World History Spring 2018

I thought this chapter was interesting because it totally contradicted my preconceived notions about communism. Prior to understanding the roots of communism, I thought of it as a very rigid society centered around solely giving power and authority to the people at the very top. My only real knowledge of communism was based on China’s communist policies and that too was largely based on the One Child Policy China had adopted years ago as a means of population control.   I was surprised to learn that communism is actually rooted in Marx’s ideas designed around distributing power more equally. In fact, Strayer describes Marx communism as “a final stage of historical development when social equality and collective living would be most fully developed, largely without private property” (930). Interestingly, communism seems to almost be a polar opposite from the fascism that had been trendy in the early 1900s. It minimized nationalism and focused on bringing equality to ever...

Sickening to read Hitler’s speech on the Nuremberg Laws. An extract of the speech reveals how he thought that the Jewish people were intolerable and causing the German people challenges. He said. “it may be possible still to create a level ground on which the German people may find a tolerable relation towards the Jewish people.” This goes to show how deeply engrained the fascist mentality had become, and how deeply this feeling of “us” against the “other” was at the core of Hitler’s campaign. We see hints of this today with our current President, and his views on Mexican immigrants to the United States… Reading the actual laws were disturbing. They forbid Jews and Germans from marrying one another and even offered punishments of hard labour to those who broke these rules. What’s heartbreaking is that most German people blindly followed the rules, because they assumed their leader had their best interest. These laws also threatened sterilization to anyone who suffered from ...

I thought it was interesting how Strayer describes the First World War as starting in Europe but provoking a series of “echoes” in other countries. He references the war as “a European civil war with a global reach” (881) and mentions the way the war prompted a global culture of communism. This was interesting because it reminded me of the Eurocentrism we studied and made me reflect on how Eurocentrism remained such an important concept (and arguably still is today, with countries like Britain remaining powerful in the global marketplace).   It was also interesting because from the reading I could sense Germany’s desire to become a strong world power. Strayer also mentions this when he talks about how Germany was desperately seeking its “place in the sun” (882). These are the early hints of WWII in the making.   I found our conversation in class particularly thought provoking, especially when we discussed how hints of fascism can be seen in our society today....

I didn’t know that the Industrial Revolution was as world changing as Strayer paints it out to be. I also didn’t know that it spread much quicker than agriculture did. One of the sentences that summarized the importance of the Industrial Revolution was when Strayer wrote, “ In broad terms, the Industrial Revolution marks a human response to that dilemma as nonrenewable fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas replaced the endlessly renewable energy sources of wind, water, wood and the muscle power of people and animals” (738).   It was also interesting to see that there was awareness of environmental impact even in the 1700s. Of course, this environmental impact has only gotten drastically worse, and the awareness has risen dramatically but in a way, it’s a bit heartbreaking to see that despite the 300 years of awareness, the earth continues to suffer as a result of mankind’s irreverence. It makes sense that historians then named this era the Anthropocene, because it b...

The first document depicts three seemingly upper class men seated around a table eating and drinking. The picture is titled “The Reunion of the Three Estates.” One man is dressed in black robes, presumably intended to depict the clergy. Another is dressed in more regal clothing in all of the national French colors. Lastly, we see a man dressed simply, representing the commoners. The document actually is describing a brief moment in French history when there was an unrealistic belief that perhaps all three groups could get along peacefully and easily. The drawing makes me feel a certain level of sadness. It’s so beautiful that they thought it was once realistic for the three estates to get along so seamlessly, and it’s also applicable today to the way the 1% of highest earning individuals control so much of American wealth. The second picture depicts more of what actually happened. It shows the commoner pictured laying on the ground, FINALLY breaking out of the shackles with which...

It was super interesting to learn that one of the huge imperial advantages for the Europeans was that the winds blew towards the Americas, where they were hoping to expand. Contrary to this, in Asia the winds were unpredictable especially because of the monsoons that came from the Indian Ocean, which made Asian imperialism much more of a challenge. Also was surprised to learn that Asia was not very motivated to expand as their markets were so diverse and rich that they were content with where they were! Totally contrasts what was going on in Europe at the time. It only logically made sense then that the Europeans looked for direct access to the wealth and prosperity that was in Asia.   I love that Strayer consistently makes it a point to reference what the minorities were doing at every period in time, in every chapter. He mentions in this chapter that many persecuted minorities saw the conquering of the Americas as an amazing opportunity to start a new life and to become wea...