World History chapters 19, 20, 21

Chapter 19: Empires in Collision, 1800-1914

Chapter 20: Collapse at the Center, 1914-1970s

Chapter 21: Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict, 1917-Present

This week’s readings were really interesting, especially chapter 20, which covered the topics of the first World War, the Depression, and the next chapter which concerned the rise and fall of Communism. My father is a huge history buff with a special interest in World War II. He can tell you how many people were in certain battles and how many casualties and how it turned the tide of the war off the top of his head, so I have heard a lot about it. What was enlightening was finding out more details about the circumstances surrounding it in the previous and following events and how it effected the globe, like how World War II helped to discredit Capitalism for a time and influenced the creation of Communist states, mainly in Russia, and China. What was also interesting was seeing the shift in country alliances from World War I through to the Cold War.   

I found it striking, yet in retrospect not surprising, how women were utilized in war efforts and later in building socialism, going as far as obtaining more rights, but when met with opposition those rights were taken away. It was not surprising because it seems to follow a pattern that I have noticed thus far in past empires we have studied in this class. When there is revolutionary or empire building movements, women have more mobility economically and socially, but when things settle down, they end up being oppressed again. And often times the opposition to change is from the oppressed group itself. It is like a revolving door.