Turner believed that the idea of the frontier shaped the American being and their characteristics. He talks about how the frontier drove American history and that is why America is how it is today. Turner proves how expansion to the American West changed peoples' views on their culture. Due to the gain of new lands, this aided the problem of the closing frontier, and helped America become a rising world power. Teddy Roosevelt gave out a command to invade the Philippine islands if war had risen with Spain.
Furthermore, for many centuries, European nations had been building empires, slowly extending their economic and political control over various peoples of the world and practicing imperialism. Colonies supplied the European imperial powers with raw materials and provided markets for manufactured goods. As Germany industrialized, it competed with France and Britain in the contest for colonies. In continuation, because each nation wanted stronger armed forces than those of any potential enemy, the imperial powers followed a policy of militarism—the development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy. Empires were expensive to build and to defend, and the growth of nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending.
Nineteenth Century Russia The nineteenth century in Russia was a period of great change. Russia had begun to feel pressure to modernize as its western European neighbors had already done so. Autocrats, or czars with absolute power, made many sweeping changes throughout the empire, and western influence spread new ideals throughout. Such influence created a rise in industry and a growth in the arts. During the 1800s autocrats made many sweeping changes, such as the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.
The searches for the Northwest Passage led to the discovery of the New World, because explorers, looking for Asia, found what is now America. Also a thirst for power was invading Europe. People at this time wanted more riches and control. This desire for power not only invaded the merchants and explorers, but also the Kings. The monarchs analyzed that by expanding their empire they would become more wealthy and potent.
World War II changed this in a number of ways. The first catalyst was the aforementioned increase in the country’s industrial needs. This created the need for more
However, that changed in 1994 when another wave of Cuban exiles arrived by boat. Following the Mariel Boat Wave Ronald Reagan criticized Carter for allowing the Mariel refugees into the United States (Gonzalez 113). This time, White America’s view on Cuban refugees shifted to match their views of refugees from the rest of Latin America. Concurrently, the political climate shifted as well and, according to Gonzalez, with the 1994 wave of Cuban refugees called balseros Bill Clinton ordered the first halt on special treatment of Cuban refugees in the United States’ history. Accordingly, U.S. officials would detain the balseros and, this time they would deny their entry (Gonzalez 108).
Companies fought the government and the courts for the right to become incorporated and to reap its many benefits. Capitalism has adapted in order to continue making profits. Capitalism was the primary reason for the shift from Fordism to Post-Fordism, as Post-Fordism was a more efficient model of production meaning greater profits. Capitalism requires ever expanding markets and constantly evolving methods of production, lest it cease to exist (Marx & Engels, 1848). In order to achieve this a production revolution of sorts took place in many advanced economies, countries shifted from Fordism to Post-Fordism.
To help bring this about, Witte implemented the following policies to modernise the Russian economy. The government became more active in developing the economy, there was greater emphasis on producing more coal, iron, and steel. A great success for Witte was the expansion of heavy industry in Russia. He linked industrial growth with a stronger national, politically and economically, and was inspired by the more developed nations in the west. He invited foreign experts from more industrialised countries, such as Britain, France and Germany to Russia to advise him on modernisation.
Western countries developed rapidly in the wake of the Industrial Revolution during the 18th-19th centuries. These countries produced a wide variety of goods, Britain especially, was very eager to sell their manufactured goods in the vast China market. AD 1793-1794, a group of British who were hopeful about their trip to China, but eventually left disappointedly. They wished to develop a modern diplomatic relationship with this ancient country, i.e. setting up embassies in each others’ territories, expanding the trading relations: open more trading ports, free trade.
They wanted to extend their political, military and economic control all over the world. With the booming economy in the United States in the late 1800s, there was a problem with the surplus of goods. Excess production led to declining profits. Americans needed more consumers to buy their products. Industrialists wanted trade to expand into new overseas market where American products could be sold.