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Twentieth Century History

Twentieth Century History


In the early twentieth century, Europe was a land obsessed with gluttony and covered in bloodshed. It was regarded with the title of the "Dark Continent". Much of the world realized that Europe was in a state of political unrest, and the European people were undergoing a stage of crisis in terms of morality, family structure, social norms and civil structure (Mazower, 50-92). The rise of the Nazi regime and the events that took place during World War went on to expand problems in Europe beyond anything it had ever seen before. Yet with the state of the nations, it was almost expected that such attempts at revolution would have taken place. To better understand the conditions and movements that took place during the twentieth century we must study the efforts of different organizations (in fact what more people would consider cults) to promote their idealistic views and establish a "new world order" with particular references to the books "Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century" by Mark Mazower, "Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy" by Fahwaz Gerges, and "Peace, War and Computers" by Chris Hables Gray. We also compare and contrast the American, Islamist, Nazi, and Communist ideals of empire, how they strived to achieve it, and to what extent the succeeded or failed.
To get a grasp of conditions of Europe during the twentieth century, specifically the earlier ages, it is most suitable to first refer to the work of Mark Mazower. In his novel "Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century History", Mazower first tries to place European twentieth century history in context of its past and how this affected what followed. He describes World War I as a series of incidents that "mobilized sixty-five million... killed over eight million... left another twenty-one million wounded" (Mazower, ix). Europe was already under a state of turmoil before the twentieth century. Although there were stages where there were less incidents of mass genocide, the social structure of Europe was extremely unstable. People were looking for an escape, a leader, and they found Hitler. History usually doesn't just happen, it is brought about, and this was exactly the case with what Hitler did to the world.

According to the Gregorian calendar, the duration of the twentieth century is from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 2000. However, during this time there is an era which historians call the Short Twentieth Century, and this refers to the time from 1914 to 1992. It is this during this time, in 1920, that Hitler is thought to have risen to power. Germany owed over 33 million marks to France and England, putting it into a time of depression. Hitler's initial speeches to overthrow the German government lead to his imprisonment, but it was during this time that he began his plan of world domination against Marxism and Communism.

The desperation of society in Germany and the immense strength Hitler had in propagating his thoughts lead to a huge revolution lead by the Nazis for world domination by a pure and supreme race. Communist Jews living in Germany were the first victims of Nazi violence. As Hitler began expanding his influence out of Germany, his presence became strong consideration for the American and Muslim people around the world. Ironically, the Nazi movement itself had been derived out of an impoverished Germany, yet the Nazi followers believed that segregating the country in categories of race and religion would help the country prosper. As the Nazi movement began to rise in its self-proclaimed revolution to cleanse the nation, it became clear that what began as segregation was in fact a declaration to eradicate Jews altogether.

Nazi ideology is no doubt extreme, and in this case actions speak much louder than words. Although America was and still is a world super-power, as was communist Russia at one time, the wars lead by these nations has usually been of political objectives rather than just of philosophical ideals. Although America and Russia have had military strength, it is Hitler's ideas and expressions that make the Nazi army so much stronger during its time of assaults, even though the movement happened during the time when Germany was in a state of ruins (Keyler, 112).

In his book "Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy" by Fahwaz Gerges, Gerges describes various attacks lead by the Muslim Militia (Gerges, 135-176). Yet when compared to the descriptions of Nazi attacks in Mark Mazowar's book "Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century", the Muslim attacks described by Gerges seem more of a religious or political motive than the brutal violence and torture driven by cultist Hedonism by the Nazis. Mazower, Gerges, and Chris Hables Gray in his book "Peace, War and Computers" highlight different people, with different styles of documentation, analysis, interpretation, and solutions.

Gerges suggests that although militant Islam does seem to be a issue at the turn of the century, there is a large proportion of Muslims who wish to integrate peacefully with the rest of the world (Gerges, 260-299). Gray’s opinion seems of similar nature except instead of limiting this idea he applies it in terms of postmodern anarchist ideals where each individual has a right to have separate opinions (Gray, 98-134). Both Gray and Gerges, however, agree that during the twentieth century there has not only been political rife, but also a social and global cultural growth, which seems more promising than the political order under which it is kept. Gerges makes this suggestion with reference to the Muslim people and nations. Gray, on the other hand, suggests that a global culture is one in which everyone is acting on their own behalf and facing consequences and responsibilities as independent human beings rather than as part of any certain race or religion.

To a great extent, Gerges and Gray try to provide a solution to the twentieth century problems of the "Dark Continent" described by Mazower. American, Islamist, Nazi, and Communist ideals of empire all hold a relevant place in history but Chris Hables Gray's postmodern anarchist ideals tend to pave a way for the future on an individual level. Although Mazower describes twentieth century European history as a clash between rival New Orders, Gerges and Gray remind us that the latter part of the twentieth century saw a great communion amongst the people of different nations, and not just its leaders. With these social improvements Gerges, Gray, Mazower and even Jihadists such as Sayid Qutb and his ideological heirs would agree that the point is not to envision a third rival "new order", but a new world order that can instead bring peace in the world.





Works Cited
Blainey, Geoffrey. A Short History of the Twentieth Century. Ivan R. Dee, 2006
Gerges, Fahwaz. Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy. Harcourt, 2006
Gray, Chris Hables. Peace, War, and Computers. Routledge, 2004
Kelyer, William R. The Twentieth-Century World: An International History.
Oxford University Press, 2000
Mazower, Mark. Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century. Vintage, 2000
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Posted by: Julia Vann

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