Solution-Class 9-Political Science-Chapter-1-Post World War Political Developments-Maharashtra Board

(b) International system

(a) to avoid war

(b) Disintergration of the Soviet Union

True.

Reasons :

• The First World War caused a tremendous loss of life and property.
• All the nations felt that such a war should not happen again and some measures need to be taken to achieve this end.
• An international organisation called the League of Nations was established out of this thinking.

False.

Reasons :

• At the end of the Second World War, America and Soviet Union became competitors.
• America and the Soviet Union who were allies in war formed rival military organisations.
• Most countries of the world joined the power blocs headed by these two super powers.

Thus, the world became bipolar due to the Cold War.

True.

Reasons :

• The Soviet Union adopted the policy of opening up of the economy.
• The State loosened up its control of the economy.
• The President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev implemented the policies of Perestroika (Restructuring) and Glasnost (Openness).
• Due to these policies, the control over the media was reduced.
• Important changes took place in political and economic spheres.

Thus, the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev gave an impetus to democratisation.

• The concept of Cold War is used to describe the condition where there is no actual war, but there are such tensions in the circumstances, that they may be responsible to cause war.
• So, there is no open war between the two countries, but there was such tension in their relations that it seemed that a war would erupt at any time.
• The struggle for power, arms race, differences in ideologies, attitude of checkmating each other by strategies and counter-strategies gave rise to the Cold War.

• In the era of the cold war, while the world was becoming bipolar, there were some nations like India, which did not want to join the super power rivalry.
• Such nations decided to stay out of the cold war rivalry. Their policy is known as Non-alignment.
• Non-alignment was an important movement during the Cold War.

• Interdependence means that all countries in the world are dependent on each other.
• Even a developed nation like America is not self-sufficient in all its needs.
• So, however big, small or prosperous a nation is, it is dependent on the other nations.
• It is an important feature of the contemporary international system.

• During the era of Cold War, America and the Soviet Union emerged as the super powers and formed their military alliances.
• Most countries of the world joined either of the two super power blocs.
• Such a division of the nations of the world into two groups is described as Bipolarisation.

• In 1990's, after the end of the Cold War, trade and economic relations between countries became more open.
• There was free flow of capital, technology, labour, markets and information across the world.
• The boundaries between nations did not remain as sacrosanct as they were before.
• There was give and take of ideas among the people all over the world. All these processes are together called Globalisation.

• To avoid the outbreak of the Second World War, the League of Nations should have applied economic sanctions on Japan, Germany and Italy.
• The League of Nations should have asked the member nations and America to send their military contingents to raise the army of the League of Nations.
• The League of Nations should have warned the belligerent nations of military action if they indulged in aggression on other nations.
• The League of Nations should have built up world public opinion and extend pressure on the belligerent nations.
• These nations would nut dared to go against the world public opinion, desisted from the acts of aggression and there by the outbreak of the Second World War could have been avoided.

• The scope of the Cold War and the sphere of tension had spread due to bipolnrisation of the world.
• Most countries had joined the power blocs led by the two super powers.
• However, some countries like India did not join the super power rivalry and advocated non-alignment.
• This policy of non-alignment led to the emergence of the Non-maligned Movement.
• Most countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America joined the Non-aligned movement.
• Lenders of the Non-aligned Movement exerted moral pressure and defused the international tension.
• In this way, the policy of Non-alignment and the Non-aligned Movement served useful purpose during the era of Cold War.

• In their quest to attain world supremacy, the super powers established military organisations.
• They indulged in arms race to outsmart each other and spent billions of dollars on the arms and armaments.
• The piling of nuclear armaments created an atmosphere of tension and the people around the world were living under the threat of the ‘war of total annihilation’.
• The money spent on research and development of armaments could have been spent on human welfare activities.

In this way, human welfare was neglected due to the Cold War.

• The world had become unipolar after the disintegration of the USSR. America is the only super power.
• However, the European Union is emerging as a strong power that could challenge the American supremacy.
• Russia has absorbed the shock of disintegration and it is striving hard to regain the status of super power.
• China has overtaken America in economic activities and has acquired ‘military muscle’ to challenge the American supremacy.
• India, too, is marching in the direction of becoming an economic power.
• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have formed BRICS which has the combined capacity to compete with America.

(1) First World War :

Period -1914 to 1918

Involved nations :

• Allied Powers : Britain, France, Russia, Italy and America
• Central Powers : Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria

Impacts (Political and Economic) :

• Economic : (i) Tremendous loss of life and property. (ii) Economic losses for the victors and the vanquished. (iii) Collapse of the economies of the victors and the vanquished. (iv) Also affected the countries that did not join the war.
• Political  : (i) Disintegration of German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian empires. (ii) Emergence of new nations like Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. (iii) Movements for independence started in the colonies of the European countries in Asia and Africa. (iv) Challenge to hegemony of Europe with the emergence of America as the super power.

International Organisations established after the War :

• League of Nations
• Permanent Court of international Justice
• International Labour Organization

(2) Second World War :

Period -1939 to 1945

Involved nations :

• Allied Powers : Britain, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, China, USA, Soviet Union.
• Axis Powers : Germany, Italy and Japan.

Impacts (Political and Economic) :

• Economic : More destruction of life and property than the First World War. (ii) Use of nuclear bombs led to the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (iii) Collapse of the world economy. (iv) Increase in poverty and unemployment all over the world.
• Political : (i) Division of Germany (ii) East Europe came under dominance of the Soviet Union. (m) Emergence of the USA and the USSR as the super powers. (iv) Independence to European colonies in Asia and Africa. (v) Super-power rivalry for dominance over the world and Cold War.

International Organisations established after the War :

• United Nations
• Regional organisations like ASEAN, EEC
• Military organisations like NATO, Warsaw Pact
• Non-aligned Movement
• A number of organisations affiliated to the UN, like WHO, FAO, IMF, UNESCO

The factors responsible for the end of the Cold War are as follows:

• The Soviet Union adopted the policy of opening up the economy and loosening the state control on the economy.
• The then president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev implemented the policy of Peregtrojka (Restructuring) and Glasnost — (Openness). The Soviet economy and polity were restructured.
• He reduced control over the press. This gave an impetus to democracy in Russia.
• The East European countries challenged ‘socialist’ governments. These countries broke free from the influence of the Soviet Union and adopted a democratic capitalist path.
• Disintegration of the Soviet Union contributed to end the cold war.

The following major changes occurred in the global politics after the end of the Cold War :

• Global politics became unipolar, with America remaining the only super power.
• An atmosphere conducive to the growth in trade and economic relations between and among nations emerged.
• Capital, labour, market, technology, ideas and information freely circulated throughout the world.
• The idea of giving ‘aid’ to other nations fell behind, as all nations of the world decided to give priority to trade relations.
• The description of a country which was opposed to another changed from ‘enemy nation‘ to ‘rival nation.‘
• The responsibility of the United Nations has increased. It is now required to take concrete steps to maintain global peace and security.
• The issues of environmental protection, fostering of human rights, gender equality and management of natural calamities have now acquired a global dimension.