Transportation And Transportation: How Has Globalization Affected Transportation

It almost goes without saying that Globalization would be impossible without Transportation. Whether it be the 2,000-year-old Roman Roads that connected the Mediterranean worlds of Europe, Africa, and Asia, many of which still exist today, to the Silk Road that carried goods across the entire Asian continent and beyond. Globalization would not exist if not for the maritime Triangle Trade that connected four continents, two hemispheres, and brought the Old and New World’s together. Transportation has also brought Globalization to modern cities through the use of new technologies like railroads and telegraphs, shrinking the space of communications, as was seen in Chicago during the past century. We could name all the ways that Transportation has shaped Globalization, but how has Globalization shaped Transportation? This is the story of how one German automobile known as the “People’s Car” become the most popular car in Brazil for 7 continuous decades. Germany in the 1930’s was a Fascist state led by a charismatic dictator named Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party. National and cultural pride was at the forefront of state propaganda, and the Nazi’s wanted a vehicle that would represent the strength and identity of the German people. In 1937 the “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des
In 2015 Volkswagen was caught in a scandal that caused its CEO to step down, but also created an opportunity to affect change amongst the auto manufacturing industry. It was revealed that Volkswagen had cheated on carbon emission tests by installing faulty software on 11 million of their diesel-engine vehicles [Surowiecki]. The fallout from the scandal has led to an increased pressure on the worldwide diesel industry to create cleaner technology, and has pushed Volkswagen into the spotlight as a leading corporation for good. With all eyes on Volkswagen, their approach to reducing their carbon footprint will be