Answer to question 1

Objectivity is the aspect through which a particular ideology is not distorted due to personal bias or emotion. We tend to believe or have an expectation that everything that has presented to us in terms of history is true. However, there have been debate that some historical narration and judgment lack objectivity. Some scholars find it difficult to detach the scholars’ subjectivities from the truth. Academicians would choose to use sources that justify his or her prejudices on the historical event (Nozick, 2001).

When one looks at the Nanking Massacre for example, Chinese historians only tend to focus on sources that support the idea that the massacre took place despite being many other interpretations of what happened. Such approaches raise the question of whether most historical facts or understandings are objective. If they are objective, then there is no logical explanation as to why many historians keep re-writing history (Popper, 1972). Postmodernism has played a major role in what can be considered as distortion of historical events. Many academicians tend to argue for a different understanding of historical events and in the process become selective and bias in their conclusions.

Answer to question 2

The world war one in 1914 was sparked by a number of reasons. Many explanations are given towards what actually caused the First World War. Some of the accepted explanations include nationalism, militarism, imperialism and mutual defense alliances (Chickering, 2004). However, the immediate cause of the war has been attributed to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination made the aforementioned causes come into play (Evans, 2004).

Archduke was assassinated together with his wife in June, 1914 while they were in Bosnia. It was a form of protesting the control that Austria-Hungary had on the region. Austria-Hungary declared war over Serbia. Russia move to coalesce with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. From this point, the war continued expanding (Meyer, 2006).

The Slavic people wanted to be part of Austria-Hungary instead of being part of Serbia. Therefore, the aspect of nationalism led to the war. During the beginning of the 20th Century, many countries were interested in building its military. Germany had become very successful in building a huge army. Public policy in Russia and Germany was greatly determined by the establishment of the military. It is an aspect that pushed the countries into war. Imperialism refers to the process which a country increases its territory with the main purpose of building its wealth and power. The scramble for Africa and Asia had created confrontation between the European countries and this eventually led to the war. The mutual defense alliances are another major cause for the world war in 1914. The countries were bound to defend each other and this was eventually led to the global involvement in the war (Chickering, 2004).

All the major European powers are not equally blame for the beginning of the war. The mutual defense alliances are what caused the war to escalate to global proportions. All the countries were living up to the agreements and the blame should be directed towards Serbia and Austria Hungary.

Answer to question 3

The treaty of Versailles was meant to end the war between Germany and the allied nations. It was a peace treaty meant to end the First World War. However, many historians have claimed that the purpose of the treaty was to punish Germany for World War one.

France planned to weaken Germany’s economy and military to ensure that it does not cause another world war and that much damage. The Germans were therefore required to pay a figure amounting to U.S$ 442 billion which was then U.S$ 31.4 billion (Andelman, 2008). However, Britain was keen on making Germany future trade partners and had less interest in the reparations as compared to France. The United States of America had its interest on creating a powerful League of Nations that will ensure that there will be world peace (Hantke, 2010).

Eventually, the treaty proved to be an imperfect compromise for a degree of national security. Germany had been treated like a defeated nation. If they were not treated the way they had been, probably there would not be a second world war.

Answer to question 4

The World War One brought consequences both in the United States of America and Britain. Some of the effects that the war had on the United States of America include the growth in industry, the progress of the women movement and the adoption of new diplomatic policies by the government. Due to the war, there was increased demand on materials to support it. It eventually facilitated industrial growth and employment opportunities (Kennedy, 2008). Many men had signed up with the army and were away fighting in the war. Many women were therefore given employment opportunities to replace the men. Thus, the independence of the women took toll and they were given the right to vote. There were also new diplomatic policies introduced such as the ratification of the nineteenth amendment (Malin, 1930). The American passed a resolution that they will not be involved in European conflicts unless attacked by a belligerent nation.

There were also a number of effects of world war one on Britain. The United Kingdom was weakened due to financial damage and great loss of life. It had become victorious in the war through gaining more territory especially in the Middle East. However, it failed in controlling its overseas empire. As it had put all its focus on the war, Ireland had started a movement with the objective of being independent. It eventually led to the Irish independence in 1921 (Nicholson, 2008).

Answer to question 5

Some of the factors that led to the great depression include unequal distribution of wealth, stock market crash & financial panic, high tariffs and war debts, monetary policy and overproduction.

The recovery from the great depression began in 1933 for most countries in the world. The United States had started the recovery a bit earlier that 1933 but it was not able to restore its 1929 GNP for over a decade (Barnanke, 1995). The unemployment rate was still high by 1940. The Americans, under the leadership of Roosevelt used the New Deal policies to come out of the depression. The United States economy therefore used the huge international gold inflows, which caused the money supply growth, to self-correct the economy. Britain and Japan abandoned the gold standard in 1931. Other countries such as the U.S, Italy, Belgium, France, Poland and Switzerland abandoned the gold standard later on. The earlier a country had abandoned the gold standard, the earlier its economy recovered (Kindleberger, 2013). However, there is no state that has been able to fully overcome the effects of the depression.

Answer to question 6

Nazi Germany is one of the chief totalitarian states in the previous century. A number of factors incorporated in stages enabled Hitler and the Nazi party to rise in Germany. A violent revolution is the first stage. The most important elements of this stage include ideology, leadership, propaganda, organization and violence (Evans, 2005). The second stage involves consolidation of power by the ruling government. The totalitarian ruler at this point eliminates anyone that is perceived to oppose him or her (Steinweis, 2008). The third stage focuses on transforming the society in its entirety. For example in Nazi Germany, Hitler brought about the ideology of “racial purification”. It eventually led to the Holocaust and World War II.

Some of the features of the Nazi ideology include totalitarianism, anti-capitalism, racism, social classification, sexual discrimination and religious suppression. Hitler used these approaches to formulate policies that governed Nazi Germany. He exercised total control over the country and overlooked individual needs. Parties that represented lower and working class people were abolished. Women were not allowed to participate in any political activity and homosexuality was abolished (Steigmann-Gall, 2003).

Answer to question 7

The battle of Kursk and Stalingrad between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union cost the Germans many soldiers as they were either killed or taken prisoner (Erickson, 2001). After these battles, England and the United States opened the Western front which helped to defeat Germany in the world war two and bring down Hitler’s regime (Philbin, 1994).

Answer to question 8

The cold war took place in 1947-1953. The signs of the war started to show as early as 1943 when Britain, U.S and the Soviet Union disagreed on who will take control over Poland which was under German occupation (Applebaum, 2012). The soviet premier backed the polish communist whereas the United States and Britain insisted that Poland had a right to form its own government. The Soviet Union treated the Poland issue with great priority since German had invaded it twice through that country (Goddis, 2005). The communist Polish party was friendly to the Soviet Union and Stalin supported them in order to make sure that the invasion does not happen again. They three countries eventually agreed in 1945 at the Yalta conference. However, the agreement consisted of clauses that were mutually exclusive. After Roosevelt’s death in 1945, the vice president Harry S. Truman rose to power and took a hardline position against Stalin’s Soviet Union claiming to cap its hunger for power. It is this move that sparked the cold war (Goddis, 2005).

The U.K the U.S.A and the Soviet Union were unable to retain their world war two alliance after the post war period. The Second World War had destroyed all rivals to the Soviet Union, Britain and America. The three countries emerged from this conflict as the only countries which had the potential of propagating their political system on a global scale. They all had expansive ideologies, powerful military sources and they did not trust each other. Therefore, their rivalry became somewhat inevitable (Lafeber, 2002).

Answer to question 9

A landmark system for monetary and exchange rate management established in 1944. The Bretton Woods Agreement was developed at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, from July 1 to July 22, 1944 (Maxwell, 2006).

Major outcomes of the Bretton Woods conference included the formation of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and, most importantly, the proposed introduction of an adjustable pegged foreign exchange rate system. Currencies were pegged to gold and the IMF was given the authority to intervene when an imbalance of payments arose (Mikesell, 1994).

Answer to question 10

The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 came about due to a number of events. The president of Cuba, Batista, who was considered to be an American puppet, had been overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959 (Gibson, 2012). As a result, tension developed between Cuba and the United States. The United States had invested in Cuba and owned a large percentage of the industries. However, Castro nationalized these industries and did not compensate America. The U.S later issued an economic embargo against Cuba and Castro turned to the U.S.S.R for economic support. The U.S.S.R quickly acted wishing to get rid of the missiles stationed at their border with Turkey (Ernest, 2011). It also wanted to put missiles on Cuba and use them to threaten the United States. After U.S realized what had happened there was tension between the two countries and they later came to an agreement to withdraw the missiles from Turkey and from Cuba. According to many historians it seemed as though President Kennedy had won. Their relationship improved because of how close the world had come to nuclear fallout (Diez, 2002).

Answer to question 11

Twenty six nations came together on January 1st, 1942 to sign the declaration of the Soviet Union (Wiess, 2007). These countries were at war with the axis powers. The countries unanimously pledged to use all their resources against the axis powers and will not agree to a separate peace. The main ideology that was used in the formation of the United Nation was the objective of sovereign equality of all nations. The world wars were as a result of countries fighting to gain territories and become more powerful. The United Nations was established to ensure that all the countries in the world are treated equally. The charter of the United Nations was completed in 1945 by representatives of fifty nations in San-Francisco (Gold, 2004).

Answer to question 12

As military technology in the 20th Century has increased, casualties (particularly civilian) have also increased. This statement is often defended by suggesting that ‘civilians’ have always accidentally died during wars. This statement can be considered as a proper defense. Civilian casualties come as a result of military action whether the civilians were targeted or not. Between 100,000 and 260,000 civilians were killed during the First World War by chemical weapons (Roberts, 2010). However, it was claimed that chemical weapons were limited to the battle fields. They failed to consider that chemical gases were carried by strong winds to civilian towns. There have been a number of international laws that have been developed since the end of the Second World War (Haber, 1986).

The Geneva conventions came into part because of the general reactions concerning civilian casualties. The fourth Geneva Convention was devoted to explicating civilian rights in occupied territories. The Rome Statute defines that “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as illegal” (Joel, 2000).

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