World Geography Study GuideI. Bifurcation- refers to the split of countries following World War Two. They fell into two groups: those associated with U.S. and Western Europe and those associated with Eastern Europe and Asia.This split stems from colonization.- By the late 19th Century there was nowhere left to expand. Everywhere that could be claimed, had been claimed. By the early 20th Century even the North and South Pole would even be claimed. - It had become a Zero Sum Game- meaning in order to expand your possessions you must take from another state. This situation was a first in world history. Of course there had been peoples spread across the globe for thousands of years, but territory was not claimed as property the same way we do now, which is the Nation-State model. II. Friedrich Ratzel, a 19th Century German geographer, developed a theory about how the world worked. The concept of which is similar to Darwinism. - His Theory states that a state is born, it matures, it reaches its peak, and finally it grows old and shrivels to some degree. Three stages are youth, maturity, and old age.- A state reaches its peak when it has an efficiently run state, and territorial expansion. As wellas a stable population. - It is natural for powerful states to expand.- However, it will eventually decline at the same time as other states arise. Colonial Expansion mixed with industrialization and Ratzel’s concepts leads to the outbreak of WWI.III. World Wars.- WWI was history’s first modern war, meaning it was the first industrial conflict.- The level of industry applied to the war and the amount of states involved led to unimaginable death and destruction. This was the world’s first total war. Massive amounts of collateral damage(civilian casualties). People came back shell shocked. - The war ended the Imperial Powers in Europe, as well as the end of feudalism in Austria and Russia.- In the end it was a power struggle to set how the world would operate in the future, and changed much of how the world operated. - WWII was, in a way, a continuation of WWI. It involved even higher levels of industrialization and production, which in turn led to more casualties. o Fordist Production - taking its name from Henry Ford, it refers to the use of the conveyor belt and more efficient application of labor leading to an increase in production..o Entire industries were now dedicated to killing, and there was not one industry that did not contribute to the war. o Many innovations came about due to the increased levels of industry- These wars came about due to the zero sum game. Conflict with neighbors begins because there is nowhere to expand without taking from another.An effort was made after WWII to end interstate conflict for good.IV. Bretton-Woods Agreement- This was the meeting between the victorious countries at the end of the war. They met to establish a way the world would operate, mostly focusing on monetary policy.General Rules created by the conference:1) System of fixed exchange rates was tied to the U.S. dollar, which at the time was based on the gold standard. a. Fiat Currency- When a country could more or less manipulate their currency. This had been an issue between countries in the past. 2) The only country to maintain a military large enough to enforce the rules was and would remain the U.S. It became our responsibility to enforce the rules established here, and intervene if necessary. NATO would later be set up an extension to enforce the rules. - Holding these ideas together were three institutions1) UN- a place where countries/people could voice their grievances. This was the political side of the tree institutions.2) World Bank- This was made along with the IMF to prevent stagflation and lend money to countries if warranted. These two were the economic institutions established. 3) International Monetary Fund (IMF) – see world bank.- Prior to WWII there was not as much of an effort to manage political rivalries between countriesor keep expansion in check. - The economic system was set up to prevent stagflation on the levels of Weimar Germany. - The National State was held up as a means to officiate the new social order. It needs to ensure the well-being of its people.- Now that wars were over countries could begin to help their people, states intervened in the industrial process, and fiscal and monetary policies were established:Keynesian Economics- the government spends money and puts people to work when money is tight. This is the creation of the welfare system.V. Embedded Liberalism, this is what this period (1945- roughly 1980) became known as. It refers to when a state is very active in the market and social systems. Occurred as a result of Bretton-Woods. Embedded Liberalism only occurred in the west, and referred to how things ran within a state, not between them. - At the end of WWII there was an effort by the allies, on both sides of the iron curtain, to prevent a return to the events that led to the cataclysmic levels of violence in the wars. - Of the three institutions created at Bretton-Woods two only applied to the U.S. side: IMF andthe World Bank. - The U.S. was able to meet the goal of setting fixed exchange rates through the gold standard, as well as establishing the military dominance necessary to protect our sphere of influence. - Following WWII most developed states devoted much of their resources to expansion and colonialism. Following WWII states began to step in during tough times and put people to work. This was the creation of the welfare system.- Sometimes countries even intervened in industrial industries, at times even controlling them. Ex: Coal in Britain.VI. The Breakdown of Embedded Liberalism (1970s)- There was a simultaneous rise in unemployment and inflation, creating stagflation. These twonormally did not occur together. - Inflation made money less valuable and with high unemployment less revenue came in through taxes. - In 1971 the U.S., under Nixon, dropped the gold standard. European banks had been trading large sums of U.S. dollars in for gold, depleting our gold supply. - Oil Shocks became another huge problem.- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was dominated by Arab countries that did not like the U.S. following the Israeli Arab war. In response they began limiting the amount of available oil to us. The 1973 and 1976 oil strikes crippled industrial production. - This combined with the end of the gold standard