Ap World History Research Paper

Zara Khan
Midterm Essay
History
Since the 1700’s political, economic and intellectual changes have radically altered the history of the world. They have had a major impact on the production and distribution of goods, the scale of warfare, and the rise and fall of the totalitarian dictators. The production and distribution of goods affected people’s lives completely. New innovations and new inventions spurred the industrial growth. The scale of warfare was resulted from Militarism, the Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism; also from the new technology and weapons. The rise of totalitarian dictators was one of the major changes that altered the history of the world. Each of the impacts has affected the history of the world significantly.
The production and distribution of goods had essential fundamentals for economic success. During the 1700s, changes in technology began based in the use of power-driven machinery. This era was called the Industrial Revolution and it began in Great Britain. The first steam engine and the first locomotive were invented during this time; along with the Spinning Jenny, the cotton gin, and the process of producing steel from coal. The factors of production were land, labor, and capital. Each factor is important and it plays an immense role in the production of goods. The domestic or cottage system (workers worked in their homes) soon changed to the factory system (workers worked in factories). The textile and agricultural industry benefited greatly during this time because of mass production and the steam engine. In the 1700s, economically, the production and distribution of goods had a huge impact on the history of the world. The scale of warfare changed greatly since the 1700s. One of the main wars fought was World War I; it was caused by Militarism, the Alliances, Imperialism, and extreme Nationalism. Each of those things were factors adding up which finally resulted in the first biggest war of the world, World War I. The new methods of warfare were the trenches, “No Man’s Land”, and poison gasses. The trenches were mostly where the soldiers stayed during the war, the whole period of time they stayed there; they fought, ate, slept, got killed, were buried and used the bathroom there. There were tons of trench rats and so many diseases were formed such as ‘trench foot’ and ‘body lice’. At “No Man’s Land” a soldier was at a high risk of dying as they could be easily shot by a sniper. There were a few different types of gasses used during World War I; Chlorine gas caused burning pain in the throat and eyes, phosgene gas caused death within 48 hours, and mustard gas caused serious blistering on the body externally and internally. Also, new weapons such as machine guns, long-range guns, tanks, u-boats, and aerial battles were created. This was a great change of warfare; the results of the wars were now far more devastating than ever before. Most of the war took place on the German grounds, therefore suffering the greatest damages. This war caused mass chaos and had enormous damages to many countries, politically, economically, and intellectually. Germany had to pay the war damages because of the Treaty of Versailles. World War I set the stage for World War II. There was a rise of totalitarian dictators due to economic problems facing European nations after World War I.
Benito Mussolini was given power to take charge of the government because he was the best hope for the dynasty at the time for Italy. As soon as he was the leader, he abolished democracy and outlawed all political parties except the Fascists. He maintained power by creating the secret police, imposed censorship and travel restrictions, and kept close control of the economy. Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1929 because they were experiencing multiple revolutions and a civil war. He became a communist dictator; private farms were eliminated in favor of collective farms, millions of peasants were killed on his order, and he secured the Soviet control of the countryside. He maintained power by using interrogation and murder to intimidate his enemies and the general public. Adolf Hitler was a politician who volunteered for the German Army in World War I and was twice awarded the Iron Cross, a medal for bravery. The German brand of fascism was known as Nazism, it was supported by people in the middle and lower classes. Soon Hitler’s success as an organizer and speaker led him to be the leader of the Nazi party. Very quickly the Nazi’s became the largest political party. Hitler acted quickly to strengthen his position; his methods of control were fear and intimidation. He banned unions and other political parties, conducted secret trials, and persecuted enemies. He made anti-Semitism an official policy (blamed Jews for all of Germany’s problems) and made clear the Germans were the master race, “Aryans”. The rise of totalitarian dictators was one of the supreme changes in the history of the world since the
1700s. In conclusion, the production and distribution of goods, the scale of warfare, and the rise of totalitarian dictators were three of the main causes of change in the world during the 1700s. The production and distribution of goods was during the era of the Industrial Revolution and it created the basic fundamentals of the world today economically. The scale of warfare had its chain reactions and it still has its effects today. The rise of totalitarian dictators set a great mark in history and those dictators left footprints which are still looked back on today and it shows change in our current era politically. The political, economic, and intellectual changes from the 1700s have radically altered the history of the world.