An outstanding individual involved in Russia’s development was Sergei Witte. As minister of finance from 1892 to 1903 he set himself the huge task of modernising the Russian economy to compete with the advanced nations of the West. It was Witte’s belief that modernisation could be achieved only through state capitalism. He was impressed by the results of the industrial revolutions in the West, and argued that the same ideas could successfully modernise Russia. However, given the backwardness of the Russian economy particular difficulties were presented.
Rise of German Nationalism Essay Nationalism: the idea that people sharing the same language and culture should be ruled by their own government. This is largely a concept which developed in Europe during the nineteenth-century. National consciousness grew throughout Europe, particularly in the 'German states', as people were united together in a common feeling of resentment against the French. The Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution encouraged new political ideas such as Liberalism, which unwittingly promoted nationalism. This was because the new middle class that had emerged in the 'German states', from industrialisation, wanted political representation, and felt that it could only be achieved in a united Germany.
Instead of the government taking forceful action against the attempted take over they pleaded for the german people to go on a general strike and the kapp putsch no longer took place showing another win for the Weimar republic. However this then cause chaos in the 1920’s when the Ruhr crisis happened. Due to them not paying one of the reparation fees the French took an invasion on the Ruhr which is the rich land of germany. Due to this
Therefore, Witte who was a finance Minister stepped up to achieve economic modernisation within Russia. His aim was to make Russian economy strong enough to maintain Russia’s position as a Great Power. Although Witte implemented a ‘great spurt’ which had great effects on Russia economically, there is proof that it did not last to a long extent. Witte implemented many new policies and changes to the Russian economy. He raised the taxes of peasants.
The Mark was valued so low German people were noted for using it for wallpaper. As Hitler rose to power within Germany he used autarky to resolve some of Germany’s main economic struggles such as unemployment and inflation. Adolf Hitler was a strong believer in discouraging trade with other countries and becoming a self-sufficient nation. This is actually quite opposite of Communist Russia because under Stalin Russia was attempting to increase their trade contacts and have a nation where everyone’s needs were taken care of. Hitler was able to help Germany’s economy slowly ascend to its former glory, as did Russia with Lenin and Stalin.
And how did such an advanced society allow itself to be seduced and then destroyed by its own capacity for senseless barbarity? The Germans in the thirties were seduced by the glittering success of Hitler in creating jobs, generating a vibrant economy and restoring Germany's military might. William Shirer, who was on the scene in Germany during these critical years, candidly sums up the mood of the country at this juncture: "Not many Germans lost sleep over the arrests of a few thousand pastors and priests or over the quarreling of the various Protestant sects .." It was this apathy and moral indifference in Germany that empowered Hitler and fueled his military juggernaut that was poised to roll inexorably over Europe. Why did Hitler hate the Jews? Holocaust happened because Hitler and the Nazis were racist.
However there were many other factors that contributed towards the Nazis rising to power, for example Propaganda, the weakness of the opposition and the role of Hitler. The Wall Street Crash was one of the main reasons that Hitler got into power. This started when the Treaty of Versailles was set, it caused a huge economic crisis in Germany, the Weimar government decided to print out more money as a solution to this, but this resulted in hyperinflation. The USA began to lend Germany lots of money – The Dawes Plan – for buildings such as schools, hospitals. Germany was beginning to rebuild herself.
According to Ferro in his book 'The Great War' he suggests that England felt threatened by Germany due to the unprecedented economic strides the country made between 1880 and 1914, although Germany did not have a financial base on the same scale as Britain's economic power. In addition Germany's rising industrial base had overtaken Britain's, although Germany did have trading routes and links around the world as Britain had. Ferro goes on and talks about the rising force of the German naval force with the building of their version of the super-ship the Dreadnoughts. Furthermore Anglo-German rivalry became a public matter, orchestrated and fomented by press and cinema (Ferro, 1969). Critics agree that an arms race especially between Britain and Germany was created with the cost affecting both countries, the buildings of their naval fleet between the two countries is an example of
The motives of the progressive era were mainly to even out the wealth of the country and to get the federal government more involved in company business. As president, Theodore Roosevelt made a huge stand up effort for the labor force. The Progressives, made up of people from both political parties, shared a general commitment to the democratic values of an honest government. The new Deal had a motive entirely different from the progressive era as it followed up the Great Depression. FDR’s motive for creating the New Deal was the toll the largest stock market crash in history was having on the nation and its people.
Certainly the strength of the Prussian military was key to the unification of Germany as it was vital in winning the three wars of unification, but it shall be argued that the military were as strong as they were due to other more important actors such as Economics and Bismarck. Economics being the most important factor, as it provided a basis for unification as it showed the German people the prosperity of being together than apart. However something has to be said for the work of Bismarck, who acted as a catalyst and manipulated the situations around him to him speed up the unification of the German states, so successfully that many traditional historians argue that Bismarck was solely responsible in bringing about unification. The mistakes of other countries and the international scene meant that Austria was expelled and Prussia could lead the states into unification and the mistakes Napoleon meant that the northern and southern states would not have been united. Finally nationalism laid the foundation for a united Germany, it created the idea of being one country, although there is no argument to suggest that nationalism would have brought about unification alone.