Synopsis of Commanding Heights
During World War I the main theories of economics came to light from two friends but intellectual rivals and are still used today. John Maynard Keynes believed that during tough economic times the market economies would go into excess and the market would not work. This is when the government should step in a help. Freidrich von Hayek believed that Keynes idea of the government stepping in was a threat to freedom and that the market would eventually balance by itself. Keynes theory dominated for decades until the end of World War I when the global market disappeared until about eighty years later.
At the end of the war, people saw how fragile the governments and economies were and they were looking for something different; something more stable. The Russian revolution led by Lenin’s was inspired by Richard Marx theory that a government controlled economy would smash capitalism and prevail. They outlawed trade, commerce, and private property. They also fixed wages and prices. But, this would soon prove to be a disaster predicted by Ludwig von Mises. He stated that not a having a function price system to send signals to consumers and producers as to what something is worth and this is the heart of what makes an functioning economy work. Lenin saw the disaster happening, changed his mind, and tried to change the policy but was turned down and was ridiculed for being a sell out to capitalism. When he died a year later his successor, Joseph Stalin, put a grip on the Communist Party and socialism. He put into place central planning where the government controlled every aspect of the economy.
During the roaring twenties, Germany and Austria forced to pay war time reparations. The result was hyperin...
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...elped boost the economy (Amadeo).
Conclusion
This video series is one of the most informational and well written series that I have viewed. It really makes the history of our economics very easy to understand and feel that I understand the mindset of the theorist when they were coming up with the ideas of economics. It also makes the relation of past economic problems easily relatable to our times now. Then looking from past to present you really see the economic cycles and how the theories presented come to light from these cycles.
Works Cited
Amadeo, K. (2013, September 10). What Was the Stimulus Package?. About.com US Economy. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://useconomy.about.com/od/candidatesandtheeconomy/a/Obama_Stimulus.htm
Commanding Heights. (n.d.). PBS. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/index.html
During the 19th century, Russia was experiencing a series of changes with its entire nation and society overall. The government was trying to adapt themselves to them at the same time. It was not an easy time period for Russia whatsoever. Vladimir Lenin helped change this.
Throughout the 19th century, capitalism seemed like an economic utopia for some, but on the other hand some saw it as a troublesome whirlpool that would lead to bigger problems. The development of capitalism in popular countries such as in England brought the idea that the supply and demand exchange systems could work in most trade based countries. Other countries such as Russia thought that the proletariats and bourgeoisie could not co-exist with demand for power and land, and eventually resorted to communism in the early 20th century. Although many different systems were available to the countries in need of economic change, a majority of them found the right system for their needs. And when capitalist societies began to take full swing, some classes did not benefit as well as others and this resulted in a vast amount of proletariats looking for work. Capitalists societies are for certain a win-loss system, and many people did not like the change from having there society changed to a government controlled money hungry system. On the other hand, the demand for labor brought the bourgeoisie large profits because they could pay out as much as they wanted for labor.
At the end of World War One, Germany was required to pay a large sum of money to the Allies consequently resulting in the German Depression. The sum Germany had to pay was set after the Treaty of Versailles was enacted at approximately six billion, six hundred million – twenty-two billion pounds, (World War Two – Causes, Alan Hall, 2010). The large amount of reparations that Germany had to pay resulted in a depression and angered the Germans because they thought it was an excessive amount of money to pay, (World War Two – Causes) The Germans hatred of the Treaty of Versailles was of significant importance in propelling the Nazis to power. Germany could not pay their reparations and was forced into a depression, (World War II – Causes). The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its economic production and its available employments, (World War II – Causes). The German Depr...
...ng World War I, which caused conflicts in the battlegrounds. The demands of waging war also drained the Russian economy and revealed the limitations of the Russian production. Further, the workers in the cities worked very long hours, which strained problems in the undeveloped infrastructure of Russia. Although there was a catastrophe of political guidance brought by Tsar, World War I caused the revolution because the war led Tsar’s military control to its breaking point. This this exemplifies that an entire society was destroyed; therefore, poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism promised peace, prosperity and equality for all the peoples of the world. But the social experiment failed, millions were killed, and within a generation almost one-third of the world’s population was living in the shadows of communism.
In addition, having lost the war, the humiliated Germans were forced by the Allies to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. According to the harsh terms of the treaty, Germany had to hand over many of its richest industrial territories to the victors, and was made to pay reparations to the Allied countries it devastated during the war. Germany lost its pride, prestige, wealth, power, and the status of being one of Europe's greatest nations. (Resnick p. 15)
Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx. Lenin had read Karl Marx and his...
In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx, with the help of Friedrich Engel, advocated for the violent overthrow of capitalism and the creation of a socialist society. According to Marx, “The history of hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (184). Notably, Marx and Engel were the main proponents of communism. Marx’s main argument was that the society is the product of class conflict that results in different social classes with opposing economic interests. Importantly, Marx believed that the society comprised the oppressor and the oppressed, and the two are in constant conflict with each other. The ensuing conflict results in the revolutionary reorganization of the society, or the ruin of the opposing classes. Therefore, Marx, like Kant, saw the institutions of a given society as influential in determining its future. However, Marx argued that traditional institutions were unsuitable for a free and just society that respected human dignity. For example, he saw the modern bourgeoisie society as a product of the “ruins of feudal society,” meaning that the modern society is yet to resolve class antagonisms (184). Indeed, he sees the modern-day social classes as the products of the serfs and burgesses of the middle ages. In this regard, he claimed that the modern social structures are the products of a sequence of revolutions in the systems of production, as well as exchange. However, modern social structures are yet to enhance equity in the society. Therefore, Marx advocated for a revolution that would change the existing social structures and prepare the society to adopt communism. Unlike Kant’s idea of freedom of speech, which is a mind influencing process, Marx seemed more violent by the stating that “let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution”
World War I came to an end in November of 1918, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. This treaty ended the fighting and of many other results, it put the blame on Germany for the war. This resulted in Germany having to pay major reparation fee’s and put Germany in a financial hole. The treaty took away parts of Germany’s land and made it impossible for them to use their natural resources to profit from. The amount that Germany had to pay back was more then they could, and this started a chain reaction for the transfer of money. In 1924, The Dawes Plan was signed into action and the U.S. became a creditor nation. Germany owed around 32 billion in war reparations. They were unable to pay this, so the U.S. loaned Germany money, with that Germany paid European countries War Reparations, and with the reparation money they received, U.S exports were able to be bought. This benefited the U.S. because the loans would have to be paid back with interest, and it let the economy experience a boost because goods were able to be exported. The Dawes Plan boosted the American economy, while facilitating other European countries’ attempts to reestablish a stable financial state after World War One. This time period in the 1920’s is referred to as the ‘roaring twen...
John Maynard Keynes classical approach to economics and the business cycle has dominated society, especially the United States. His idea was that government intervention was necessary in a properly functioning economy. One economic author, John Edward King, claimed of the theory that:
Throughout history, revolutions have developed in response to a variety of conditions. These revolutions have often resulted in significant political, economic, and social change. As the 1900’s rolled in, European nations were at peace, that is until the darker forces were pushing Europe toward war. Those darker forces included nationalism and alliance systems that would help fuel the Great War or World War I. The effects of World War I were massive including the Treaty of Versailles and the enormous amount of human casualties as well as economic losses. During World War I, another revolution broke out in Russia, removing Russia from the war and transformed the Russian empire into the first Communist state. There were many causes of the Russian Revolution including the weakness of the Czar and World War I. Finally, there were many effects of the Russian Revolution, two of which included the establishment of a communist government as well as a new economic policy.
Lenin lead the first communist government in russia . When communist took over the city of petrograd , they decided to take out the provisional government . “Peace, bread and land” and “All power to the soviets” was said by Lenin to the cities workers with sayings such as these 2. In lenin's eyes he claimed that workers will and can not , be governed by themselves. Lenin promised to the Soviets that he would get his soldiers out of war plus he granted land ownership to the peasants and also gave them a opportunity to own shops in Soviet . The actual revolution only lasted two days. Trotsky had planned this and it was perfect execution . Trotsky held a speech in the city of petrograd to distract them while the red guards took over important parts of petrograd. Almost everything possible was captured. Lenin was like a spy during this revolution, he had to find the leaders of the provisional government and arrest them . At this time Alexander Kerensky was the president of the provisional
Marx, in his theory of historical materialism, advocates that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces. His theory focuses on the class struggles and the human attempts to control and dominate the natural environment. Profits obtained by the capitalists are a result of the workers being exploited. This conflict will lead to a revolution in which the workers control the state. Thus, capitalism will be replaced by socialism. The result is freedom for all. In the Soviet Union, the lower class overthrew the ruling class and created a new mode of production. This new economic base then determined political, social and ideological changes in its society. The failure of the Soviet Union impacts the validity of Marxian historical materialism because it discredits materialistic
Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it had not been for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization. Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire.
The war reparation resolution was proposed by both Australia and the United Kingdom, and eventually became Article 231 of Treaty of Versailles. The article assigned complete blame for the war to Germany, required Germany to accept full responsibilities for causing the war, and must pay a set of reparation appointed by the Great Powers. The reparation impositions were considered to be retaliation to the reparation forced upon France by Germany in the Treaty of Frankfurt after the Franco-Prussian War. The recompense form of the war varies among different forms, from coal, steel, and gold, to intellectual property. According to the treaty, Germany will finish paying off the reparation in year 2020. The reparation, no doubt, is only another indirect way of limiting Germany's growth in any field possible and has added another pair of shackle on the already weakened Germany economy, some historians beli...
Lenin's Economic Policies in 1924 When the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917 they inherited many of the problems faced by the old Tsarist regime as well as those of the Provisional Government after the Tsars abdication. Lenin, as leader of the Bolsheviks took many measures to try and solve these problems, each with varying degrees of success. This essay will, therefore, go on to look at and discuss the various measures that Lenin and the Bolshevik party took, and, whether these measures created more problems for Russia in the end or in fact made significant progress towards the communist society that Lenin had prophesised for Russia. In the early days of Bolshevik rule, there were many problems facing Lenin.