Problems have and will continue to exsist all over the world. Throughout history, global problems have posed major challenges for nations and regions. There are many causes to the global problems expirenced in the world just as there are many effects. Both genocide and environmental pollution have posed major challenges for nations and regions of the world.
A global problem that has impacted world history is genocide. One major cause of genocide is extreme nationalism. Nationalism is the belief that people should be loyal mainly to their nation, that is, to the people with whom they share a culture and history, rather than being loyal to a king or an empire. Nationalism unites people of a similar culture together and motivates them to take action. It is also the big cause of independence movements, therefore; creating new countries and destroying prior empires. Nationalism has also created beliefs such as the white mans burden. These are the ideas that stronger and more advanced countries/cultures feel towards weaker countries/cultures. It is the more industrialized peoples beliefs, that less advanced people can not exist without the help of a stronger more advanced nation. Events such as the Treaty of Versailles caused extreme nationalism in Germany. At this meeting Germany was blamed for everything that occurred in WWI. Germany was no longer allowed to have an army or a navy and they had to remove their troops from the Rhineland. Germany also lost a lot of land because of the provisions set by the treaty. They lost land to the creation of the new country of Poland, France received their land back, they lost many of their colonies overseas, and Germany was left paying huge sums of money to help with the damages in other countries due to the war. This enraged the German people creating a great sense of nationalism. One man by the name of Adolf Hitler was especially upset by these new regulations. Hitler rounded up the German people, giving speeches that were all about nationalism and the pride that that German people should feel for their country. The extreme nationalism that the Germans held ultimately led the mass genocide that occured during the Holocaust.
One major effect of extreme nationalism is the genocide that occured in Europe during World War II. Throughout World War II different groups or races and religons were selected and executed in large number by the Nazi's. The Nazi's believed that they were superior to all races and no one desereved to live but them, the Aryan race.
A current example of this would be the ongoing Darfur genocide. Sudanese troops and Arab Janjaweed militia have been accused of causing the deaths of more than 250,000 ethnic Fur, Masala, and Zhagwa in the Darfur region of Sudan. While religious factors have been cited as part of a reason for this conflict, one of the main factors of the genocide reside in the Arab desire to settle people of their own ethnicity and religion in areas currently occupied by largely Christian ethnic groups. The Arab-controlled government of Sudan has been accused of practicing Arab-apartheid, favoring their own people over the other non-Arab groups of Sudan. In doing so, many ethnic Arab Sudanese may now believe that they are the superior ethnic group in Sudan, leading them to think that such atrocities are acceptable or necessary for the establishment of a purely Arab territory in Darfur - a way of thinking that is on the verge of exploding into extreme nationalism. By attempting to take over the Darfur region by force and eliminating those who may pose a threat or oppose this scheme, Arab peoples in Sudan are putting the effects of extreme nationalism into their actions. These unacceptable acts demonstrate how uniting a people by force and subjecting or eliminating the opposition is appalling to the utmost - and how extreme nationalism is both
One example of this is the Treaty of Versailles in the days of Adolf Hitler. The same way that the Treaty of Versailles prepared the mind frame of the people of Germany, is the same way suffering, oppression, and defeat reaps ultra-nationalism in other nations. This point proves that even before anyone can proceed in fueling the peoples mind frame, the people themselves must already be in a state in which they feel they must achieve superiority. This being the main difference in opinion between myself and the source. To put it this way, the people must be willing to hear the lies given to them, before the lies are viable in their
Human rights violations, unfortunately, have been common in all parts of the world for thousands of years. Not all abuses lead to world attention or mass causalities, but large-scale tragedies that do gain notice often involve the use of propaganda. Propaganda has often been used to promote an individual leader, political party or government’s agenda, which will often tyrannize specific groups. The definition of propaganda according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and for this paper is, “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” One of the major questions many have when investigating the causes of genocide and why average citizens often accept and at time tolerate mass violence and permit their friends and neighbors rights to be taken away. To understand this issue we must look to past examples of propaganda that demoralized and demonized entire communities that eventually lead to genocide. During the Nazi rule in Germany and the genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s there have been clear cases where misinformation has been used in order promote violence and repress the rights of citizens. More often than not, similar manipulation and deception techniques have been used during these periods to oppress the basic rights of groups and individuals. Germany and Rwanda both exercised comparable methods such as emotional manipulation, media and demonization of minority/weaker groups in order to harm/eliminate large sectors of the population. Overall, propaganda is often a tool used to commit massive manipulation and rationalization for large-scale human rights violations.
The biggest war the world has ever seen was World War II. What was one factor that led to such a quick escalation? Genocide. Over 45 million people were murdered during this tragic time. The question is: was it the allies responsibility to intervene? The answer: No. The Global Community has no responsibility to intervene in states committing genocide.
A total of 11 million people died during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was started by the Nazi’s in the 1930’s. It was were about six million Jews were killed. Misinformed individuals theorize that the Holocaust is not a form of genocide but they are misguided. The Holocaust should be considered an example of genocide based on the UN’s definition, the stages of genocide and the specific evidence provided in the memoir Night.
In the article, “Columbus’s Legacy: Genocide in the America’s,” by David E. Stannard, the theme can be identified as contrary to popular belief that the millions of native peoples of the Americas that perished in the sixteenth century died not only from disease brought over by the Europeans, but also as a result of mass murder, as well as death due to working them to death.
After Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, he gave an acceptance speech reflecting upon the true meaning of his novel and reflecting upon the crimes in our history. He revealed how “silence encourages the tormentor” while “indifference [is] the most insidious danger of all.” I find a lot of truth in these words and I agree with his assertion. Individuals tend to get overwhelmed by desperation, a sense of helplessness and fear in the face of acts, such as oppression and genocide. During these times, it is the responsibility of the world community to step in. This is proved to be true by the novel Night, the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and by the article called “A Secret Life.”
The rise of European nationalism in the 19th Century brought with it an overabundance amount of change that would definitively modify the course of history. The rise of nationalism in one country would rouse greater nationalism in another, which would in turn, motivate even greater nationalism in the first, progressively intensifying the cycle that eventually concluded in a World War. Nationalism as an ideology produced international competition which inspired absolute allegiance to an individual’s nation state. The ideology was fueled by industrial commerce and imperialistic developments which led to nation-states pursuits of outcompeting rival nations.
Nationalism is a way of thinking both politically and socially to create a community united by history, ethnicity, religions, common culture, and language. Numerous effects occurred while establishing a Nationalist community, some effects were a long term impact on Nationalism, and other were short term impacts on Nationalism. Bloody Sunday was a big impact of Nationalism, what started out as a peaceful march of Petersburg workers marching to the Winter Palace led by Father Gapon turned out to be a nightmare. The marchers wanted to establish an eight hour work day, establish minimum wage, and assemble a constitution, while the marchers marched they were fired upon by Russian troops and several hundred marchers were killed.
Although some have said that "nationalism is measles of humankind", in my opinion, it is not. Nationalism has led to the growth of identities, and innovations. These reasons influence us in so many good ways that we should embrace nationalism to a great extent. Although at the same time I believe that we shouldn't embrace it to the extent of where we hurt others.
Genocide is a reality that no one can ever conquer or vanish if they are working alone or do not look at the consequences upon taking choices of action. We as Americans feel it is our duty to only take a course of action if we know and are fully aware of the actions being made against the people, or if we are being affected directly. If it does not affect us and we do not know about it then obviously we cannot do anything about it.
Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.
The rise of nationalism and its mark on the history of Europe was quite profound. The unification of major powers and the civil unrest on the journey to unification created a large chapter of history in the nineteenth century. By the 1900s the mark of nationalism had been left on Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain. The major European powers had come through great trials to set the stage for the twentieth century and the conflicts that will erupt. Nationalism will be remembered as a great period of change and growth.
The Napoleonic Wars and the unification of the northern German states were examples of a dictatorial leadership aiming to conquer foreign countries, but not necessarily using nationalism as their motivation. Nationalism emerged during the French Revolution and played an integral role in many of the wars between 1792 and 1914. During the last steps of the unification of Germany initiated by Bismarck, the Alliance systems, and the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Nationalism acted as a driving force for war.
We have many global problems, but we are lacking global institutions powerful enough to effectively address such problems as global terrorism, human rights abuses, global warming, the ozone layer, pollution of the oceans and rivers, arms trade, child soldiers, war, the weaponization of space, and nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Finding a way to participate in solving these and other global problems is one of the great challenges of our time.