into total conflict with the United States which had decided to abandon its policy of non-participation. To begin with, the Japanese had coercively acquired Indochina form Vincy France. Also, fearing a likely attack from the UUSR, the Japanese had resorted to signing a neutrality treaty with this country for their safety. Another fatal decision from Japan was their decision to further extend their territory further south. This led them into an occupation over Southern Indochina.
None of these decisions had augured well with the US and Britain. To begin with, the US had frozen their supply of steel, gasoline and iron to Japan after the attack on northern Indochina. Later, the decision by Japan to extend their occupation to Southern Indochina led to the freezing of all assets that belonged to Japan. This meant that Japan would not access oil and hence their military powers would be contained. These games of decision making and retaliation led to the bombing of the Pearl Harbor.
To begin with, the US’ decision to deprive Japan of access to oil made Japan decide to come up with the only way that would allow them conquer the regions they wanted and at the same time have access to oil. On the other side, the US was against this. They demanded Japan’s withdrawal from the China regions. Japan having set a deadline and an attack plan to surprise the US, war was inevitable. Though the US was expecting an attack, Japanese two hour destruction of the Navy base at Pearl Harbor was a surprise. A total of eight battle ships were destroyed. This led to America’s declaration of war. Immediately, the Germans and the Italians also declared war against the US.
Japan continued to increase their territory immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It took into possession several regions that were initially occupied by the US and its allies. However, US were able to read their codes hence blocking Japan from occupying Port Moresby during the battle of the Coral Sea. After this, Japan was planning another surprise attack on the US marines under the commandership of Yamamoto Isoroko. To their surprise, Chester Nimitz who had assumed command at Pearl Harbor had read their radio. As a result, the Japanese fleet of nine battleships and backed up by four careers was attacked and three of them were destroyed. Henceforth, the Japanese military force was weakened.
World II: The world’s greatest catastrophe
The Second World War is identified as the largest catastrophe that has ever existed since civilization of humankind. To understand the truth behind these allegations, different perspectives can be assumed. To begin with, the intensity of the war can be examined from the number of deaths, the total amount of money used to facilitate the war, the vastness of the region of participation and the physical losses that were experienced during the war.
Taking the number of deaths’ approach, studies point out that the Second World War accounted for a total of 50 million deaths. Sadly, half of this population was comprised of civilians. However, most recent studies show that between 64 and 78 million people is true number of deaths experienced during the war.
Considering the expanse of the region of participation, studies point out that the Second World War involved all the Oceans of the planet earth. The navies of different countries used the oceans to implement their strategies. Considering the amount of money used, the Second World War still stands out as one of the global events that cost the planet the largest amount of money to facilitate. Studies show that the sum of money used, if measured from the current value of the dollar, is estimated to have involved several trillions that were used to facilitate the movements of the 100 million or more military personnel.
Why Sadat went to war with Israel
In October 1973, President Sadat’s troops waited patiently by the Suez Canal’s west bank fro orders from the president to march in and recapture the Arab territories that had been forcibly taken by Israel during the 1967 war. One question can be asked, however. Why did President Sadat decide to wage a war with Israel which was stronger than Egypt military-wise? To answer this question, one has to understand the prior conditions that had marked the relationship between Israel and Egypt.
To begin with, the Arab countries under the leadership of Egypt had gone to war with Israel in 1967 had been defeated terribly. This war had several implications. It changed the status quo of power in the Middle East giving Israel an upper hand. Secondly, it had resulted into Israeli’s occupation of the initially Arab regions of Golan Heights and the Sinai, and thirdly, it implicated negatively on the image of Egypt on the world plat form and the Arab eyes that had looked at it as the leader.
Sadat’s war against Israel was not intended for victory. It was only intended to reverse the mentioned effects of the 1967 war. To recapture the occupied regions from Israel, to reinstate the good image of Egypt, revert to the pre-1967 status quo of power and above all, Sadat wanted to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict by the assistance of the super powers. By doing going to war, he was sure that he would attract the attention of the super powers who would hasten the progress in solving the conflict. And the end of the war, much was not achieved. However, the most important achievement was that the attention of the US was gained. It got involved in the resolving of the Arab Israeli conflict.
Later, the Arabs felt that Sadat was a traitor who sold their people. He lost popularity, a factor that led him into misuse of power in his final years of rule. Eventually, he was assassinated by Al Jihad movement members while commemorating the October war.
Gorbachev’s policies and Reagan’s policies and their role in the disintegration of the Soviet Union
To a great extent, the policies by Gorbachev and those by the then US President Ronald Reagan contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It is evident that the Soviet Union was among the most stable economies of the world. Its industrial capabilities were unmatched. In addition, their military was strong and powerful. Agriculture prospered in collectivity while education prospered with a massive production of engineers and scientists. In the fifties and sixties, rocketry in the Union was advanced and finally, natural resources abounded.
However, its economy started experiencing turmoil during the leadership of Brezhnev. By the time Gorbachev came to power, the economy was in shambles. Trying to come up with ways of redemption, he enacted rules that caused a misbalance in the trade of alcohol, imposed rules on industries that impeded their production, reduced rate of importing goods for consumers owing to the reduction in oil exports causing the consumers to have nothing to buy, had little emphasis on monetary policies hence allowing money to be printed uncontrollably this resulting into increased inflation and above all, his open policies that allowed for diplomacy with capitalists.
Given the open policies, Gorbachev allowed himself to enter into an arms deal with Ronald Reagan. The policies within the deal involved the reduction of spending on the military. As a result, the Soviet military was greatly weakened while the US military was being strongly armed. It is therefore true that the arms deal policies by Reagan and the strengthened relationship between the two countries led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This is because the constituent republics lacked confidence in the weakened army and thought that they could manage their economies outside the Union.
Works Cited
Alterman, Jon. (ed). Sadat and his Legacy: Egypt and the World, 1977-1997. 1998. Web.
Country Studies. Nationalism and Communism. n.d. Web.
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. World War II. 2006. Web.
Samples, Kenneth. World War II: The Greatest Catastrophe in History. 2009. Web.
Smitha, Frank. The Soviet Union Disintegrates. Macrohistory and World Report. 2002. Web.