Module 8

5. Modern global system produced economy's unstable and unsteady progress leading to inequality. Divisions between Developed rich Nations of the North & Developing Nations of the South in income worsened the North/South Gap. The difference in incomes, medical care, clean water, education, employment, the internet, etc. between the rich and poor shaped life chances. Active resistance by rich countries such as the 1970's when a large group of developing countries joined together to demand a "new international economic order" that was more favorable to the poor countries; not much success followed with this effort. Common action between Developing Nations was difficult to achieve because of their different economic agendas. Spurred new movements of anti-globalization in the 1990s

14. The explosion of the human population that quadrupled in a single century. Human activity altered the natural order on a global or even geological proportion. Growing numbers of the poor & growing consumption of the rich led to doubling of cropland & contraction of the world's forests & grasslands. Plant & animal species disappeared or became almost extinct because of diminished/ing habitats. Modern industry was dependent on fossil fuels which increased pollution. Global Warming!! Trapping greenhouse gases and loss of tree means warming of the atmosphere.

22. Communism achieved a lot until it fell at a significant rate since the 1970s, leaving it fairly unsuccessful. Nationalism has almost always achieved its goal in one way or another. More often times than not though there's a twist to achieving the goal it was set to accomplish. Democracy was able to see mixed results as it failed for the most part in eastern countries as the cultures weren't set up for that type of govt, but in the west it flourished. This means it was only half as successful as what it was intended to be. Feminism was able to achieve a large amount of its goals though there are a handful left unsolved to this day. Women have WAY more rights in today's world than in the past, however (especially in some parts of the world) it is still not completely equal. It was extremely successful for the context of the century. Internationalism increased with globalization shown in the creation of the United Nations. This was fairly successful at what it set out to do.

Essay

Ryan Floyd

Andrews

World History

April 15, 2020

Pandemic

Since the middle ages there have been more than a dozen notable pandemics the world has endured. The first pandemic according to data compiled from the world bank was the Bubonic Plague or The Black Death. The definition of pandemic is “(of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world”  (What is a..). Based on this definition it is safe to say that the given disease may have an impact on a smaller part of the world or the globe as a whole to be considered a pandemic. However, I would not classify the spread of a disease over a smaller population a pandemic. Today we are experiencing a pandemic of our own, COVID-19. Times are tough on everyone for several different reasons. 

A pandemic can be classified as a wide spread of a new disease. The word pandemic comes from the Greek pandemos meaning “pertaining to all people.” The Greek word pan means “all” and the Greek word demos means “people” (Brazier, Yvette). I see many people using the argument today that we experience pandemics every day with hundreds or thousands of people dying a year from the flu, or other illnesses. I do not agree with this statement. Viruses that cause pandemics are viruses that human beings have no immunity to yet, they are typically animal generated influenza viruses. Many times when we are hit with a pandemic it sweeps over populations faster than medical care workers can work to provide proper treatment or prevent the spread of the disease.We are experiencing this first hand today with the COVID-19 virus However pandemics can be caused by more than one reason. They can be caused by bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics, which is something we heavily rely on today. Or they can come to be because of a new strain of virus that is easily transmissible between humans. Sometimes, like in the case of the Black Death, they are just caused by a virus's ability to spread alarmingly fast with no knowledge of treatment. 

In the 1300’s The Black Death killed 30-50% of Europeans (Black Death). The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. The ships that arrived were completely infected with the disease, and they were sent away. However, it was not enough to prevent the spread of the Black Death. After the ships arrived over 20 million people died over the course of five years. The Black Death wiped out nearly one third of the continent's population. They eventually got rid of the plague by practicing social distancing and becoming more sanity. Doctors would refuse to see people, shops were shut down, people stayed home. Today there are still 1-3,000 cases of this plague a year. Medicine and technology have moved forward leaps and bounds. Diseases that wiped out countries hundred of years ago are now very treatable. For example, throughout history we have had several pandemics due to Influenza which is now considered a yearly cold. The most severe took place in 1918. After it was all said and done, it killed about 500 million people, or one third of the WORLD'S population (1918 Pandemic). Again, it was a disease that humans had not been exposed to at that point, making it spread like wildfire. 

Today we are experiencing a new pandemic, COVID-19. Personally, I have only ever thought about the word pandemic when learning about past ones in History. Even then it was just another history lesson, I never really understood what that meant until now. What I think shocks me the most is reading about how people practiced social distancing, shut down schools, stores and more back then just like we are. What scares me is that those pandemics still often lasted several years. I am optimistic that with the medical technology we have today in 2020 that it will not last that long, but one can only hope. My little brother is a Type 1 Diabetic. My family and I are being extremely cautious and following the orders and advice of the government. If he were to get sick it would be very unlikely he would make it. I read on a news site a couple weeks back that a large percentage of the deaths in Italy were people who also had diabetes. 

I am from a small town in Idaho, there is no other town or city within 45 miles of us and we still have cases. That is what makes this so real to me. Going out to buy eggs or milk and seeing everyone wearing masks, gloves or whatever else is saddening. What is the most frustrating to me however is the media. At my age everyone uses social media and not a lot of people really watch the news. There are so many sides and opinions during all of this when really there should only be one, to stay home and help each and every one of us around the globe get through this as efficiently as possible with as little lives lost as possible. They say we should learn from history but when I think about it, past pandemics aren’t talked about. I had no idea this would turn out this way. As a world that has been through this several times and lost millions of lives it seems like we would have a better plan of action and more guidance from our leaders. I think it is important that everyone start taking this seriously, I have been fortunate enough to not lose anyone I know. I pray for those who have. 

Works Cited

Brazier, Yvette. “Pandemics: Past, Present, and Future.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon 

International, 22 May 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148945

History.com Editors. “Black Death.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Sept. 2010, 

www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/black-death.

What Is a Pandemic and How Many Has the World Experienced?, 

www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/what-is-a-pandemic-and-how-many-has-the-world-experienced/ar-BB113C5x.

“1918 Pandemic (H1N1 Virus).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Mar. 2019, 

www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html.

Module 6

1. The Global South registered in broader economy on world history because of the south-south cooperation. It refers to the economic and political term which was known as the long-term goal of pursuing world changes in economics which benefited countries which were in Global South. Some of the principles guided it were non-interference in domestic affairs, national ownership and independence, respect of national sovereignty. Some countries which used this south-south cooperation termed it as the mutually beneficial that spread skills, knowledge, resources and expertise to address their development changes for example pressure of high population. "The emergence of these new nations onto the world stage as independent and assertive actors has been a distinguishing feature of world history in this most recent century."

3.  The world wars weakened Europe, while discrediting any sense of European moral superiority. Both the United States and the Soviet Union, the new global superpowers, generally opposed the older European colonial empires. The United Nations provided a prestigious platform from which to conduct anti-colonial agitation. By the early twentieth century in Asia and the mid-twentieth century in Africa, a second or third generation of Western-educated elites, largely male, had arisen throughout the colonial world. These young men were thoroughly familiar with European culture, were deeply aware of the gap between its values and its practices, no longer viewed colonial rule as a vehicle for their peoples' progress as their fathers had, and increasingly insisted on independence now. Growing numbers of ordinary people also were receptive to this message.

19. In the early part of the century, both India and China found themselves under considerable Western influence, with India being part of the British Empire and China partially occupied by several European powers. Both secured their independence in the 1940s, but China did so through revolutionary struggle, while India achieved it through more peaceful means. India in the second half of the century maintained a democratic government, while China adopted a communist government. India maintained private property, even if the state provided tariffs, licenses, loans, subsidies, and overall planning; the Chinese adopted a communist approach to industrialization before slowly shifting to a more capitalistic approach. Both grew rapidly in the final decades of the century to emerge as economic powers.

Module 5

Throughout history we have had more than one flu pandemic. Two notable flu pandemics are ones taking place in 1968, and one in 1918. Influenza viruses are constantly changing making it hard to predict what strain is coming next. In the 1918 virus (h1N1) it came about with genes of avian origin. One-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Although the origin of this virus is not confirmed, it is said to have spread to the U.S. by the military. In the 1968 pandemic the strain (H3N2 virus) came from two genes in the Influenza A. It was first noted in the United States in September 1968. The estimated number of deaths was 1 million worldwide and about 100,000 in the United States. Most deaths were in people 65 years and older. The flu can be deadly to people who are older or people have health issues. COVID-19 also has this affect. 
During these pandemics we advanced medically, developing cures and vaccines to help prevent this from happening again. Medical professionals are now able to predict flu season and strains of the virus it will bring about. Therefor, they make enough vaccines to help. Like today, cities around the world closed schools and put social distancing rules in place to prevent the spread of the disease. This took place for three years. I am praying ours ends much sooner. 

Chapter 20

Chapter 20 goes into great detail about topics such as World War 1 and the effects it had on the world. The Depression, Fascism, Nazi Germany and Hitler. It talks about the Treaty of Versailles and explains how sometimes territorial compromise can be better than all out war. Then it discusses World War 2 and the Holocaust. It speaks of the concentration camps and great measures Hitler took to establish a "better Germany." This chapter shows in GREAT detail what our past wars have looked like and the consequences that we dealt with because of them. Fascism is, "an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization." They frown upon feminism, individualism, and liberalism. They felt these things weakened a nation and were not to be tolerated. They often look to violence. Fascists viewed women as simply as a mother providing babies for the state, they did not view them as equal. I do believe there are fascists people out there today, that's a fact. And there are people with fascist tendencies or beliefs. However, I do not believe the United States could become a fascist country. We have fought for YEARS non stop for the equal rights of everyone on US soil. There will always be people that oppose that fight. But looking at all the progress we have made over the last 100 years or so I'd say we are doing pretty good, and people are still not satisfied. In other parts of the world however I could see how this claim may be true. Unequal rights for women, gays, etc. I know the United States is not perfect yet, but we fight every day for those rights.