Marxism-Socialism in Germany in the 1890s and Communism in the USSR after the Revolution
Marxism and eventually Socialism as ideologies are based on the ideas of Karl Marx about the opportunity to live in the society that will not be dependent on the laws of the economy in terms of the distribution of goods and services within it. In other words, Marx dreamt about the moment when people would abandon the free market concept and provide the state with the power to plan the economy and, thus, the distribution of everything (Todd and Waller 67).
The ideology presupposed the elimination of the institution of the market as it had led, according to Marx, to the erosion of society and its segregation. He wanted all people to live as equals.
Communism, as the continuation of Marx’s and Engels’ ideology, presented the idea of the society without government. While Socialism had the concept of the government planning of literally everything, Communism had the goal to create the society in which all people would be equal, in all meanings, and there would be no government at all. Marxism-Socialism was based on the ideas of Marx, but it was implemented in its non-radical form in Germany (Todd and Waller 78). Socialists believed that a planned economy would save the country from the issues brought by Capitalism, such as corruption, for example. Communists went far and abolished private ownership, nationalizing property of businesspeople of that time.
The philosophy of Marx, in its pure form, should have made the world better. The idea of work for the greater good of all humanity but not for the sake of one’s interests is great but hardly realizable. People are lazy and corrupt. Instead of making the world better, Communism had brought decades of terror and suffering (Todd and Waller 90). The ideologies of equalizing cannot bring good to the society where they flourish, as all people are different, and they will never have equal opportunities. It is against the laws of nature where the strongest (the smartest) survives.
Power Acquisition
Germany has always been the source of instability in Europe, considering the territorial acquisitions in the 19th century and two World Wars in the 20th. The German Empire and efforts of Otto for Bismarck to reshape Europe of the late 19th century, World War I, and World War II can be named as the most obvious examples of efforts of one great power to acquire power throughout modern history.
Thus, in 1870, the war with the French Empire started due to Bismarck’s efforts to increase the territories of the German Empire (Findley and Rothney 23). He was supported in this war by the King of Prussia, whose territories had been added a few years earlier by Schleswig, Hanover, and several other lands during the Seven Weeks War of 1866. The war of 1870 resulted in peace with the French Empire that paid 5,000,000,000 francs and agreed with the fact of occupying the territories of Alsace and Lorraine (Tignor et al. 260). World War I was initiated by Germany to acquire the new territories and gain more influence in the region.
Despite the failure, Germany remained one of the most powerful players in the European geopolitical arena. Finally, the ambitions of revanchists and Hitler’s desire to conquer the world had led to the start of World War II. It ended with the tremendous failure of Germany, but eventually, it regained its power. It has the most powerful economy in the European Union today.
These power-acquiring efforts cannot be considered as such that made Europe safer. Germany managed to bring chaos to Europe several times, and two of these cases ended with the global conflict. The German Empires were created by force and ended because of the different forms of resistance that emerged later.
Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente
Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente is not the balance of power situation. World War I started because of the misbalance between the power of Entente and Alliance. The growing power of Germany forced the Entente members to unite. It was the time of the rise of the German Empire in the European arena, including economy and military growth. Considering the recent events that took place in the history of the German Empire, Triple Entente had to join forces (economic, political, and military) to withstand the upcoming threat of the new war (Todd and Waller 45).
The balance of power factors does not apply here because the alliance of Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy were less powerful than the union of the Russian Empire, France, and Great Britain. It had caused the increasing tension between the Alliance and Entente. Additionally, the geographic location of the Alliance members and Entente participants were advantageous for Russia, France, and Great Britain (Todd and Waller 50). Therefore, it had inevitably caused the war.
The End of the Cold War
The USSR and the USA were the major participants of the Cold War that lasted from 1947 to the beginning of the 1990s when the Soviet Union had collapsed. The reasons were rather diverse, starting from the decentralization revolutions ignited in the European part of the USSR to the low oil prices on the global market and the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. However, the major reasons were the conflict in Afghanistan, the arms race with the USA, and the fact of the USSR’s collapse (Duncan, Jancar-Webster, and Switky 140).
The conflict in Afghanistan had started in 1979 and became a heavy burden for the economy of the Soviet Union. The US achievements in the development of the new military technologies had caused even more expenditure for military needs. Thus, the country had to spend about 50% of its GDP to cover the needs of the military (Nye par. 4). Finally, the process of the reforms called “Perestroika” initiated by Gorbachev and the increasing influence of the decentralizing trends in the Soviet republics had led to the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.
The Collapse of the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic was replaced by the ruling of Hitler and the rise of the Nazis for a reason. Despite the slowly recovering economy and overall improvement of the situation in Germany of the 1920s, the democracy was new to Germans. Later, it was considered as the weakness of the country when French soldiers occupied Ruhr, hyperinflation hit the population, and some states of Germany decided to become separate and independent (Todd and Waller 45; Spielvogel and Redles 124).
Hitler, of course, became the strong national leader who had the support of the Army and who was able to hold the situation in Germany under the strict control. The following examples can be used to support the argumentation. Democracy had failed to be effective. The Treaty of Versailles was considered by the majority of the Germans as weakness. The middle class suffered from the inflation the most. The number of political parties was overwhelming for the regular people.
Hitler had the strong support of the anti-Communists, the representatives of the industrial circles, and the regular people. People of Germany had hopes that the Nazis would improve the situation. Hitler was a very charismatic leader and speaker. Germans needed a revanche after World War I (Todd and Waller 46). Finally, the world’s economy depression required strong stimulus for the renewal and Hitler had provided it.
M.A.N.I.: World War 2
M.A.N.I.A. stands for militarism, alliances, nationalism, imperialism, and assassination. It fits perfectly the causes of World War I, but the assassination in the case of World War II is not appropriate to be used. Therefore, only militarism, alliances, nationalism, and imperialism are explored in terms of their relevance to the explaining of the causes of World War II (Spielvogel and Redles 160). Militarism was the highest note of the rhetoric of Hitler’s party and himself.
They wanted to use the power of arms to restore the justice after the humiliating signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Alliances were necessary to Hitler to restore economy as soon as possible, and the Soviet Union became one of the most reliable partners in this situation. Nationalism was tremendously high, considering the new ideology of the superior race of Aries. All other people were considered as unworthy of their lands, at the minimum.
It was one of the most powerful aspects of the German propaganda aimed at its own people to justify the war. Finally, imperialism had always been the fixation of the German rulers, starting from the middle ages, so the actions of Hitler, who saw the Roman Empire as the example were influenced by the imperial ambitions as well.
Works Cited
Duncan, W. Raymond, Barbara Jancar-Webster, and Bob Switky. World Politics in the 21st Century: Student Choice Edition. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Findley, Carter and John Rothney. Twentieth-Century World. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Nye, Joseph. “Who Caused the End of the Cold War?” The World Post. 2011. Web.
Spielvogel, Jackson, and David Redles. Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History. London: Pearson, 2014. Print.
Tignor, Robert et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.
Todd, Alan, and Sally Waller. History for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.