Introduction: End of WWI, Its Effects, and the Advent of the WWII
The WWI–WWII era provides a plethora of food for thoughts. The unceasing conflict that was tearing the world asunder has had its mark on a range of states, teaching an essential lesson about the significance of negotiation, mutual understanding, and the concept of power. Although maintaining unceasing world peace is barely possible, one must strive toward reducing the duration and magnitude of conflicts to their minimum by carrying out a detailed analysis of the sociocultural, economic and political factors that spur it.
Short Summary: The Power Acquisition That Strikes Terror
The fragmented polity of Germany can be viewed as the primary cause of the right-wing activists to seize power after the Weimar Republic collapsed. The air of disappointment that engulfed the entire state created premises for drastic actions. The support that Weimar parties used to enjoy finally shriveled as both right and left members try to seize power.
Coupled with the economic downfall, the political crisis served as the premise for the development of an economic depression. The numerous humiliating reparation payments, though slightly improved with the 1924–1929 stability period, was immediately followed by a 1929–1933 economic catastrophe caused by the U.S. stock market crash, thus, putting extremist parties at the helm. As a result, NSDAP gained large political power (Bendersky 40).
Looking back at the events, one must admit that the Nazi party taking leadership was hardly explainable. One might claim that its causes are seated deeply in the German culture (e.g., assertiveness and authoritarianism), Hitler’s skill of a public speaker, etc. (Kershaw 37-42). However, the exact list of factors that determined the development of Nazism is yet to be defined (Cole and Coffman 130).
Personal Thoughts: The Way the Modern German History Started
Power Acquisition and the Related Issues
Identifying the reasons for the WWII conflict to erupt and, more importantly, the Nazi ideology to take Germany by storm, one must mention that the losses taken at the end of WWI and the subsequent humiliation caused by reparations should be viewed as the primary factors. Although other reasons are also identified, the power aspect is typically isolated as the primary one.
Ideology and Its Effects: How Dictatorships Are Made
Apart from showcasing the threat of a political imbalance and the conflict of powers in the context of the global economy, a brief analysis of the WWI and WWII-related factors will show that the power of an authoritative ideology is not to be underrated. While evidently manipulative, it may be taken at face value by the representatives of the state that has been under consistent economic, social, or financial oppression.
More importantly, a detailed analysis of the WWI and especially WWII experience will reveal that developing resistance towards an authoritative ideology is excruciatingly hard, especially when it is strongly supported by the majority of the population. The so-called “Gleichschaltung control” (Epstein 45), which is viewed as the improvement measure yet which systematically abuses people’s rights, serves as the primary example of why dictatorship-based ideologies must be blocked from having any speck of influence in the society.
Implications for the Further Development
The process of addressing the deeply seated conflicts within a particular state, therefore, must be carried out with maximum caution and a good understanding of the cultural, political, and economic environment thereof. A closer look at the events that preceded the WWII shows that there was a possibility of preventing the Nazi movement from seizing Germany. However, the choices made in the process and the emphasis that was put on the reparations that Germany was supposed to pay to the Triple Entente countries triggered an immediate development of radical movements within the state (Laos 142).
Conclusion: A Retrospect into the Era of Global Conflicts
Both WWI and WWII are rightfully viewed as some of the most tragic events of the world history, and these opinions are supported for good reasons. One must admit that the conflicts mentioned above, however, serve as the premises for developing a better understanding of the way, in which global conflicts emerge and evolve. While admittedly catastrophic and worth remembering as the experiences that are not to be repeated ever again, they still should be scrutinized in order to learn more about the risk factors that the global environment conceals.
Learning more about the way, in which cultural, economic, and political factors are related to each other in the context of both global and local environments, one will be able to create the realm, in which the emergent issues can be addressed in a peaceful and reasonable manner. While eliminating every single conflict as a phenomenon is practically impossible, a detailed overview of the past experiences will permit preventing it from escalating and, therefore, will help nip it in the bud by developing the negotiation strategy that will help adders it successfully (Bhopal 176). As soon as an efficient strategy to resolve global conflicts is created, the possibility of repeating the tragic experience will be reduced.
Works Cited
Bendersky, Joseph W. A Concise History of Nazi Germany. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013. Print.
Bhopal, Raj S. Migration, Ethnicity, Race, and Health in Multicultural Societies. Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford, 2013. Print.
Cole, Henry, and Edward M. Coffman. Exposing the Third Reich: Colonel Truman Smith in Hitler’s Germany. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. Print.
Epstein, Catherine A. Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2015. Print.
Kershaw, Ian. Hitler. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Laos, Nicolas. The Metaphysics of World Order: A Synthesis of Philosophy, Theology, and Politics. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015.Print.