(4) “Globalization led, for one thing, to the race for empire, in order to secure natural resources and provide captive markets for manufactured goods. Germany, late to the party, felt that it was being denied its ‘place in the sun,’ as Kaiser Wilhelm II’s foreign minister put it, because there was little of the world left for Germany to colonize. The tremendous increase in both empire and trade also increased the importance of naval power. When Germany tried to upset Britain’s naval supremacy beginning in the 1890s, a great—and greatly expensive—naval arms race ensued. It was a race that other countries, such as France and the United States, also entered. Armies were built up as well, and by 1914, France and Germany had a total of 1.6 million men under arms.”
(a) Weltpolitik
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltpolitik
(“The origins of the policy can be traced to a Reichstag debate on 6 December 1897 during which German Foreign Secretary Bernhard von Bulow stated, ‘In one word: We wish to throw no one into the shade, but we demand our own place in the sun’")
(b) Forces and Resources of the Combatant Nations in 1914. Encyclopaedia Britannica, undated (under the heading "World War I")
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/top ... ant-nations-in-1914
(table 2, whose heading is “Land forces of the belligerents, Aug 4, 1914” (total manpower): Germany (1,900,000), France (1,290,000); Great Britain (120,000): The higher state of discipline, training, leadership, and armament of the German army reduced the importance of the initial numerical inferiority of the armies of the Central Powers [Germany + Austria-Hungary]")
(5) “Still, many thought that globalization made war between the great powers impossible. In 1909, the British journalist Norman Angell wrote an internationally best-selling book, ‘The Great Illusion,’ that argued that financial interdependence and the great growth in credit made war self-defeating, since it would result in financial ruin for both victor and vanquished. Angell was dead wrong. (Oddly, it didn’t prevent him from winning the 1933 Nobel Peace Prize.) Extensive trade and financial relations did not stop Germany from declaring war on both Britain and Russia, its two largest trading partners, in 1914.”
Sir Norman Angell--Facts. Nobel Prize, undated
www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ ... 3/angell-facts.html
(6) “Once Germany’s attempt at a swift victory over France failed, a war of attrition followed, one that Germany, cut off from world markets by the Royal Navy’s blockade, could not win. By 1918, Germany was melting down church bells to make munitions and its people were starving, causing the home front to collapse.”
Kiel mutiny
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_mutiny
(7) “The geopolitical landscape after World War I was dramatically transformed. Russia, in the grip of communism, withdrew almost completely from world markets. The United States, which was rich in natural resources and had an expansive internal market, found itself greatly strengthened by the war. But it failed to exert its new influence and maintained its traditional high tariffs. Britain, which had fostered free trade in the 19th century, established a regime of ‘imperial preference.’ France turned inward as well.”
(a) “Britain, which had fostered free trade in the 19th century, established a regime of ‘imperial preference.’” This says Britain shifted from free trade to a sort of protectionism.
(i) Imperial preference
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/283944/imperial-preference
(introduced in 1932; based on the principle of “home producers first, empire producers second, and foreign producers last”)
(ii) Wikipedia says, “The idea [Imperial Preference] of was associated particularly with Joseph Chamberlain.”
Joseph Chamberlain
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Chamberlain
(1836-1914; was the leading advocate of "tariff reform" (that is, imposing high tariffs in place of free trade))
(iii) Neville Chamberlain (1869- Nov 9, 1940; prime minister 1937- May 10, 1940; signed Munich Agreement in 1938) was a son of Joseph Chamberlain.
(b) free trade
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade
(section 3 History, section 3.1 Early era)
(8) “With their vast territories and resources, these countries could afford to limit their participation in global markets. But, as Mr Macdonald explains, ‘the collapse of the world economy in 1929 and the move of Britain, America, and France towards economic nationalism revived the dissatisfactions of the have-nots.’ The have-nots included Germany, Italy and Japan, which soon moved to obtain resources by force if they could not assure them in wartime otherwise. Beginning in 1939, Germany tried to establish an empire in Eastern Europe, while Japan tried to establish one in China. When the US cut off oil supplies (essential to maintain Japan’s large navy), Japan had to either accede to American demands or take a desperate gamble. It gambled.”
(a) “The have-nots included Germany, Italy and Japan, which soon moved to obtain resources by force if they [the have-nots nations] could not assure them [resources] in wartime otherwise.”
(b) The last several words means that now that Germany and Japan have started wars to establish respective empires, these two nations felt they had no choice but to fight “Britain, America, and France” to obtain resources. “Otherwise” alludes to “peacefully,” through international trades. |
发表于 2-1-2015 14:32:39
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