Self-Determination & Nationalist Movements in the Age of the Cold War - Essay Example

Self-Determination & Nationalist Movements in the Age of the Cold War Introduction The overall scenario of the several nations during the post World War II period was recognised as relatively crucial in comparison to current day context. Generally, the historical evidences regarding World War II scenario mainly reflected about the pecuniary conditions of the defeated countries along with the colonial states. Most of the countries belonging to Asian and Latin American region were recognised to be colonial states of the western countries. Those countries also experienced significant transformations in social and political aspects due to the negative impacts of the World War II1. Contextually, the principle objective of the study is to highlight the actual condition of two countries Vietnam and Guatemala during the scenario of post World War II situation. Vietnam: 1945-1954 By reviewing the historical data, it is eminent that most of the countries from the East Asian region are largely affected with the World War II. However, the impact of World War II has also been fruitful, considering the fact that most of the East Asian nations received independence. Despite this, the newly independent nations and territories have also experienced considerable problems, as these nations are unable to receive any support from other nations. There are large numbers of countries belonging to the East Asian region such as Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam those had received its independence immediate after the World War II 2. Since, after the World War II those aforementioned countries that experienced tremendous issues relating to political turmoil, ethnic strife, social inequities and weaker economic condition in composition to the Western nations. Specially mentioning, Vietnam has also experienced similar issues at a considerable extent3. It is worth mentioning that prior to the commencement of World War II, Vietnam was noted to be under the control of France. During 19th century, French has arrived within the Indo-China region and intended to establish their colonial state within that particular area. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, France ruled Vietnam as its Kingship country. However, in 1940 Germany has defeated French and taken the possession over Vietnam4. During the Second World War, Vietnam has been facing numerous problems including poverty, illiteracy, health issues and invaders, which had become a major barrier in the process of the nation’s overall development. In order to reduce those complexities and issues of the country, the government of Vietnam had taken few measures accordingly5. The government of Vietnam started a new schooling session within the country and it has encouraged several students of the country to participate. Beside, to improve the social condition of the country, the government had also initiated to establish a democratic republic with respect to setting a several agendas. The agendas included anti-illiteracy, personal development and providing proper qualification to the nationals of Vietnam6. In order to develop its own condition, the government of the nation had decided to set out a legal framework in order to fight against several invaders. Specifically, during that period Vietnam had been witnessing several invaders coming from the end of colonial forces. To prevent the unwanted attacks from the colonial forces in a frequent manner, the government had developed its own legal system. Simultaneously, the government of Vietnam had been focusing upon the improvement of the educational system7. Guatemala: 1945-1954 During the post World War II period the political, social and economical condition of the Latin America was quite unpredictable in nature. During the post World War II, Guatemala has been facing several challenges related to the social unrest, economical issue along with political turmoil. Moreover, during that particular context, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman undertook the responsibility of the President and governed the country during the period of 1944 to 1954, which was known as Democratic Spring. He had received huge popularity, while serving as a major leader of the country8. Due to his revolutionary thought and activities, he became a popular leader of the nation. It has also been noted that after the World War II, there were considerable lack of social unity in Guatemala. Jacobo Arbenz Guzman had taken the responsibility of managing political as well as social situation within country9. In order to reduce several complexities associated with political system of Guatemala, which were raised during the post World War II, there had been a need to eliminate the same with a strong effort. The President of Guatemala had established a new and strong foundation of the political system that helped them to maintain stability within the country. With the influence of the strong features of democratic political system within the country, the government was helpful in bringing the country closure towards the modern era. Under the leadership of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, the country had witnessed several transformations those were in line towards the development of Guatemala10. After the 5 years of World War II, he established the first social security system of the country, which had played an important role in its social development process. The establishment of country’s social security also influenced proper practice and human rights within Guatemala. It has also been noted that in order to bring the stability within the country, the Jacobo Arbenz Guzman had decided to stable its economy by designing an economic plan for the country. The establishment of new trade union had also enabled the country to develop its economic condition and perusing better trading system within the nation11. To protect the country and its citizens from the foreign attacks, the country had decided to develop a special task force for the protection purpose. It has also noted that the development of the Guatemalan coup was noted to be one of the most vital decisions taken by the government. In addition, the development of this particular coup was recognised to be a decisive part of the Guatemalan’s foreign policy. Apart from this, the Guatemalan coup had been playing a major role in the scenario of cold war12. Conclusion By reviewing the overall study, it can be identified that both the countries Vietnam and Guatemala had witnessed significant transformations in varied aspects including political, social, and economical among others. In this essay, the actual focus had been made over social condition of several countries during the period of post world war scenario. The study has also highlighted the condition of several colonial states, which were being independent after the accomplishment of World War II. Conclusively, it has also noted that most of the colonial states had faced several challenges after the post World War II and Cold War situation. References Barnet, R. J. (1968). The misconceptions of the Truman Doctrine. USA: The World Publishing Company Foley, C. (2015). An analysis of American propaganda in World War II and the Vietnam War. Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University, 1-74. Hood, S. & Jansz, L. (1993). Introducing fascism and nazism. USA: National Book Network Inc. Hunt. M. H. (2014). The world transformed: 1945 to present. USA: Oxford University Press. Jones, J. M. (1955). Curbing communist expansion: the Truman Doctrine. USA: Brace Jovanoyich Inc. Kinzer, S. (2006). Overthrow America’s century of regime change from Hawaii to Iraq. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Paterson, T. G. (1974). The" origins of the cold war Second Edition. Canada: D. C. Heath and Company Read More