MAKING OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Within this week we talked about the issue of the establishment of global connections through imperialism which effected the world over. We understood how through the use of Western Empires and thereby their global spanning influence, the smallest changes in a completely different region of the world effected other parts for the first time in human history. In the example of the US civil war, we were able to understand how the global cotton trade was driven to a standstill as a direct result of the war, and thereby the raising of plantations in India by the British so they could continue to produce.

The theme of imperialism as the dynamic factor in the creation of global connections also occurs in Germany during the same period. As they industrialise and become a global player, they increasingly wish for a global hegemony like the other European powers in order to cheapen the supply of raw products entering the country. Through this we can understand how global connectivity pushed these perceptions of Empire while at the same time reinforcing the idea of continued expansion. Thereby allowing even more power to flow into Europe through just the existence of that perception.

When we turned to Jaffa in the 19oo’s, we also further understand how global connections were able to build up the town to a massive Mediterranean port where before it had been a simple village. We talked about how the development of the area was pushed by the British through their funding of projects like railroads within the Ottoman Empire. Something that both exerted soft power over the Ottoman’s but also helped them take control of the holy land. When full control was established and the region became a global port in it’s entirety, ideas were pushed of the development being a result of European influence, something we saw pushed in India through the example of the cotton plantation too. Making us understand how global connectivity was used as just another way to reinforce stereotypes of European supremacy by a supposed development that really only benefited those European powers.

The series of lectures we had this week emphasized the degree to which the pattern of industrialization and globalization played out in similar ways across the world. Jaffa, the Rhineland, and Bombay all grew semi-organically out of their location – in the case of Bombay and the Rhineland, the needs of empire and local industrial capabilities, and in the case of Jaffa, transportation convenience. One can also arguably see how the global economy is developing into a market in which shifts in supply and demand can change individual communities substantially – and in which imperialism is used to further the economic goals of empires by trying to control the market.

For instance, the cotton market in Bombay is created by the absence of American coffee from the market due to the American Civil War, and made possible by the construction of the Suez Canal. Jaffa becomes a transportation hub because of its proximity of the Holy Land and Zionism, and because of the orange trade. The Rhineland was near both coal and iron in a time in which the German Empire needed industry (especially war industry). By these conditions, the lives of the people who lived in these locations had the circumstances of their lives utterly and completely changed in a relatively short period of time.

This change was not completely positive in any of the examples. The upper class in the new world market economy drives exploitation that harms the workers in every example. In Jaffa, title transfers lead to rural workers losing control of their property and essentially becoming serfs. In conquered India, in addition to lacking sovereignty, a similar process makes many rural laborers serfs or moves them to the cities. And finally, though they are European laborers in a safe and prosperous country, German Rhenish workers are subjected to awful conditions in the mines. T

Though the geography of the places we have discussed is different, their similarities betray the themes of the age of the turn of the century.

During Week 4 we have talked about various topics including: The industrialization of the Rhineland in Germany, Bombay and Jaffa’s growth, and we read about the race war of the Philippine/American War.  The talks and readings allowed us to gain insight into why these areas grew in industry and population, and how their roles in society helped shape the world we see today. For example, the coal and iron ore found in the Rhineland were perfect for such growth. I found these topics all pretty interesting, and while many lectures showed the shining improvements made on industry and expansion, there was still a lot of underlying instability in Europe at the time.

However, one topic in particular stuck out to me. The lecture on Bombay left me fascinated with the British’s investment in India. They poured an immense amount of money into the cotton market simply because their main supplier of cotton (the American South) was besieged and mainly incapacitated by the Civil War. Granted, these investors were already inwoven within the Bombay community, but the amount of loans given to farmers and investments made for harvesting and production tools is still on a very grand scale. While cotton was the main thing the British needed from this investment, they ended up changing a lot more in the process. The rapid growth of cotton mills in India changed up the scenery Bombay completely. It went from being a relatively unimportant city to having over 100 mills and a completely new system of labor. There was also urbanization and railroads that followed soon after. Simply put, it became a shiny, new metropolis in no time. This allowed Bombay to enter the global market of trade, and access new materials and trade routes via the Suez canal in 1869. While the British were selfishly in it for themselves, the region ultimately ended up being a center of trade because of this.

 

This week in class we examined the rise of the German industrial complex and its lead up to the second world war and the rise of the cotton industry in Bombay India. As well as a reading on the Philippine- American war. Again, it seems the connecting fibers of imperialism an appear in all of these cases. Germany was a rising industrial power and naturally began to build its military to compete on the world stage. Germany needed its “place in the sun” which is a way of saying we need to colonize a small African country. But the Germans were far from alone. We also examined Paris France circa1900, during this time France was glorifying its imperial mission, claiming to bring “civilization” to smaller African countries, all while showing off the new technology that would come to define the generation. England had a somewhat subtler form of controlling the people of India though. Tier coercion was mostly economic. Yet it left much of India’s economy, and thus its politics dependent upon England. Meanwhile, the united states inserted itself into the Philopenas. The unfortunate underlying condition of most imperial nations is racism and startling superiority complex. In France, they looked at the people whose lands they were occupying as savage and lesser. The Germans committed what would today be one of the most horrific war crimes in Africa. Possibly worst of all is the propaganda machine in the united states that turned Filipino’s into guerrilla warfare fighting savages. I suppose that it’s the easiest way to get your people to support a foreign conflict and get your soldiers to fight a people they know nothing about. Unfortunately, these feelings don’t die, they linger and leads to the modern brand of discrimination that we have today.

A common theme that was recurrent throughout the week was the concept of industrialization and primitive economic globalization, but more specifically, how it was achieved. As we saw with the market shift of cotton production between Bombay and America, trade and the international economy was already globalized by the mid 19th century. another indicative example of globalized industrialization was the heightened levels of production within the Ruhr Valley. Almost countries between 1850 and 1914 saw some level of industrialization or growth in international presence.

Furthermore, the industrialization of Bombay was due in great part to British influence. The aftermath of the civil war resulted in a great reduction of cost-efficient cotton production within the southern United States, which prior to the war was the worlds #1 exporter of cotton. This sudden market shift made the British look elsewhere for their supply of cotton, this is when they decided to start investing capital into Bombay and their cotton mills. Within 44 years the number of cotton mills in Bombay went from a modest 1 all the way to 136 mills. The ability for a city like Bombay, which prior to industrialization was relatively small, to grow in such size is only due to the recent advancements in transportation technology that was spreading across the globe. These technologies include the train, the steam engine, and overall more efficient production. similar to Bombay, the Ruhr valley saw heavy growth of industry resulting in population spikes upwards of 400%.

All in all, even with a brief description such as this, we can still see the magnitude of the indicators that show just how our planet obtained such a globalized industry in less than a century. This growth is only accomplished through advancements in transport and economic ideology. Globalization is one of the most vital accomplishments of the past couple hundred years because it acts as the facilitator for advancement in research and societal growth.

 

This week we talked about the industrialization of the Rhineland and Ruhr Valley in Germany, as well as the growth in Bombay and Jaffa. On top of that, we read about the race war of the Philippine-American War.  In the lectures on Jaffa, Germany, and Bombay, we learned about the various reasons as to why these areas grew in population. Whether it be due to industrialization or the increase in mills, these areas had a population boom that made them into what we might see them as today.

In the reading about the Philippine-American war, one part reminded me about a topic in another class I had with Professor Shaya, Europe from 1890-1945. In that class, we discuss a lot about the rise of the Nazi’s and their propaganda tactics. Kramer, early in the reading, talks about guerrilla warfare and how American soldiers were led to believe that Filipino’s waged guerrilla wars, as in not conventional warfare. They were led to believe Filipinos as savages. This reminded me a bit of the propaganda surrounding the Jewish population in Germany and Poland between the two world wars and during World War Two. The comparison I draw is the dehumanizing of a population of people in an attempt to kill them. In the reading, dehumanizing Filipinos so American soldiers willfully commit such brutalities seen in the Philippine-American War. In Germany, to attempt to exterminate an entire group of people. The degree of the dehumanizing is drastically different and not on the same level, but the dehumanizing of the Filipino soldiers, as well as having Professor Shaya discuss 1900’s Germany reminded me of that course as well as help me make that comparison.