MODERN WORLD IN TRANSITION

MODERN WORLD IN TRANSITION IV Semester CORE COURSE

BA HISTORY (2011 Admission onwards)

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

Calicut University P.O. Malappuram, Kerala, India 673 635

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UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION STUDY MATERIAL

Core Course BA HISTORY IV Semester

MODERN WORLD IN TRANSITION Prepared & Scrutinized by: Dr. N Padmanabhan, Associate Professor , PG Department of History, C.A.S. College, Madayi, P.O. Payangadi, Kannur – 670 358. Layout:

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CONTENTS UNIT I

CHALLENGES AGAINST OLD ORDER IN EUROPE

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II INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM AND THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS

25-55

III STRUGGLES FOR DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY

56-82

IV TWENTIETH CENTURY-WARS AND INSTITUTIONS OF PEACE

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UNIT-I CHALLENGES AGAINST OLD ORDER IN EUROPE THE RENAISSANCE The Renaissance, a movement which stressed the ideas of the classical world, has been described as ending the medieval era and heralding the start of the modern age. The word “Renaissance” means the revival or rebirth of the freedom loving, adventurous thought of man. It was an intellectual, artistic and scientific movement which widened the mental horizon of man. During the Middle Ages faith dominated over Reason and consequently there was no intellectual freedom. The Renaissance produced a new spirit of creativity and rationalism and the scholars began to study Greek and Latin classics. They also admired, copied and drew inspiration from the Greek art, architecture and sculpture. The revival of learning was not merely a mechanical return to the classics of Rome and Greece; it involved rather a fresh application of Greek methods of thought to the problems of the Universe Combined with a new respect for scientific truth and accuracy. In fact the Renaissance called upon the people to make a rational approach and attitude of the study of literature, science and art instead of a religious and dogmatic approach. In this report, Renaissance was like a bridge between the middle Ages and the Modern Age in Europe. Causes of the Renaissance. A great movement in history cannot be traced to a single, isolated incident. On the other hand it is the cumulative effect of a variety of causes. 1. Original Thinkers. Original Thinking and the critical spirit of enquiry made Abelard, Roger Bacon and Thomas Aquinas as the harbingers of the Renaissance. The Original Thinkers revolutionized thought and action even in the middle Ages. Thomas Aquinas once said that “the prime author and mover of the Universe is intelligence”.Roger Bacon openly criticized the incorrect attitude of the church for which he was in prison for 10 years. He boldly said that “If I had my way, I should burn all books of Aristotle” for the study of them “is a loss of time” and it “increases ignorance”. 2. The Crusades. The crusades, the war between the cross and the crescent brought the Europeans of the Dark Ages into contact with the highly developed cultural of the Orient. Though the crusades failed in their primary objectives, they changed the course of European history. It destroyed the blind faith, stirred the imagination of the people and made them search for things outside the church. 3. Decline of Feudalism. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The decline of the Socio-Political institution – Feudalism gave a great relief to the farmers, traders and craftsmen and developed in them spirit or Renaissance. Similarly the establishment of the free and flourishing towns and the rise of the middle class, with the decline of feudalism, also helped the Renaissance Movement.The cities became the centers of art and learning under the encouragement of the middle class. They also took the initiative to establish educational institutions with the primary object of imparting education to their kith and kins. 4. The Geographical Discoveries. The geographical explorations created a spirit of adventure and broadened the mental outlook of the Europeans. The contact with the people of Asia and not only gave them the valuable spices and other oriental commodities but also influenced them to give up their blind faith and to think and act freely and fearlessly. 5. Printing Press. Before the invention of the Printing Press, Knowledge was the privilege of the wealthy people. The handwritten books were very rare and were beyond the reach of the common people Printing helped to multiply the number of books and put them within the reach of the common man. 6. The Capture of Constantinople by the Turks. In 1453, Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Roman Empire was captured by the Turks. It was a great centre of Greek and Roman cultures and a large number of scholars with original manuscripts. Since the Turks did not have the liberal out look and tolerance of the Arabs, many Greek scholars fled to Europe, seeking shelter. Many of them went to Italy with their original manuscripts. The fall of Constantinople was a blessing in disguise for the Europeans in general and Italians in particular. It has been remarked that “Greece has not fallen; she has migrated to Italy”. 7. Spread of Education. The outlook of the Europeans actually began to change in the latter half of the middle Ages with the spread of education. The large number of Cathedral schools and the Universities of Paris, Bologna, Oxford and Cambridge created an atmosphere of thinking and learning. It awakened the curiosity of the people, liberalized their minds and changed the medieval attitude of unquestioned obedience of Pope and king. 8. The above factors together with the weakening power of the church, was responsible for Renaissance. Hither to clergy monopolized everything, from the personal life of man to the activities of the Government. But now, people began to criticize the church, the priests and the old and out dated beliefs. IDEOLOGY OF HUMANISM Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Humanism means a systematic study of man. To the classical scholars of ancient Greece and Rome man was the centre of study. But in the middle Ages, theology became the centre of learning and education. Renaissance brought about a transition from the religious approach to the humanistic approach to the problems of the world. The writers believed that “the proper study of mankind is man”. Unlike the Medieval scholars the new scholars became more interested in this world than in the other world; the subject of their studies was humanities and not theology. The Renaissance literature gave more emphasis to secularism and individualism than theology and scholasticism. Origin of Renaissance in Italy. Prof.H.A.L.Fisher observed that “During the 200 years (1340-1540 A.D.) the cities of Italy produced an out-put of art, scholarship and literature such as the world has not seen since the glory of Ancient Athens”. Renaissance initially started in Italy and then spread to other countries of Europe. A variety of factors were responsible for it. 1. The ancient Roman civilization has never died out in Italy for much of the Latin literature was preserved in monasteries and many of the ancient buildings. 2. The rulers of the city states were patrons of art and literature of the new type (e.g. Casino Medici and Lorenzo Medici). 3. When Constantinople was captured by Turks most of the Greek scholars migrated to Italy and they reacted against medievalism in literature and arts. 4. The Italian cities like Venice, Milan and Florence were rich and prosperous due to trade with the East. The wealthy middle class adopted a secular attitude of life and encouraged learning and art. The wealth and autonomy in the Italian cities provided the fertile soil in which the seeds of Renaissance flourished. Florence actually came to be known as the “Athens of Italy”. 5. It is also worth mentioning that some of the Popes like Nicholas V. Julius II and Leo X championed the cause of Renaissance by patronizing scholars and artists. Renaissance in Literature The Renaissance literature was about man and everything connected with man (humanism) and it was written in the languages of the common people. Rise and growth of new languages and their literature like Italian, English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. Machiavelli was the great political writer of Italy and his work ‘The Prince’ written in Italian served as guide for the rulers. Dante was called “the Morning star of Renaissance” whose ‘Divine Comedy’ is an epic poem and reveals human love, love of the country and a desire for a free and united Italian nation. The works of Petrarch who has been called the Father of Humanism made Italy supreme in Renaissance literature. They dealt with the economic, social and political aspects of man’s life. Petrarch broke the monopoly of Latin and wrote his world famous love sonnets to “Laura” in Italian language. Thomas Moore wrote ‘Utopia’ in Latin and it contained the criticism of the society and government of the day. Boccaccio (1313-1375) was the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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“Father of Italian Prose” and his greatest master piece was ‘De-Cameron’, a collection of one hundred short stories. He learned Greek and wrote an Encyclopedia of classical mythology. Shakespeare, Ben Johnson and Marlowe were the renowned dramatists. Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into German helped to develop that language. The greatest Renaissance scholar of Holland was Erasmus the author of ‘The Praise of Folly’ in which he condemned the evils of the church and the atrocities of the clergymen. In Spain the important literary figures were Cervantes author of ‘Don Quixote’ and Lope De Vega. The Portuguese writer Camoes described the wonderful voyages of Vasco-De Gama in his epic Lusiads.There was also tendency to break away from Latin and Greek and to seek expression in the vernacular languages. This was a significant step not only in the bringing about the development of national literature but also in aiding the development of national political institutions. Renaissance in Art. It was in the field of art, architecture and sculpture that the impact of the Renaissance was felt most. In the Middle Ages art was dominated by the church and the subject matter was Christ, Mary and the saints. But now artists showed a new and independent out look and an intense interest in men and their activities. Their stress was on beauty grace and elegance. The Renaissance art was a revolt against the fetters of medieval rules and traditions. Architecture: The period of Renaissance indicated the constructions of so many religious and secular buildings all over Europe. The architects brought about a wonderful blending of Greek, Roman, Muslim and other styles in their buildings. St. Peters church in Rome, the huge dome of which was designed by Michael Angelo was the finest example of the Renaissance architecture. Other important buildings constructed during this time were the Medici and Farnese palaces in Rome,St.Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the palace of Pope Julius III. Painting: Renaissance is chiefly noted for achievements in the field of painting, but Renaissance painters painted in canvas, wood and other materials and even mastered oil paintings. Every important town in Italy had its own painters who formed a local group or school with a peculiar style of their own. Two important styles or schools of painting that flourished in Italy were the Florentine School and the Venetian School. Founded by Giotto, the Florentine School produced three eminent painters known as Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519), Michael Angelo (1475-1564) and Raphael (1483-1520). Leonardo Davinci was a many sided genius; a brilliant painter, architect, sculptor, scientist, philosopher, engineer and musician! His immortal paintings are ‘Last Supper’, ‘Monolisa’ and ‘Virgin of the Rock’. Will Durant has said that Michael Angelo was “the greatest artist who ever lived”. He was “a jack of all trades and the master of all”, including painting, sculptor, and anatomy. He once said that one paints with his head and not with his hand! Among his paintings the most brilliant was ‘The Last Judgment’. The ‘Madonna’ with its life-like charm is the greatest of the paintings of Raphael. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The Venetian School which is noted for the brilliant expression of the secularization of painting produced painters like Titian, Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione. Sculpture: The Renaissance sculptors studied the human body to make their works life-like. The art of sculpture reached its peak in the work of Michael Angelo. The huge statue of “David” the colossal of “Moses”, “the Pieta” and also “Cellini” are the finest works of Michael Angelo. Other sculptors were Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello and Lucca Della Robbie. Music: Renaissance spirit considerably influenced music also. Old musical instruments were discarded by the musicians and instruments like Violin and Piano became popular. Palestrina and Galerichi were the two remarkable musicians of the Renaissance period. Growth of Intellectual climate in the 16th and 17th centuries Scientific Revolution. In the middle Ages scientific investigation and experimentation did not receive encouragement. It was mostly because of the opposition of the church and the blind faith of the people. But during the Renaissance period many scientists contributed towards the progress science. Roger Bacon (1214-1294), “the Father of Modern Science” was the first person to lay stress on original thinking and scientific investigation. It was the branch of astronomy which received wonderful progress during the Renaissance period. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), a great scientist of Poland created a sensation by his theory that the earth is round in shape and it moves round the sun. His theory was modified by John Kepler (1571-1630) which became the foundation of the Universe. He proved that the planets including the Earth revolve round the Sun in elliptical Orbits and not in a circle as indicated by Copernicus. This system came to be known as the Solar System. Galileo (1564-1642), the Italian scientist studied the Solar System and perfected the ‘Copernican Theory’ rebuked the theory of Aristotle that heavier bodies fall at quicker speed than lighter bodies. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) established the Laws of Gravitation and Descartes (1996-1650) asserted that science depends upon observation of facts. Leonardo Davinci was a man of astonishing versatilities; he was a naturalist, anatomist as well as an engineer. The English Physician, William Harvey (1578-1657) discovered how blood circulates from the heart through arteries to different parts of the body and comes back to the heart through veins. The spirit of observation and experimentation gave birth to revolutionary scientific inventions. The invention of Gun Powder by Roger Bacon revolutionized the art of warfare and gave a death blow to feudalism. The invention of Printing Press by John Guttenberg helped the rapid spread of knowledge and the art of manufacturing paper copied from the Chinese, led to the production of large number of books at reasonable cost. Galileo perfected the idea of Roger Bacon and set up his improved Telescope at the University of Padua. Another significant invention of the period was the ‘Mariners Compass’, Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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an instrument which indicated direction and helped the daring navigators, who explored new lands which later changed the very face of the Earth. REFORMATION The religion founded by Jesus Christ emphasized the Universal Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of mankind. Basing its establishment on this solid preaching, Christianity rose to limitless height and became a great unifying force. But through the centuries the religion lost some of its original qualities and assimilated a variety of customs, manners and rituals which were altogether alien to its original character. Many evil practices crept in the church and many unholy men in holy dress became the preachers. Many undesirable tendencies needed correction at every point. Renaissance rebelled against individual unity and centralized control. The Medieval Concept of universal state was shattered by the rise of nation-states. The final assault was given by the Reformation which attacked the monopolistic powers of the Universal church. Reformation is the name given to the great religious revolt of the 16 th century, which permanently divided the Christendom into great sects. To the Protestants it was the Reformation of the church, to the Catholics it was a schism and to the historians it was a revolt. It led to the establishment of a rival church known as the protestant church. In its essence, Reformation was a Dual Movement having for its objects the renovation of the moral life of Christendom and the repudiation of the papal rule. In so far as the movement resulted in the moral rebirth of the people, it was reformation in the strict sense of the term. But viewed as an insurrection against papacy, it assumes a political character also. The secular princes also took advantage of this opportunity to free their dominions from the vexations of papal interference. Hence it was an upheaval resulting in the dawn of new era. Causes: It has rightly been pointed out that the Reformation was one of the byproducts of the Renaissance. The Renaissance has evoked a spirit of enquiry that led people to attack some of the questionable practices of the church. The murmurings against the church authority now came in the open. Humanists like Erasmus and Richelieu sought to restore Christianity to its original purity and therefore vehemently opposed the authority of the church. In his book, “In praise of folly”, Erasmus bitterly denounced the worldliness and vulgarity of the churchmen and ridiculed superstition. The Roman Catholic Church was a typical institution, absolute, monopolistic and uncompromising! Most of the clergymen had a holy, selfsacrificing and useful life; but others gave themselves to the material and worldly considerations of life. Many of the clergymen were worldly and their private life was vicious. Pope Leo X once said, “Let us enjoy papacy since God has given it to us”. There were four main forces that attacked the authority of the Medieval church. They were the Nation states which attacked papal interference; members of the clergy who opposed the centralized authority of the Pope; Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Reformers who attacked the evil practices of the church and the Middle class which supported the national monarchs. The papal interference was often a menace to the secular authority of the Kings. The establishment of the Holy Roman Empire actually humiliated them and their position inferior. The economic causes aggravated the political consideration. The matters came to a crisis when the princes were threatened with Ex-communication if the church was not exempted from taxation. Now papacy and kingship came to an open conflict and the papacy lost! Certain financial matters brought shame to the, Christian community, Church and Religion. The church was immensely rich with acres of landed property and its wealth was drawn into Roman Treasury. The kings were looking for an opportunity to rob the church and they were supported by the capitalists and landed aristocracy who opposed the church for imposing heavy religious taxation. The Babylonian captivity also severely undermined the prestige of the church. Shortly after the Babylonian captivity the papacy suffered another defeat when Philip IV of France compelled the Pope to shift his head quarters from Rome to Avignon in France. The ugly domestic quarrels lead to the Great Schism (1378-1415) and weakened the Catholic Church further. At one stage, there were two popes; one in Italy and other in France and it divided the loyalty of the Christians. Leaders of Reformation ‘The Morning Star of Reformation’ was John Wycliffe (1320-1384 A.D.) who was an English Priest and also a Professor of Oxford. He criticized the pope and church and directed the people to seek guidance from the Bible and not from the corrupt and immoral Popes and clergymen. His followers were known as ‘Lollards’ or ‘poor Priests’. John Huss (1393-1415) who was a follower of Wycliffe in Bohemia was burnt alive by the Holy Roman Emperor at the instigation of the Pope for criticizing the clergy. Huss said that Christ and not Pope is the head of the church and revolting against bad popes was like obeying Christ. Friar Savonarola (1452-1498 A.D.) who belonged to Florence ridiculed the scandalous life of Pope Alexander VI. All these fore runner of Reformation were condemned as heretics. But their ideas lived and bore fruits in the years to come. MARTIN LUTHER Martin Luther (1483-1546 A.D) was the greatest leader of the Reformation Movement in Germany and it was due to his efforts that the final split in the church took place. Will Durant calls him “the David of the religious Revolution”. Luther was of peasant ancestry and through out his life he maintained the simplicity and earnestness of the peasants, coupled with their sturdiness and obstinacy. His father was a Saxon miner. After education at the University of Erfurt, he became a priest and later on got appointed as the Professor, of theology at the University of Wittenberg. As Professor, he thought freely and did Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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not hesitate to criticize Aristotle and his outdated theories. It shocked the propapal people. In 1510 A.D. he visited Rome and was shocked to see the indifference and corruption pervaded the papal court and also its display of opulence and grandeur. He felt that the Pope was hardly better than any of the Italian princes. The immediate circumstances for the out break of the religious revolt; in Germany was the sale of Indulgences by a Dominican monk. Tetzel, to raise money to rebuild St. Peters Church of Rome with the blessings of Pope Leo X.The indulgence is an Authoritarian Certificate or promise of Remission of Situation granted by the scope to the purchaser. Tetzel declared that as soon as the Coin riches the box, the soul for whom the money is paid would to straight to heaven! Luther could not tolerate such corrupted practice and was terribly shocked to find that the Pope was prepared to grant pardon even to sinners who were not sincerely sorry for their misdeeds. To expose the malpractice, he wrote his famous ‘Ninety Five Thesis’ and nailed it on the church door of Wittenberg in 1517 A.D. He was excommunicated by the Pope but the papal Bull was publically burned by the learned Professor. His Thesis generated general excitement and there arose the protestant Movement and the protestant church was born. The nobles and peasants for greatly divergent reasons came to support Luther. The fire he had set was not easily quenched. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, invited “Honorable and respected brother, Martin” to attend the famous Diet of worms for a compromise. But the friends of Luther reminded him of the fate of Huss and prevented him. But he said, “I will go though every tile in the city of worm is a devil”. On his refusal to change his opinion, Luther was made an outlaw and an edict declared his books to be destroyed. His friends became alarmed for his safety and at last he was kidnapped by his influential supporter, the Elector of Saxony. Luther was in underground for the time being. He profitably utilized his secret life to translate the Latin Bible into German. The Movement started by Martin Luther swept Europe like a wild fire. His preaching of equality of man before God even induced the farmers against their masters, even though he did not mean economic equality. The North German states became the strong champions of Lutheranism. The princes who attended the Diet of Speyer, convened by the Elector of Saxony adopted the principle “Eujus Rejio, Ejus Religo” which meant each prince should be free to determine the form of religion in his own state. Emperor Charles V disapproved of this Diet and the followers of Luther were branded as Heretics. Immediately, the Elector of Saxony and other princes drew up a “protest” and those who signed ‘the protest’ were known as the Protestants. The civil war between the two continued until the peace Treaty of Augsburg in 1555 A.D. nine years after the death of Luther. By the peace treaty, Lutheranism was recognized as another legal form of Christianity and the rulers of each state of Germany were given the right to determine religion of their own state. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Reformation in Switzerland Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531 A.D.) who was inspired by the teachings of Luther started the reform movement in Switzerland. He was, however, killed in 1531 A.D. in a religious war with the Pope. The work of Zwingli was continued by John Calvin (1509-1564 A.D.) a French lawyer, who fled to Switzerland when the French king opposed him for his support to Lutheranism. But he didn’t agree with all the principles of Luther, especially Luther’s doctrine that salvation can be obtained only through absolute faith. Calvin gave a clear exposition of the religious beliefs of the Protestants in his Book, ‘The Institutes of Christian Religion’. He wanted utter simplicity in religion and was against all luxury even dancing and feasting! His followers were known as ‘Hague notes’ in France, ‘Puritans’ in England and ‘Presbyterians’ in Scotland. It was John Knox (1505-1572 A.D) a staunch follower of Calvin who popularized ‘Presbyterianism’ in Scotland. Anglicanism In England the cause of the protestant movement was political and personal and not religious. Its leader was the Tudor King, Henry VIII (14911547 A.D). In his early days Henry displayed a zeal for Catholicism and had no soft corner for Lutheranism. He published a refutation of Luther’s Thesis for which Pope conferred on him the title, ‘the Defender of Faith’. A definite break came and the papal link was cut of on the seemingly insignificant question of his marital relationship. The issue was the divorce of his wife Catherine of Aragon who bore no son for him and the proposal to marry Annie Boleyn. But the Pope kept putting him off and did not grant him permission for divorce. Henry was infuriated and under his guidance the parliament passed a number of acts like ‘the Act of Annates, Act of Appeal and the Act of Supremacy’ which made the king the Supreme head of the church. The parliament declared the king as “the only Supreme head on earth of the church of England”. England really became protestant during the reign of Edward VI who issued a Book of Common Prayer and appointed protestant priests in place of Catholics. But his sister Mary, who succeeded him as the ruler of England, once again accepted the supremacy of the Pope and also took various measures to popularize Catholicism. It earned her the titles like “Bloody Mary” and “Reactionary Mary”. But her sister and the last ruler of the Tudor dynasty, Queen Elizabeth I, adopted a middle path between Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism and laid the foundation of the Anglican Church. Results: Reformation was effectively helpful in bringing about a transition from Medieval to Modern Age. It freed the people from the fetters of blind faith and also helped the Christians to escape from the tyranny and injustice of the clergy. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Reformation secularized thoughts. Previously literature, art and even history were the hand maids of religion. Now no limit was placed on the thinking of man and it accelerated progress in science, philosophy and politics. In the religious, field, Reformation are vitalized Christianity. It was made more reasonable and acceptable to those who had entertained doubts about its doctrines. Christianity also became more purposeful after Reformation. The Counter-Reformation Movement which was introduced to arrest the progress of Protestantism was the direct outcome of the Reformation. The leaders of the Counter-Reformation also undertook the task of weeding out evils and reforming Catholic Church to make it attractive to the people. The Reformation weakened the papacy and strengthened monarchy as it put an end to the papal interference in the secular affairs of the state. It was a boon to the rulers who wished to increase their wealth and power. Reformation also helped the idea of Nationalism. National Churches were established in the protestant countries and the attention of the people was no longer fixed on Rome. It also crushed the power of the church in the economic field and created conditions for better economic development and capitalism production. Some of the bad effects of Reformation may also be pointed out here, Firstly it divided the church, both catholic and protestant into a number of hostile camps in every Christian country. Hatred and ill-will between the Catholic and Protestants led to violence and blood-shed that destroyed peace and social harmony. It destroyed the unity of Christendom and promoted endless strife among warring denominations. One of the serious outcomes of the Reformation was thirty years war. In many countries rulers compelled their subjects to follow their religion and persecuted people who differed from their religious views. Civil wars broke out in Germany, France and Switzerland resulting in death and destruction which halted the march of civilization. THE ENLIGHTENMENT Enlightenment was an intellectual and Cultural Revolution which is usually associated with the 18th century. Developed in France, Britain and Germany, it influenced the whole of Europe. The Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, as it came to be known subsequently, marked a sharp break with the past. Its leaders revolted against the traditional outlook and ideology and challenged many of the old institutions of European societies. At the same time, they developed a revolutionary approach towards thought, institutions and humanity and created certain new trends in the realm of thought and science. Enlightenment thus announced the commencement of Modern Age. Enlightenment was the product of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. Rapid growth of science and the development of ‘scientific method’ brought about a radical change in human approach. It brought about a revolutionary change in man’s attitude towards the universe. Science came to be seen as an infallible system of knowledge capable of explaining everything related to the physical universe. Consequently, an attempt was made to apply scientific knowledge for the reconstruction of modern western society. This Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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precipitated the revolution called Enlightenment, which embodied intellectual and scientific developments of the early modern world.

the

The Enlightenment drew its followers mainly from the emerging bourgeoisie. The wealth acquired from Asia and America brought a new class of merchants into prominence. These merchants had their own ideas about the sort of world they wanted to inhabit. Naturally they had become major agents of change in the arts, in government, and in the economy. But the merchant class confronted two obstacles to the reshaping of Europe: absolute kings and dogmatic churches. Their revolt against these obstacles created the political and economic background of the Enlightenment. The more intellectually sections of the middle class began to feel that their societies were defective, and sought to bring change by changing ideas. This led to a much more far-reaching attack on prejudice and superstition than had occurred in the Renaissance and Reformation. The result was a current of ideas known as the Enlightenment. Concept and Features The Enlightenment was not merely an intellectual movement. It was one of the rare historical movements with wider social, political and intellectual dimensions. In a sense, Enlightenment was a revolt against tradition and a leap towards modernity. It led a crusade against irrational tradition, prejudice, obscurantism, superstitions or revelation and oppression. It questioned blind obedience to authority, which that of the priest or the ruler. Enlightenment used the scientific method of enquiry to launch a systematic attack on tradition. The principal targets were religion and the domination of society by hereditary aristocracy. The Enlightenment men attempted to undermine the centrality accorded to religion and hierarchy in social and political life. The Enlightenment was based on the concept of Reason. Its exponents believed that human reason could be used to combat ignorance, superstition and tyranny and to build a better world. They expressed desire to be guided by rationality rather than faith and a belief in the power of human reason to change society and liberate the individual from the restraints of custom or arbitrary authority. The Enlightenment embodies the spirit of optimism. Its advocates believed that they lived in a world marked by greater well being and happiness of all. They thought that human beings were able to create a world in which freedom, liberty and happiness would prevail over all else. This vision was clearly evident in the writings of Voltaire, Diderot, and d’Alembert, Condorcet, Adam Smith, David Hume and Immanuel Kant. The salient features of Enlightenment are the idea of progress, rationalism, secularism, naturalism and humanitarianism. The idea of progress was a non-religious belief that the conditions of human life improve as time goes on. In other words, society is constantly progressing towards something better. We are far ahead of the ancients. This idea of progress was the outcome of an optimistic outlook, created by the Scientific Revolution. The chief exponent of the idea of progress was Marquis de Condorcet, the French mathematician and philosopher. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The Enlightenment scholars almost blindly believed in reason. Everything was measured in terms of reason. Therefore they challenged theology, exalted rational thought and substituted science for magic. To the thinkers of the Enlightenment reason was a weapon of inquiry and an alternative to superstitions. The philosophy of the Enlightenment was frankly secular. The Enlightenment scholars underlined the importance of religious toleration. At the same time, they made an assault on religion and priesthood. There was a sustained an often blind attack on Christianity. A new religion called Deisan was founded by the leaders of Enlightenment. Philosophers R.G. Collingwood describes the Enlightenment as a crusade against religion. Naturalism and humanitarianism were the other important features of the Enlightenment. The faith in natural law mainly came from the principles of Isaac Newton. It implied that universe functioned according to fixed mathematical laws. The universe was now viewed as something purely mechanical, like a perfect cosmic clock. Humanitarianism was a belief in the natural faculties of man. The medieval view of man as a sinner disappeared and the new concept of confident, ambitious and enterprising man emerged. The Enlightenment also gave rise to the novel idea of economic man, justifying man’s interest in property, things and money. Philosophes The writers who spread the ideas of the Enlightenment were known as philosophes.The Philosophes were really not philosophers as they neither constituted a school of philosophy nor preached any common doctrines. They were not original thinkers. Rather, most were publicists and popularizers of ideas. They were mostly literary men and journalists who wrote plays, novels, essays and histories to popularize their ideas. The philosophes were really social critics or students of society, analyzing its evils and advocating reforms. The philosophes had four characteristics. First, they were skeptics. They did not accept the teachings of the Church. Second, they were usually deists. They believed in the existence of God, not the God revealed by the Bible. God was conceived as the master ‘clock-winder” of the universe. God had been necessary to create the universe, but once the universe was in motion its laws could not be altered. Third, they were empiricists, not metaphysicians. They believed that all knowledge was derived from experience. Lastly, the philosophes were reformers. They advocated specific liberal ideas such as the reform of criminal law. The philosophes proposed the complete reconstruction of the Western society through a variety of ways. They made specific proposals in three areas: economics, religion and government. Their key concept in economics was ‘laissez faire’. They opposed governmental intervention in economic life and thereby rejected the theory of mercantilism. In religion, their key slogan was Ecrasez l ‘infame (crush the infamous thing), which implied the eradication of religious fanaticism and intolerance. In government, they advocated the theory of social contract. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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A distinction is usually made between the Early Enlightenment and the Mature (High) Enlightenment. The period of Early Enlightenment was roughly 1715-1750 and characterized by a revolt against old regime. The year from 1750 to 1790 was the era of the High Enlightenment. It was marked by an intellectual assault on despotic monarchy. Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu were the central figures of the Age of Enlightenment. However, the enlightened thinking that emerged in every European state became apparent first in Britain mainly through the writings of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Halifax. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES In the Medieval Period, during which social life was regimented by religious beliefs and practices, science was not expected to make any revolutionary advancement. Scientific enquiry was not promoted by the churchdominated Europe. Therefore as compared to science, it was technology that registered more progress in middle ages. Technology developed mainly through the practical experiences of people and it was less science-based. The technological tradition of the middle ages was continued unbroken in European countries. The modern Europe thus made some notable contributions in areas like agricultural technology, navigational science, military technology, papermaking and printing. The Europeans were guided in this matter by the scientific and technological knowledge of the Asiatic People. Printing The invention of printing was one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind. Printing was invented in China in 770 AD by the Buddhists. This technology was transferred to Egypt between 900 and 1350.However, it did not reach Europe. Europe had to re-invent the technology. The credit for the invention of printing in Europe goes to Johannes Gutenberg, a German craftsman. By about 1440 Gutenberg and his colleagues brought the elements of modern printing together, and in 1455 there appeared the first book printed in Europe, the Gutenberg Bible. One of the basic factors which contributed to printing revolution was the making of paper. The invention of true paper made of pulped rags is credited to a Chinese named Tsai Lun in the year A.D. 105. The Arabs learned the technology from the Chinese during the 8th century. Gradually it spread to Islamic Spain and then to the rest of Europe. By the mid 15 th century papermaking became common in Europe. Previously, parchment made from skins of valuable farm animals was used as writing material. But it was extremely expensive. From the 14th century rags were used in Europe to make paper of good quality. The replacement of parchment by paper as primary writing material stimulated the invention of printing. Another important factor for the development of printing was the use of cast metal types instead of wooden types. The invention of movable metal types was most crucial because it was possible to use them again and again for the purpose of printing. The printing revolution brought about both quantitative and qualitative changes. Printed books were much easier to read than manuscripts. They were Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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cheaper than hand-written ones. Printing also increased the supply of books. As soon as books became easily accessible, literacy increased and book-culture became a basic part of the European way of life. Printing played a significant role in the diffusion of knowledge and ideas. It is interesting to note that Martin Luther gained an immediate following throughout Germany by employing the printing press to spread his pamphlets. Print provided new channel of communication for government and a new medium for artists. The spread of books helped to stimulate the growth of cultural nationalism. Moreover, with the invention of printing the monopoly of education slipped away from the hands of the Church. As J.M. Roberts rightly puts it, the printing was “the greatest cultural revolution”. Gunpowder The constant warfare stimulated the development of new weaponry and military techniques. The invention of gunpowder was an epoch-making development in military technology. Gunpowder was actually invented by the Chinese during the period of Tang dynasty. But in Europe, it came to be made only in the 13th century. The first European to describe gunpowder was the English Friar Roger Bacon. In the beginning, gunpowder was made secretly. It was put to devastating uses and became widespread in the various countries of Europe in the 14th century. In the 1420s, gunpowder manufacturers began to compress gunpowder into pellets that creates a much more powerful explosion. The gunpowder was largely used by the Europeans to make cannon, guns and firearms. Heavy cannons which made terrible noises were first employed around 1330. Cannons thereafter became a serious threat to rebellious aristocrats, as it made holes in their stone castles. Against gunpowder the armour and castle of the feudal lord were useless. The invention of gunpowder thus strengthened the hands of monarchs and gave a deathblow to feudalism. The Arabs discovered gunpowder which they called “Chines snow”, at the same time as the Europeans did. They used it to expel the last crusaders from Palestine. The Turks, who conquered much of the Arab world, seized Constantinople in 1453 with the effective use of gunpowder. Other rulers soon followed the Turkish example. Like the Turks, the Persians, Mughals and Russians succeeded in expanding their power because they used cannon to demolish the walls of enemy fortresses and to defeat enemy soldiers on the battlefield. Placed abroad ships, cannons enabled European vessels also to dominate foreign waters in the subsequent age of overseas expansion. The gunpowder enabled the Europeans to build up colonial empires in Asia, Latin America and Africa. European Exploratory Voyages Though man appeared on this planet of Earth about 500,000 years ago, even as late as the 15th century A.D. his knowledge of the world was very limited. European knowledge of Asia or Asian knowledge of Europe was very vague. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The Renaissance generated a spirit of adventure and curiosity in the minds of the Europeans to know new things. The spirit of exploration and discovery was the manifestation of a new passion of self expression, which originated in the Renaissance Era, the period from the closing year of the 15 th century to the beginning of the 16th many new sea routes and lands were discovered and so the period is known as the Age of Discovery. Causes. 1. The spirit of enquiry and exploration was the legacy of the Renaissance. It inspired the adventurers to search for new seas, new lands and new sea-routes. As Will Durant has said, “The failure of the crusades compelled the discovery of America”. If the crusades were successful, the land routes to the East would not have been blocked by the Muslims. In that case, there would have been no incentive for the Europeans to search for sea-route to India which led to the discovery of America. 2. Commercial considerations were also responsible for the exploration. The oriental commodities like spices, silk, gold, perfumes and Cotton goods were in great demand in Europe and it induced the Europeans to find new trade routes to the East. 3. The riches of the East also tempted the Europeans to face any obstacles to reach the Eastern countries. Again, the Europeans had a great fancy for the East, its glamour and its enchantment. 4. The introduction of Marines Compass made voyages to the distant and unknown lands easier and safer. Combined with it, the improved ships and accurate maps induced the Europeans to venture out in to the wide open seas. 5. The story of Marco Polo’s adventure had also aroused their curiosity. The enchantment was intensified and their imagination was inflamed by the wonders that Marco Polo described. It induced many people to follow his footsteps to the enchanted land of the East. 6. The missionary zeal also acted as spur of the discoveries. Christian monks and priests manifested an eagerness to spread their religion in every corner of the world. The out break of Reformation also compelled many persecuted Christian sects of Europe to leave their Motherland in search of fresh fields. 7. The improvement of the geographical knowledge also gave a great impetus to discoveries. The books on travels such as ‘A merchant hand book’, ‘Far East’ and ‘Africa’ and also the knowledge that the Earth is round in shape helped the adventurous sailors a lot. Major Discoveries Portugal and Spain were the pioneer countries in the field of Geographical exploration and discoveries. The Exploration of the Portuguese: The advantageous location of Portugal on the Atlantic sea board was fully utilized by Henry, the Navigator (1394-1460) of Portugal. He founded a school of Navigators and under his patronage the enterprising sailors ventured to Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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discover new sea-route to the East. Before his premature death in 1460 A.D. the Portuguese sailors succeeded in discovering and claiming Azores, Madeira Islands, Cape Blanco, Cape Verde and other places. In 1486 A.D Bartolommeo Diaz sailed along the West coast of Africa and went as far as the cape of storms, renamed as the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese King as it gave definite hope of discovering a new sea-route to the East. Vasco Da-Gama, another great sailor completed the work of Diaz. He sailed round the African continent and reached kappad, a few miles north of Calicut 1498 A.D With the arrival of Vasco Da Gama in the East there started an era of Western dominance in Asia. Under a series of capable leaders the Portuguese pursued a definite territorial policy and became the first European power to dominate the East, by breaking the iron curtain and opening the door to the Asian Continent. Spanish Exploration: An Italian sailor, Christopher Columbus, with the help of Queen Isabella of Spain, left the Spanish port of Palos in August 1492 and after a Perilous voyage set foot on Small Island in West Indies in October, 1492 A.D. He named it as East Indies and the natives, Indians. Another Italian sailor Amerigo Vespucci imitated Columbus and explored further areas and confirmed that the part of the world discovered by him was not Asia. Later on, a German geographer named this ‘new world’ as America in honour of Amerigo Vespucci. The great distinction of circumnavigating the world goes to a Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. With the help of the Spanish King, Charles II he started the historic journey in September 1519 A.D. and after two years landed at the Islands of Philippine where he was killed by the natives. Magellan showed that sailing round the world is possible and also confirmed the new idea that the Earth is round in shape. Other Discoveries: In 1497 A.D. John Cabot, an Italian in the service of the Tudor king, Henry VIII of England, discovered New found land, Jacques Carter the French Sailor reached the mouth of St. Laurence river and laid the foundation of the city of Montreal. Cortez discovered Mexico in 1519 A.D. and Pizarro reached Peru. Results. The geographical discoveries “changed the political balance of Europe, widened men’s mental horizons, increased national wealth, diminished indirectly the power of the nobles and led to the foundation of colonies by European powers”. The geographical discoveries led to great improvement in trade and industry. It improved the standard of living of the Europeans who now began to live a happy, comfortable and prosperous life. It also brought to light a new middle class – a class which became the back one of the European society. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The exploration also helped the western nations such as Portugal, Spain, Holland, England and France to set up colonies in Asia, Africa and America. They exploited the natives of the colonies politically and economically and made their respective countries wealthy and strong. Contact with the new world and civilization changed the old silly European Nations of Medieval ignorance and hastened the Pace of intellectual revolution started by the Renaissance. The vast wealth acquired from the new world led to keen competition which soon dragged the maritime powers of Europe into a fierce struggle for commercial and colonial supremacy. There were numerous wars between the Portuguese and the Dutch, the Spaniards and the French and between the English and the French. The Italian cities like Venice, Geneva etc. lost their importance and trade moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and Pacific Atlantic now became the highway of International Traffic and commercial interest was shifted to oceanic countries like England, France, Spain, Portuguese and Holland. The last but no last, result of the geographical discoveries was the expansion of Western culture throughout the world. The European began to consider themselves as a superior race, exploited the countries of Asia, Africa and America and super imposed their culture on them. COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION In the middle Ages the chief areas of commerce of Europe were the Baltic and Mediterranean regions. But after the 15th century these regions of trade declined and lost their commercial importance. At this time, Portugal, Spain, Holland, France and England were emerging as new nations of trade. The trade of the Mediterranean region was now relegated to secondary importance.Whereas the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean regions had become core areas of world trade. The opening of new sea-routes increased the volumes of trade. New markets were opened in the newly discovered regions, which became active centers of trade. All these changes radically altered the traditional economic structure and created the greatest commercial revolution in history. The rise of trade, domestic and foreign, and all the economic activities that went along with it is referred as the Commercial Revolution. It signifies the rise of a capitalist economy and the transition from a town –centered to a nation-centered economic system. It also marked the transition from the semistatic economy of the medieval period to the dynamic capitalist economy of the modern period. The Commercial Revolution was a slow and protracted process. It began with geographical explorations and reached its peak in the eighteenth century. The Commercial Revolution had two important aspects: the revolution in internal commerce, and the revolution in international commerce. Europe witnessed tremendous growth in internal trade due to a variety of factors. The emergence of nation-states with strong centralized governments, the decline of guild-system of trade, surplus production in agriculture, the monetization of economy, the growth of towns, and accumulation of capital were important of Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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these factors. The invention of modern banking and insurance, the appearance of joint-stock companies and the development of commercial practices (as Bookkeeping) also promoted internal commerce. The ‘Renaissance spirit’ and the ‘Protestant Ethic’ further favored the growth of domestic commerce. Another significant aspect of the Commercial Revolution was the growth of international commerce. There were many causes for the growth of international trade. The increasing contact of Europe with the East, especially after the Crusades, created demand for the luxury goods of the East. In the absence of refrigeration for goods, the demand for eastern spices steadily increased. The spices added taste to fresh meat and other goods which might have easily spoiled in the absence of refrigeration. The growing demand for the commodities of the East thus promoted international trade. The discovery of new sea routes and lands and the establishment of colonies had really created a boom to International trade. Maritime trade was cheaper than land trade because they were free from custom barriers. Naturally the volume of trade increased enormously and the products were imported in large quantities. The Commercial Revolution destroyed the medieval guild economy and helped the emergence of Commercial Capitalism. Many historians consider Capitalism as an outgrowth of Commercial Revolution. A major result of Commercial Revolution was the emergence of the bourgeoisie, who played a very significant role in society because of the wealth they possessed. Commercial Revolution promoted colonization and paved the way for the expansion of Europe and the Europeanization of the world. It also created cut throat competitions and inter-imperialist rivalries among the European powers. Eventually, the Commercial Revolution was to prepare the ground for the Industrial and Agrarian revolutions. Mercantilism Mercantilism is economic nationalism for the purpose of building a wealthy and powerful state. Adam Smith coined the term “mercantile system” to describe the system of political economy that sought to enrich the country by restraining imports and encouraging exports. This system dominated Western European economic thought and policies from the 16th to the late 18th centuries. The goal of these policies was, supposedly, to achieve a “favorable” balance of trade that would bring gold and silver into the country and also to maintain domestic employment. In contrast to the agricultural system of the physiocrats or the laissez-faire of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the mercantile system served the interests of merchants and producers such as the British East India Company, whose activities were protected or encouraged by the state. The most important economic rationale for mercantilism in the 16th was the consolidation of the regional power centers of the feudal era by large, competitive nation-states. Other contributing factors were the establishment of colonies outside Europe; the growth of European commerce and industry relative to agriculture; the increase in the volume and breadth of trade; and the increase in the use of metallic monetary systems, particularly gold and silver, relative to barter transactions. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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During the mercantilist period, military conflict between nation-states was both more frequent and more extensive than at any other time in history. The armies and navies of the main protagonists were no longer temporary forces raised to address a specific threat or objective, but were full-time professional forces. Each government’s primary economic objective was to command a sufficient quantity of hard currency to support a military that would deter attacks by other countries and aid its own territorial expansion. Most of the mercantilist policies were the outgrowth of the relationship between the governments of the nation-states and their mercantile classes. In exchange for paying levies and taxes to support the armies of the nation-states, the mercantile classes induced governments to enact policies that would protect their business interests against foreign competition. These policies took many forms. Domestically, governments would provide capital to new industries, exempt new industries from guild rules and taxes, establish monopolies over local and colonial markets, and grant titles and pensions to successful producers. In trade policy the government assisted local industry by imposing tariffs, quotas, and prohibitions on imports of goods that competed with local manufacturers. Governments also prohibited the export of tools and capital equipment and the emigration of skilled labor that would allow foreign countries, and even the colonies of the home country, to compete in the production of manufactured goods. At the same time, diplomats encouraged foreign manufacturers to move to the diplomats’ own countries. Shipping was particularly important during the mercantile period. With the growth of colonies and the shipment of gold from the New World into Spain and Portugal, control of the oceans was considered vital to national power. Because ships could be used for merchant or military purposes, the governments of the era developed strong merchant marines. In France, JeanBaptiste Colbert, the minister of finance under Louis XIV from 1661 to 1683, increased port duties on foreign vessels entering French ports and provided bounties to French shipbuilders. In England, the Navigation Act of 1651 prohibited foreign vessels from engaging in coastal trade in England and required that all goods imported from the continent of Europe be carried on either an English vessel or a vessel registered in the country of origin of the goods. Finally, all trade between England and its colonies had to be carried in either English or colonial vessels. The Staple Act of 1663 extended the Navigation Act by requiring that all colonial exports to Europe be landed through an English port before being re-exported to Europe. Navigation policies by France, England, and other powers were directed primarily against the Dutch, who dominated commercial marine activity in the 16th and 17th centuries. During the mercantilist era it was often suggested, if not actually believed, that the principal benefit of foreign trade was the importation of gold and silver. According to this view the benefits to one nation were matched by costs to the other nations that exported gold and silver, and there were no net gains from trade. For nations almost constantly on the verge of war, draining one another of valuable gold and silver was thought to be almost as desirable as the direct Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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benefits of trade. Adam Smith refuted the idea that the wealth of a nation is measured by the size of the treasury in his famous treatise The Wealth of Nations, a book considered to be the foundation of modern economic theory. Smith made a number of important criticisms of mercantilist doctrine. First, he demonstrated that trade, when freely initiated, benefits both parties. Second, he argued that specialization in production allows for economies of scale, which improves efficiency and growth. Finally, Smith argued that the collusive relationship between government and industry was harmful to the general population. While the mercantilist policies were designed to benefit the government and the commercial class, the doctrines of laissez-faire, or free markets, which originated with Smith, interpreted economic welfare in a far wider sense of encompassing the entire population. While the publication of ‘The Wealth of Nations’ is generally considered to mark the end of the mercantilist era, the laissez-faire doctrines of free-market economics also reflect a general disenchantment with the imperialist policies of nation-states. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the Revolutionary War in the United States heralded the end of the period of military confrontation in Europe and the mercantilist policies that supported it. Despite these policies and the wars with which they were associated, the mercantilist period was one of generally rapid growth, particularly in England. This is partly because the governments were not very effective at enforcing the policies they espoused. While the government could prohibit imports, for example, it lacked the resources to stop the smuggling that the prohibition would create. In addition, the variety of new products that were created during the industrial revolution made it difficult to enforce the industrial policies that were associated with mercantilist doctrine. By 1860 England had removed the last vestiges of the mercantile era. Industrial regulations, monopolies, and tariffs were abolished, and emigration and machinery exports were freed. In large part because of its free trade policies, England became the dominant economic power in Europe. England’s success as a manufacturing and financial power, coupled with the United States as an emerging agricultural powerhouse, led to the resumption of protectionist pressures in Europe and the arms race between Germany, France, and England that ultimately resulted in World War I.

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UNIT-II INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM AND THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS Laissez-Faire and the Growth of Liberal Thought The rise of industrial capitalism was also associated with the decline of mercantilism. With the development of industrial capitalism many began to doubt the wisdom of using the mercantile system. They believed that mercantilism actually reduced the amount of trade, and asked the governments to get rid of their mercantile policies. The capitalist class now began to oppose mercantilism and upheld a new socio-political ideology called liberalism. It became the ideology of the industrial and commercial classes in their fight against the feudal system and absolute monarchy. In the economic sphere the liberal thought advocated the theory of laissez faire. The term Laissez faire was coined by the French economic philosophers of the Enlightenment (Physiocrates).It was strongly supported by Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham and J.S. Mill. Literally it means “let them do”, and by extention, “let people do as they please”, that is, leave business alone. The industrial capitalists wanted their business to be let alone. According to them economic liberty guaranteed economic progress. If business was left free, it would assure the progress of the country. The capitalists, therefore demanded absolute freedom in business and opposed governmental intervention of any kind. In short, Laissez-faire theory upheld a pure market view. It stood for a free market, free trade and free economic activity. The adherents of Laissez-faire doctrine held that there is a world of economic relationships, autonomous and separable from government or politics. This economic world is regulated by certain “natural laws”. According to Smith, there are three natural laws of economics: 

the law of self-interest – People work for their own good.



the law of competition – Competition forces people to make a better product.

 the law of supply and demand – Enough goods would be produced at the lowest price to meet demand in a market economy. Smith argued that the government should not interfere with this natural order. The basic idea is that less government interference in private economic Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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decisions such as pricing, production, consumption and distribution of goods and services makes for a better and efficient economy. Laissez-faire theory thus opposed economic intervention and taxation by the state. There should be no tariff, and free trade should be allowed everywhere. According to the laissez-faire doctrine the best government was that which governed least. The laissez-faire doctrine was naturally opposed to the theory of mercantilism. It criticized mercantilist principles such as bullionism, favourable balance of trade, tariff, colonial regulations and shipping monopolies. As a consequence of Industrial Revolution economic power was concentrated in the hands of a small number of Industrial capitalists. They formulated and upheld theories like liberalism to safeguard their interests. The growth of liberal thought between 17th and 19th centuries was in fact an expression of the aspirations of the bourgeoisie in the period of its struggle against the feudal system and absolute monarchy. Liberalism derived its philosophy from John Locke and economic ideas from Adam Smith. Liberals challenged the absolute power of the monarchy and rejected the divine right of kings. They criticized the political and economic privileges of the landed aristocracy and the unfairness of the feudal system. The belief in the primacy of the individual is the most important aspect of Liberal thought. It gave priority to the interests of the individual than those of the society. Belief in the supreme importance of the individual led the liberals naturally to a commitment to individual freedom, which became its supreme political value. For early liberals, liberty was a natural right, based upon the absence of external restrictions upon the individual. In the economic sphere, the liberals advocated the Laissez-faire theory. Deriving inspiration from Adam Smith, they stood for free competition and the state’s non-intervention in the economy. They aimed to minimize the function of the state. The task of the government was merely to reconcile conflicting interests and ensure natural rights to private property. These conceptions most adequately echoed the interests of the capitalist class. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism also embodied the interests of the capitalist class. It was a philosophical theory of ethics outlined by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham and developed by John Stuart Mill. Bentham’s Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation and Mill’s Utilitarianism are the major works of utilitarianism. According to this theory an action is morally right if it leads to happiness and wrong if it brings about the reverse. The society should aim “the greatest happiness of the greatest number”. Jeremy Bentham modified the ideas of Adam Smith by introducing the philosophy of utilitarianism. According to Bentham’s theory people should judge ideas, institutions, and actions on the basis of their utility or usefulness. He argues that government should try to promote ‘majority welfare’. A government policy was only useful if it promoted this goal. Bentham and his Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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followers believed in the scientific scrutiny and reform of institutions in the interest of the majority. Bentham believed that the individual should be free to pursue his or her own advantage without interference from the state. John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher and economist led the utilitarian movement in 1800s. Mill’s ideology differed greatly from the laissez-faire liberalism of his predecessors. He argued strongly for personal liberty, including freedom to own and use private property. He believed that liberty would enable the individuals to develop talents, skills, and knowledge and to refine their sensibilities. Mill realized the evils of industrialization. He therefore questioned unregulated capitalism. He urged the state intervention to protect labouring women and children and to improve intolerable living and working conditions. Mill asserted that workers should be allowed to organize trade unions, form cooperatives, and receive a share of profits.Utilitarians also pushed for reforms in the legal and prison systems and in education. Social and Economic Base of the Emergence of Capitalism Capitalism first appeared in Western Europe during the period between and 17th centuries. It did not appear overnight, but emerged gradually out of the earlier feudal structure, as a result of many complex and interconnected factors. Towards the end of the middle ages feudalism had started declining. This process was furthered by the Renaissance, Reformation and other developments. Empowerment of the monarchs, rise of new towns and cities development of trade and commerce, and predominance of middle class also contributed to the decline of feudalism. It was then replaced by capitalism. 15th

Two main conditions are essential for the rise of capitalism: 1. 2.

The accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few, and The emergence of a mass of destitute people who have neither the means of production nor the means of subsistence and are forced to sell their labour power.

These conditions began to appear during the last phase of feudalism. The process of the emergence of these conditions was called ‘primitive accumulation’. The primitive accumulation of capital took two distinct forms, internal and external. Internally it meant the separation of producers (peasants or workers) from the means of production (land, tools etc). The means of production was expropriated by the capitalists. Marx viewed this expropriation as theft. External techniques of accumulation consisted of piracy and plunder of colonies. European states acquired a large number of colonies through the voyages of discovery. The rich overseas colonies were plundered and the vast wealth got concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. This plundered wealth was invested to make more profits. As Karl Marx rightly observed, “the treasures captured outside Europe by undisguised looting, Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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enslavement and murder floated back to the mother country and were there turned into capital”. Capitalism cannot develop unless there is a concentration of labourers for production of goods. The first form of such concentration was the ‘workshop’ or ‘manufactory’ based on hand-labour. Manufactories began to develop in the 18th century. Before its development, industrial production had been carried on under the domestic system (also called putting-out system). Under this system the production was carried out by the artisans in their own homes. The merchants gave them raw materials, often furnished the tools and paid a pricewage for their work. But the domestic system proved to be insufficient to meet the increasing demands of the market. Therefore, some enterprising merchants started employing workers, who all worked at one place or under the same shed. This system, called manufactory, brought together for work as many as 500 labourers under a single roof, thereby making possible a great division of labour. This was the forerunner of the factory system. But manufactories were different from factories in that machinery was still directly hand-operated. The second and true unit of capitalist production is the factory. It was the Industrial Revolution that ultimately paved the way for the emergence of factory system. Industrial Revolution brought about the transition from hand to machine production. Production was now carried on in a factory (in place of workshops in home) with the help of machines (in place of single tools). Water or steam replaced human muscle and animal energy as the source of power. As power-driven machines were bulky, they required large buildings to house them. The separate buildings known as factories came to be constructed. The factory system of production with machines, division of labour and large-scale production, became the dominant feature of the capitalist mode of production. Many historians seek the origins of capitalism in the growing expansion of trade. Anderson stressed the importance of towns and international trade in the process of capitalist development. The expansion of trade resulted in the growth of urban centers. The growth of international trade, during the 17th century, led to the evolution of a money economy. As a result of these changes merchants were able to accumulate large amounts of capital. The growth of merchant capital was one of the preconditions of the capitalist mode of production. The capital thus accumulated through trade was later on invested in production. The Belgian historian Henrie Pirenne formulated the theory of the ‘revival of long distance trade’ for the decline of feudalism. According to him the revival of ‘grand trade’ led to the appearance of urban economy in Europe. It also put an end to the localized rural economy of feudal times. Hence it was trade that led to the decline of feudalism and created the path for capitalist development. The materialist explanation for the emergence of capitalism was challenged by the German sociologist Maximum Weber. In 1904, Weber published his monumental work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in which he argued that capitalism was the product of Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Protestantism. According to Weber the emergence of Protestantism, particularly Calvinism, during the 16th and 17th centuries created the necessary condition for the origin of capitalism. Protestants had a greater interest in the world of business. Protestantism encouraged hard work and earning of profit. They considered ‘work’ as an activity pleasing God. Therefore, hard work had to be pursued as actively and profitably as possible. Weber argued that such a way of life was conducive to rapid accumulation of capital and success in business. Moreover, Protestantism sanctioned “usury”, the receiving of interest on money loaned. It rejected the old concept of the “just price” and favoured free competition in the market. Wealth and prosperity were regarded as signs of election to God’s grace while poverty was regarded as a sign of damnation. According to Weber this attitude created a mental climate and spirit for the development of capitalism.

Capitalism soon started its march replacing the feudal mode of production. In the course of its development capitalism has passed through various stages-mercantile, industrial and financial. This early phase of capitalism was called mercantile or commercial capitalism. It was formed within the merchant societies of Western Europe in the 15th century. The merchant capitalism was an outgrowth of commercial revolution. With the growth of trade the class of merchants came to assume the predominant position in the society. They invested capital in buying commodities from their producers and selling them to consumers. Therefore, the merchant capitalists were in fact intermediaries between producers and consumers. They had no direct roe in the production of commodities. The merchant capitalism was, therefore, capitalism not of producers but of distributors. A major development during the phase of merchant capitalism was the formation of joint-stock companies (English, Dutch and French East India companies) and the colonization of the non-European world by the western European powers. Merchant capitalism developed strongly in the 17th century. Gradually certain qualitative changes took place in capitalism that ultimately led to the opening of the industrial phase of capitalism. Large-scale accumulation of wealth, growth of world wide markets, remarkable growth in consumption and a variety of other factors brought about changes in the system of production. The merchant now began to set up factories where he employed workers himself. The putting-out system thus shaded into the modern factory. The transformation of the putting-out system and the development of factories established capitalism a distinct mode of production. Increase in the availability of wage-labour and a market-oriented agriculture also contributed to the development of capitalist production. Industrial capitalism emerged from the merging of capitalist economy with the immense technological power released by the Industrial Revolution. Unlike merchant capitalism, the industrial capitalism was a mode of production. It implied the investment of capital in manufacturing industry with a view to Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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achieving maximum profit, extensively using hired labour.The principal agent of this change was the industrialist or bourgeoisie, who replaced the merchant as dominant actor in the capitalist system. The rise of capitalism and consolidation of bourgeoisie culture roughly took place in the years following the revolutions of 1848. Eric Hobsbawm calls the 20-year period from 1850 to 1870 the Age of Capital. Though the industrial capitalism emerged in the mid-18th century, it could become a powerful force only in the first half of the 19th century. A growth-oriented system, capitalism has a built-in-tendency to expand and thus to become global. Naturally it spread from England to other countries on the continent. It gained fairly a rapid progress in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. The world began to come its global impact rapidly from the second half of the 19th century. The development of capitalism entailed a revolution in economic relations. It abolished the hold of feudal lords on agriculture, and guilds on industrial production. It destroyed the factors which hindered the freedom of enterprise, choice of occupation and the mobility of labour. It gave birth to new social classes and forces. In short capitalism affected all aspects of society: productive systems, producing classes, mentalities and values, transportation and communication and ways of living and consuming. Impact on Colonies Colonialism was not a mere attendant process of capitalism. It was Nehru of the necessary preconditions of capitalist development. As mentioned earlier, the piracy and plunder of colonies was the second major source of primary accumulation of capital. The subjugation of other economies was crucial to the formation of capitalism. Capitalism, therefore, exerted a deep impact on colonies. Following the geographical discoveries the European powers started a cutthroat competition among themselves for establishing colonies in the newly discovered regions even by conquest. They set up colonies in Americas, Asia and Africa and established their domination over them. European capitalist powers acquired enormous wealth from three major areas of colonial exploitation: plunder of gold and silver mines of Americas, transfer of millions of Africans as slaves to the New World, and appropriation of Asian wealth through plunder and trade. England came to be the major beneficiary from all these three forms of subjugation. A tragic outcome of this capitalist exploitation was the destruction of many native cultures like those of Incas and Aztecs in the Americas and ruin of non-European economies. The colonies were made an integral part of the world economic system and their resources were exploited mercilessly. The emergence of industrial capitalism brought about substantial changes in colonies. Instead of being buyers of colonial products, the capitalists of industrializing nations increasingly became sellers of machine-produced goods. They now started a vigorous search for markets in colonies to sell their Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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products. At the same time they needed raw materials for industries (cotton, wool, jute, dye stuffs etc.) and foodstuffs for labourers (wheat, tea, coffee, cocoa, meat, butter etc.). The trading patterns in colonies were now modified according to the requirements of industrial capitalism. The imperialist powers of Europe now realized that their objectives could not be achieved within the existing socio-economic setting of colonies. Therefore they tried to transform the traditional socio-economic structure of colonies by introducing new changes. They introduced capitalist relations in land, promoted commercialization of agriculture, improved the means of transport and communication, and destroyed the indigenous industries (deindustrialization). Even education became an instrument in the hands of capitalists to maintain colonial exploitation. Most fundamentally, the colonial powers of Europe undermined the life styles and culture that existed in colonies for centuries. They exported their life styles to the colonies. They attacked indigenous cultures and traditions and tried to impose western culture over them. The immediate objective of the cultural conquest was to expand the market, i.e. to make people receptive of western goods. It was also used as a strategy of domination. This cultural conquest and penetration forced the colonial people either to resist cultural penetration or to reexamine their socio-cultural setting. The economic conquest of the colonies was followed by the political conquest. Most countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa had lost their political freedom. The colonial state acted both as an instrument of exploitation and oppression. The contradictions between the interests of the capitalist imperialist powers and the colonies gradually generated powerful anti-colonial struggles. John Locke John Locke was a famous philosopher who lived during the time of the Glorious Revolution. He was private physician to one of the most powerful Whig political leaders, the Earl of Shaftesbury. John Locke wrote an important book entitled Two Treatises of Government. The book contained many ideas that still influence the way we think about government and rights. People in many parts of the world accept Locke's ideas now, but when he first wrote his book they were considered dangerous. In fact, until recently historians believed that John Locke wrote his Two Treatises to explain or encourage the Glorious Revolution! One reason John Locke's ideas seemed so dangerous was that many people understood him to suggest that the people of a country did not exist to serve their kings, as James II thought. Instead, kings and other types of rulers existed to serve their people, by protecting their rights to life, liberty, and property. Remember those three kinds of rights--life, liberty, and property. 87 years later, a famous American, Thomas Jefferson, will borrow those terms from Locke, change the wording to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and write them into the American Declaration of Independence. In that form, John Locke's ideas will shape the way Americans still think about government in the 21st century. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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John Locke also believed that God gave people good minds and abilities so that they could make rulers and laws themselves. Kings were not made directly by God. Monarchy--rule by a single king or queen--began only when people got together and agreed to create it. People could just as easily have created a different kind of government. And people had to obey kings only as long as they protected the people's rights. Kings like James II were wrong to think that they were responsible only to God and not to the people. If a king refused to protect the people's rights, the people could take government away from the king and give it to a new ruler who would protect them. John Locke believed that if leaders would only limit the power of the monarch, kings could be prevented from abusing people's rights and people would not rebel. Locke suggested that an elected assembly like the English Parliament provided a good way to limit the king's power. Parliament was chosen by the majority of property holders in each member's district (at that time in England and America only property holders could vote). If Parliament shared power with the king, voting on laws he proposed, they could keep him from passing laws that took away rights. People called this idea Limited Monarchy. John Locke never commented directly on New Englanders' Glorious Revolution against Sir Edmund Andros. But Locke's ideas were very similar to the reasons the colonists gave for sending Andros back to England. Locke said government existed to protect liberty, but Andros was throwing people in jail and making them serve in his army against their will. Locke said government existed to protect property, but Andros was seizing the titles to colonists' land and making them use their money to pay taxes they had not agreed to create. Locke said an elected assembly could limit the power of a single ruler, but Andros was trying to eliminate representative government in New England. We can't know exactly what John Locke would have told William and Mary about Massachusetts's Glorious Revolution. But we do know that the ideas he wrote down could encourage people to take the kind of action the colonists took against Edmund Andros. GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, 1688 The struggle between king and Parliament in England for Predominance in State occupies a greater part of the 17th century. The result of the contest was the victory of Parliament and the establishment of constitutional monarchy. In a sense the historic conflict of the king and parliament was set in the last years of the Tudor period. The parliament began to murmur but Queen Elizabeth kept the body in good humour. But the situation was reversed under the Stuart kings (1603-1688 A.D.). Instead of disarming opposition by conciliating parliament they advocated Divine Right Theory of kingship and incurred displeasure of the parliament.

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The death of Elizabeth I in 1603 A.D ended the glorious period of the Tudors. Now, James VI, the king the Scotland succeeded his cousin Elizabeth under the title of James I and inaugurated the Stuart Dynasty. He was succeeded by Charles I and after an experiment with the commonwealth. Charles II and James II succeeded him. The protracted struggle began with James I, “the wisest fool of Christendom” and ended with the glorious or Bloodless Revolution of 1688 A.D. during the reign of James II. It was called glorious Revolution or Bloodless Revolution because it was accomplished in a peaceful manner without shedding a drop of blood. The revolution asserted the supremacy of the parliament and the political power passed from the crown of parliament and people. Causes: In the first place Englishmen were reluctant to render implicit obedience to a foreign dynasty and rulers even thought they were blood kins of the Tudors. Secondly, the day of despotism had passed away and as many internal and external dangers were over, the parliament asserted more pressure and influence. They no longer needed an autocrat on the throne of England but James II who succeeded his brother Charles II was not conciliatory in manners and instead he made greater claims. Again James II was an ardent follower of the Divine Right Theory and he acted as God an earth an openly declared that he was responsible to his actions only to God. Uprising greeted the accession of James II who lacked wisdom and political judgment. He was an ardent Catholic who dismissed so many nonCatholics from their positions including the Vice Chancellor of the Cambridge University who refused to confer the Masters Degree on a Catholic student. Under the cloak of religion, he appointed Catholics in key-posts-in the army, in civil service and educational institutions and due to such a policy, in the teeth of bitter opposition from parliament, he was dethroned. No wonder he has been described as “an ass who has lost his kingdom for a mass”. The two political parties in England, The wig and the Tory joined hands to overthrow the king. The wigs believed in the supremacy of the parliament and the Tory party attacked James for his religious fanaticism. The re-establishment of the court of High Commission to punish the opponents was opposed by the leaders. When James began to suppress individual liberty with the help of the army even the earlier supporters to his absolutism changed side. The unconstitutional acts of claiming the rights of suspending and Dispensing powers was not in the liking of the people who felt that no one not even the king had the right to break the law of the country. The people also hated James II for his inhuman cruelty towards the opponents. James II wanted to establish friendly relation with Louis XIV of France. Most of the people opposed Louis for his persecution of Huguenots or French Protestants. It was feared by the Englishmen that their king will be dictated by a foreign monarch in the commercial and the religious fields if the friendship continued with Louis XIV. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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James II lacked tact and wisdom. He arrested seven Bishops including the Architecture-Bishop of Canterbury for requesting the king to absolve them from reading out the Declaration of Indulgence in the church. His arbitrary action turned the whole nation against him. The people put up with the unconstitutional and illegal acts of James II for the simple reasons that the old man would soon die without a son and his daughter. Mary and her protestant husband William would come to their rescue. But on June 10, 1688 the Birth of a son to the old king in his 55 th year shocked them. Leading Englishmen belonging to the two political parties set aside their political motives and issued a joined declaration and invited Marry and William of Orange (king of Holland) to come to England to save the cause of liberty and Protestantism. On 5th November 1688 William landed England with a small army and was supported every where by the enthusiastic people. Finding that resistance was of no use, James fled to France. This even is known as the glorious or Bloodless Revolution. A convention Parliament was conveyed which declared William and Mary as joined sovereign to the throne, left vacant by James II. The Revolution established that Parliament was superior to the king and hence it was a decisive turning point in the growth of parliamentary supremacy. Soon after coronation William and Mary summoned the convention parliament in 1689 A.D. accepted the Declaration of Rights and passed it into law in the form of the ‘Bills of Rights’. It declared that (1) the king of England should be an Anglican (2) The king should not exercise suspending or dispensing power (3) No standing army should be maintained without the consent of the parliament (4) No taxation without the consent of the parliament. (5) Parliament is the sole authority to decide who should rule England. (6) The people should have the right to send petition to the king (7) Annual grants were to be given to the king by the parliament – it ensured annual meeting of the parliament (8) Arbitrary Courts are to be abolished (9) Parliament was to be freely elected and the members were to have freedom of speech. The Toleration Act passed by the parliament granted religious freedom to the people. Results. The bloodless Revolution was a great land mark in the constitutional history of England. It resulted in the supremacy of the parliament and gave a blow to Absolute Monarchy in England. It marked the end of the struggle between king and parliament. The revolution also destroyed the Divine Right Theory of kinship and upholder the principle that the powers of the kings are based on the consent of the people. The Revolution gave a fatal blow to absolutism and led to the establishment of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary supremacy in England. The Revolution was also a victory to the Protestants and a blow to Catholics. The establishment of the independent judiciary after the glorious Revolution safe guarded the liberty of the people. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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As said by Trevelyan “The Revolution established constitutional monarchy and finally decided that neither the kind nor the parliament was the lawful sovereign of England. The sovereign henceforth was to be king-in-parliament. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1775-1783 The American Revolution or the War of American Independence broke out in the year 1775 A.D during the reign of the English King George III and came to a close in 1783 A.D with defeat of the Mother country by the colonies. It was the Revolt of the 13 British colonies against England, the Mother country. All the colonies now became independent and they established the United States of America, which is now the leading power of the World. John Adams, the second President of U.S.A. once remarked that ‘the Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. Causes. The Americans had so many grievances against the Mother country. Therefore they followed the policy of economic exploitation. Commercially they followed ‘mercantilism’ which means that the Government should regulate commerce of its subjects (including the colonists) to the build up the wealth and power of the country. The policy of mercantilism was implemented by various Acts by the British Parliament. The Navigation Acts of 1651, 1660 and 1680 A.D. insisted that the colonies should use only English ships for trade between them and England. They were also required to export sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco etc to England only. The Sugar Act of 1764 A.D. imposed duties on a number of articles including sugar. The stamp Act of 1765 imposed stamp duties on newspaper licenses; bonds etc. and it aroused a storm of protest. People from all walks of life cried for its repeal. The Stamp Act Congress upholded the slogan “No taxation without representation”. Earlier, the Quartering Act provided for the stationing of British soldiers in the colonies at their own expense. There were other causes as well for the war of American Independence. Most of the people of the colonies had no loyalty towards the Mother country. The long distance between the two countries weakened the ties between the colonies and the Mother country. Against since the colonies were self sufficient they no longer required the help of the Mother country. Despite the restrictions imposed on them, the colonies remained loyal up till the Seven Years War because of the fear of the French from Canada. The British conquest of Canada after the Seven Year War reduced the French danger and hence the colonies turned against England. The glorious Revolution also gave them inspiration.

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Religiously, the colonists were liberal and broad minded while the people of England were conservative and rigid. When Charles Townshend came to power in England he imposed duties on various commodities such as tea, paper, glass, sugar, paints etc. In the face of the mounting opposition Townshend Act was repealed but the duty on tea was allowed to remain. The immediate cause of the American Revolution was the Boston Tea Party in 1773 A.D. In order to help the English East India Company the British government allowed the company to re-ship its stocks of tea to America without paying any duty. But when the ship containing tea reached the Boston harbor 50 to 60 Americans, dressed like Red Indians boarded the ship and threw tea chest into the sea. This incident is known as the Boston Tea Party. To punish the colonies, the port of Boston was closed. Philadelphia Congress 1774 A.D: The treatment of Boston aroused the feelings of resentment every where. On 5th September 1774 A.D. the representatives of all the 13 colonies, except Georgia, met at Philadelphia. The convention asserted that the British parliament had no right to tax the colonies without their consent. The colonists should be given all rights and liberties enjoyed by the citizens of England. They condemned the laws passed by the British parliament and sent a petition urging the British government to repeal all the 13 Acts passed by the parliament after 1765 A.D.The British Government refused and mobilized the army. So the colonists selected George Washington to command their army against the Mother country.

Course of the War. In 1775 War took place at Lexington and concord. But the first important battle was at Bunker Hill in which the Americans suffered heavy casualties. In 1776 the British army again defeated the American army at Long Island. But the tables were reversed at the Battle of Saratoga which revealed that American victory was possible. Ably assisted by the French, the colonial army Commanded by George Washington trapped the British army at York Town and forced Lord Cornwallis, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces to surrender in 1781.In the Treaty of Paris (1783, Sept) England granted complete independence to the colonies and the United States of America was born. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789 The French revolution was one of the bloodiest Revolutions in the history of the World. It was a political earth quake which shook off the social, economic and political set up in France and many other countries and led to the establishment of a new social order. It spread the noble ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity throughout the world. As Pundit Nehru wrote, the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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French Revolution is an amazing and ever-changing drama, full of extraordinary incidents which are still fascinating, thrilling and horrifying us. The Causes. The causes responsible for the violent rising of the masses fell under political, social, economic and intellectual headlines. Political: Despotic monarchy was the political order of France. The monarchy exercised absolute powers coupled with the Divine Right theory which always went against the popular wish. There was no share for the common people in the government of their country. Such a system could work well provided the ruler was efficient. But the successors of Louis XIV like Louis XV and Louis XVI were weak, inefficient and inexperienced. The former led a life of pleasure and vices and the latter, though good at heart, was too inefficient to rule France. In addition to inefficiency Louis XVI was completely under the control of his beautiful but proud, willful and wicked queen Maries Antoinette who was notorious for her unsympathetic attitude towards the people. The illogical and unsystematic character of the French government also resulted in the Revolution. There was a lot of confusion in every branch of Government – the finances were ill planned and every officer made profit at the expense of the tax payers. The costly wars of the French kings including Louis XIV drained the treasury and made the nation weak in power and prestige. Many of her colonies were lost at the end of the Seven Years war and her entry in the American War of Independence brought back only financial drain to frustrated France. The French kings were extravagant and pleasure-loving and they regarded national income as their personal income. The Representative body of France, the Estate-General was a forgotten body since it was not been summoned after 1614 A.D.Therefore it was impossible to judge the temper and views of the people towards the different issues. Social. Napoleon once said that “the French Revolution was a general mass movement of the nation against the privileged classes”. In France there were three classes of people – the clergy, the nobles and the commons. The first two estates were the privileged class who enjoyed all the fun of life where as the common people, the unprivileged class, led a miserable life. The clergy enjoyed acres of tax-free church land and led a luxurious, corrupt and immoral life. Nearly ¼th of the land of France was owned by the nobles who also enjoyed many privileges. It is said that “the clergy prayed, the nobles fought and the people paid”. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The whole burden of taxes fell upon the shoulders of the common people, the unprivileged class. This class was comprised of workers, farmers and the middle class including government servants, teachers, doctors, lawyers, writers, artists and industrialists. The middle class with their wealth and intelligence became the leaders of the French Revolution. Economic. Financially, France was on the verge of bankruptcy. The extravagance and the costly wars of Louis XIV actually left the French economy collapsed. Under his successors, the financial crisis deepened further. France had a defective system of taxation; the rich who could support the state paid only a little as tax while the poor people perished under the heavy weight of taxation. Intellectual. The French Revolution is considered a time of great change by most historians; the ideas of liberty, personal freedoms and forms of government were all heavily altered during this period. Although some may correctly attribute the collapse of the older French government to things such as social and economic issue, the actual ideas that were elaborated upon during this revolutionary period came from the French Enlightenment philosophers. The writings of the enlightenment authors Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu all had an effect on the changing ideas of liberty and forms of government, which contributed to the start of the French Revolution. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778) influenced the revolution by altering the idea of the effects of civilization upon natural freedoms. Rousseau was a composer, music theorist and novelist, as well as a political thinker of the Enlightenment. Rousseau mainly effected the French perception of civilization's consequences upon liberty and "most of his works deal with the mechanisms through which humans are forced to give up liberty”. His main idea can be summed up in the first line of his most renowned work, The Social Contract (1762): "Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains". Rousseau argued that civilization affected liberty in a negative way, as opposed to the original perception in which civilization enhanced human liberty. Rousseau’s idea of a perfect government was a republic. He believed that "a people could only be free if it ruled itself". He also believed that freedom was, in effect, "ruling oneself, living under a law which one has oneself enacted" or a system approved and made by the people. His ideas influenced many revolutionary figures - both negatively and positively - including Maximally Robespierre (1758 - 1794), who twisted Rousseau's ideas, such as the idea that citizens have the right to rebel against their civilization, to fit his own purposes during the "Reign of Terror". Rousseau's very first piece of published writing was Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences (1750). This was the essay in which he originally stated .his belief that civilization has the effect of morally corrupting human beings. In Rousseau's opinion, "the natural moral state of human beings is to be compassionate; civilization has made us cruel, selfish and bloodthirsty”. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The advancements in technology (such as industrialization and machines, or weapons like the revolver) which most people considered progressive and improving, Rousseau thought of as degrading and ultimately a source of the moral problems in our world today. In summary, the main point that Rousseau was trying to make in this work was that "civilization robbed us of our natural freedom". Another of Rousseau's most influential writings is The Discourse on Inequality (1754). It was written for an essay contest in Geneva, Switzerland and won first place. This essay was the culmination of all of Rousseau's main ideas, gathered into one work. The first of these was his idea of the "noble savage", postulating that humans are happiest when they are neither completely uncouth nor completely cultured; rather, the happiest human state is that of a 'refined uncultivated person', as contradictory as that may sound. The second idea is the thought that there is a contractual obligation between government and citizen, or, the idea of the social contract (this idea was later elaborated upon in Rousseau's The Social Contract, 1762). The third idea is the nature of human distinctions, or, the way in which humans thought processes and beliefs differ from each other. Because of this, no government will ever please an entire people. His next idea is the nature of human freedom, which he had previously outlined in Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences. In this essay, Rousseau's main disagreement with society was that civilization takes away people's own God-given individuality, since "civilized human beings live outside themselves in the opinions and authority of others". Instead of living by their own morals and beliefs, people live by the standards society sets for them. Finally, the famous and influential The Social Contract was Rousseau's "piece de resistance' when it came to revolutionary thinking and "abstract political thought”. This work stressed a new concept; that of the "social contract”. This contract was a mutual indenture between the people and the government, in which "the governed agree to be ruled only so that their rights, property and happiness [will] be protected by their rulers”. The salient point of this entire work, onto which the revolutionaries clung, was the idea that should this social contract be violated, "the governed are free to choose another set of governors or magistrates". This idea influenced both the formation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789, the French Constitution) and the Declaration of Independence (1775, the American Constitution). Its influence is also seen in the fact that both the French and American revolutions ended with "contracts, outlining the rights and liberties of the governed”. These contracts specified that government should protect the rights of every citizen, not just the wealthy and powerful members of society. This idea, however, was sometimes taken too far: Rousseau was not, as some have believed, encouraging anarchist thought. Rather than just a simple disagreement between a people and its leaders, "it was only when political authority broke the basic premise of the social contract and individual liberty was replaced by inequality that Rousseau believed that government should be torn down. In summation, although he supported the dismantlement of a government if the government Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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was in breach of their 'social contract', Rousseau still believed in order and civil obedience. Voltaire (1694-1778), otherwise known as Francois Marie Arouet, changed the perception of the relationship between nature and science, as well as the best way to achieve progress. Voltaire was heavily influenced by the English writers Sir Francis Bacon and, to a lesser extent, John Locke. He admired Locke's Letter for Toleration (1689), and even based his Traite sur la Tolerance (1763), or A Treatise on Toleration, on the same main concepts. While he admired Locke as one of the best English philosophers, Voltaire believed that Bacon was "the most up-to-date thinker", and that the French public could relate to him. He thought Bacon was most assuredly a 'man of science', in that he could relate humanity's own downfall to the rise of science and the corresponding relationship between the two with progress. Bacon insisted that science was "a practical enterprise to give us mastery of our own world", saying humanity could exploit nature to our advantage and use science to improve our own lives. Voltaire then, reasonably, supported Bacon's idea of how progress can be achieved: government should be focused on "an enlarged royal prerogative, at the expense of the rights of the Church, Parliament, and the courts", or essentially a strong monarchy. Voltaire believed this system of government could work in France, since France had an extensive history of being successful with kings and monarchies. He also believed that "the great enemies of liberty were Although Voltaire's most famous work was A Treatise for Toleration, his first influential writing was the play, Brutus (1730). It summarized the feelings of the people, by representing the life of Brutus; murderer of Caesar, in ancient Roman times. In this play, "the horror of a tyrannical government is expressed with all the fire of Voltaire's genius". This play had a profound effect upon the revolution; according to Herbert, "Voltaire's writings lent themselves readily to radical use, and some of the most common slogans of the revolution were borrowed from his Brutus". One of these slogans was the last line of Brutus, 'Rome is free, that suffices, let us give thanks to the gods’ which appeared in a salon review that analyzed the portrait by David of the same name. This play was looked upon as the culmination of the Revolution, and "presentations of Voltaire's Brutus were quickly accepted as the triumph of 'democratic' theater" by those involved in the revolution, even though Voltaire had meant his plays to be in support of an improved monarchy - not a democracy. Voltaire's lesserknown plays also had an impact on the Revolution, as evidenced by this quote from Mahomet (1742) that appeared on the Bastille Memorial: "An altar to the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille also bore citations from Voltaire [. . .] 'All mortals are equal; it is not birth/But virtue alone which makes the difference'". Voltaire also "described the English kingdom [. . .] as the homeland of liberty", and believed the English to be a great source of ideas on liberties, though not to such an extent as Montesquieu, who heavily idealized many English writers. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) was heavily influenced by the English. Like Voltaire, he admired the political theories of the English, especially those of Locke. Montesquieu’s works also altered both the idea of freedom and the idea of a monarchic government in the Revolution. Although he did admire the English's separation and division of the power of government, he worried that "the spirit of 'extreme' liberty among the English could undercut the constitutional separation of powers that protect their liberties". He mainly believed that freedom was, in essence, "being unconstrained and unimpeded in doing what one chooses to do, as long as it is lawful". He "claimed a liberal constitutional monarchy was the best system of government", especially for a freedom-loving people, since "by dividing the sovereignty of the nation, it provided a permanent check on any one of them becoming despotic". Montesquieu believed that the French should, like the English, use "the Crown, the aristocratic courts, the Church, the landed nobility, and the chartered cities" to divide sovereignty among different groups, as opposed to having power solely with a king or queen. Montesquieu also gave great power to the aristocracy in his plan for government, which might be explained by the fact that he himself was a noble. These ideas influenced the Comte de Mirabeau, who was the "leading orator among the revolutionists". Mirabeau disagreed, however, with the power set aside for the aristocracy, in spite of being a noble himself. Montesquieu’s main work was ‘The Spirit of the Laws’ (1753). This book primarily outlined "what sort of 'spirit' a regime must have to sustain a constitution of separate powers and so to preserve individual liberties". The 'spirit' of a government was believed, by Montesquieu, to be essentially "the physical, conditions of the country...the type of life of the people...the religion of the inhabitants, their inclinations, their wealth, their number, their commerce, their mores, and their manners”. If a government attempted to achieve consensus amongst their people involving these factors, a government ought to continue to survive. In this book, Montesquieu supports the English system, which "establishes a functional separation between the legislative, executive, judicial powers", and he "indicates that in England, the people ultimately (if indirectly) hold sovereign power”. This work influenced how France perceived a limited constitutional monarchy, by introducing English ideas. A republic, a monarchy, and a liberal constitutional monarchy: although they had different ideas, all three of these Enlightenment thinkers - Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu - changed the perceptions of freedom and government for the French and the world. Their writings influenced the French Revolution, by inciting citizens and giving them a reason to rebel against their regime, whether by breaking a social contract, adopting a progressive, scientific government, or proposing the adoption of the English system of rule. Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794) Marquis de Condorcet (September 17, 1743 - March 28, 1794) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist who devised Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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the concept of a Condorcet method. Ahead of his time in many respects as an 18th century thinker, he advocated a liberal economy, free and equal public education, constitutional justice, and equal rights for women and people of all races. His ideas and writings influenced French and world politics, and remain influential to this day. Early years He was born in Ribemont, Aisne in 1743, and descended from the ancient family of Caritat, who took their title from the town of Condorcet in Dauphiné, of which they were long-time residents. He was fatherless at a young age. His mother was devoutly religious, and had him educated at the Jesuit College in Reims and at the College of Navarre in Paris. Condorcet quickly showed his intellectual ability. His first public distinctions were gained in mathematics. When he was sixteen, his analytical abilities gained the praise of D'Alembert and Alexis Clairault, and soon Condorcet would study under D'Alembert. From 1765 to 1774, he focused on science. In 1765, he published his first work on mathematics entitled Essai sur le calcul intégral, which was very well received, launching his career as a respected mathematician. He would go on to publish many more papers, and on February 25, 1769, he was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences. In 1772, he published another paper on integral calculus which was widely hailed as a groundbreaking paper on many fronts. Soon after, he met Jacques Turgot, a French economist, and the two became fast friends. Turgot became an administrator under King Louis XV in 1772, and later became Controller General of Finance under Louis XVI in 1774. Condorcet was recognized worldwide and worked with such famous scientists as Leonhard Euler and Benjamin Franklin. He soon became an honorary member of many foreign academies and philosophic societies notably in Germany, Russia and the United States. Political career In 1774, Condorcet was appointed Inspector General of the Mint by Turgot. From this point, Condorcet shifted his focus from the purely mathematical to philosophy and political matters. In the following years, he took up the defense of human rights in general, and of women's and coloured people's rights in particular. He supported the ideals embodied by the newly formed United States of America, and proposed projects of political, administrative and economic reforms intended to transform France. In 1776, Turgot was dismissed as Controller General. Consequently, Condorcet resigned as Inspector General of the Mint, but his resignation was refused. He served in this post until 1791. Condorcet later wrote Vie de M. Turgot (1786), a biography which spoke fondly of Turgot and favored Turgot's economic theories. Condorcet continued to receive prestigious appointments. In 1777, Condorcet was appointed Secretary of the Académie des Sciences. In 1782, he was appointed secretary of the French Academy. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Condorcet's paradox In 1785, Condorcet wrote the Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions, one of his most important works. In this, he explores the "Condorcet's paradox", which describes the intransitivity of majority preference. Condorcet's paradox states that it's possible for a majority to prefer A over B, another majority to prefer B over C, and another majority to prefer C over A, all from the same electorate and same set of ballots. In this paper, he also outlines a generic Condorcet method, a method designed to simulate pair wise elections between all candidates in an election. He disagreed strongly with the alternative method of aggregating preferences put forth by Jean-Charles de Borda based on summed rankings of alternatives. Condorcet may have been the first to systematically apply mathematics in the social sciences. In 1786, Condorcet worked on ideas for the differential and integral calculus, giving a new treatment of infinitesimals. This work was never printed. In 1789, he published Vie de Voltaire (1789), which agreed with Voltaire in his opposition to the Church. French Revolution In 1789, the French Revolution swept France. Condorcet took a leading role, hoping for a rationalist reconstruction of society, and championed many liberal causes. As a result, in 1791 he was elected as the Paris representative in the Legislative Assembly, and then became the secretary of the Assembly. The Assembly adopted Condorcet's design for state education system, and Condorcet drafted a proposed Constitution for the New France. He advocated women's suffrage for the new government, writing an article for Journal de la Société de 1789, and by publishing "De l'admission des femmes’ au droit de cité" ("For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship for Women") in 1790. There were two competing views on which direction France should go, embodied by two political parties: the moderate Girondists, and the more radical Montagnards, led by Maximilien Robespierre who favored purging France of its royal past. Condorcet was quite independent but still counted many friends in the Girondist party. He presided the Legislative Assembly, as the Girondist held the majority, until she was replaced by the Convention, elected in order to design a new constitution and which abolished monarchy in favor of the republic. At the time of the Louis XVI's trial, the Girondists had however lost their majority in the Convention.Condorcet, who was against death penalty but still a strong supporter of this trial, pronounced against the execution of the King during the public vote at the Convention. He was then usually considered as a Girondist. Unfortunately, the Montagnards were becoming more and more influential in the Convention as the King's betrayal was confirming their theories. One of these, Heraut de Seychelles, a member, like Condorcet, of the Constitution's Commission, misrepresented many ideas from Condorcet's draft Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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and presented what was called a Montagnard Constitution. Condorcet criticized the new work, and as a result, he was branded a traitor. On October 3, 1793, a warrant was issued for Condorcet's arrest. The warrant for his arrest forced Condorcet into hiding. He hid for five months in the house of Mrs. Vernet, street Servandoni, in Paris. It was there that he wrote Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrés de l'esprit humain (English translation: Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind), which was published posthumously in 1795. On March 25, 1794 Condorcet left his hideout, no longer convinced he was safe, and attempted to flee Paris. He was arrested in Clamart two days later, and put in prison in the Borough-the Equality (Borough-the-Queen, French: Bourg-la-Reine). Two days later, he was found dead in his cell. The main theory is that his friend, Doctor Cabanis, gave him a poison which he eventually used. However, some historians believe that he may have been murdered (perhaps because he was too loved and respected to be executed). Immediate Cause. The immediate cause of the Revolution was the summoning of the French Parliament called the Estates General on May 5, 1789 A.D by the king after a lapse of 175 years, to tide over the financial crisis. It was an assembly of the three estates, the clergy and nobles and the commons. Course of the Revolution When the half-forgotten Estate general was convened in 1789, the Third Estate who had a majority in the body at that time pleaded for ‘vote by Head’.This was opposed by the king and the first two Estates, who stood for ‘Vote by Order’. Therefore the Third Estate declared themselves as the National Assembly and when the facility of the meeting place was denied by the king, met in a near by Tennis court. A number of members of from the lover clergy and the nobles now joined them. The national Assembly (which met at the Tennis court) took the memorable Tennis Court Oath on 20th June 1789 by which it was resolved not to dissolve until a new constitution was drafted. While the National Assembly met, a rumour spread that the king is trying to mobilize the army to disperse it. The irate people then marched to the Bastille Prison, which was a symbol of oppression, and destroyed it on 14th July 1789. The National Assembly then passed a resolution in favour of abolishing all feudal privileges and also serfdom. It also drafted a charter of rights known as the Declaration of Rights of man on the model of the Bill of Rights of England it asserted that all men are born equal to rights; sovereignty is resting with the people; nobody should be imprisoned without proper reasons and taxes should be raised only with the consent of the people; The National Assembly also secularized the French church and declared that Bishops and priests were to be elected church properties were confiscated and the state control over the church became a reality. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The National Assembly also framed the constitution of France in 1791 which made the French Monarchy a constitutional one, passed on the theory of the Separation of Powers. The constitution envisaged a limited monarchy, subordinated to the law of the land and not a December Republic. On September 30, 1791 the National Assembly which had completed its work of framing the constitution dissolved itself. In the same year the king tried to escape to Austria; but he was captured and brought back to Paris. Now the Austrian Emperor, who was the brother of the French queen, invited other European powers to invade the Revolutionary France. But only Prussia responded to the call. Though the combined forces of Austria and Prussia attacked France the revolutionary army ably defended their country, repulsed the attack and even invaded Germany and captured many towns. The threat of foreign invasion was fully exploited by the extremists among the revolutionaries who now captured power. Robes Pierre and Danton were the two radical leaders. They formed the Revolutionary Jacobin Club which wanted the abolition of monarchy and several drastic measures. They indulged in awful atrocities which opened a new chapter in the history of the French Revolution. In September 1792, they murdered hundreds of men and women who were suspected to be supporters of royal absolutism. On 23rd September, 1792, the king was deposed and France became a Republic. The king was condemned to death on a charge of treason and on 21st January 1793 Louis XVI was guillotined followed by the Queen in October 1793. (Guillotine is a mechanical device used to cut off the head of the convicts. It was invented by Ignacio Guillotine (1738-1814 A.D) a French physician. The execution of the King led to the formation of a European Coalition which declared war on France. In many parts, of France itself there arose rebellion against the high handedness of the radicals. To tide over the situation a Committee of Public Safety consisting of twelve members was formed. They started a reign of terror for about 10 months, (from September 1793 to July 1794) during which period more than 12,500 people were brutally murdered. Even Danton, the Radical leader was murdered when Robespierre thought that he was becoming soft. But the Reign of Terror made Robespierre very unpopular. Every where people rose in revolt and ultimately he too was guillotined. But the Committee of Public Safety was successful in dealing with and defeating the coalition of the European Powers consisting of Austria, England, Holland, Spain, Sardinia and Prussia. In 1795, after the fall of the Committee of Public Safety the National Convention adopted a new constitution. The constitution vested the executive powers with a Directory of five persons to be chosen by the Legislative Assembly. The inefficiency inexperience and mutual jealousy made the Directory unpopular and in 1799 A.D. Napoleon over threw it. He established the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Government of three consuls, of which he was the first and with its establishment the Revolutionary Government came to an end. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 1769-1821 A.D Napoleon was the child of French Revolution and the hero of France. He was born in the Island of Corsica in Italy on 15th August 1769. (Corsica was captured by France in 1768 A.D). France was in a deplorable economic and political condition during those days and to quote Napoleon, “I was born when my country was dying”. Napoleon was the brilliant son of a poor lawyer. He joined the Military Academy in 1784 A.D. and by dint of ability rose to the position of a colonel in 1793 A.D. Next year he became the General of the Brigade and the Commander of the army in Italy. In 1795 he defended the National Convention by firing at a mob and suppressing a reactionary uprising. He was now given the command against Austria which country was defeated by Napoleon in about 26 battles. It gave France natural frontier and it was an achievement which even Louis XIV could not accomplish. In 1796, when he was 27 years of age, Napoleon married Josephine, a rich widow of a nobleman. In 1798 the Directory appointed him to command the French army against England. Napoleon worked out a strategy. With a view to deprive England of her empire and Commerce attacked Egypt and conquered Malta and Alexandria. But his plan did not work, as Admiral Nelson of the British navy destroyed the French fleet in August 1798 A.D. It was after his return from Egypt that Napoleon overthrew the weak and incompetent Directory and became the virtual Dictator of France. He gave France peace; order and security. That was why the French people rallied round the dictator even when he robbed them off the fruits of the Revolution. Reforms of Napoleon Napoleon was a great ruler and a brilliant administrator. He set up a strong centralized government to restore peace and order and introduced a number of administrative reforms to heal the wounds of the French Revolution. First of all he stabilized Finance by checking wasteful expenditure and introducing scientific system of taxation. Corruption was suppressed with an iron hand. In 1804 A.D he established the Bank of France which became “the Soundest financial institution of the World”. Napoleon introduced a uniform educational policy and established a net work of primary and secondary school as well as colleges through out France. The University of France was also his creation. Another noteworthy reform of Napoleon was the codification of the French laws, known as the code of Napoleon. It abolished privileges and established social equality and trial by Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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jury. He once said, ‘My real glory is not having won 40 battles…..what will endure for ever is my civil code’. He also restored the amicable relations between the State and the Catholic Church. In 1801 A.D he signed an agreement with pope Pius VII known as Concordat. It endorsed the principle that the Catholic Church was the official church of France but at the same time the priests and Bishops had to take the oath of loyalty to the State. Foreign Relations. Napoleon was one of the very few daring conquerors of the world who ranks with Alexander and Caesar. He had a magnetic personality and was the idol of the French soldiers who were ready to die for their master. He has won several victories for the Revolutionary France even before becoming the dictator. When be became the emperor of France in 1804 A.D the omens were not favorable for a lasting peace. In 1805 A.D. England organized the Third Coalition against France with the help of Russia, Prussia and Austria, Napoleon now planned to invade England with Spanish help. But his dream was shattered to pieces by Admiral Nelson who defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 A.D. However, with tireless energy Napoleon defeated the Austrian army 20th October and the Russian army on 2nd December 1805 A.D and the Prussians in the next year. By 1810 A.D he was the master of the whole of Europe except England. In order to destroy the power and prosperity of England Napoleon followed a new Plan known as the continental system. His plan was an economic blockade on England by checking the imports of the English goods; but the system failed miserably. Russia had accepted the continental system in the beginning but later on refused to abide by it when she found that it was against her interest. So Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 A.D. But the Moscow campaign was one of the major causes for his downfall. It demoralized the French army and lowered the prestige of France. Taking advantage of the situation England formed the fourth coalition against France in 1813 A.D and at the Battle of Leipzig. Napoleon was defeated by the combined forces of England, Russia, Prussia and Austria. He was exiled to the Island of Elba (1814 A.D) but the crafty Louis XVIII now fled to Belgium and Napoleon captured power and ruled France for another one hundred days. But at the Battle of Waterloo on 12th June 1815 A.D he was decisively defeated by the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon was now exiled to the Island of St. Helena where he died in 1821 A.D. Results of the French Revolution The French Revolution is one of the greatest episodes in the history of the world. Practically almost all the Revolutions of the 19th century are greatly influenced by it. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The French Revolution gave a fatal blow to absolute monarchy and a death blow to feudalism. It uprooted the outdated rule in France and led to the establishment of the French Republic. All the special privileges were abolished and the society came to be organized on the basis of equality. The Revolution made France strong and prosperous. The French Revolution established the novel ideas, of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The Revolution established the idea that the sovereignty rests with the people. Law should be based on the general will of the people. The government should be not only “for the people”, but also “by the people”. In a fact it perpetuated the cause of Democracy in France and other countries. It also infused a spirit of Nationalism and Patriotism among the French people and set a precedent for a oppressed people to revolt against their oppressors. The Revolution also led to the separation of religion from politics in France and in other countries. The evil effects of the French Revolution may also be studied in this context. Every Revolution takes a heavy toll of human life and property. But in the case of the French Revolution the disregard for human life was very high. During the Reign of Terror hundreds of thousands of innocent people were put to death in the name of liberty. The Revolution also brought about a spirit of aggressive nationalism and fanatical patriotism. KEY FEATURES OF COLONIALISM 

Exploitation of Raw, Natural Resources

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Mandatory Market for Western-Finished Goods

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Disruption of Traditional Economy and Residence

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Arbitrary Boundaries (designed for Colonizer’s convenience, not according to ethnic boundaries)

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Linguistic Hegemony (Western Languages)

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Simplified Communication = Other as Simpleton

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Christianity/Islam vs. Traditional Religion

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Glorification of Western Culture

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Privileging certain ethnic groups over others

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Creating a New “Class” of Africans--Indebted to Western Masters

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Employment for Westerners

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Class Status for Westerners

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

Improvements in Standard of Living for Some, Lowered Standard for Others Scientific and Technological Progress

Scientific progress is the idea that science increases its problem solving ability through the application of some method. Several Philosophers of Science has supported arguments that the progress of science is discontinuous. In that case, progress is not a continuous accumulation, but rather a revolutionary process where brand new ideas are adopted and old ideas become abandoned. Thomas Kuhn was a major proponent of this model of scientific progress, as explained in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. This is especially supported by studying the incommensurability of theories. For example; consider Newtonian mechanics and relativistic mechanics. From a strict vantage point, in Newtonian mechanics mass and energy are always conserved, where in relativistic mechanics energy and mass are always interchangeable. (Note the difference between the strict vantage point, and the layperson's vantage point that Newton's theory is applicable at low energies and low velocities relative to the velocity of light.) Because the theories are completely incompatible, scientists using one paradigm will not be able to discuss meaningfully with scientists from the other paradigm. A discontinuous model of scientific progress may disagree with a realist's construction in the philosophy of science. This is because the intrinsic nature of the objects referred to may change wildly. Another model of Scientific Progress, as put forward by Richard Boyd, and others, is History of Science as a model of scientific progress. In short, methods in science are produced which are used to produce scientific theories, which then are used to produce more methods, which are then used to produce more theories and so on. Note that this does not conflict with a continuous or discontinuous model of scientific progress. This model supports realism in that scientists are always working within the same universe; their theories must be referring to real objects, because they create theories that refer to actual objects that are used later in methods to produce new theories. An example supporting realism is the case of the electron. It is hard to prove the existence of an electron because it is so small. However, any microscopist will tell you that he knows an electron exists, because he uses it in his electron microscope. Early technological and religious traditions did not concern themselves with gaining knowledge in any systematic way, and thus the concept of scientific progress would have been largely alien to them. Societies deeply invested in tradition were primarily occupied with the verbatim passing of thoughts and practices to the next generation, and did not engage in the method. Even if some esoteric traditions may have involved themselves with a Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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rudimentary experimental method as the nucleus of their initiation, they did not overtly separate exploration from instruction. Some classical Greeks like Hippocrates did systematically gather evidence, but as a concept incremental increase of knowledge is first formulated in connection with the art of warfare. Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) Sir Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 – March 31, 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, inventor, and natural philosopher, who is generally regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential scientists in history. In his work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Newton enunciated his law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion. He thus laid the groundwork for classical mechanics, also known as Newtonian mechanics, which held sway in the physical sciences until the advent of quantum mechanics around the beginning of the twentieth century. By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from this system, he was the first to show that the motions of bodies on Earth and celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws. The unifying and predictive power of his laws was integral to the scientific revolution and advancement of the heliocentric model of the solar system. Among other scientific work, Newton realized that white light is composed of a spectrum of colors and further argued that light consists of corpuscles (particles). He enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum, and he developed a law describing the rate of cooling of objects when exposed to air. Furthermore, he studied the speed of sound in air and voiced a theory of the origin of stars. Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz share the credit for playing major roles in the development of calculus in the Western world. This area of mathematics has since proved of enormous value for the advancement of science and technology. Newton also made contributions to other areas of mathematics, having derived the binomial theorem in its entirety. In addition to his monumental work in mathematics and science, Newton was a devout Christian, although a somewhat unorthodox and non-Trinitarian one. He claimed to study the Bible every day, and he wrote more on religion than he did on science. He thought that his scientific investigations were a way to bring to light the Creator's work and the principles used by the Creator in ordering the physical universe. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) On April 7, 1770, William Wordsworth was born in Cocker mouth, Cumberland, England. Wordsworth's mother died when he was eight--this Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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experience shapes much of his later work. Wordsworth attended Hawks head Grammar School, where his love of poetry was firmly established and, it is believed, he made his first attempts at verse. While he was at Hawks head, Wordsworth's father died leaving him and his four siblings’ orphans. After Hawks head, Wordsworth studied at St. John's College in Cambridge and before his final semester, he set out on a walking tour of Europe, an experience that influenced both his poetry and his political sensibilities. While touring Europe, Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution. This experience as well as a subsequent period living in France brought about Wordsworth's interest and sympathy for the life, troubles and speech of the "common man". These issues proved to be of the utmost importance to Wordsworth's work. Wordsworth's earliest poetry was published in 1793 in the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. While living in France, Wordsworth conceived a daughter, Caroline, out of wedlock; he left France, and however, before she was born. In 1802, he returned to France with his sister on a fourweek visit to meet Caroline. Later that year, he married Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, and they had five children together. In 1812, while living in Grasmere, they grieved the loss of two of their children, Catherine and John, who both died that year. Equally important in the poetic life of Wordsworth was his 1795 meeting with the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It was with Coleridge that Wordsworth published the famous Lyrical Ballads in 1798. While the poems themselves are some of the most influential in Western literature, it is the preface to the second edition that remains one of the most important testaments to a poet's views on both his craft and his place in the world. In the preface Wordsworth writes on the need for "common speech" within poems and argues against the hierarchy of the period which valued epic poetry above the lyric. Wordsworth's most famous work, The Prelude (1850), is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism. The poem, revised numerous times, chronicles the spiritual life of the poet and marks the birth of a new genre of poetry. Although Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life, the poem was published posthumously. Wordsworth spent his final years settled at Rydal Mount in England, travelling and continuing his outdoor excursions. Devastated by the death of his daughter Dora in 1847, Wordsworth seemingly lost his will to compose poems. William Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850, leaving his wife Mary to publish The Prelude three months later. John Keats English Romantic poet John Keats was born on October 31, 1795, in London. The oldest of four children, he lost both his parents at a young age. His father, a livery-stable keeper, died when Keats was eight; his mother died of tuberculosis six years later. After his mother's death, Keats's maternal grandmother appointed two London merchants, Richard Abbey and John Rowland Sandell, as guardians. Abbey, a prosperous tea broker, assumed the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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bulk of this responsibility, while Sandell played only a minor role. When Keats was fifteen, Abbey withdrew him from the Clarke School, Enfield, to apprentice with an apothecary-surgeon and study medicine in a London hospital. In 1816 Keats became a licensed apothecary, but he never practiced his profession, deciding instead to write poetry. Around this time, Keats met Leigh Hunt, an influential editor of the Examiner, who published his sonnets "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and "O Solitude." Hunt also introduced Keats to a circle of literary men, including the poets P.B.Shelley and William Wordsworth. The group's influence enabled Keats to see his first volume, Poems by John Keats, published in 1817. Shelley, who was fond of Keats, had advised him to develop a more substantial body of work before publishing it. Keats, who was not as fond of Shelley, did not follow his advice. Endymion, a four-thousand-line erotic/allegorical romance based on the Greek myth of the same name, appeared the following year. Two of the most influential critical magazines of the time, the Quarterly Review and Blackwood's Magazine, attacked the collection. Calling the romantic verse of Hunt's literary circle "the Cockney school of poetry," Blackwood's declared Endymion to be nonsense and recommended that Keats give up poetry. Shelley, who privately disliked Endymion but recognized Keats's genius, wrote a more favorable review, but it was never published. Shelley also exaggerated the effect that the criticism had on Keats, attributing his declining health over the following years to a spirit broken by the negative reviews. Keats spent the summer of 1818 on a walking tour in Northern England and Scotland, returning home to care for his brother, Tom, who suffered from tuberculosis. While nursing his brother, Keats met and fell in love with a woman named Fanny Browne. Writing some of his finest poetry between 1818 and 1819, Keats mainly worked on "Hyperion," a Miltonic blank-verse epic of the Greek creation myth. He stopped writing "Hyperion" upon the death of his brother, after completing only a small portion, but in late 1819 he returned to the piece and rewrote it as "The Fall of Hyperion" (unpublished until 1856). That same autumn Keats contracted tuberculosis, and by the following February he felt that death was already upon him, referring to the present as his "posthumous existence." In July 1820, he published his third and best volume of poetry, Lamia, Isabella,The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems. The three title poems, dealing with mythical and legendary themes of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance times, are rich in imagery and phrasing. The volume also contains the unfinished "Hyperion," and three poems considered among the finest in the English language, "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode on Melancholy," and "Ode to a Nightingale." The book received enthusiastic praise from Hunt, Shelley, Charles Lamb, and others, and in August, Frances Jeffrey, influential editor of the Edinburgh Review, wrote a review praising both the new book and Endymion. The fragment "Hyperion" was considered by Keats's contemporaries to be his greatest achievement, but by that time he had reached an advanced stage of Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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his disease and was too ill to be encouraged. He continued a correspondence with Fanny Browne and—when he could no longer bear to write to her directly— her mother, but his failing health and his literary ambitions prevented their getting married. Under his doctor's orders to seek a warm climate for the winter, Keats went to Rome with his friend, the painter Joseph Severn. He died there on February 23, 1821, at the age of twenty-five, and was buried in the Protestant cemetery.

P.B. Shelley (1792-1822) Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the greatest contributors to the romantic poetry in the English language and author of the Prometheus Unbound and many other poems. Best known for his anthology works such as Ode to the West wind and To a Skylark, Shelley also wrote the most excellent lyric poems in the English language. The author is also known for his atheist views that became the central idea of his work The Necessity of Atheism, written and published in 1811, when he was still in the college. His major works mainly consist of lengthy and imaginative poems including Adonais, The Revolt of Islam and his unfinished poem The Triumph of Life. In his short but successful career, Shelley gained appreciation from eminent persons such as Karl Marx, Henry Stephens Salt and from other contemporary authors as well including eminent poet and friend Lord Byron. Childhood & Education Percy was born on 4 August 1792 in England to Sir Timothy Shelley and his wife Elizabeth Pilfold and was the eldest of seven children born to them. His father Timothy was the Baronet of Castle Goring and a Whig member of parliament. After receiving his early schooling at home, Percy was admitted into the Syon House Academy of Brent ford in 1802 and two years later in 1804, Shelly went on to study at Eton College, Oxford University. Throughout his education, Percy remained an average student and his performance in academics could be hailed as 'poor and disappointing'. In 1810, Percy matriculated from the University College. These years at Oxford were tough for him, as the college authority were not pleased with his subversive idealism and atheistic philosophy. His first work Zastrozzi, a Gothic novel, was published in 1810 followed by Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire in the same year. While at Oxford, he wrote Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson- a joint effort of Percy and Thomas Jefferson Hogg- which earned him the unfavorable attention of the college authorities. However, the first work which would put him under fire from the college authorities was a pamphlet called The Necessity of Atheism, written and published in 1811.This resulted in his confrontation by the college Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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administration and he was expelled from the college after his refusal to rebut the authorship of the book. He could have been reinstated on the condition of renouncing his atheistic views expressed in the pamphlet, which he again refused to do. End result of this was his final expulsion from the college on 25 March 1811 and fall-out with his father. First Marriage Now expelled from the college and estranged from his father, Shelley eloped to Scotland with a sixteen year old Harriet Westbrook. They married on 28 August 1811. Here Shelly attempted an open marriage with inviting his friend Hogg to their house, which led to an opposition from his wife Harriet and eventually demise of their marriage.

For the next three years he paid several visits to London where he became associated with an atheist and journalist William Godwin and eventually became involved with his daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Unhappy in his first marriage, Shelly found Mary to be his intellectual equal at first instance and grew immensely close to her. On 28 July 1814, Percy deserted his wife Harriet, who had given birth to their daughter Lanthe Shelley and was pregnant again, and eloped with Mary for a second time. They were accompanied by Mary's step sister Claire Claremont to Switzerland where the three stayed for sometime before finally returning to England after few months. During this period, Shelley grew hugely impressed with the poems of Williams Wordsworth and wrote Alastor, the spirit of solitude in 1816 followed by History of Six Weeks Tour, which was published in 1817. Second Marriage In 1816, Shelley's previous wife Harriet killed herself by drowning in the Serpentine River in Hyde Park, London, living behind their son Charles Shelley. It was less than two months after her body was recovered when Shelley wedded Mary in a hastily arranged marriage with an intention to take custody of his son by Harriet. However it did not help him in any manner, as the children were handed over to foster parents. Now married to Mary, Shelley settled in Marlow, Buckinghamshire where he made acquaintances with people like Leigh Hunt and John Keats. Notable Works After his marriage to Mary, Percy became acquaintance with the great poet Lord Byron and the two consolidated a strong friendship which would last until his death. In a company of more famous and established poet, Shelley was motivated to write his Hymn to intellectual Beauty, which was his first landmark success as a poet. His friendship with Byron proved to be Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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constructive for his career and he continued to write fiercely. During this period he wrote a poem Mont Blanc in which he spoke of the relationship between human mind and natural creations. After initial success, he produced some major work this time including two long poems Laon and Cythna in which he again expresses his atheistic views through its characters. After being objected t for its contemptuous content, the original copies were withdrawn from the market and an edited version of it appeared entitled as The Revolt of Islam in 1818. Shelley embarked on writing political pieces with the publication of nom de plume and The Hermit of Marlowe. Later Life In 1818, The Shelley couple moved to Italy where their son Percy Florence Shelley was born a year later in 1819. Lord Byron, who was in Venice at that time, inspired the poet to write once again and Shelley produced Julian and Maddalo, an account of his travel and association with Byron. Once again, he began writing long verses and finished his first drams Prometheus Unbound, which was based on a lost play initially written by the Greek Poet Aeschylus. In 1819, Shelley embarked on writing a tragedy poem The Cenci and completed his two best known poems in 19th century, which were based on political themeThe Masque of Anarchy and Men of England. However, his first great success in this genre came with the essay called The Philosophical View of Reform. Death In his later life, Shelley planned to set up a magazine The Liberal with the support from his lifelong friends Leigh Hunt and Lord Byron. However, the fate had something else for him and he drowned in a storm on 8 July 1822 while sailing back from Livorno in his boat Don Juan. He was cremated on the beach near Viareggio. He had not even reached the 30th year of his life at that time. His body was found offshore and decomposed beyond recognition, which led to several speculations regarding his death; however, the mystery of his death remains unsolved. Rembrandt (1606 – 1669) Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606 - his full name Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. He was the son of a miller. Despite the fact that he came from a family of relatively modest means, his parents took great care with his education. Rembrandt began his studies at the Latin School, and at the age of 14 he was enrolled at the University of Leiden. The program did not interest him, and he soon left to study art - first with a local master, Jacob van Swanenburch, and then, in Amsterdam, with Pieter Last man, known for his historical paintings. After six months, having mastered everything he had been taught, Rembrandt returned to Leiden, where he was soon so highly regarded that although barely 22 years old, he took his first pupils. One of his students was the famous artist Gerrit Dou. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631; his marriage in 1634 to Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin of a successful art dealer, enhanced his career, bringing him in contact with wealthy patrons who eagerly commissioned portraits. An exceptionally fine example from this period is the Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631, Frick Collection, New York City). In addition, Rembrandt's mythological and religious works were much in demand, and he painted numerous dramatic masterpieces such as The Blinding of Samson (1636, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt). Because of his renown as a teacher, his studio was filled with pupils, some of whom (such as Carel Fabritius) were already trained artists. In the 20th century, scholars have reattributed a number of his paintings to his associates; attributing and identifying Rembrandt's works is an active area of art scholarship. Rembrandt produced many of his works in this fashionable town house in Amsterdam. Purchased by the artist in 1639, when he was 33, it proved to be the scene of personal tragedy: his wife and three of his children died here. The house became a financial burden, and in 1660 Rembrandt was forced to move. A new owner added the upper story and roof, giving it the appearance it still bears. In 1911 the Dutch movement made it a Rembrandt museum -preserving it both as a shrine of a revered national artist and as an imposing example of 17th Century Dutch architecture. In contrast to his successful public career, however, Rembrandt's family life was marked by misfortune. Between 1635 and 1641 Saskia gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived; her own death came in 1642- at the age of 30. Hendrickje Stoffels, engaged as his housekeeper about 1649, eventually became his common-law wife and was the model for many of his pictures. Despite Rembrandt's financial success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, his penchant for ostentatious living forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656. An inventory of his collection of art and antiquities, taken before an auction to pay his debts, showed the breadth of Rembrandt's interests: ancient sculpture, Flemish and Italian Renaissance paintings, Far Eastern art, contemporary Dutch works, weapons, and armor. Unfortunately, the results of the auction - including the sale of his house - were disappointing. These problems in no way affected Rembrandt's work; if anything, his artistry increased. Some of the great paintings from this period are The Jewish Bride (1665), The Syndics of the Cloth Guild (1661, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), Bathsheba (1654, Louvre, Paris), Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Kassel, Germany), and a self-portrait (1658, Frick Collection). His personal life, however, continued to be marred by sorrow. His beloved Hendrickje died in 1663, and his son, Titus, in 1668- only 27 years of age. Eleven months later, on October 4, 1669, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam.

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UNIT-III STRUGGLES FOR DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY Birth of Linguistic Nation States-Italy and Germany Unification of Italy After the fall of the Roman Empire, for centuries, Italy was divided into so many independent states. Though the leader of the Renaissance Movement; Italy became weak and powerless with the passage of time. It gave a golden opportunity to powerful neighbors like Austria and France to dominate and to divide Italy into so many petty states under their protection. During the Napoleon period, France captured a number of Italian states and tried to give political unity to Italy. But the Congress of Vienna (1815 A.D) revived the Italian states and the old rulers were restored in Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Parma, Lombardy, Venetia, Tuscany and other states. It made a great obstacle in the path of the unification of Italy. Again, with the blessings of Austria, the rulers of the Italian states adopted reactionary policies which resulted in the popular agitations. Early Attempts: The patriots of Italy set up several secret societies to regain their independence. The most important one was the ‘CARBONARI’ composed of workers, soldiers, merchants and government officers. In 1820 A.D. the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Carbonari raised a standard of revolt in Naples and Piedmont and compelled the kings to grant them liberal constitution. But because of their intervention of Metternich, the reactionary chancellor of Austria, the movements were crushed with an iron hand. Metternich also crushed the rebellions in Parma Modena and the Papal States which broke out under the inspiration of the July Revolution of 1830.The unification of Italy was accomplished mostly by the heroic efforts of the Italian patriots supported by the ruler of Sardinia, Victor Immanuel II. Joseph Mazzini (1805-1872 A.D) ‘The Idealist Soul’ of the Italian unification was Joseph Mazzini, Born in Geneva as the son of a university professor, Mazzini joined the Carbonari Movement and was arrested and exiled when he was a boy. In 1831 A.D. he established an organization known as YOUNG ITALY the motto of which was ‘God and people’. The ideal of Mazzini as well as the 50,000 young men who joined the organization was the establishment of a unitary Republican State. But his idealist dreams remained unrealized. Count Cavour (1810-1861 A.D) Cavour was “the Master brain” of the Italian Unification. He was appointed Chief Minister in 1852 A.D by Victor Immanuel II who became the king of Sardinia after the abdication of Charles Albert. His political ideal was constitutional monarchy for the establishment of which Cavour considered it necessary to get foreign help. With this end in view, he rendered invaluable service to England and France against Russia in the Crimean War. Napoleon III the French king was pleased and helped Sardinia in her war against Austria which led to the annexation of Lombardy. With the help of the patriots Mazzini also incorporated Parma Modena and Tuscany to the kingdom of Sardinia. Garibaldi (1807-1882) “The sword of the Unification” of Italy was Garibaldi who was the leader of ‘the Red Shirts’. At the time when revolutionary spirit was kindled in Naples and other parts of Italy. Garibaldi landed in Sicily with his followers and captured it in the name of Victor Immanuel II. He also conquered Naples and gave it to Victor Immanuel II in the true spirit of a Patriot. By 1860 A.D. the whole of Italy except the papal states and Venetia was united and the ruler of Sardinia. Victor, Immanuel II became the ruler of the united state of Italy in the next year. In 1866 A.D. Italy received Venetia as a reward for supporting Prussia against Austria in the Seven Weeks War In 1870 A.D. When Napoleon III, the French king withdrew his army from the Papal States on the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, the Italian army captured Rome and made it the capital of the Unified State of Italy. The whole of Italy was united under a Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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constitutional monarchy and the dream of the “Prisoner of Vatican”, but he was left undisturbed. Unification of Germany Before the French Revolution, Germany was in a very bad shape as she was divided into 300 independent dutchies or districts. Most of the Dutchies were under the Domination of Austria and a number of them were included in the Holy Roman Empire. In 1800 Austria was defeated by Napoleon which combined the German States into the confederation of Rhine. It paved the way for the unification of Germany. But the Congress of Vienna (1815 A.D) reversed the process and changed Germany into a confederation of 39 states under the control of Austria. A Federal Diet or parliament in which the members were nominated by the rulers of the 39 states was also established. This settlement was disliked by the patriots. Therefore the teacher and students of the Jena University formed the secret Committee called “BRUSCHEN SHAFI” to preach nationalism. But Metternich, the iron chancellor of Austria crushed the spirit of liberalism and controlled the activities of the patriots and liberal leaders of Germany. The unification of Germany was ultimately effected by the Prussianization of Germany. This was mainly the work of the Prussian king William (18161888A.D) and his minister Otto Von Bismarck (1815-1898 A.D).

THE ZOLLEVEREIN The economic unification preceded the political unification in Germany. In the early period each of the 38 states had its own economic policy and they imposed their own tolls and taxes. This created inconvenience to the transit of goods from one state to another for various states wished to have some uniformity and Co-operation, to get over the hurdles. In 1819 Prussia formed an economic union with 12 states and in 1834 a customs Union or Zolleverein was established by 18 states excluding Austria. The Zolleverein was formed “to promote economic Co-operation to cut down imports form foreign countries and to regulate tolls and more customs’. More and more states joined the customs union in the preceding years. By 1848 A.D. Germany had more or less become an economic unit and it directly led to the political unification, later on. The Revolution 1830 A.D had its impact in Germany. Taking inspiration from it, many states including Hanover, Saxony, Bavaria and Wittenberg established liberal constitutions in their states. But Metternich the chancellor of Austria reversed the process and inflicted terrible punishments on the patriots. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The 1848 Revolution also influenced the revolutionary activities in Germany. Metternich had fled to England in the midst of mounting opposition. On 21st March 1848 the Frankfurt Assembly was summoned to take decisions regarding the unification of Germany and to frame a democratic constitution. The Frankfurt Assembly decided to exclude Austria from the united Germany and offered the throne of Germany to Frederick William IV of Prussia. But he declined the offer for he was an absolute monarch who disliked democracy. He also feared the impending War with Austria if he accepted the crown. At the same time thought that it was infrading to accept the throne from the hands of Revolutionaries. So the democratic method at unification has failed and the Despotic rule was re-established in Germany. In 1861 A.D. William I became the King of Prussia and his soldierly brother of the late king William IV believed unification of Germany could be achieved only through military might. But the Diet (Parliament) refused to sanction the huge amount to raise a strong army. The leaders of the Diet thought that such an army at the disposal of the king would be detrimental to the interest of the democratic ideals. But William was not the type to submit before the Parliament and he realized his plan with the help of his able minister Otto Von Bismarck. “The plan of Prussian leadership through militarism was a hard realism through the interplay of one kingdom-one king one chancellor against one common enemy”. OTTO VON BISMARCK (1815-1898) Born in 1815 A.D at schoenhausen in the aristocratic family of the Junkers, Bismarck was highly educated. He acted as Ambassador to France and also minister of foreign affairs, before becoming the Chancellor of Prussia. Bismarck was a relist in Politics and a stalwart of religion. Due to the curious ways of his he earned the name of ‘Mad Bismarck’. He was a champion of Divine Right of kings and prevented the late king, Frederick William from accepting “the crown of shame”. Bismarck thought that only a powerful army could bring fame and glory as well as unity to Germany. He had fixed the straight path of war and not the long and zigzag path of democracy for the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. He affirmed that “I will rather perish with the king than forsake your majesty in the contest with Parliamentary Government”. In 1872 A.D. Bismarck was made the Chancellor or Prime minister by William I. He believed that diplomacy without weapons is like music without instruments and therefore he built a very powerful army by utilizing the fund collected through taxes. He believed that the great questions of the day are not decided by speeches and resolutions of the majorities but by “Blood and Iron”. His policy of blood and iron earned for him the title of Iron Chancellor. The War with Denmark 1864 A.D. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Bismarck resorted to wars to achieve the unification of Germany under Prussia. The first war was with Denmark in 1864 A.D. The Dutchies of Schleswig and Holstein ruled by the king of Denmark had been a bone of contention between Germany and Denmark. Bismarck made an alliance with Austria with the promise of equal share of spoils of War, and invaded Denmark. After a brief War Schleswig was united with Prussia and Holstein was given to Austria. At the same time Bismarck wanted for a suitable opportunity to attack and defeat Austria. The Austro-Prussian War 1866 A.D:The long awaited War between Austria and Prussia began on the question of the division of spoils of the War with Denmark. The initial verbal protest was swiftly followed by the mobilization of the Prussian army to drive away the Austrian from Holstein. At the battle of Sadova (1866 A.D) the Austrians were defeated and by the Treaty of Prague, Prussia became the leader of the North German confederation. The war proved to be ‘one of the shortest wars in history, and one of the most decisive and one whose consequences were most important’. The Franco-Prussian war 1870 A.D:Bismarck believed that war with France lay in the logic of History because he thought it would excite patriotic enthusiasm of the southern German states and induce them to join the North German Federation headed by Prussia. Napoleon III, the king of France, who was jealous of the growing importance of Prussia, demanded some Prussian territory along the Rhine and an assurance from the Prussian king that he would not support his relative, Prince Leopold as a claimant to the Spanish throne. The refusal became the immediate cause for the Franco Prussian war. When the War commended the southern states joined arms with Prussia and in the battle of Bedan the French army was defeated and Napoleon III was imprisoned. By the Treaty of Frankfurt in May 1871 A.D. France ceded Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia in addition to a huge was compensation. Now the southern states also joined the union and thus the German unification was completed. On the 18th January 1871 A.D. the Prussian king William I was proclaimed “Kaiser” (Emperor) in the Hall of Mirrors of the palace of Versailles. Meiji Restoration in Japan The Meiji Restoration was a political and social revolution in Japan in 1866-69, which ended the power of the Tokugawa shogun and returned the Emperor to a central position in Japanese politics and culture. It is named for Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor, who served as the figurehead for the movement. Background to the Meiji Restoration: When Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States steamed in to Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) in 1853 and demanded that Tokugawa Japan allow foreign Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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powers access to trade, he unwittingly started a chain of events that led to Japan's rise as a modern imperial power. Japan's political elites realized that the U.S. and other countries were ahead of Japan in terms of military technology, and (quite rightly) felt threatened by western imperialism. After all, mighty Qing China had been brought to its knees by Britain fourteen years earlier in the First Opium War, and would soon lose the Second Opium War as well. Rather than suffer a similar fate, some of Japan's elites sought to close the doors even tighter against foreign influence, but the more foresighted began to plan a modernization drive. They felt that it was important to have a strong Emperor at the center of Japan's political organization to project Japanese power and fend off western imperialism. The Satsuma/Choshu Alliance: In 1866, the daimyo of two south Japanese domains - Saigo Takamori of Satsuma Domain and Kido Takayoshi of Choshu Domain - formed an alliance against the Tokugawa Shogunate that had ruled from Tokyo in the Emperor's name since 1603. The Satsuma and Choshu leaders sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogun and place the Emperor Komei into a position of real power. Through him, they felt that they could more effectively meet the foreign threat. However, Komei died in January 1867, and his teenaged son Mutsuhito ascended to the throne as the Meiji Emperor on February 3, 1867. On November 19, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned his post as the fifteenth Tokugawa shogun. His resignation officially transferred power to the young emperor, but the shogun wouldn't give up actual control of Japan so easily. When Meiji (coached by the Satsuma and Choshu lords) issued an imperial decree dissolving the house of Tokugawa, the shogun had no choice but to resort to arms. He sent his samurai army toward the imperial city of Kyoto, intending to capture or depose the emperor. The Boshin War On January 27, 1868, Yoshinobu's troops clashed with samurai from the Satsuma/Choshu alliance; the four-day long Battle of Toba-Fushimi ended in a serious defeat for the bakufu, and touched off the Boshin War (literally, the "Year of the Dragon War"). The war lasted until May of 1869, but the emperor's troops with their more modern weaponry and tactics had the upper hand from the start. Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrendered to the emperor, and handed over Edo Castle on April 11, 1869. Some of the more committed samurai and daimyo fought on for another month from strongholds in the far north of the country, but it was clear that the Meiji Restoration was unstoppable.

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Radical Changes of the Meiji Era Once his power was secure, the Meiji Emperor (or more precisely, his advisors among the former daimyo and the oligarchs) set about refashioning Japan into a powerful modern nation. They abolished the four-tiered class structure; established a modern conscript army that used western-style uniforms, weapons and tactics in place of the samurai; ordered universal elementary education for boys and girls; and set out to improve manufacturing in Japan, which had been based on textiles and other such goods, shifting instead to heavy machinery and weapons manufacturing. In 1889, the emperor issued the Meiji Constitution, which made Japan into a constitutional monarchy modeled on Prussia. Over the course of just a few decades, these changes took Japan from being a semi-isolated island nation, threatened by foreign imperialism, to being an imperial power in its own right. Japan seized control of Korea, defeated Qing China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, and shocked the world by defeating the Tsar's navy and army in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Although the Meiji Restoration caused a lot of trauma and social dislocation in Japan, it also enabled the country to join the ranks of world powers in the early 20th century. Japan would go on to ever greater power in East Asia until the tides turned against it in World War II. Today, however, Japan remains the third largest economy in the world, and a leader in innovation and technology - thanks in part to the reforms of the Meiji Restoration. Russo-Japanese War, (1904–05) Russo-Japanese War was a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. The Russo-Japanese War developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria. In 1898 Russia had pressured China into granting it a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur (now Lü-shun), at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula, in southern Manchuria. Russia thereby entered into occupation of the peninsula, even though, in concert with other European powers, it had forced Japan to relinquish just such a right after the latter’s decisive victory over China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. Moreover, in 1896 Russia had concluded an alliance with China against Japan and, in the process, had won rights to extend the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Chinese-held Manchuria to the Russian seaport of Vladivostok, thus gaining control of an important strip of Manchurian territory. However, though Russia had built the Trans-Siberian Railroad (1891– 1904), it still lacked the transportation facilities necessary to reinforce its limited armed forces in Manchuria with sufficient men and supplies. Japan, by contrast, had steadily expanded its army since its war with China in 1894 and Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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by 1904 had gained a marked superiority over Russia in the number of ground troops in the Far East. After Russia reneged in 1903 on an agreement to withdraw its troops from Manchuria, Japan decided it was time to attack. The war began on 8th February 1904, when the main Japanese fleet launched a surprise attack and siege on the Russian naval squadron at Port Arthur. In March the Japanese landed an army in Korea that quickly overran that country. In May another Japanese army landed on the Liaotung Peninsula, and on May 26 it cut off the Port Arthur garrison from the main body of Russian forces in Manchuria. The Japanese then pushed northward, and the Russian army fell back to Mukden (now Shen-yang) after losing battles at Fu-hsien (June 14) and Liao-yang (August 25), south of Mukden. In October the Russians went back on the offensive with the help of reinforcements received via the TransSiberian Railroad, but their attacks proved indecisive owing to poor military leadership. The Japanese had also settled down to a long siege of Port Arthur after several very costly general assaults on it had failed. The garrison’s military leadership proved divided, however, and on Jan. 2, 1905, in a gross act of incompetence and corruption,Port Arthur’s Russian commander surrendered the port to the Japanese without consulting his officers and with three months’ provisions and adequate supplies of ammunition still in the fortress. The final battle of the land war was fought at Mukden in late February and early March 1905, between Russian forces totaling 330,000 men and Japanese totaling 270,000. After long and stubborn fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Russian commander, General A.N. Kropotkin, broke off the fighting and withdrew his forces northward from Mukden, which fell into the hands of the Japanese. Losses in this battle were exceptionally heavy, with approximately 89,000 Russian and 71,000 Japanese casualties. The naval Battle of Tsushima finally gave the Japanese the upper hand in the conflict. The Japanese had been unable to secure the complete command of the sea on which their land campaign depended, and the Russian squadrons at Port Arthur and Vladivostok had remained moderately active. But on May 27– 29, 1905, in a battle in the Tsushima Strait, Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō’s main Japanese fleet destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet, which, commanded by Admiral Z.P. Rozhestvensky, had sailed in October 1904 all the way from the Baltic port of Liepaja to relieve the forces at Port Arthur and at the time of the battle was trying to reach Vladivostok. Japan was by this time financially exhausted, but its decisive naval victory at Tsushima, together with increasing internal political unrest throughout Russia, where the war had never been popular, brought the Russian government to the peace table. President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States served as mediator at the peace conference, which was held at Portsmouth, N.H., U.S. (Aug. 9–Sept. 5, 1905). In the resulting Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan gained control of the Liaotung Peninsula (and Port Arthur) and the South Manchurian railroad (which led to Port Arthur), as well as half of Sakhalin Island. Russia agreed to evacuate southern Manchuria, which was restored to China, and Japan’s control of Korea was recognized. Within two months of the treaty’s signing, a Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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revolution compelled the Russian tsar Nicholas II to issue the October Manifesto, which was the equivalent of a constitutional charter. American Civil war and the Abolition of Slavery (1861-1865 A.D) According to Charles A. Beard, the civil war in U.S.A. was the second American Revolution. There are three schools of thought regarding the real causes for the civil war. One group of writers are of opinion that the economic differences between the North and South were the real causes of the civil war while another group opined that its cause was slavery and the moral issue. A third set of writers see the succession issue as the most prominent cause of the civil war. The northern states were industrial and commercial while the South was largely agricultural. Therefore the Northern States were in favour of protective tariffs for their industries while the South was against it as it would increase the cost of imports. The North was a very rich area with abundant deposit of coal and silver. Most of the people were educated which also made them hate slavery and love democracy. The South on the other hand was less progressive with a vast majority of illiterates. The Southern agriculturists found it very difficult to cultivate their vast estates without slave labour. These basic differences between the North and the South were largely responsible for the civil war. The intimacy between the North and West were also responsible for the Civil War. The construction of new roads and canals increased the contact between the North and the West. The Westerners cultivated friendship with the North as they understood the benefit of allying with the rich industrial north which also controlled the Federal Government. The North was also eager to cultivate friendship with the West as it would supply enough raw materials for their factories and provide a ready market for their goods. Like the North, the West also stood for the concept of a strong Central Government. The Western feelings were national and not sectional or sectarian. The close alliance between the North and the West created feelings of fear and suspicion in the minds of the southerners. The journalists and the writers of the 19th century were also responsible for the outbreak of the civil war. They gave a graphic picture of the miserable existence of the slaves and unveiled the evils of slavery. The influence of the journal ‘liberator’ of Garrison and ‘the Uncle Tom’s ‘Cabin’ the famous book of Mrs. Harriet Bleacher Stowe are very important in this respect. In the words of Abraham Lincoln Mrs. Stowe was the little woman who brought about the civil war.

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The political leaders of America had also their role in the civil war. They stirred the passion of the people and made them believe that the civil war was inevitable. The Dread Scot case, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill etc. intensified the civil war. But the immediate cause of the war was the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of America in 1860 A.D. Even before becoming the President he stood for abolishing slavery and declared that the nation could not endure ‘half slave half-free’. The election of Abraham Lincoln gave a rude shock to the Southerners. Immediately eleven states seceded from the Union and it led to the outbreak of the bloody civil war. During the initial two years, the prospects of the Southerners over the North were very bright. But from 1862 onwards the tide of fortune changed in favour of the North. In 1863 A.D.Lincoln announced the Emancipation proclamation giving freedom to the slaves in all states. It transformed the civil war into a crusade and helped the North to defeat the South. In April 1865 the Southerners surrendered and the civil war came to an end. But on April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln, the sweetest son of America, was assassinated by an unemployed actor of the south. His murder was a great loss to America. He was a man of revolution, resourcefulness and a lover of democracy and individual freedom who pleaded for the reconciliation between the North and the South. SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY Socialism, general term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods. Because of the collective nature of socialism, it is to be contrasted to the doctrine of the sanctity of private property that characterizes capitalism where capitalism stresses competition and profit, socialism calls for cooperation and social service. In a broader sense, the term socialism is often used loosely to describe economic theories ranging from those that hold that only certain public utilities and natural resources should be owned by the state to those holding that the state should assume responsibility for all economic planning and direction. In the past 150 years there have been innumerable differing socialist programs. For this reason socialism as a doctrine is ill defined, although its main purpose, the establishment of cooperation in place of competition remains fixed.

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Socialism arose in the late 18th and early 19th century as a reaction to the economic and social changes associated with the Industrial Revolution. While rapid wealth came to the factory owners, the workers became increasingly impoverished. As this capitalist industrial system spread, reactions in the form of socialist thought increased proportionately. Although many thinkers in the past expressed ideas that were similar to later socialism, the first theorist who may properly be called socialist was François Noël Babeuf, who came to prominence during the French Revolution. Babeuf propounded the doctrine of class war between capital and labor later to be seen in Marxism. Socialist writers who followed Babeuf, however, were more moderate. Known as "utopian socialists," they included the Comte de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen. Saint-Simon proposed that production and distribution be carried out by the state. The leaders of society would be industrialists who would found a national community based upon cooperation and who would eliminate the poverty of the lowest classes. Fourier and Owen, though differing in many respects, both believed that social organization should be based on small local collective communities rather than the large centralist state of Saint-Simon. All these men agreed, however, that there should be cooperation rather than competition, and they implicitly rejected class struggle. In the early 19th century numerous utopian communistic settlements founded on the principles of Fourier and Owen sprang up in Europe and the United States; New Harmony and Brook Farm were notable examples. Following the utopians came thinkers such as Louis Blanc who were more political in their socialist formulations. Blanc put forward a system of social workshops (1840) that would be controlled by the workers themselves with the support of the state. Capitalists would be welcome in this venture, and each person would receive goods in proportion to his or her needs. Blanc became a member of the French provisional government of 1848 and attempted to put some of his proposals into effect, but his efforts were sabotaged by his opponents. The anarchist Pierre Joseph Proudhon and the insurrectionist Auguste Blanqui were also influential socialist leaders of the early and mid19th century. Marxists and Gradualists In the 1840s the term communism came into use to denote loosely a militant leftist form of socialism; it was associated with the writings of Etienne Cabet and his theories of common ownership. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels later used it to describe the movement that advocated class struggle and revolution to establish a society of cooperation. In 1848, Marx and Engels wrote the famous Communist Manifesto, in which they set forth the principles of what Marx called "scientific socialism," arguing the historical inevitability of revolutionary conflict between capital and labor. In all of his works Marx attacked the socialists as theoretical utopian dreamers who disregarded the necessity of revolutionary struggle to implement Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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their doctrines. In the atmosphere of disillusionment and bitterness that increasingly pervaded European socialism, Marxism later became the theoretical basis for most socialist thought. But the failure of the revolutions of 1848 caused a decline in socialist action in the following two decades, and it was not until the late 1860s that socialism once more emerged as a powerful social force. Other varieties of socialism continued to exist alongside Marxism, such as Christian socialism, led in England by Frederick Denison Maurice and Charles Kingsley; they advocated the establishment of cooperative workshops based on Christian principles. Ferdinand Lassalle, founder of the first workers' party in Germany (1863), promoted the idea of achieving socialism through state action in individual nations, as opposed to the Marxian emphasis on international revolution. Through the efforts of Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel, Lassalle's group was brought into the mainstream of Marxian socialism. By the 1870s Socialist parties sprang up in many European countries, and they eventually formed the Second International. With the increasing improvement of labor conditions, however, and the apparent failure of the capitalist state to weaken, a major schism began to develop over the issue of revolution. While nearly all socialists condemned the bourgeois capitalist state, a large number apparently felt it more expedient or more efficient to adapt to and reform the state structure, rather than overthrow it. Opposed to these gradualists were the orthodox Marxists and the advocates of anarchism and syndicalism, all of whom believed in the absolute necessity of violent struggle. In 1898, Eduard Bernstein denied the inevitability of class conflict; he called for a revision of Marxism that would allow an evolutionary socialism. The struggle between evolutionists and revolutionists affected the socialist movement throughout the world. In Germany, Bernstein's chief opponent, Karl Kautsky, insisted that the Social Democratic party adhere strictly to orthodox Marxist principles. In other countries, however, revisionism made more progress. In Great Britain, where orthodox Marxism had never been a powerful force, the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, set forth basic principles of evolutionary socialism that later became the theoretical basis of the British Labour party. The principles of William Morris, dictated by aesthetic and ethical aims, and the small but able group that forwarded guild socialism also had influence on British thought, but the Labour party, with its policy of gradualism, represented the mainstream of British socialism. In the United States, the ideological issue led to a split in the Socialist Labor party, founded in 1876 under strong German influence, and the formation (1901) of the revisionist Socialist party, which soon became the largest socialist group. The most momentous split, however, took place in the Russian Social Democratic Labor party, which divided into the rival camps of Bolshevism and Menshevism. Again, gradualism was the chief issue. It was the revolutionary opponents of gradualism, the Bolsheviks, who seized power in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and became the Communist party of the USSR. World War I Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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had already split the socialist movement over whether to support their national governments in the war effort (most did); the Russian Revolution divided it irrevocably. The Russian Communists founded the Comintern in order to seize leadership of the international socialist movement and to foment world revolution, but most European Socialist parties, including the mainstream of the powerful German party, repudiated the Bolsheviks. Despite the Germans' espousal of Marxist orthodoxy, they had been notably no revolutionary in practical politics. Thereafter, revolutionary socialism, or communism, and evolutionary, or democratic, socialism were two separate and frequently mutually antagonistic movements. Democratic Socialism Democratic socialism took firm root in European politics after World War I. Socialist democratic parties actively participated in government in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other nations. Socialism also became a powerful force in parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. To the Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders of independence movements, it was attractive as an alternative to the systems of private enterprise and exploitation established by their foreign rulers. After World War II, socialist parties came to power in many nations throughout the world, and much private industry was nationalized. In Africa and Asia where the workers are peasants, not industrial laborers, socialist programs stressed land reform and other agrarian measures. These nations, until recently, have also emphasized government planning for rapid economic development. African socialism has also included the revival of pre-colonial values and institutions, while modernizing through the centralized apparatus of the one-party state. Recently, the collapse of Eastern European and Soviet Communist states has led socialists throughout the world to discard much of their doctrines regarding centralized planning and nationalization of enterprises. The Paris Commune The Paris Commune, functioning between March 18 to May 28 of 1871, was spawned by the Franco-Prussian war. Germany’s victory created discontent among the Parisian workers who were already unhappy over growing economic inequality and food shortages. A truce between France and Germany created further anger among workers who now were technically under German rule as a result of the armistice reached between Germany and France. This Armistice resulted in the Prussian army sending food to Paris and withdrawing troops to the east side of the city. Once a war indemnity (compensation for damages done) was paid, the troops would be withdrawn out of the east of the city and no Prussian troops would occupy Paris. Before the Germans had arrived in Paris, the government had the National Guard hide a number of cannons in case of future conflicts with German troops. However, the National Guard was becoming increasingly Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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unruly, so the French government sent troops to seize the hidden cannons. The troops, discouraged by France's defeat, joined the National Guard and the aroused workers. The Parisian government paniced when the emerging Paris Commune killed military officials. As more and more troops joined the Commune, government officials and many supporters soon fled Paris, effectively leaving Paris in control of the Commune. In addition to the troops, there were a large number of skilled workers, professionals, and political activists active in the Commune. The Paris Commune established many progressive laws including separation of church and state, women's rights to vote, and pensions for unmarried companions of National Guards killed in active duty. Soon conflicts arose between the official Versailles government and the Paris Commune and fighting broke out on April second. The fighting intensified over time and hostages began to be taken and often murdered (it is believed that between May 24 and 26; more than 50 Communards were murdered). While the Commune put up a notable fight, it eventually fell to the official government's army. Fighting officially stopped on May 28, marking the end of the Paris Commune. The Official government executed thousands of Communards and thousands more were imprisoned. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION The Russian Revolution was the greatest social uprising of the world since the French Revolution. It was the first successful Communist Revolution of the world. The Revolt was against the naked exploitation of the masses by the autocratic ruler and the wealthy feudal nobles. The Revolution brought a thorough change in the political social and economic life of the people and established the first proletariat government of the World. H.G. Wells considered it as “the greatest event after the advent of Islam”. The causes of the gigantic uprising could be classified into political, socioeconomic, intellectual as well as general. Political: The roots of the Russian Revolution lay deep in the despotic old fashioned and oppressive rule of the unpopular Tsar Nicholas II. He was influenced by the inner circle of the imperial court including the Tsarina and the Holy Devil, Rasputin. The notorious adviser of the Tsar was most responsible for the reactionary policy of the Russian monarch. The immoral and scheme monk brought the Tsarina under his spell and dismissed so many officers and ministers and practically ruled Russia. The Dumas, the representative Body, was dissolved when it criticized the Tsar. The Socio-Economic Causes: The socio-economic structure or Russia drew close resemblance with that of France. Feudalism was rotten to the core and nearly 50% of the landed property was in the hands of the Tsar, clergy and nobles. The lot of the average Russian was poverty injustice and insecurity.70% of the farmers could not get Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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even a square meal a day but at the same time the burden of taxation was on their shoulders! The big industrial concerns were mostly owned by foreign capitalists and the industrial labourers had long hours of work, low wages and lack of facilities in the factories. The workers were ill-paid, ill-lodged and the factory workers were mainly responsible for the Russian Revolution. The defective social structure reserved all right and privileges to the upper classes and miseries to the lower class. The common people were deprived of their legitimate right. The new middle class comprised of traders and small factory owners also had their grievances. The intellectuals and the officials were also dissatisfied as their genuine demands for freedom of speech and equality of justice were not conceded. Intellectual:Every Revolution was preceded by an intellectual Revolution. In Russia liberal and radical ideas like Nihilism, Anarchism and Marxism filtered from the West and Marxism filtered from the West and fanned the flames of Revolution. Nihilism, an extreme sort of liberalism, questioned everything bowed before no authority and aimed at destroying the existing Russian order. Its weapons were books and bombs and the motto was “go among the people”. From this developed the Anarchism which considered government as an evil to be overthrown. The climate of Russia for Revolution was created by the Marxian ideas and it became the Bible of the Russian Revolution. Karl Marx thus became the prophet of the Russian Revolution and the ‘Communist Manifesto’ and ‘Das Capital’ became its guidelines. Other great writers who had indirectly influenced the Russians to revolt are Maxim Gorky (the author of “the Poor” and “Mother”). Tolstoy (“War and Peace” and “Anna Karina”), Turgenev (“Fathers and Sons”) and Dostoevsky (“Crime and punishment”) Political parties had taken shape in Russia as early as 1860 A.D. but were working secretly. In 1895 A.D. the Workmen’s Social Democratic Party was formed with a programme similar to that of the socialists in other countries. In 1903 A.D. the party was split into two Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The Mensheviks led by Kerensky stood for peaceful and constitutional methods to destroy autocracy while the Bolsheviks led by Lenin stood for Marxian ideas. They wanted to overthrow the Tsar, abolish the capitalists order and to establish the dictatorship of proletariat. The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) had shaken the foundation of the Tsarist regime. The defeat of Russia by the Pigmy state of Japan made the government very unpopular. On Sunday, 22nd January 1905, a peaceful march of the workers led by Father George Gapon was fired at and thousands of people were murdered. The Red Sunday or ‘Bloody Sunday’ created discontent Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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everywhere and a general strike was organized by the Bolsheviks under Trotsky. To pacify the people, the Tsar made the promise to establish an elected ‘Dumas’ or Parliament. But in practice he executed hundreds of rebels without trial and hence revolution spread likes wild fire. The immediate cause of the Russian Revolution was the hardship created by the First World War. Russia was dragged into the war by the Tsar when she was totally unprepared for it. Defeat after defeat at the hands of the Germans undermined the moral of the soldiers who were ill-fed, ill-paid and ill-equipped. The Bolsheviks raised the slogan of “Down with War and Sown with Tsar”. The murder of Rasputin was the final spark that literature the flame of the Revolution. The Russian Revolution had two phases – the March Revolution and November Revolution. The March Revolution was neither an organized one nor a Communist Revolution. It took only 5 days (from 8-12 March) for the Revolution to be successful. On March 8, the Revolution started with the demonstration made by the Women Workers in Textile factories. On 9th March many men workers joined them and shouted slogans such as “Down with Autocracy”. On March 10, scenes of fraternization between the revolutionaries and soldiers were released and many officers and ministers were arrested by the workers. The Tsar now abdicated the throne and the Dumas declared Russia, a Republic. A provisional government under the leadership of Kerensky, the leader of the Mensheviks, was now set up. The Bolsheviks, the majority party criticized the Kerensky government. They wished radical reforms and Russia’s withdrawal from the World War. They created effective propaganda under the slogan of “Peace, Bread and Land” and engineered a secret Revolution. Their leader, Vladimir Ulyanovsk Lenin said that the Mensheviks had betrayed the cause of Revolution, Lenin gave the lead and Trotsky made all arrangements for another Revolution. At 2 A.M on November 7th, 1917 the Bolsheviks took over all the offices and strategic places like State Bank, Telegraph office and Telephone Exchange. By the afternoon the Bolsheviks captured. Petrograd the capital and expelled the provisional government, Kerensky fled from the country. The communist constitution declared Russia as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.SR.) Lenin became the Father of the Bolshevik Revolution of Russia. Results The Russian Revolution brought about decisive changes not only in Russia but in other parts of the World as a Well. According to Laski, the Russian Revolution was the greatest incident next to the birth of Jesus Christ. It made Russia a dominant power in world politics and also inspired the revolutionaries in every part of the world. Russia had successfully created a Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Communist nation and established a proletariat government which became a model to many countries. Russia has set an example in the overthrow of autocracy and the establishment of the government of the proletariat.Though vigorous planning the backward Russia was brought to the fore front with amazing speed, both politically and economically. The seven years plans, the first of its kind, made sweeping changes and the Soviet Union became one of the two super powers of the World. After the II World War, when U.S.S.R. became extremely powerful the U.S.A. formed the NATO, the SEATO etc. to prevent communism. Today the world is in the grip of Cold War in which one group is led by the U.S.S.R while the other by her sworn enemy, the U.S.A. The Three Internationals First International. The International Workingmen's Association (IWA) (1864–1876), sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class and class struggle. It was founded in 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in Saint Martin's Hall, London. Its first congress was held in 1866 in Geneva. In Europe, a period of harsh reaction followed the widespread Revolutions of 1848. The next major phase of revolutionary activity began almost twenty years later with the founding of the IWA in 1864. At its peak, the IWA had 5 million members according to the police reports, although the official journal reported 8 million members. The Second International The Second International was an organization formed in 1889 (after several years of preparation) by socialist and labour parties who wished to work together for international socialism. It continued the work of the dissolved First International and was in existence until 1916. The Second International dissolved during World War I, as the separate national parties that composed it did not maintain a unified front against the war, instead generally supporting their respective nation's role. Additionally, the Second International was not as revolutionary as the later Third and Fourth Internationals, in most countries supporting the legitimacy of electoral rule. In 1920 the Second International was reorganized. However, some European socialist parties refused to join the reorganized international, and decided instead to form the International Working Union of Socialist Parties. In Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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1923 IWUSP and the Second International merged to form the Labour and Socialist International. This international continued to exist until 1940.After World War II, the Socialist International was formed to continue the policies of the Second International, and it continues to this day. The Third International The Comintern (from Communist International), also known as the Third International, was an international Communist organization founded in March 1919 by Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (bolshevik), which intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State." The Comintern represented a split from the Second International in response to the latter's failure to form a unified coalition against the First World War, which the Third Internationalists regarded as a bourgeois imperialist war. The Comintern held seven World Congresses, the first in March 1919 and the last in 1935, until it was dissolved in 1943. The Comintern was officially dissolved on May 15 1943, by Stalin, who wished to reassure his World War II Allies (particularly Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill) that the USSR was no longer pursuing a policy of trying to foment revolution. Groups coming from the tradition of Left Communism today recognise only the first two congresses, and groups coming out of the Bolshevik Leninist or Trotskyist movement recognise the decisions of the first four only. Communist Parties of the Stalinist or Maoist persuasion, however, recognize all seven congresses. After the Comintern In 1947 the Cominform, or Communist Information Bureau, was created as a substitute of the Comintern. It was a network made up of the Communist parties of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. It was dissolved in 1956. ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLES Though the indigenous people were technologically very inferior to the Europeans, they did not surrender to the early colonial conquests without resistance. At every step, the Europeans met with the resistance of people they were trying to enslave. It was the ruthless exploitation of the colonies by the Europeans that ultimately led to the origin of anti-colonial struggles. The development and prosperity of the colonies were being held back in the interests of Europe, and most of the colonial people continued to live in poverty. The exploitative colonial policy adversely affected almost all classes of the colonies. Consequently, deposed rulers, chieftains, tribals, peasants, religious groups, Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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revolutionaries, racially oppressed people and a host of others raised the banner of revolt against colonial powers. In fact the early resistance against colonialism was found in the New World itself. LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS After the discovery of the New World, a stream of adventures went across the Atlantic for exploration of gold and for settlement. The Spaniards and the Portuguese who belonged to the Latin race colonized Central and South America. Therefore these countries came to be called Latin America. There were about twenty Latin American colonies whose language and culture were mainly influenced by either Spain or Portugal. Spain dominated the entire area except Brazil which belonged to Portugal while Guiana was held by Britain, France and Holland. Early in the nineteenth century, the Latin American colonies raised the banner of revolt against their foreign masters and won their independence.

Causes of the Revolution 1. Colonial policy of Exploitation There were several causes for the revolution. The main cause of the revolution was the colonial policy of Spain and Portugal which treated the colonies as a source of wealth for the mother country. They were ruled by Viceroys who treated their subjects with extreme cruelty and harshness. They were devoid of freedom of trade and expression. The colonists had to sell all their goods to their conquerors at cheap prices and buy goods brought to them by their masters at high prices. The merchandise had to be carried in Spanish or Portuguese vessels and they could not manufacture goods which competed with the products of the mother country. The mineral resources of the country like gold, silver, tin, copper and oil were exported to enable their masters to become rich. Taxes were high and uneven. Spaniards and Portuguese born at home monopolized the top most covetable positions in the state and church. The Red Indians and the mixed races were enslaved, robbed and oppressed for generations. These sections of the colonial population were anxious to get freedom from their foreign masters. 2. Influence of the American and French Revolutions The American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars inspired the Latin Americans and fanned the flames of revolution. The revolutionary ideas of great philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau and American propagandists like Thomas Paine and Jefferson inspired the Latin Americans. These leaders created the intellectual climate for the revolution. 3. Spanish Neglect of Colonies Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Another important cause of the revolution was Spain’s neglect of her colonies during the days of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result the colonies developed a high spirit of self reliance and freedom. They entered into active commercial contact with Britain. The attempt of Spain to re-impose restrictions on the colonies met with bitter opposition and challenge from the colonies. In this, they were encouraged by British traders and even by the British government. 4. Immediate cause The immediate cause of the revolution was the imposition of Napoleon’s brother Joseph on throne of Spain. It roused the anger of the Spanish colonies who championed the cause of Ferdinand, the deposed king of Spain. Their protest against the French regime in Spain exploded into a violent struggle for freedom. Course of the Revolution A series of rebellions broke out from Mexico to Argentina against the Spanish domination. The Spanish King sent his troops to the colonies to suppress the rebels. But they failed in their mission Owing to the bitter opposition of the colonies; Spain was forced to accept the independence of the colonies. Francisco-De-Miranda (1750-1816) Francisco-De-Miranda, a Venezuelan patriot played a prominent role in the freedom struggle of the Latin American states.His services in the American War of Independence and the French Revolution inspired him to work for the liberation of Venezuela. In 1797, he made an abortive attempt to overthrow the Spanish rule in his native colony of Venezuela. But the Spaniards arrested and imprisoned him in a dark cell till his death. He became a martyr for the freedom of his country. In spite of his tragic end, his followers held the torch of freedom that he lighted. His unfinished task was accomplished by another great patriot Simon Bolivar. Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) Simon Bolivar was another outstanding leader of the Latin America liberation movement. He was born in a wealthy Spanish family in 1783. He studied in Europe where he witnessed the last scenes of the French revolution in Paris. On his return home, he visited U.S.A. and imbibed ideas of freedom and self government. He had an insatiable thirst to fight for the freedom of Venezuela. He organized a strong army and after a prolonged war won a decisive victory over the Spanish forces in Columbia in 1819. He won the independence of Venezuela and in course of time liberated Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru from Spanish rule. He was hailed as the Liberator and George Washington of South America. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Jose Sanskrit Martin (1793-1850) Jose Sanskrit Martin was another great patriot and freedom fighter who led the revolutionary movement in Argentina in the South. He was born in Argentina as the son of a Spanish official and had received military education in Spain. He fought for the Spaniards against the French in the peninsular war. On his return to Argentina he took up the leadership of the liberation movement. He secretly trained a small army and with its help carried on successfully, the struggles in Argentina, Chile and Peru. Then he met Simon Bolivar and gave him the undisputed leadership of the entire liberation no in Latin America. After completing his mission he went over to France and died in 1850. He was the most generous and unselfish leader of the revolutionary movement in Latin America. Father Hidalgo It was Hidalgo, a priest who led the national movement in Mexico. Most of his followers were simple peasants. His struggle for freedom ended in failure and the Spanish authorities executed him on a charge of treason. But the movement gained momentum under the leadership of his followers and Mexico gained freedom from Spain in 1821. Independence of Brazil The wave of freedom movement in the Spanish colonies affected the Portuguese colony of Brazil. During the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and Portugal, King John of Portugal took shelter in Brazil and set up his government there. Even after the fall of Napoleon he did not go back to Portugal. In the wake of the freedom movement, the Brazilians pleaded for the introduction of liberal constitution in the colony. At this, the disgusted king retuned to Portugal and the Brazilians offered the crown of Brazil to his won. He supported them against his father and Brazil won her independence in 1889 retaining a monarchical form of government. By 1825 almost all colonies of Latin America threw off the foreign yokes and established republican form of governments. Among them Panama, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina were remarkable. In addition a group of small states were formed in Central America. Monroe Doctrine But these infant Free states lived in constant fear of attacks from their former masters assisted by the reactionary powers of Europe. Then James Munroe, the President of America made an epoch making declaration in 1823.The Monroe Doctrine made it clear that the United States would not interfere in European affairs and warned the European powers against interference in American affairs. The U.S.A. would consider “any attempt on the part of European powers to extend there system in any portion of this Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety”. This threat had the desired effect and it discouraged the European powers from political interference in the affairs of the independent countries of South America. At the same time, it made the United States the Champion of the western hemisphere as well as the protector of the Latin American states. Significance of Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a landmark in the diplomatic history of the United States. It laid the corner-stone of the American foreign policy. It launched the United States into an isolation of hundred years. The Monroe Doctrine foiled the Russian plan of founding an empire in the New World. It also defeated the Spanish attempt to re-establish her authority in Latin America. In course of time, the significance of the Monroe Doctrine grew immensely. As a dynamic doctrine, it has been wisely interpreted by the subsequent presidents. It enabled the U.S. to interfere in the affairs of the small Republics in the American continent, at the same time preventing other nations to interfere. In 1962, President Kennedy used this doctrine against Russia which secured Rocket stations in Cuba. Causes for the success of the Latin American Revolution There were several causes for the success of the Latin American Revolution.Firstly, Ferdinand VII, the king of Spain was too weak to suppress the revolution. The army which he organized to suppress the rebels mutinied and raised the banner of revolt against its master, Secondly the United States and Britain effectively barred the Spanish intervention in the colonies. Thirdly the proclamation of ‘Monroe Doctrine’ made it clear that the U.S. would consider any attempt on the part of European powers to extend their system to any portions of the American continent as dangerous to her peace and safety. This bold proclamation frightened the European powers to interfere in the affairs of America. Above all, the heroism and sacrifices of great leaders like Simon Bolivar and Sanskrit Martin paved the way for the success of revolution. The Chinese Revolution of 1911 In October of 1911, a group of revolutionaries in southern China led a successful revolt against the Qing Dynasty, establishing in its place the Republic of China and ending the imperial system. In the 19th Century, the Qing Empire faced a number of challenges to its rule, including a number of foreign incursions into Chinese territory. The two Opium Wars against Western powers led by Great Britain resulted in the loss of Hong Kong, forced opening of “treaty ports” for international trade, and large foreign “concessions” in major cities privileged with extraterritorial rule. After its loss in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), Imperial China was forced to relinquish control over still more of its territory, losing Taiwan and parts of Manchuria and ending its suzerainty over Korea. The Russo-Japanese War Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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(1904–05) firmly established Japanese claims to the Northeast and further weakened Qing rule. The combination of increasing imperialist demands (from both Japan and the West), frustration with the foreign Manchu Government embodied by the Qing court, and the desire to see a unified China less parochial in outlook fed a growing nationalism that spurred on revolutionary ideas. As Qing rule fell into decline, it made a few last-ditch efforts at constitutional reform. In 1905, the court abolished the examination system, which had limited political power to elites who passed elaborate exams on Chinese classics. Faced with increasing foreign challenges, it worked to modernize its military. With its central power weakening, the court also attempted a limited decentralization of power, creating elected assemblies and increasing provincial self-government. Although the Qing court maintained a degree of control within China in these years, millions of Chinese living overseas, especially in Southeast Asia and the Americas, began pressing for either widespread reform or outright revolution. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao emerged as leaders of those proposing the creation of a constitutional monarchy. Sun Yat-sen led the amalgam of groups that together formed the Revolutionary Alliance or Tongmenghui. The Revolutionary Alliance advocated replacing Qing rule with a republican government; Sun himself was a nationalist with some socialist tendencies. Both the revolutionary leaders and the overseas Chinese bankrolling their efforts had their roots in southern China. The Revolutionary Alliance attempted seven or more different revolts against the Qing in the years leading up to the revolution, most of which originated in south China and all of which were ultimately stopped by the Qing army. Finally, in the autumn of 1911, the right set of conditions turned an uprising in Wuhan into a nationalist revolt. As its losses mounted, the Qing court responded positively to a set of demands intended to transform authoritarian imperial rule into a Constitutional monarchy. They named Yuan Shikai the new premier of China, but before he was able to retake the captured areas from the revolutionaries, the provinces started to declare their allegiance to the Revolutionary Alliance. Dr. Sun was in the United States on a fundraising tour at the time of the initial revolt; he hastened first to London and Paris to ensure that neither country would give financial or military support to the Qing government in its struggle. By the time he returned to China, the revolutionaries had taken Nanjing, a former capital under the Ming Dynasty, and representatives from the provinces began to arrive for the first national assembly. Together, they elected Dr. Sun the provisional president of the newly declared Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen telegrammed Yuan Shikai to promise that, should Yuan agree to the formation of a republic, the position of president would be his. With the military position of the Qing weakening and provisions made for the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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maintenance of the royal family at court, the emperor and the royal family abdicated the throne in February of 1912. The 1911 revolution was only the first steps in a process that would require the 1949 revolution to complete. Though the new government created the Republic of China and established the seat of government in Nanjing, it failed to unify the country under its control. The Qing withdrawal led to a power vacuum in certain regions, resulting in the rise of warlords. These warlords often controlled their territories without acknowledging the nationalist government. Additionally, the reforms set in place by the news government were not nearly as sweeping as the revolutionary rhetoric had intended; unifying the country took precedent over fundamental changes. International reaction to the revolution was guarded. Foreign nations with investments in China remained neutral throughout the upheaval; though they were anxious to protect the treaty rights they gained from the Qing through the first and second opium wars. Still, the United States was largely supportive of the republican project, and in 1913, the United States was among the first countries to establish full diplomatic relations with the new Republic. Britain, Japan, and Russia soon followed. Making of the Peoples Republic of China The Chinese Revolution of 1949 is considered one of the most significant revolutions of the modern world. Through this revolution, the Communist Party of China seized power and established a socialist system, which was entirely different from the tradition and values of China’s history. Though the revolution took place in 1949, its beginning can be traced back to the early decades of the 20th century. The Kuomintang Party of Sun Yat Sen revolted against the Manchu ruler and compelled him to abdicate on 12th February 1912 A.D. Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Alliance society had re-organized itself as the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) and in course of time it dominated the Chinese Parliament. But when China became Republic an old Manchu Officer, General Yuan Shih-Kai maneuvered to be elected as the President of the Republic. He then dissolved the Parliament, outlawed the Kuomintang and ruled like a dictator until his death in June, 1916. Dr.Sen and his followers had shifted to Canton in order to maintain the unity and integrity of the motherland. For a decade (1916-1926), after death of Yuan Shihkai China became a congeries of petty principalities under tyrants and military commanders. Anarchy and chaos prevailed every where, Dr. Sen’s Party, the Kuomintang soon became a dynamic organization and started fresh struggles for the unification of China. The main objective of Dr. Sen was to free China from foreign domination to establish democracy and to improve the economic and social condition of the people. His ideology was nationalistic, anti-dynastic, antimonarchical and republican. With this end in view, he sought the help of communist Russia which immediately showered help to China. About this time the communist party was founded in China and its prominent leaders were Mao-Tse-Tung and Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Chou-Enrolment-Lai.But although Dr.Sen welcomed the co-operation of Russia he was not a communist. In 1921, the Canton government elected Dr. Sen as the president of Chinese Republic and the civil war began between the Peking government (Northern China) of Yuan Shih Kai and the Canton government (Southern China) of Dr. Sen. At the end of the Civil War Sun Yat Sen was appointed as president of the whole of China. But he died within one year. Sun Yat Sen was a true nationalist and patriot who is revered as “the Father of the Revolution”. He introduced so many reforms to improve the condition of his people. He fixed the wages of the workers and reduced their hours of work. Land-tax was also reduced. Education was made compulsory and a military academy was established. He left behind him a legacy of hope and stirred the imagination of Chinese all over the world with the vision of a strong and independent China. One of his books “The three Principles” emphasizing the principles of nationalism, democracy and economic security of the people became the manual of the Kuomintang. After the death of Dr. Sen his trusted disciple Chiang-Kai-Shak led the army of the Kuomintang and deposed the Peking government in 1928 and became the president of the Republic of China. He unified and enhanced the prestige of China in the eyes of the world. Chiang-Kai-Shak adopted farreaching changes in the social, educational and industrial fields, borrowing many of the European principles. But at the same time nothing was done to improve the conditions of the workers and small farmers. The rich became richer and the poverty of the masses increased. Chiang was a sworn enemy of communism and he murdered hundreds of thousands of communists. He established the Nationalist Government in China. The strife between the nationalists and the communist was fully utilized by Japan and in 1931 she captured Manchuria. The time was wiped for a Communist Revolution. Their leaders like Mao-Tse-Tung and Chou-EnrolmentLai communist ideology with ‘Sun Yatsenism’ and made it acceptable to the masses. The surrender of Japan to the Allies in 1945 kindled the spirit of Nationalism in China. In 1947, a civil war broke out between the Red Army backed by Russia and the Nationalist Army backed by U.S.A. In 1949 the whole mainland of China was captured by the communists and Chiang-Kai-Sheik evacuated to the Island of Taiwan. Under Mao-Tse Tung the Chinese Peoples’ Republic was established with Peking (new Beijing) as the Capital. Mao Tse-tung Mao Tse-tung founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. He had also been one of the founders of the Chinese Communist party in 1921, and he is regarded, along with Karl Marx and V. I. Lenin, as one of the three great theorists of Marxian communism. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Mao Tse-tung was born on Dec. 26, 1893, into a well-to-do peasant family in Shao-shan, Hunan province. As a child he worked in the fields and attended a local primary school, where he studied the traditional Confucian classics. He was frequently in conflict with his strict father, whom Mao learned successfully to confront--with the support of his gentle and devoutly Buddhist mother. Beginning in 1911, the year that the republican forces of Sun Yat-Sen launched the overthrow of the Ch'ing (or Manchu) dynasty, Mao spent most of 10 years in Chang-sha, the provincial capital. He was exposed to the tides of rapid political change and the new culture movement then sweeping the country. He served briefly in the republican army and then spent half a year studying alone in the provincial library--an experience that confirmed him in the habit of independent study. By 1918, Mao had graduated from the Hunan First Normal School and had gone to Peking, the national capital, where he worked briefly as a library assistant at Peking University. Mao lacked the funds to support a regular student status and, unlike many of his classmates, mastered no foreign language and did not go abroad to study. It may be partly due to his relative poverty during his student years that he never identified completely with the cosmopolitan bourgeois intellectuals who dominated Chinese university life. He did establish contact with intellectual radicals who later figured prominently in the Chinese Communist party. In 1919, Mao returned to Hunan, where he engaged in radical political activity, organizing groups and publishing a political review, while supporting himself as a primary-school principal. In 1920, Mao married Yang K'ai-hui, the daughter of one of his teachers. Yang K'ai-hui was executed by the Chinese Nationalists in 1930. In that year Mao married Ho Tzu-chen, who accompanied him on the Long March. Mao divorced her (1937), and in 1939 he married Chiang Ch'ing. When the Chinese Communist party (CCP) was organized in Shanghai in 1921, Mao was a founding member and leader of the Hunan branch. At this stage the new party formed a united front with the Koumintang, the party of the republican followers of Sun Yat-sen. Mao worked within the united front in Shanghai, Hunan, and Canton, concentrating variously on labor organization, party organization, propaganda, and the Peasant Movement Training Institute. His 1927 "Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan" expressed his view of the revolutionary potential of the peasantry--although this view was not yet phrased in a proper Marxian form. In 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek, who had gained control of the Kuomintang after the death of Sun Yat-sen, reversed that party's policy of cooperation with the Communists. By the next year, when he had control of the Nationalist armies as well as the Nationalist government, Chiang purged all Communists from the movement. As a result, Mao was forced to flee to the countryside. In the mountains of south China he established with Chu Teh a rural base defended by a guerrilla army. It was this almost accidental innovation--the fusion of Communist leadership with a guerrilla force operating in rural areas Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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with peasant support--that was to make Mao the leader of the CCP. Because of their growing military power, Mao and Chu were able by 1930 to defy orders of the Russian-controlled CCP leadership that directed them to try to capture cities. In the following year, despite the fact that his position in the party was weak and his policies were criticized, a Chinese soviet was founded in Juichin, Kiangsi province, with Mao as chairman. A series of extermination campaigns by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government forced the CCP to abandon Juichin in October 1934 and to commence the Long March. At Tsun-i in Kweichow, Mao for the first time gained effective control over the CCP, ending the era of Russian direction of party leadership. Remnants of the Communist forces reached Shensi in October 1935, after a march of 10,000 km (6,000 mi). They then established a new party headquarters at Yen-an. When the Japanese invasion of 1937 forced the CCP and the Kuomintang once again to form a united front, the Communists gained legitimacy as defenders of the Chinese homeland, and Mao rose in stature as a national leader. During this period he established himself as a military theorist and, through the publication in 1937 of such essays as "On Contradiction" and "On Practice," laid claim to recognition as an important Marxist thinker. Mao's essay "On New Democracy" (1940) outlined a unique national form of Marxism appropriate to China; his "Talks at the Yen an Forum on Literature and Art" (1942) provided a basis for party control over cultural affairs. The soundness of Mao's self-reliance and rural guerrilla strategies was proved by the CCP's rapid growth during the Yen-an period--from 40,000 members in 1937 to 1,200,000 members in 1945. The shaky truce between the Communists and Nationalists was broken at the end of the war. Efforts were made--by the United States, in particular--to forge a coalition government. Civil war erupted, however, and the following 3 years (1946-49) saw the rapid defeat of the Kuomintang. Chiang's government was forced to flee to Taiwan, leaving the People's Republic of China, formed by the Communists in late 1949, in control of the entire Chinese mainland. When Mao's efforts to open relations with the United States in the late 1940s were rebuffed, he concluded that China would have to "lean to one side," and a period of close alliance with the USSR followed. Hostility to the United States was deepened by the Korean War. During the early 1950s, Mao served as chairman of the Communist party, chief of state, and chairman of the military commission. His international status as a Marxist leader rose after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Mao's uniqueness as a leader is evident from his commitment to continued class struggle under socialism--a view confirmed in his theoretical treatise "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People" (1957). Dissatisfaction with the slowness of development, the loss of revolutionary momentum in the countryside, and the tendency for CCP members to behave like a privileged class led Mao to take a number of unusual initiatives in the late 1950s. In the Hundred Flowers movement of 1956-57 he encouraged Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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intellectuals to make constructive criticism of the party's stewardship. When the criticism came, it revealed deep hostility to CCP leadership. At about the same time, Mao accelerated the transformation of rural ownership by calling for the elimination of the last vestiges of rural private property and the formation of people's communes, and for the initiation of rapid industrial growth through a program known as the Great Leap Forward. The suddenness of these moves led to administrative confusion and popular resistance. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions resulted in disastrous crop shortfalls and severe food shortages. As a consequence of all these reverses, Mao lost his position as chief of state and found his influence over the party severely curtailed. It was also during the late 1950s that Mao's government began to reveal its deep-seated differences with the USSR. During the 1960s, Mao made a comeback, attacking the party leadership and the new chief of state, Liu Shao-Ch'i, through a Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which peaked from 1966 to 1969. The Cultural Revolution was largely orchestrated by Mao's wife, Chiang Ch'ing. It was perhaps Mao's greatest innovation and was essentially an ideological struggle for public opinion carried out in the form of a frantic national debate. Mao proved to be a master tactician. When he could not get his ideas across in the Peking press, he used the Shanghai press to attack the Peking leadership. Students, mobilized as "Red Guards," became his most avid supporters. As tensions mounted and events threatened to get out of hand, Mao was obliged to rely increasingly on the military, under the leadership of Lin Piao. In return for this military support, the party named Lin as Mao's successor in its 1969 constitution. By 1971, however, Lin was reported to have died in a plane crash after having plotted to assassinate Mao and Mao was once more firmly in control. On the popular level the thrust of the Cultural Revolution was to teach the Chinese masses that it was "right to revolt"--that it was their privilege to criticize those in positions of authority and to take an active part in decision making. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao's sayings, printed in a little red book, and buttons bearing his image were distributed to the masses; his word was treated as an ultimate authority, and his person the subject of ecstatic adulation. Despite this temporary assumption of an authority higher than the CCP, Mao continued to state his belief in the Leninist notion of collective party leadership. He showed his opposition to the "personality cult" by explicitly asking that the number of statues of him be reduced. Towards the end of his life, Mao put forward a new analysis of the international situation in which the world's states are divided into three groups: the underdeveloped nations, the developed nations, and the two superpowers (the United States and the USSR), both of which seek worldwide hegemony. This analysis underscored China's position as a leader of the Third World (i.e., the underdeveloped group) and helped to rationalize a rapprochement with the United States. The fostering of closer relations with the United States was looked upon as a way to lessen the influence of the USSR, whose relations with Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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China had continued to deteriorate. In 1972, Mao lent his prestige to this policy change by receiving U.S. president Richard M. Nixon in Peking. Mao died in Peking on Sept. 9, 1976. The following month Chiang Ch'ing and her radical associates, known as the "Gang of Four", were arrested. Mao's chosen successor, Hua Kuo-Feng, was stripped of his influential posts as the party came under the control of moderates led by Teng Hsio-P'ing. In 1981 the party criticized the excesses of the Cultural Revolution while praising Mao for his leadership in earlier years. The Constitution of 1982 stated that economic cooperation and progress were more important than class struggle and banned all forms of personality cults. During the early and late 1980s, a general movement away from Mao's beliefs was noted, and his statue was removed from a number of sites throughout China. In February 1989, a member of the Central Advisory Commission to the Communist party wrote in an official Peking newspaper, the Guangming Daily, that "Mao was a great man who embodied the calamities of the Chinese people, but in his later years he made big mistakes over a long period, and the result was great disaster for the people and the country. He created a historical tragedy." Along with the founders of the Han and Ming dynasties, Mao Tse-tung was one of only three peasants who rose to rule all of China in a single lifetime. Mao's greatest achievements were the unification of China through the destruction of Nationalist power, the creation of a unified People's Republic, and the leadership of the greatest social revolution in human history. This revolution involved collectivization of most land and property, the destruction of the landlord class, the weakening of the urban bourgeoisie, and the elevation of the status of peasants and industrial workers. As a Marxist thinker and the leader of a socialist state, Mao gave theoretical legitimacy to the continuation of class struggle in the socialist and communist stages of development. He stressed the importance of land redistribution for the benefit of the rural peasantry, and his theories have strongly influenced the non-industrialized Third World.

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UNIT-IV TWENTIETH CENTURY-WARS AND INSTITUTIONS OF PEACE FIRST WORLD WAR – ITS CAUSES AND RESULTS A great war broke out in 1914, engulfing the whole world in its vicious circle and drawing mankind into its whirlpool. It was a global War. The historians call it as the First World War, because for the first time in the history of mankind almost all the countries of the world were directly or indirectly involved in it. The war was fought in three arenas-land, air and sea. The First World War was also the most frightful war that mankind had experienced. Causes. The first world was not precipitated by a single, isolated cause. It was actually the culmination of the interplay of various causes. As president Wilson of U.S.A. has remarked ‘you can explain most of the wars very simple, but the explanation of this war is not simple. Its roots run deep into all obscure soils of history. The first and foremost cause of the war was the prevalence of international anarchy in the absence of an international agency to maintain peace and order. Aggressive nationalism which was one of the heritages of the French-Revolution created rivalry between one nation and another. It led to the unhealthy feeling of my country-right of wrong. Mankind has reached such a point that Russell remarked ‘If the growth from barbarism to civilization is the theme of history and if mutual co-operation and sacrifice for the good of the society is the test of civilization, then, the white antiquities and antiquities are superior to man. Hostile propaganda created doubts and distrust between nations and this became alarmingly harmful to world peace. The clash of imperialistic, colonial and economic interest actually aggravated matters. European countries entered into an era of colonization in order to get raw materials and to sell their produced goods. Again, it was thought that the greatness of a Nation depends upon the value and extent of the non-European colonies Britain, France, Germany and Russia precipitated the situation. Role of England: Englishmen believed that they were the most civilized people on earth and it was the white men’s burden, to rule over the world. Their supremacy in the political, military, and cultural fields was never questioned up till the last quarter of the 19th century. The emergence of Germany as a brilliant power gave a new threat to the English and thus started the prolonged rivalry among them. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The Berlin-Bagdad Railway was the main cause of rivalry between England and Germany. Germany had good quality commodities and a good fleet and Britain feared that she would upset her colonial empire in Africa. Role of Germany: Bismarck united the scattered German States into a mighty empire and placed Germany on the road of aggressive nationalism. The Germans believed that they had a superior Aryan or Nordic blood in them and also that they were divine. The arrogant German king, Kaiser William, encouraged the belligerent attitude and declared his motive as ‘World power or downfall”. He also declared – “our army is in the battle field: navy is ready; behind them stands the entire German Nation…..”Germany considered England, France and Russia as her enemies. She opposed French in the Moroccan issue; English in the Near Eastern question and the Russians in the Balkan problems. Role of Russia: Russia was the most powerful nation in the Eastern Europe. The PAN SLAV movement of Russia was based on the theory that all Eastern European States belonged to the Slav Race and Russia had mastery over the Slav States. The idea of the sole protector ship of the Balkan States was opposed by Austria and Germany and it developed a new crisis in Europe. The Berlin-Bagdad Railway line was also an apple of discord between Russia and Germany. Role of France: Since the days of the Franco-Prussian War in 1876 A.D France became an enemy of Germany. The defeat of France by Bismarck made a deep wound in their mind which was not yet healed. Patriots and intellectuals of France started the Revenge Movement to avenge their defeat. France also found that her interest is Morocco was upset due to the interference of Germany. Again passion hatred was developed due to the capture of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany from France. Militarism: Militarism was one of the underlying causes for the First World War. In the world of Marriot “determined effort was made by the European Governments to teach the people the glory and necessity of War”. The nations were busy in raising big armies and pilling most sophisticated weapons. It spread a war mania all over Europe. The News papers poisoned the mind of the people with the idea of war. The Scientists defended war as a biological necessity. The political and intellectual leaders spread the idea of “Social Darwinism” i.e. the fittest nation would survive and grow. The Alliances: -

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The system of entangling alliances divided Europe into two hostile camps. Bismarck was the first architect of such an alliance. To isolate France he formed “The League of Three-Empires” with Russia and Austria. When Russia with drew from the league in 1878 A.D. Italy stepped in. In 1907 Britain, France and Russia formed the “Triple Entente” for their protection against the “Triple Alliance” formed by Germany, Austria and Italy. (Later Italy withdrew and Turkey joined the Alliance). At the time of the out break of the First World War there were two power blocks in the World, “the Triple Entente” or the Allies, (Russia, France, England, Italy, Japan, Serbia and later on U.S.A) and “Triple Alliance” or “Central Blocks” (Germany, Austria, Turkey, Poland and Bulgaria). International Crisis: Certain International Crisis also precipitated the First World War. At the beginning of the 20th century the European nations were involved in the Near Eastern Problems. Turkey lost her control over the Balkan States and Russia, Austria and Serbia exercised considerable influence in the area. Serbia brought forward “the Great Serbian Scheme”, to unite Bosnia and Herzegovina with her, since they were having a common culture and common race – Russia also tightened her grip over the Balkan area through the Partition-Slav Movement. But in 1908, Austria annexed Serbia and it created complex and complicated problems. Now Germany offered her help to Austria and the Balkan problem became the gun powder for the First World War. During his life time, Bismarck has anticipated the War. “I will not see the I World War but you will see and it will start in the East”. The Moroccan Crisis: The Agadir Crisis) of 1911 was the last reason for the First World War Morocco was under an independent Sultan and was recognized by the Madrid Congress of 1880 A.D but France and Britain made plans to dismember Morocco. The news of the secret plan however leaked out and the German Kaiser made it public. He also demanded equal power and share in Morocco to all foreigners. In 1911 A.D the second Moroccan crisis started when France sent armed troops against the unruly tribes which rose in revolt round Fez, the capital of Morocco. There upon Germany sent the Gun Boat ‘Panther’ to the Moroccan Port of Agadir. The British government now sent a cruiser to watch the ‘Panther’ and there by showed that England would support France if therefore is a crisis.Though a compromise was made it generated ill-feelings in the minds of the European nations. The Immediate Cause: -

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The immediate cause of the First World War was the Sarajevo incident. The Architecture-Duke, Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne was murdered with his wife on 28th June 1914 while on a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The murderer was princep, a Bosnian student who belonged to Slav race. Austrian secret agent reported that the plot had been made in the capital of Serbia (Belgrade) and that certain Serbian official had helped the assassin to secure arms Austria wanted to punish the criminal and all those who backed him. On July 23rd, 1914 Count Berthold, the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, gave a strongly worded two-day ultimatum to Serbia. On 25th July 1914, Serbian Government gave a reply which Austria found unsatisfactory and on 28th July 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. It inaugurated the bloody world war. Course of the War When Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia backed the latter and Tsar Nicholas II ordered for the mobilization of the army. On 1 st August 1914, Germany declared war on Russia and two days later on France. On August 4th England declared war on Germany, Europe was thus clearly divided into two fighting camps, Japan in the Eastern hemisphere and U.S.A. in the west. Participated and made war a Global one. Greece, Rumania, Belgium, Portugal, China and Italy also jointed the Allies. This opposite camp had Hungary and Turkey as new-comers. The U.S.A. considered the World War as a Pure European conflict but joined the war when the German U-Boats sunk the British steamer, Lusitania with many American passengers. On 6th April 1917 she declared war on Germany and it turned the tide of the war in favor of Allies. Mean while the Russian Revolution has started in 1917 and the Tsar, Nicholas II were over throne. Now Russia withdraws from the war. By then the fortune of Germany has sunk low and has suffered so many defeats. In March 1918 the German army made their last desperate effort to break the allied lines in the Western front and to Capture Paris. But Marshall Foch, the commanderin-chief of the Allied power defeated the Germans Turkey and Bulgaria surrendered. On November 9, 1918, Austria withdraws from the battle consequent on her defeat by the Italians. Two days after this, Germany also signed the armistice and Kaiser William II fled to Holland. In 1919 the representatives from Britain, France, U.S.A., Italy and Japan met at Paris and dictated the peace treaty to the defeated powers. Altogether there were five treaties, collectively known as Treaty of Paris of which the Treaty of Versailles with Germany was the most important. Germany was declared war-guilty; She was disarmed, humiliated and her empire was dismembered. The Dual Monarchy of Austria Hungary was separated. Results: Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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The First World War was a calamity to humanity, war torn and war weary world suffered for want of food, clothing and shelter. Both the rich and the poor, the victorious and vanquished nations had to face a terrible economic depression. One great result of the First World War was the victory of the principle of Nationalism. On the ruins of the old empires many new nations such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Finland and others sprang up in Europe. It has been awakened China and rejuvenated Turkey. Another result of the First World War was the spread of Democracy. Autocratic Governments in Russia, Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary fell and even British imperialism had to face a downward trend. The experiment of new dictatorships has been tried in many countries notably in Germany, Italy and Russia and the doctrines of Nazism and fascism captured the imagination of the war-torn Italy and Germany. The First World War which was “fought to save the world from future wars” merely sowed the seeds of new and more destructive war. The Treaty of Versailles itself contained the germs of the Second World War Another result of the First World War was the establishment of an international agency known as the League of Nations. Its aim was to prevent war and promote international understanding and peaceful co-existence. Developments between the two World Wars RISE OF DICTATORSHIP IN EUROPE The First World War was fought ‘to make world safe for Democracy’ and the League of Nations was organized, to prevent future wars. During the first two decades of the 20th century, democracy, self Government and peace flourished and grew in many countries. But gradually progress became slow and later on it was arrested. The draw backs of the League of Nations became very evident. Inter war period from 1929-2939 witnessed a bumper crop of Dictatorship mainly in Italy and Germany. The Dictatorships mean Totalitarian or Autocratic governments. The state now became very powerful and the exaltation of the glory of ones nation became the avowed objective force of the Dictatorship, “Everything for the state; everything within the state, nothing out side the state and nothing against the state’ was the motto. Many causes were attributed to the emergence of Dictatorships in Europe. The treaty of Versailles contained germs of another World War. The victors dictated terms of the treaty and their arrogant attitude made the treaty very harsh and cruel to the vanquished, especially to Germany. Germany was economically crippled, politically segregated, militarily humbled, physically exhausted and nationally humiliated! Naturally the Germans had hysteric Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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feelings of revenge and Hitler made use of the feelings. Italy, though a victor was disgruntled as she did not get any war spoil or colonial dinner after the First World War. Instead, the mass scale loss of men, money and materials made the Italians frustrated. So the Ideas of dictatorships blossomed both in Germany and Italy. The second reason for the rise of dictatorship was the failure of the December governments to tackle the complicated political and economic problems of the post-war period. The atmosphere was not congenial for the smooth working of December institutions and the frustrated people found saviors in dictators alone. The terrible economic depression of 1929 made the life of the common man very miserable. Inflation and unemployment gave rise to disaffection and discontent and dictators were able to capture the imagination of such people. Hitler and Mussolini through speeches and publications inspired the people and spread the ideals of nationalism and patriotism. The toothless and spineless, League of Nations did little to safeguard democracy and to maintain pace. When Japan seized Manchuria: Italy captured Ethiopia and Germany seized Poland, the world body was helpless when questioned, they left the League and started an inglorious period of wars and annexations. FASCISM IN ITALY It was the Fascist party spear headed by Benito Mussolini, the journalist and Ex-socialist, which repudiated democracy and established dictatorship in Italy. There were a variety of causes for this change. Though a member of the Allied power that defeated central powers, Italy did not get the share of ‘colonial dinner’. The Italians felt that they had been deceived and ignored by the Big Powers. Her imperialist aspirations fell like the house of cards. So Italy became a victim of frustrated nationalism. Secondly the spirit of Patriotism was kindled in the minds of the Italians by the intellectuals. The Italians were ready to sacrifice their liberty to exalt their status to the position akin to the days’ of Julius Caesar. Their slogan was nothing for the individual everything for the state, nothing against the state of Italy! The demoralizing and humiliating post-war effects were responsible for the rise of dictatorship in Italy. Italy had to face the economic crisis and the great depression of 1929. The economic activities were paralyzed; there was scarcity for food materials: strikes became common and inflation and unemployment became the order of the day. Besides, the national debt increased beyond calculations and the country found it practically impossible to pay it.

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The rise of the socialist, communist and other radical groups created frustration and the moneyed classes feared a revolution. It was feared that Italy would go communist. The people wanted bold leadership to face the situation and it became congenial for the growth of fascist dictatorship. The fiery eloquence, Machiavellian ruthlessness and the Napoleonic posses made Benito Mussolini, the Ex-socialist and the editor of ‘Avanti’, the choice of the people. He wanted to establish the martial greatness of the ancient Rome. Born in Forli in 1883 of humble parentage, Mussolini had his education in Switzerland. He was a man of actions and though an evil genius, rose from pillar to post. He was socialist in the beginning and was the editor of the Official socialist Newspaper, the ‘Avanti’. After the First World War he organized the National Fascist Party in November 1921 and subsequently became the high priest of Fascism. Fascism is a Latin word meaning bundle of Rods. It preached that union is strength. It was against democracy which Mussolini described as the worst type of Government-stupid corrupts inefficient and slow-moving. He declared that democracy is like shifting sand where as Fascism is like a rock. He drew his inspiration from Machiavelli. Corrodani and Annuzia who preached aggressive nationalism.The Principle of Fascism gave the idea of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, militarism and nationalism. On October 22, 1912 Mussolini with fifty thousand ‘Black Shirt’ volunteers marched to Rome and terrified the King Victor Immanuel III, who made him his premier. Gradually Mussolini made the king a mere figure head, abolished parliament and rushed aside both democracy and monarchy. In 1922 he said ‘our programme is very simple; we want to rule Italy’. He achieved it with brilliant success, wiped away, all opposition with brutality and inaugurated a reign of terror in Italy. The aims of the Fascist party included exaltation of the state protection of private property and a vigorous foreign policy. It was anti-democratic antisecular and also against individual freedom. “No discussion; only obedience” said Mussolini and his secret police, “the ovatta” did the rest! At home Fascism made notable achievements. Factories and transport were nationalized; Government expenditure was reduced; a variety of public works were fostered; Railways were enlarged and industries were helped by means of subsidies and protective tariffs. Even though strikes were made illegal, disabled and agreed people were given pension and employment opportunities were given to the unemployed. Scientific system of cultivation gave self-sufficiency in food materials. Mussolini stimulated pride in the past by repairing ancient monuments. In 1929 the Treaty of Lateran was signed with pope Pious XI which settled dispute between the state and the papacy. Mussolini introduced compulsory military training and expanded the army, Navy and air force to make the state strong. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Foreign Policy: Mussolini inflated the imagination of the Italians through his eloquent speeches and inspiring writings. Aggressive nationalism was chosen to realize his imperialist dreams. He wanted Italy to regain the glory of the past and was ready to do anything to establish the power and prestige of Italy. He declared that Imperialism is the eternal law of life and that the international peace is the dream of the Cowards. “The struggle between two worlds can permit no compromise: either they or we”. He prepared the Italians for a deadly war and said that “war is to man what maternity is to women”. He formed an alliance with Germany and Japan (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis) and even helped General Franco of Spain to overthrow the Spanish republic. Mussolini also started a career of unchecked annexation; he exerted Pressure on the Mediterranean Coast and took Tinian port in the strait of Gibraltar. Albania was converted into a protectorate State. He united Ethiopia, Somaliland and parts of Eritrea into Italian East Africa and thus fulfilled the long cherished dream of an African colony. In 1940 Italy entered the II World War on the side of Germany. In 1941 Italy was defeated by the Allies and in the same year Mussolini was deposed by a vote of no-confidence by his own Party. While attempting to escape to Switzerland, he was captured and shot dead by the anti-fascists. With Mussolini’s death the Whole structure of Fascism collapsed.

NAZISM IN GERMANY The First World War did not end the future wars and the peace settlement of Paris did not settle the post-war problems! The terms of the treaty of Versailles were very harsh and it contained the germs of another world war which was more deadly than the first. At the close of the First World War Germany was forcibly made to accept the cup of the humiliating treaty. She was declared “war-guilt”, humbled and humiliated. Naturally “down with Versailles” became the slogan of the Germans in 1920. This made her revengeful and Adolph Hitler created a belligerent Germany. The victors of the First World War segregated Germany and her border was reduced to that of Old Prussia. Her empire was dismembered and her colonies were placed under mandatory system. Naturally Germany was humiliated. Her industries and trade were crippled and curtailed. The huge burden of war debt exhausted Germany and the victors calculated that Germany would never be able to forge her head in the nearest future. But with amazing rapidity and astonishing progress Germany stood in the fore front of the European Nations under her leader Hitler.

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When Nationalism and Militarism were temporarily discredited, a liberal democracy was established in Germany in 1919 by the Weimar Constitution. But the new republic failed to confront with chaos and confusion and people looked forward for a Savior. The charming personality, voracious oration, organizing ability, tireless energy and the military genius of the Hitler proved to be fit for a leader. The economic depression of 1919 marred the vitality of Germany. Famine and unemployment made the people miserable and inflation created rise in prices. Strikes and riots became very common. The Germans found that the best places were occupied by the Jews who were clever businessmen. The ideas of communism found favor with many and the rich classes who were terrified of communism were willing to support any party that was opposed to Marxism. The timely appearance of Hitler saved Germany from the grip of a communist revolution. Born in 1839, as the son of a customs officer, Hitler became an orphan at an early age and won his bread by working as a painter and an architect. He acquired German citizenship and when the First World War broke out he enrolled himself in the army and won the Iron cross for bravery. At the close of the War he again became a job hunt. He then joined the German Workers party which had only seven members but by his inspiring speeches increased the number of the members. He changed the name of the Workers Party into National Socialist Party which is also known as the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party denounced the Treaty of Versailles, propagated the union of all Germans, criticized the Parliament system of government and stood against the Jews, Communists Socialist and the foreigners. It propagated the idea of patriotism, Exaltation of State of the glorification of nationalism. The Nazi party took the biography of Hitler known as the ‘Mein Kamp’ (My struggle) as the bible. It teaches the supremacy of the Nordic race and their manifest destines to rule the World. The flag of the Nazi party was red with white circle and black Swastika at the middle – a symbol of Aryan supremacy. Hitler channelized the spirit and enthusiasm of the youth for re-building Germany. In 1923, with the help of his “Brown Shirts” he conducted a premature coup to capture power. The initial failure did not dishearten him. In 1932 General Election to the Reich Stag (Parliament), his party contested and bagged a majority of seats. Now President Hindenburg appointed him as the Chancellor of Germany. The paralyzed nation found a new leader in him and after the death of Hindenburg appointed him as the Chancellor of Germany. The paralyzed nation found a new leader in him and after the death of Hindenburg, the Republic virtually ceased to exist and the Nazi regime began to reign supreme. Hitler became ‘the Fuhrer or Leader’ in 1934 and Germany became ‘the Third Reich’ or ‘the Third Empire’. Hitler established national unity under one party, one flag and one leader. He controlled the media; education etc. and all political parties were banned. The Secret Policy known as ‘the Gestapo’ promptly reported every matter to Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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Hitler. Giblets were in charge of Nazi propaganda. The Jews were persecuted in every from and the Aryans were declared as the master race destined to rule the world. Hitler, then, started the re-organization of economy and reconstruction of Germany. Industrial peace was established by banning strikes and lockouts and forming corporate unions in which both employer and employees had representation. Agriculture was improved on scientific basis, private lands were confiscated and prices were strictly controlled. Jews and women were dismissed from service and their place was given to unemployed youth. He once said that the place of women is kitchen and her duty to state is to be a good mother! Hitler controlled the religious field as well and many clergymen were transported to the concentration camps. He added an “Aryan paragraph” to the Old Testament and appointed his own man, Ludwig Muller, as the Bishop of Germany. Foreign Policy: Hitler was mostly responsible for the Second World War. He glorified nationalism and said the rearmament is the only road to national achievement. In his “Mein Kamp”, he vividly described his future plans. The foremost idea was to make Germany a first rate power and to take revenge on the victors of the 1st World War who had dictated the destiny of Germany. He wanted the revision of the Treaty of Versailles at any cost. He had also ambitions for territorial expansion mostly to restore the Imperial Status of Germany. Hitler tore away the Treaty of Versailles and entered into military pacts such as Nazi-Soviet Pact, Anglo-German Naval Agreement and ultimately RomeBerlin Tokyo Axis. Along with Mussolini, he gave support to General Franco against the Republic when the Spanish Civil War broke out. He then started naked aggressions and incorporated Austria into the Nazi Empire When civil war broke out in Czechoslovakia. Hitler’s army interfered and captured Sudetenland and gradually brought the whole state under his grip. The Nazis also captured the small state of Lithuania before moving towards Poland. “Peace-loving people all over the world were shocked at the manner in which Germany”, like a tiger in the midst of cattle gobbled small countries one by one”. When the international tiger tried to capture Poland there broke out the terrible Second World War in 1939. Hitler fought vigorously and when the news of the defeat of Germany reached him, he committed suicide in his underground hide out. Along with the ‘Fuehrer’ (leader) the Nazi dictatorship also collapsed. SECOND WORLD WAR

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The gigantic global War of 1919 was fought to end all future wars and anarchy. But contrary to the expectations the blood bath neither fostered peace for posterity nor made the world safely for democracy. Soon, another devastating war was unleashed on the world which was more deadly than the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles unsettled things than it settled and it contained the seeds of the World War II. Due to the lack of vision and farsightedness of the Big Powers, the Treaty turned to be unjust, hard and vindictive. The vanquished were declared as war-guilty and were humbled, humiliated and punished. The League of Nations became helpless against the belligerent nations and it actually became ‘the League of Nations’. The interwar period of 20 years and 9 months saw economic depression and the slump of 1929 caused havoc and panic as well as international chaos. The colonial and commercial rivalry were also responsible for the out break of tension through out. Clash of ideologies added to the international unrest. Socialism, communism, Nazism, Fascism etc. tried to fish in the troubled waters and thus made the situation worse. The emergence of narrow nationalism, glorification of the state and militarism also helped the growth of dictatorship in Europe. The leaders like Hitler and Mussolini became highly successful in harnessing the feeling of the people. In the words of CyrillFolls, “World War II was essentially a war of revenge initiated by Germany”. The dictators collected the latest lethal weapons, introduced compulsory military training and spread the ideas of aggressive nationalism. Secret alliances like the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, the Nazi-Soviet Pact etc. intensified the situation. The attitude of the big powers was not at all congenial for the establishment of long standing peace. They also showed indifference when Hitler and Mussolini started a career of expedition and annexation. The Second World War was “Hitler’s War”. He declared that war is life and rearmament is the road to national achievement. He tore off the Treaty of Versailles, re-armed Germany, re-occupied lost territory and waited for taking revenge against the imperial powers. Italy and Japan, though victors of the First World War were totally dissatisfied. Mussolini captured the imagination of the people with Fascist dictatorship. He declared that “International peace is a cowards dream”. His motto was ‘Italy must expand or perish’ and also ‘either they or We’ Japan too was disappointed and it made her revengeful. Under Tajo, she attacked China and when the League of Nations opposed to the Manchurian conquest she withdrew her membership. Germany now annexed Austria, Pineland, Czechoslovakia and finally Poland in 1939. Italy captured Albania and Ethiopia while Japan occupied Manchuria, as seen earlier.The triumvirate, Hitler, Mussolini and Tajo, thus linked imperialist expansion with aggressive nationalism and this became the immediate cause of the war. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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On September 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany. Italy joined the side of Germany in 1940 and Japan in 1941. Minor powers like Hungary, Rumania, Finland and Bulgaria also joined the Axis Powers. The opposite camp of the Allies was full When Russia and the U.S.A. joined Britain and France. U.S.A. initially kept aloof but the attack on the U.S.A. Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (destroying 5 battle ships and 177 air-planes) on December 7, 1941 by Japan forced her to declare war on Japan. Course of the war The Battle field spread all over the world and the German U-Boats and the new military technique “Blitz-Krieg” (lightning war) were superb Hitler captured country after country including Poland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Bohemia, Belgium etc. In 1941 he attacked Russia but this campaign became very costly for Hitler. In the famous battle of Stalingrad in 1942 Marshal Zhukov of Russia gave the Germans a death-blow and it turned the tide of the war against Germany. The fate of Italy was not different. Initially Italy was very successful in many fronts especially in Greece and Africa. But General Wavell defeated her in Africa and the Allies followed it in many fronts and got her surrender in 1943. Mussolini fell from power and was killed and his bosom friend Hitler committed suicide. But Japan continued the war in the Eastern fronts and captured Formosa, Philippines, Malaya, Burma and China. Now, General Mac Arthur gave Japan an ultimatum to surrender but Japan paid no heed. Therefore on August 6, 1945 the first Atom Bomb exploded in Hiroshima shocking the whole world. Before the recovery from the shock, the second bomb blasted Nagasaki on 9th August and Japan surrendered on 2nd September 1945. The Allies were led to victory by Mac Arthur, General Paton, Eisenhower, Montgomery and other generals under the direction of the world leaders like Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. They forgot their differences and fought with singleness of purpose and strong determination and therefore achieved their objectives. Results: The Second World War brought untold sufferings to mankind which was unprecedented in the history of mankind. There was mass scale loss of men, money and materials and the crisis which rose out of the shortage of food and devastating epidemics. Inflation pushed up prices and millions were denied of the daily bread. The Potsdam conference dictated the fate of Germany. She was declared war guilty and was divided. East Germany was brought under Russian Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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supervision and West Germany under U.S. and British supervision. was wiped off together with German Empire.

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Italy’s possessions were given back to the original holders and a huge war indemnity was imposed on her. Fascism faded away from Italy. Victors were very harsh on Japan and even after the conclusion of peace Japan was demilitarized and a battalion of forces was stationed thereby the Allies. Japan was made a Limited Monarchy and Toga was given death-penalty. Korea was divided into South and North theoretically under democratic governments but practically under the influence of U.S.A. in the South and U.S.S.R in the North. Though a victor, England lost its prominence and was reduced to the position of a second-rate power with the U.S.A. occupying her former position. France also lost her status and U.S.S.R became one of the two Super Powers of the World. In Western Europe almost all countries rallied round the U.S.A. while Eastern Europe and many Asian countries accepted the leadership of the U.S.S.R. The cold war is the direct out come of the Second World War. The Second World War gave a blow to Imperialism and dictatorship. The old empires began to crumble and the democratic governments were set up in Germany, Italy, Japan and other nations. Awakening of Afro-Asian Nations was the result of the decline of imperialism. The Second World War also quickened the peace of the National movements in India, Burma and Ceylon. The Jewish State of Israel in a legacy of the Second World War. The World War had left its permanent mark on mankind.To prevent such a calamity in future the world leaders like Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt drew up the Atlantic Charter, containing proposals for an international organization. Thus the U.N.O. took its birth on 24 th October 1945 to ensure the world against the out break of another Global War. FROM LEAGUE OF NATIONS TO UNO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Internationalism is a feeling that the individual is not a member of a particular state but a citizen of the world. The brotherhood of mankind and the spirit of internationalism had closely knit the world till the First World War. But the international anarchy and the feelings of hatred and suspicion resulted in the bloody First World War and it made world unsafe for unity and democracy. The terrible tragedy of the war made it urgent, the need of permanent machinery or a common forum to settle disputes and to promote international Co-operation and goodwill. The League of Nations was the ‘brain-child’ of the American President, Woodrow Wilson. He visualized a world organization affording mutual protection and respecting the territorial integrity of all nations. Wilson’s idea had quick response from the leaders who assembled at the Paris peace conference and on Modern World in Transition – IV Semester

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10th January 1920, thirty two nations formed the League of Nations. It was set up positively and constructively to uproot the underlying causes of war. A convenient with 26 paragraphs, is the written constitution of the League of Nations. The Aims of the League of Nations:The aims of the League were (1) To achieve international peace security and to prevent future wars (2) to promote international material and intellectual Co-operation so that man’s life may become nobler and happier (3) to formulate plans for reduction of armament (4) to preserve territorial integrity and political independence (5) to provide for the re-consideration of international treaties that are harmful to peace (6) to supervise the working of the Mandatory system and (7) to promote humanitarian and cultural welfare. Article 16 advises the League to take action against the aggressive nations by boycotting her socially and economically and by breaking the political and economic ties with the aggressors by all the member-countries. Since the League had no sovereignty, state finance or army it could only advise the member-countries to take such steps. Chief organs of the League: The League of Nations functions through an Assembly, Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, and the International Labour Organization (I.L.O.) etc. The Assembly meets once in a year, except in an emergency. Each member country can send three representatives though every member-country is having only one vote. It is empowered to discuss any matter, concerning with world peace. It voted the budget, appointed the Secretary General and the Judges and also worked as a world Parliament. The Council was the executive body with Nine members (later on increased to 14) out of which five nations were permanent members. The council ordinarily met thrice in a year at Geneva and conducted investigations when peace is being disturbed and recommended peaceful methods to settle disputes. In reality only Britain, France, Italy and Japan became permanent members since the U.S.A. kept out of the League of Nations. The Secretary General and the staff numbering nearly 700 were the civil service wing which worked round the year. The staff belonged to different nations and they set examples of international civil service where loyalty is pledged to the world. The International Court of Justice was to interpret any disputed point in international law and to decide disputes arising between member-states. The permanent headquarter was at Hague and its decision the case was final.

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The specialized agencies like the I.L.O. were constituted by the delegates of all member-nations. The I.L.O was an autonomous body aiming at the welfare of the workers of the world. There was also several technical committees, health organizations, bank etc. to deal with humanitarian works. Though the League had to shoulder heavy responsibilities, its powers were very limited. It failed miserably in dealing with the Big powers. Her weapons such as investigations, boycott, severing commercial relations with warring states etc. were not serious measures. However, in non-political field, the League did excellent work. The League failed to protect weak nations from the aggressive designs of big powers in the absence of the enforcement machinery. When major states like Germany, Italy and Japan took law in their own hands, the helplessness of the League was evidenced. It could not prevent re-armament, aggression or withdrawal of its members and could not prevent the out break of the Second World War The League of Nations was looked down upon as a part of the Treaty of Versailles which was based on the spirit of revenge. The vanquished nations hated the Treaty of Paris. The rise of dictatorship in Germany and Italy was not checked in time by the League. Neither could it check the race for armament. It was reduced to a body without a soul since it was like an Anglo-French association. Gandhi once remarked “What is the League of Nations? Is it not in reality nearly an AngloFrench Organization? Do other powers count?” The provision for unanimous vote on important decision was a handicap. Unanimity of opinion among a large number of member nations was something practically impossible. Again, the U.S.A. was not a member of the League even though the U.S. president Wilson was the architect of the League of Nations. Without U.S.A. the League of Nations was like a crew without its captain. Due to the short comings the League became the laughing stock when the Second World War broke out. Some called it the Geneva Council of fools’, some as ‘the League of Robbers’ and some as the ‘League of Nations’. But the achievement of the World body can not be under estimated. Even in the political field, it has settled 73 cases which could have led to another global war. The border disputes between Greece and Bulgaria, Poland and Germany, Yugoslavia and Albania, Sweden and Finland were some of them. In the social and economic field, the league-rendered great service by undertaking many humanitarian works. It not only supervised mandatory system but also helped war-torn nations like Austria, Hungary etc. to regain Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 100

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their lost position. It undertook the strenuous work of rehabilitation of refugees and prisoners of war. Again the World Health Organization took measures to check epidemics like Malaria and also spread scientific information. The I.L.O. tried to uplift the workers of the world by taking measures to improve their health, wages and working conditions and in preventing forced labour of women and children. But the League was a total failure against the aggressive attitude of Germany, Italy and Japan. No action worth the name could be taken against them when they broke the covenant of the League. The League finally collapsed in 1946 with the formation of the U.N.O. THE U.N.O. AND ITS WORK The U.N.O. was the successor of the League of Nations. The failure of the League of Nations and the horror of the Second World War convinced the statesmen of the world that a new and better world organization should be set up to prevent wars and to promote peace and goodwill. With this end in view, on 26th June 1945, the charter of the U.N.O. was signed by 51 nations at the Sanfrancisco conference. In subsequent years, so many new nations joined the U.N.O. The Atlantic Charter (1941), the Washington Conference (1942), the Moscow Declaration (1943), the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944) and the Yalta Conference (1945) between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill stood as the back ground of the U.N.O. The aims and Principles: The fundamental aims of the U.N.O. are the following: 1. To maintain international peace and security 2. To promote friendly relations among nations 3. To co-operate internationally in solving the world-wide economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems. 4. To promote respect for human rights, dignity and freedom. 5. To serve as a centre for harmonizing national action in order to attain these common ends. The U.N.O. upholds the following principles: 1. Equality among nations 2. Co-operations among nations for collective action 3. Non-interference in the internal affairs of nations Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 101

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4. Non-violence in international relations 5. To settle the disputes among nations by peaceful means. Organs of the U.N.O.: The principal organs of the U.N.O. are the following: 1. The General Assembly 2. The Security Council 3. The Economic and Social Council 4. The International Court of Justice 5. The Secretariat 1. The General Assembly: The General Assembly of the U.N.O. is the nearest approach to world parliament and it consists of all member states. Each member-state can send not more than 5 representatives but it has only one vote. Ordinary matters are decided by simple majority vote but on important matters a 2/3 majority is required. Normally, the Assembly has to meet once a year, in September, but special sessions can be held at the request of the majority members of the Security Council or by a majority of the members of the General Assembly. The Assembly discusses matters which are likely to endangered international peace and security; promote international co-operation; receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other organs and also consider and approve budgets. It also elects the non-permanent members of the Security Council and all the members of the Trusteeship Council and International Court of Justice. It also elects the Secretary General on the recommendations of the Security Council. 2. The Security Council: The Security Council, the executive body of the U.N.O. though a small body, is the most important organ of the U.N.O. Originally it was a body of 11 members – five permanent and six nonpermanent. Britain, France, U.S.A., U.S.S.R and China were the permanent members of the U.N. The non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two year terms.(In Oct 1971, the Communist China was admitted and the Nationalist China in the island of Formosa was expelled from the Security Council). By an amendment of the charter in 1965, the number of non-permanent members was increased to 10 though the number of permanent members continued to be 5. The council has to meet at least once in every two weeks. If situation demands, it has to meet more frequently. It is the responsibility of the Security Council to maintain peace and security in the world. It is to investigate any dispute likely to lead to war, to recommend methods of preventing such disputes, to formulate plans for the Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 102

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regulation of armaments and to take enforcement measures which include the use of armed forces supplied by member-state in accordance with specific agreements. The five permanent members enjoy ‘Veto Power’ i.e. refusal of consent on any matters. If any of the permanent members rejects a proposal, it is deemed to have been rejected by the council, even if the other four members may be in favor of the proposal. 3. The Economic and Social Council: The Economic and Social Council consist of 18 members, elected by the General Assembly for a period of 3 years. It meets at least three times a year and one third of its members retires every year. Its functions include (1) to solve the economic, social and cultural problems (2) to aim at higher standard of living (3) full employment and economic and social progress. In 1965, the strength of the Council was raised from 18 to 27. 4. The Trusteeship Council: The Trusteeship Council corresponds to Mandatory Powers under the League of Nations. “The Trusteeship system applies to territories held under mandate, territories of the enemy states of the II World War and the territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration”. The Council is to pay attention for the promotion of the economic, social and political development of the countries placed under the Trustee countries. The Council consists of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the member nation administering the Trust territories and also the member states elected by the General Assembly. 5. The International Court of Justice: Composed of 15 Judges, the International Court of Justice is the chief judicial organ of the U.N.O. with head quarters at Hague. The main function of the court is to settle the mutual disputes among the different nations by peaceful methods. It has got jurisdiction over all cases referred to it by the member-nations and also gives advisory opinion to any legal question. 6. The Secretariat: The day-to-day business of the U.N.O. is performed by the Secretariat under the direction of the Secretary General, appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendations of the Security Council. The term of office of the Secretary-General is 5 years. The function of the Secretariat is to carry out the administrative responsibility of the U.N. and also the maintain records and to register and publish all treaties. Specialized Agencies: In addition to the above six organs there are some specialized agencies which deal with specific international problems. 1. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO): The UNESCO was established on November 4, 1946 with head Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 103

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quarters at Paris. Its main function is to promote international understanding by promoting peace and security through education, science and culture. 2. The International Labour Organization (I.L.O.): Founded in 1919 as on organ of the League of Nations, the I.L.O. survived the Second World War and became an important organ of the U.N.O. also. Its aim is to improve the labour conditions with regard to wages and hours of work. It also tries to increase the productivity of labour, to raise the standard of living of the labours and also to improve their economic and social status. 3. The Food and Agricultural Organization (F.A.O.): Established in October 16, 1945 with head quarters at Rome, the F.A.O. aims at increasing the agricultural produce of the member-countries so as to improve the standard of living of the people. 4. World Health Organization (W.H.O.): The W.H.O. was established on April 7, 1948 with head quarters at Geneva. It works to improve the health of the people and try to control deadly epidemics and supply medicine where it is required. It even sends specialists to different countries to give suggestions for the improvement of the health problem. 5. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF): The UNICEF was formed in 1946 with its head quarters at New York. It tries to check the diseases among children and arranges for milk and nutritious food for the physical development of children. The I.M.F. (International Monetary Fund), the I.R.O. (International Refuge Organization), the I.C.A. (International Civil Aviation), the U.P.U (Universal Postal Union), the I.F.C. (International Finance Corporation) etc. are the minor agencies of U.N.O. Achievements of the U.N.O. The U.N.O. has successfully handled many cases in the political field and settled disputes amicably. Some examples are the dispute between Britain and Albania, the bloody war between the Dutch and Indonesia in 1947, the Korean War of 1950 between North and South Korea, the aggression of Egypt by England, France and Israel in 1956 etc. Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and recently Namibia – all became independent. Thanks to the intervention of the U.N.O. Recently the U.N.O. also interfered and established cease fire between Iran and Iraq and prevented the bloody war in West Asia. One of the main contributions of the U.N. has been the prevention of direct clash between the super powers U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. In the economic field, the work of the U.N.O. is remarkable. The F.A.O. has helped to improve food production while I.L.O. has made member-nations to Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 104

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improve the condition of the workers. For the economic development of the member nations, the I.M.F. has distributed a huge amount of money. In the social field, the U.N.O. is relentlessly waging a war against epidemics like cholera and T.B. through W.H.O. It also looks after the welfare of children through UNICEF. The U.N. also aims at driving illiteracy and ignorance from the world. Failures of the U.N.O.: The U.N.O. has been criticized on the following grounds: The U.N. is dominated by Big Powers and it is not possible to take any action against major powers U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. The right of ‘absolute veto’ proved a great stumbling block to the practical functioning of the Security Council. Again, the hostility between the Soviet Block and U.S. Block made the Veto power a powerful weapon to beat each other. The U.N.O. presents a divided front. The Cold War between the two power blocks vitiated the atmosphere of the world hither to. Thanks to the efforts of Gorbacheve and President Bush, the cold war is now receding to the background. Although there is provision for the recruitment of an international army to enforce the decision of the Security Council, it is difficult to draw full proof plans of military measures, acceptable to the Big Five. The U.N.O. has failed to provide general reduction of armaments or to check imperialism. Its efforts to establish control over nuclear weapons has proved futile. Even a third rate power like Pakistan is conducting nuclear experiments with the backing of the U.S.A. The signing of Pacts like NATO, SEATO, WARSAW Pact etc. are injurious to the interest of the U.N.O. There is still a lack of friendship love and good wishes among the member states of the U.N.O. They are always guided by the selfish motives and there is a lack of internationalism. Despite its failures, the U.N.O. is the only hope of the world, for ensuring peace and co-operation. The spirit of internationalism should take the place of nationalism and the two Super Powers – the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R should make sincere efforts to achieve the objective of the U.N.O.The future of the U.N.O. and that of mankind will depend largely upon the good will and cooperation of all the nations of world. Otherwise the world will be deemed to destruction. Counter Challenges United Nations has achieved a modestly impressive record of accomplishment. At the same time it has faced many challenges both from with Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 105

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and outside. Right from the beginning UN has been dominated by the big powers. The Big Five employed the veto power to protect their vested interests. United States used UN and its agencies to follow a US agenda. UN is gradually transformed as a major foreign policy instrument of US to further latter’s global interests. The specialized agencies of UN like IMF and World Bank are practically under the control of US. The United States often withheld its dues to the UN as a strategy to maintain her domination over the world body. The US domination over the UN defeated the very purpose of the world organization. The ideological conflict between United States and Soviet Union often posed counter challenges to UN.The US policy of ‘containment of communism’ through ‘Trumann doctrine’ and ‘Marshall plan’ bypassed the United Nations. Both USA and Soviet Union utilized the veto power in their mutual conflicts. UN thus became a platform of cold war politics. The military alliances like NATO, formed as a part of cold war, also bypassed the UN.The world organization has been repudiated, ignored and by-passed when serious disputes and problems arose. It has been argued that the formation of regional organizations has greatly undermined the position of the United Nations and poses a serious threat to the existence of the organization. Carlos Romulo of Philippines observed that the United Nations is dying because the states are more and more taking the great political issues outside the framework of the organization. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a uni-polar world brought about radical changes in the whole international system. It strengthened the forces of imperialism, who carefully utilized the new information order to penetrate into the underdeveloped world. The rising determination of the poorer nations to press for a more equal distribution of world’s resources collided with the interests of capitalist powers. The changes in the international environment such as the doubling of the world population, the flooding of lethal weaponry everywhere, the migration of 23 million refugees, the rise of nationalism and fundamentalism together with ecological problems constitute constant sources of friction, tension and instability. All these factors raised serious challenges to UN. At the same time it increased the relevance of the world organization. DE-COLONISATION The process of colonization begins with the physical occupation of land and the domination of the Indigenous people. Following the primarily physical aspects of colonization (i.e. Military conflict, relocation, etc.) non-physical methods are applied. These include what could be called mental aspects. Religious indoctrination, cultural, social and economic assimilation are common examples. Therefore it could be said that colonization is comprised of two primary aspects - physical and mental.

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Prior to colonization Indigenous peoples were free and sovereign nations. Through colonization Indigenous people are deprived of their freedom and live in an oppressed situation. In order to be liberated from this oppressive state the process of colonization must be reversed. That is, it must begin with the mental aspects and move towards the physical. Colonization is always destructive. This destruction becomes internalized within the Indigenous person. Some basic characteristics of this are: 1. Internal violence and aggression Anger and violence directed toward oneself, one another and family/community. This includes rape, murder, assault, sexual abuse of children, suicide, etc. The irrational violence within the colonized Indigenous person results from the oppressed conditions that colonization imposes upon people. (ie. Poverty, loss of identity, breakdown of family and nation structure, etc.) Some of this comes from specific methods used by the colonizing nation, for example Residential schools, the reserve system, etc. 2. Individualism - self interest With the breakdown of the nation and the family, fragmentation and competition has come to replace the sense of unity, community and togetherness that was once the basis of Indigenous society. 3. Neglecting one's culture – assimilation A key tactic if colonization is to portray the Indigenous culture as negative and irrelevant to (modern) society. Once this belief is entrenched within the Indigenous person they have no alternative but to assimilate and conform to the colonialist society. 4. Inferiority complex - identity crisis The objective of the colonialist is to have the Indigenous person believe that there are little or no positive aspects within the Indigenous culture. Physical and mental domination, constant negative portrayals of Indigenous people and history, and white supremacist attitudes plat fundamental roles in the creation of the Indigenous inferiority complex. The indigenous person begins to question their identity and becomes caught between the historical concept of the traditional Indian and present day reality. "Who am I?" "What does it mean to be an Indian?" Major contributing factors to these questions are Residential/public schools, fostering of Indigenous children, inaccurate histories, centralization in urban areas, loss of language and culture. 5. Abandoning of traditional territories

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Colonization creates a feeling of Indigenous dependency on colonially established towns (reserve - towns) and cities. In order to benefit from colonial programs and institutes Indigenous people must migrate to these areas and leave their traditional territories. The act of relocating and isolating Indigenous people into the reserve areas is a tactic used to force the people away from the majority of their territory. This allows the colonial state to assume jurisdiction over lands that were once controlled by Indigenous Nations. It also removes the Indigenous people physically to accommodate the establishment of settler communities and resource extraction. The current BC Treaty process is a way of legally entrenching, and acquiring consent for an agreed upon abandonment and surrender of traditional territories. Decolonization, as mentioned earlier, is the act of reversing the process of colonization. It can be said that decolonization is constructive rather than destructive. The following methods of decolonization are aimed at reversing the destructive effects of colonialism that have been described above. 1. Raising the consciousness of the oppressive state that Indigenous people live in by exposure to a more realistic account of history and identifying an enemy that's creating and maintaining that oppression. An effective strategy can include proper counter-action methods such as: educating oneself and serving as an example for others, advocating sovereign Indigenous rights, and exercising and defending those rights and traditional territory. These activities provide experiences that instill a sense of purpose by involving people in actions that make a positive contribution to their communities and ultimately to their sense of self. Individual, family, and then community healing must occur. During this healing process, irrational violence and aggression is dissolved and a more purposeful facet may be identified to vent negative feelings that remain from colonization. 2. Understanding you are a people and a Nation sharing the same ancestry. During the early steps of recovery, unity and togetherness play a vital role in the strengthening of the family and community units. An Indigenous person who is conscious of their oppressive history is also aware that they are not alone. The individualistic attitude introduced through colonization subsides to the Indigenous natural inclinations of caring and supporting one another. Selfinterests also deteriorate and communal or national Indigenous interests become a key focus as a necessity in the process of decolonization. 3. Revitalizing a sense of nationality and appreciating the knowledge and ways of Indigenous ancestry. Traditional philosophies of respect and appreciation for the Earth, life, others and oneself are positive parts of Indigenous culture that are still relevant today. An understanding of the negative and positive aspects of the colonial society is important and education on the negative aspects must be emphasized, while positive aspects be utilized. It must be acknowledged that all Indigenous people are assimilated to one degree or another; no one is immune from colonial influence or assimilation. While this remains as true, it must also be accepted that Indigenous culture and ways are not static. If Indigenous Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 108

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people had not undergone the influence of colonialism, they would not be the exact same societies as those that existed at the time of initial contact. It is at this point that the Indigenous person must learn to exist within a colonial environment in a decolonized manner. 4. Recognizing the strength in Indigenous ways. While undergoing exposure to the truths of history, the Indigenous person realizes the fallacies and disinformation that the colonialist society circulates in regards to Indigenous history, culture and practices. It is important at this stage, to broaden the process of decolonization, to begin circulating more accurate and truthful accounts of Indigenous society. Firstly, re-education must be directed towards the Indigenous Nations and then focus may be directed towards people of other nationalities. As Indigenous people have acquired an inferiority complex through the oppressive life style that they have become accustomed to, their initial reaction may be to overthrow their oppressor and gain control of the reigns. The Indigenous person must understand that the colonial society is destructive and the few positive aspects it does contain are the only beneficial components that can contribute to the process of decolonization. It is not feasible for a colonized Indigenous Nation to return to a totally traditional lifestyle, as their mentality and environment has been drastically transformed. However, an incorporation of positive aspects of (modern) society and ancestral Indigenous ways will contribute to overcoming the effects of inferiority and identity crisis. 5. Reoccupying traditional territory. This includes establishing permanent or semi-permanent camps and communities in areas previously occupied by the Indigenous Nation and now abandoned, as well as increasing traditional activities such as fishing, hunting, and other food gathering. A primary goal of such reoccupation would be eventually establishing self-sufficient and independent communities beyond the range and influence of colonial society. From these, sovereign and free territories can be reconstructed, ultimately removing Indigenous people from the colonial society - a primary aim of decolonization. Colonization is constructive to the colonizing society, but destructive to the Indigenous society. In contrast, decolonization is constructive to Indigenous society, but destructive to the colonial society. Decolonization of Asia and Africa, 1945-1960 Between 1945 and 1960, three dozen new states in Asia and Africa achieved autonomy or outright independence from their European colonial rulers. There was no one process of decolonization. In some areas, it was peaceful, and orderly. In many others, independence was achieved only after a protracted revolution. A few newly independent countries acquired stable governments almost immediately; others were ruled by dictators or military juntas for decades, or endured long civil wars. Some European governments welcomed a new relationship with their former colonies; others contested Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 109

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decolonization militarily. The process of decolonization coincided with the new Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and with the early development of the new United Nations. Decolonization was often affected by superpower competition, and had a definite impact on the evolution of that competition. It also significantly changed the pattern of international relations in a more general sense. The creation of so many new countries, some of which occupied strategic locations, others of which possessed significant natural resources, and most of which were desperately poor, altered the composition of the United Nations and political complexity of every region of the globe. In the mid to late 19th century, the European powers colonized much of Africa and Southeast Asia. During the decades of imperialism, the industrializing powers of Europe viewed the African and Asian continents as reservoirs of raw materials, labor, and territory for future settlement. In most cases, however, significant development and European settlement in these colonies was sporadic. However, the colonies were exploited, sometimes brutally, for natural and labor resources, and sometimes even for military conscripts. In addition, the introduction of colonial rule drew arbitrary natural boundaries where none had existed before, dividing ethnic and linguistic groups and natural features, and laying the foundation for the creation of numerous states lacking geographic, linguistic, ethnic, or political affinity. During World War II Japan, itself a significant imperial power, drove the European powers out of Asia. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, local nationalist movements in the former Asian colonies campaigned for independence rather than a return to European colonial rule. In many cases, as in Indonesia and French Indochina, these nationalists had been guerrillas fighting the Japanese after European surrenders, or were former members of colonial military establishments. These independence movements often appealed to the United States Government for support. While the United States generally supported the concept of national selfdetermination, it also had strong ties to its European allies, who had imperial claims on their former colonies. The Cold War only served to complicate the U.S. position, as U.S. support for decolonization was offset by American concern over communist expansion and Soviet strategic ambitions in Europe. Several of the NATO allies asserted that their colonial possessions provided them with economic and military strength that would otherwise be lost to the alliance. Nearly all of the United States' European allies believed that after their recovery from World War II their colonies would finally provide the combination of raw materials and protected markets for finished goods that would cement the colonies to Europe. Whether or not this was the case, the alternative of allowing the colonies to slip away, perhaps into the United States' economic sphere or that of another power, was unappealing to every European government interested in postwar stability. Although the U.S. Government did not force the issue, it encouraged the European imperial powers to negotiate an early Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 110

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withdrawal from their overseas colonies. independence to the Philippines in 1946.

The

United

States

granted

However, as the Cold War competition with the Soviet Union came to dominate U.S. foreign policy concerns in the late 1940s and 1950s, the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations grew increasingly concerned that as the European powers lost their colonies or granted them independence, Sovietsupported communist parties might achieve power in the new states. This might serve to shift the international balance of power in favor of the Soviet Union and remove access to economic resources from U.S. allies. Events such as the Indonesian struggle for independence from the Netherlands (1945-50), the Vietnamese war against France (1945-54), and the nationalist and professed socialist takeovers of Egypt (1952) and Iran (1951) served to reinforce such fears, even if new governments did not directly link themselves to the Soviet Union. Thus, the United States used aid packages, technical assistance and sometimes even military intervention to encourage newly independent nations in the Third World to adopt governments that aligned with the West. The Soviet Union deployed similar tactics in an effort to encourage new nations to join the communist bloc, and attempted to convince newly decolonized countries that communism was an intrinsically non-imperialist economic and political ideology. Many of the new nations resisted the pressure to be drawn into the Cold War, joined in the "nonaligned movement," which formed after the Bandung conference of 1955, and focused on internal development. The newly independent nations that emerged in the 1950s and the 1960s became an important factor in changing the balance of power within the United Nations. In 1946, there were 35 member states in the United Nations; as the newly independent nations of the "third world" joined the organization, by 1970 membership had swelled to 127. These new member states had a few characteristics in common; they were non-white, with developing economies, facing internal problems that were the result of their colonial past, which sometimes put them at odds with European countries and made them suspicious of European-style governmental structures, political ideas, and economic institutions. These countries also became vocal advocates of continuing decolonization, with the result that the UN Assembly was often ahead of the Security Council on issues of self-governance and decolonization. The new nations pushed the UN toward accepting resolutions for independence for colonial states and creating a special committee on colonialism, demonstrating that even though some nations continued to struggle for independence, in the eyes of the international community, the colonial era was ending. THE EMERGENCE OF THIRD WORLD NATIONS The First World is the developed world - US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. The Second World was the Communist world led by the USSR. With the demise of the USSR and the communist block, there is no longer an official Second World designation, Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 111

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although Russia, China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have "communist" governments. The Third World is the underdeveloped world - agrarian, rural and poor. Third World is a term originally used to distinguish those nations that neither aligned with the West nor with the East during the Cold War. These countries are also known as the Global South, developing countries, and least developed countries in academic circles. Development workers also call them the two-thirds world and The South. Some dislike the term developing countries as it implies that industrialization is the only way forward, while they believe it is not necessarily the most beneficial. Many "third world" countries are located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They are often nations that were colonized by another nation in the past. The populations of third world countries are generally very poor but with high birth rates. In general they are not as industrialized or technologically advanced as the first world. The majority of the countries in the world fit this classification. The term "third world" was coined by economist Alfred Sauvy in an article in the French magazine L'Observateur of August 14, 1952. It was a deliberate reference to the "Third Estate" of the French Revolution. Tiers monde means third world in French. The term gained widespread popularity during the Cold War when many poorer nations adopted the category to describe themselves as neither being aligned with NATO or the USSR, but instead composing a nonaligned "third world" (in this context, the term "First World" was generally understood to mean the United States and its allies in the Cold War, which would have made the East bloc the "Second World" by default; however, the latter term was seldom actually used). Leading members of this original "third world" movement were Yugoslavia, India, and Egypt. Many third world countries believed they could successfully court both the communist and capitalist nations of the world, and develop key economic partnerships without necessarily falling under their direct influence. In practice, this plan did not work out quite so well; many third world nations were exploited or undermined by the two superpowers who feared these supposedly neutral nations were in danger of falling into alignment with the enemy. After World War II, the First and Second Worlds struggled to expand their respective spheres of influence to the Third World. The militaries and intelligence services of the United States and the Soviet Union worked both secretly and overtly to influence Third World governments, with mixed success. The dependency theory suggests that multinational corporations and organizations such as the IMF and World Bank have contributed to making third world countries dependent on first world countries for economic survival. The theory states that this dependence is self-maintaining because the economic systems tend to benefit first world countries and corporations. Scholars also question whether the idea of development is biased in favor of Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 112

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Western thought. They debate whether population growth is a main source of problems in the third world or if the problems are more complex and thorny than that. Policy makers disagree on how much involvement first world countries should have in the third world and whether third world debts should be canceled. The issues are complicated by the stereotypes of what third world and first world countries are like. People in the first world, for example, often describe third world countries as underdeveloped, overpopulated, and oppressed. Third world people are sometimes portrayed as uneducated, helpless, or backwards. Modern scholarship has taken steps to make academic discourse more conscious of the differences not only between the first world and the third world, but also among the countries and people of each category. During the Cold War there were a number of countries which did not fit comfortably into the neat definition of First, Second, and Third Worlds. These included Switzerland, Sweden, and the Republic of Ireland, which chose to be neutral. Finland was under the Soviet Union's sphere of influence but was not communist, nor was it a member of the Warsaw Pact. Austria was under the United States' sphere of influence, but in 1955, when the country again became a fully independent republic, it did so under the condition that it remained neutral. None of these countries would have been defined as third world despite their non- (or marginally) aligned status. With the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the term Second World largely fell out of use and the meaning of First World has become has extended to include all developed countries while the term Third Word has become a neologism for the least developed countries. This can be seen in the way that the successful Asian Tiger economies and countries of former Yugoslavia-one of the founders of the Third World movement-are not classed as Third World countries.

SYLLABUS HY6B06 MODERN WORLD IN TRANSITION Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 113

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No. of Credits: 4 No. of Contact Hours per week: 5 Aim of the Course: The course aims at introducing the major movements in history that proved to be the foundations of modern world. UNIT I ‐ Challenges against old order in Europe

• Renaissance – ideology of humanism – Renaissance in literature and art – Growth of an intellectual climate in the 16th and 17th centuries – Scientific revolution – Changes in culture and religion. • Reformation – Martin Luther‐ Anglicanism • Enlightenment and Philosophes • Technological Changes – Printing and Gunpowder – European Exploratory voyages – commercial revolution – mercantilism UNIT II ‐ Industrial Capitalism and the Age of Revolutions

• Laissez faire and the growth of liberal thought – utilitarianism social and economic base of the emergence of capitalism – impact on colonies • Revolution and their ideologies – Locke – Glorious Revolution – Jefferson – American Revolution ‐ Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu and Condorcet – French Revolution

• Colonialism – legitimization of colonial plunder • Scientific and technological progress ‐ Newtonian science – cultural Manifestation – Wordsworth – Keats – Shelly – Rembrandt UNIT III ‐ Struggles for Democracy and Equality

• Birth of Linguistic Nation States – Italy and Germany • Meiji Restoration in Japan ‐ Russo Japanese War. • American Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery

• Socialist ideology – February Revolution – Paris Commune – Russian Revolution – the three Internationals – • Anti colonial struggles – Latin American Revolutions – Chinese Revolution of 1911 ‐ Making of the Peoples Republic of China. Modern World in Transition – IV Semester 114

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UNIT IV ‐ Twentieth Century – Wars and Institutions of Peace

• Imperialism and ideology – moorings of World Wars – developments between the two world wars – Fascism and Nazism. • From League of Nations to UNO – Counter challenges • Decolonization and the emergence of Third World Nations. Readings:Bailey C.A., The Birth of Modern World Fisher H.A.L, A History of Europe Harman Criz, A Peoples History of the World Hazen C.D., Europe Since 1789 Ketelby C.D.M., History of World in Modern Times Macneil W.H., Rise of the West Palmer R.R., History of Modern World Rude G., Europe in the 18th Century Stavarianos, A History of Modern World Since 1500 Further Readings Amesto Philipe Fernandez, The Millennium Beard Michael, A History of Capitalism Bronvsky Jacob and Bruce Mazlish, Western Intellectual Tradition Ferro Marc, Globalisation: A History Harman Criz, A Peoples History of the World Hobsbaum E.J., Age of Capital Hobsbaum E.J., Age of Empire Hobsbaum E.J., Age of Revolution

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