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Unit 2
Is resistance to liberalism justified?
Chapter 4
To what extent have various ideas and events shaped liberalism over time?
Aboriginal Peoples and the Early Development of Liberalism
Prior to the Europeans coming to North America, Aboriginals in eastern North America
already were practicing forms of liberalism.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy was formed between 1400 and 1600 and consists of
six different groups of Aboriginals.
Each nation has its own council and chief who address their own nations internal affairs.
The Grand Council deals with issues that affect all of the nations within the
Confederacy. All chiefs are of equal rank and authority.
All nations share a common goal – to live in harmony.
See page 97, figure 4-3 for a map of the Confederacy.
The
Haudenosaunee Confederation also had a constitution called the Great Law of
Peace.
This constitution has been passed down orally from one generation to the next.
Originally, it was to bring harmony and unity between warring nations, divide powers
between different levels of government, and establish equality among the people
(including women) in government.
It also guaranteed certain rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and
the rights of the individual.
There are some who believe that the Great Law of Peace may have influence the
American Constitution of 1787, which would later influence Canadian Confederation in
1867.
Others argue that what influenced the American constitution was European.
While there was a form of liberalism in North America prior to the contact of
Europeans, in Europe there was a very different story.
Most societies in Europe did not practice democracy or liberalism. Power and the right
to rule were meant only for the royalty, nobility and the church.
Citizens were meant to follow the laws set by their rulers.
Origins of Western Democratic Liberalism
Prior to the 1800s, many European countries were ruled with an absolute monarchy.
This meant that the king and his court had complete power over the government.
Absolute power was often abused and used to restrict individual freedoms.
By the early 1800s, many people started to challenge the idea of an absolute monarch.
Rousseau proposed that society should ensure civil rights and freedoms for individuals
in France.
Many believers in liberalism believed in:
Protection
of individual rights and freedoms
No one should be above the law
What
is good for the individual within a community can also be good for the
community as a whole
Most individuals can make good decisions for both themselves and their communities
Government intervention should be limited so that people have the freedom of choice in
their lives
Individuals and companies should be allowed to create, market, purchase, and sell
products with minimum government intervention (free-market economy)
Liberal Ideas on Political Systems
As a focus on the individual developed, liberalism also developed. This development
can be seen in the 1700s with the American and French Revolutions.
Documents such as the Declaration or the Bill of Rights expressed liberal values.
Some essential rights and freedoms which the new governments of France and the USA
were founded on are:
Participation in government
Free from excessive government control
No one is above the law
Protection and permission to exercise individual rights
Freedom to make ones own decisions
These
new governments were also the beginnings of liberal democracy. This is a
political system where all citizens are equal and that the election process is free. It would
also allow for multiple parties, have political decisions made by a democratically elected
body, and legal decisions made by a separate body.
John Stuart Mill wrote an essay called “On Liberty” to attempt to prove the benefits of
allowing individual rights as possible by limiting the role of the government.
Mills believed that the role of the government was to preserve the rule of law, protect
private property, and to ensure the security of the individual.
Evolution of Individual and Collective Rights
Feminism also came forth after the Industrial Revolution. Prior to this movement, the
ideas of liberalism did not apply to women. They were not allowed to pursue certain
types of careers or to vote.
Many women began to push for change. The “Famous Five” from Canada, fought to
have women legally declared as persons. The feminist movement also showed the
unequal treatment of people in society and helped bring forth change.
Because of the feminist movement, liberalism shifted to ensuring the basic needs, a
decent standard of living, and safety and security for all citizens.
Human rights also became a major movement after World War 2.
After the horrors that people faced during WW2, many sought change so that no one
would have to endure such tragedy again.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in 1948. It was to set the
standard on how people were treated as citizens in their countries.
There are, however, many countries that do not follow the Declaration. Many choose to
violate basic human rights. Today, other countries place economic sanctions on those
who violate human rights. Or if needed, troops will be sent in to protect those who are in
danger.
Today we live in modern liberalism. This is an ideology that addresses the concerns of
inequality and injustices that have been created by capitalism, while at the same time
focusing on individual rights.
Chapter 6
To what extent are socialism and Marxism responses to classical
liberalism?
Robert Owen (1771-1885)
Was the first British business man who felt it was the responsibility of the owners to run
profitable businesses while providing decent work conditions for the workers.
What he did: provided safe working environments, schools for children and adults,
created markets with good, nutritious foods at decent prices, basic health care, and a
voice in the operation of his textile mills.
Owens felt that if workers were treated better, that they would be more willing to make
better products.
New Lanark (where Owens mills were established) is believed to be the birth place of
socialism.
Socialism is an ideology based on the belief that collective values, such as collective
responsibility, collective interest, co-operation, equality, etc, should be the foundation for
political, economic, and social life.
Charles Fourier (1772 – 1837)
A French socialist who believed in the idea that the perfect place could be created
where people could prosper and develop to their full potential. People who believe in this
are called utopian socialists.
Fourier believed that with careful planning and organization, these utopian
communities could provide the economic, political, and social needs of the citizens
successfully.
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
Wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848 with Friedrich Engels.
He was influenced by the socialist movement and wrote about the failings of capitalism
and its negative effects on the working class.
He wrote that the working class should rise against the business owners and seize
control in regards to politics, economics, and social systems.
Marx also believed that society should be classless and that all people should be equal.
A social society would involve:
A
shift from private property to public
factories controlled by the government
Government controlled all banks through a national bank
Government controlled all means of transportation and communication
Free education for all children in public schools
All
Early Democratic Socialism
Democratic socialism came about in the late 1800s when socialists believed that
modern liberalism would not meet the needs of the people.
Democratic socialism embraces some of the ideas provided by communism such as a
classless society but without the violence.
Communism was thought to be brought about by revolution – by more violent means,
while democratic socialism would bring about change without revolution.
Democratic socialists believe in some values from liberalism, such as democracy,
freedom and individual rights.
At the same time, they felt that capitalism hindered workers’ rights and kept them from
being free.
Democratic socialists believed that the government should have control in the economy
so that everyone would be treated fairly.
In a democratic society, the government would control most key industries, support
labour rights, and provide extensive social programs (unemployment insurance, health
care, education, and child care).
Examples of Democratic Socialism in Canada
The Great Depression and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
th
The Great Depression hit the world on October 29 , 1929. It began with the crash of the
stock markets.
Many companies went bankrupt, investors lost their money, and many people lost their
jobs.
Many felt that the reason behind the crash was the lack of regulation on the economy.
Due to these conditions, many began to feel that more government intervention was
needed.
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The CFF formed in 1932 during the Depression in Calgary. In the Prairies were hit the
hardest and the CFF was created to bring about change for the people.
The goals of the CFF were to:
Provide shelters for the jobless and homeless
Job creation programs
Pensions for those who had worked all their life
Health services that were subsidized
The CCF peaked in 1944 when Tommy Douglas was elected premier of Saskatchewan
by a huge majority.
The CCF eventually became the NDP.
Even though the CCF or NDP have not had a lot of success in the federal system, a lot
of their policies are seen in Canada’s government policies today.
Socialism in Quebec
After WW2, Quebec was ruled by Premier Maurice Duplessis. He was very anticommunist and anti-union, and he promoted laissez-faire policies.
He was also for Quebec sovereignty.
As
time went on, his government began to implement more government involvement in
the economy and it also promoted more public works projects (highways, schools, and
hospitals).
After his death, Quebec sovereignty was tied to socialism. Many groups felt that the
Canadian government was oppressive and did not look after the people.
The Parti Quebecois
Rene Levesque founded the new political the Parti Quebecois. It was a separatist party
that came to power in 1976.
The PQ party introduced government social programs such as pharmacare (insurance
for perscriptions), a $7-a-day universal child care, and a parental leave program.
Chapter 7
To what extent is communism or fascism a response to liberalism?
Soviet Communism
According to the communist ideology, the collective is more important than the
individual.
It is believed, under communism, that the well-being of the individual is the
responsibility of the government, not of the individual themselves.
Values of communism:
Collective ownership of the means of production
Elimination of private property
Economic equality
Communism also promotes change through revolution rather than democratic means.
In the last 100 years, communism has developed in different countries based on
different interpretations.
In the Soviet Union, there was Marxism-Leninism and Stalinism
In China, Maoism developed.
These understandings of communism are defined by the beliefs of the leaders.
Communism focuses on the importance of collectivism to meet society’s basic needs.
Communism that developed in the 1900s believed that their needed to be a large
amount of government involvement and control to meet society’s needs.
Marx, however, believed that a true communist society did not need a government.
Russian Revolution and the Beginning of Communism in the USSR
The Failure of Liberal Reform
By the 1800s, Russia was one of the least industrialized nations in Europe.
Russia was slow to develop economically because of its large size and its focus on
subsistence agriculture – people only farm what they need to survive.
Over 90% of the population lived in poverty, while the remaining 10% lived in extreme
wealth.
Russia at this time, was ruled by a czar (tsar), who had complete control over the
political, economical, and social aspects of the country.
People did not have basic rights and the serfs were enslaved to the landowners.
In 1861, Czar Alexander II freed the serfs and began to introduce liberal reforms to the
country.
He abolished capital punishment and created local government that included
representatives from all classes (who made decisions on things like taxation and
education).
Even though Alexander had began to bring reform to Russia, for some socialists, it was
not enough. They wanted immediate change.
In March of 1881, he was assassinated by members of a radical group called the
People’s Will.
After his assassination, many of his liberal reforms were reversed and the freedoms of
the Russian people were restricted by the new czar, Alexander III.
The Rise of Socialism
During the 1800s, many industrialized European countries began to invest money to
develop Russia.
They invested money in new roads and factories, and Russia was pushed into a period
of sudden social and economic change.
Russia had began the Industrial Revolution later than the other European countries and
needed to catch up.
The nobility, business owners, and foreign investors benefited greatly from this rapid
change, while the working class did not.
Just like the working classes in Britain and America, those in Russia were also treated
poorly and were overworked in poor conditions.
By the 1900s, many Russians felt that the working class was being treated poorly and
began to turn to Marxism and The Communist Manifesto for change.
In 1898, a group of Marxists form the Socialist Democratic Labour Party but the czar
banned the group. The members were forced into exile but kept the revolutionary spirit
alive through an illegal newspaper called Iskra (Spark).
Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin were the main components of the
group.
Even though the social activists were exiled from the country, civil unrest grew among
the people in Russia.
In January 1905, the people of St. Petersburg marched to czar Nicholas’s Winter Palace
to demand for food and better working conditions.
When they arrived at the Palace, they were greeted by the czars soldiers, who opened
fired on the crowd, killing hundreds of people.
After Bloody Sunday, mass strikes occurred across the country.
In October, Nicholas II agreed to allow an assembly of the people’s representatives and
the St. Petersburg Soviet (council) was formed.
Then, Nicholas signed the October Manifesto, which allowed for the formation of
political parties and the basic civil rights of the Russian people.
The events of 1905 led to the Russian Revolution of 1917, the abdication of the czar,
civil war, and the establishment of a communist nation.
Leninism
After the forced abdication of Nicholas II, Russia was without a formal leader for the
last years of WWI.
Alexander Kerensky led the temporary government but met very little success. The
government refused to give land to the poor peasants in rural areas and also decided to
continue fighting the war (which Russia was losing at the time).
While the temporary government lost the support of the people, support for communist
and Marxist ideas grew.
In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin (leader of the Bolsheviks) called for the end of Russian
participation in the war. The slogan of the Bolsheviks was “Peace! Land! Bread!”
Many people turned their support to the Bolsheviks and in October 1917, had the
strength and power to take control of the government.
Lenin began to transform Russia into his interpretation of communism (called
Leninism).
Lenin used many of Marx’s ideas for the foundations of his political and economical
policies.
Leninism, however, differs from Marxism because Lenin believed that a strong
government was needed while Marx believed that the people did not need a government
to rule over them.
There were many people who did not support the Bolsheviks and shortly after their
takeover of government, the Bolsheviks were faced with a civil war.
The Bolshevik Red Army and the Anti-Bolshevik White Army fought for
approximately 5 years.
The White Army was supported by Britain, France, and the USA who feared Lenin and
communism.
However, in the end, the White Army was defeated, and those among their ranks were
exiled or executed.
In 1922, many republics joined Russia to create the Union of Socialist Republics
(USSR or Soviet Union), led by Lenin.
Some of the positive changes:
Land was redistributed to the people
Factories were given to the workers so that they could make decisions about wages and
working conditions
Men and women were equal
Art and music flourished as there were no longer any restrictions on what one could
create
Many people felt the benefits of Lenin’s changes to the country. However, Lenin still
felt opposition from those who did not feel like their needs were not being met.
In 1924, Lenin died from a stroke and had been seen as the Father of the Soviet Union.
Stalinism
After Lenin’s death in 1924, Leon Trotsky was to be his successor. Trotsky was an ally
of Lenin and had the same interpretation of communism as Lenin did.
However, Stalin also wanted to be leader of the Soviet Union and there was a struggle
between Trotsky and Stalin for power.
In the end, Stalin won the power struggle and sent Trotsky to exile in Mexico where he
was later assassinated.
By 1928, Stalin had complete control and had become supreme leader of the country.
While Stalin claimed to be a Marxist-Leninist, his interpretation of communism was
formed by his desire for control and absolute power.
Stalin’s form of communism meant oppression and fear for the people, not revolution
and freedom.
Stalin rejected all liberal ideas, feeling that they would only hinder the USSR and not
help achieve its goals.
Some of the policies that Stalin enforced:
Creation of the Gulag to contain those who opposed him.
Use of the secret police (NKVD) to control people and instill fear in them.
The
purges of 1936 and 1939 to eliminate all those in the Communist Party and the
Soviet armed forces who opposed him.
Rewriting Soviet history and prescribing a state view of the history of the country. (see
page 167 figures 7-8 and 7-9 for an example)
Collectivization of all farms to state or collective farms. All farms were taken by force.
The Ukraine (one of the Soviet Republics) opposed the idea of collectivization of the
farms.
As a result, Stalin targeted the Ukraine heavily. In prior years, the Ukraine had
experienced draught and had low grain output. Stalin increased the quota that the Ukraine
needed to meet and withheld the grain, which resulted in the starvation of 7 to 10 million
people.
It is said that Stalin did this to squash his opposition and to remove the resistance of
collective farms.
Stalin also did this to help industrialize the Soviet Union.
After Stalin’s death in 1953, there were many successors. And there was a division of
the world: those who supported the Soviet Union and those who did not.
This led to tension between the USA and the USSR, known as the Cold War.
By the mid-1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union. He was the
first leader to embrace liberalism. This could be seen in his policy of glasnost (openness
and greater freedoms).
Gorbachev also introduced changes to the economic and political systems of the USSR.
He moved towards a market economy, private ownership of business, and multi-party
elections. This was known as perestroika.
Fascism
The term fascism was first used by Mussolini (Italy’s leader) in 1922. It comes from the
Latin word fasces which means sticks bundled around an axe, a symbol of power and
authority in ancient Roman times.
Fascism is a dictatorship that includes extreme militaristic nationalism, a belief in the
rule of elites, and a totalitarian society in which individual interests are not as important
as those of the nation-state. Fascism also rejects the ideas of liberal democracy,
communism and socialism.
Fascism began to grow after World War One, particularly in Germany, Italy and Japan.
Many felt that liberalism had failed them and that the war was a result of liberal values.
To fascists, democratic governments were weak, unstable, and unable to solve the
social, economic, and political problems many countries faced after the Great War.
Some key principles of fascism:
Society as a whole has a shared purpose
Dominate other nations around the world
Aware of cultural distinctions
Their goal of dominating other peoples can only be achieved through discipline,
obedience, and the creation of an all powerful state.
Many fascists also turned to social Darwinism – the idea that some individuals or
groups achieve power and advantage over others because they are stronger and fitter.
They believed that there are “natural” inequalities among individuals and therefore
there should be a division among the people.
Social
Darwinism also looked at improving the human species through selective
breeding and genocide.
Fascists used social Darwinism to justify policies that discriminated against other
groups and to use violence against these groups.
Fascism and Germany
Germany became a unified country in 1871 with Otto von Bismarck as its leader. A
unified Germany presented itself as a challenge to other European powers.
Germany entered World War One as an ally to Austria. The war did not go as Germany
had planned and in the end, Germany lost.
With the end of the war, came a new liberal democratic government for Germany,
called the Weimar Republic.
The Weimar Republic was forced to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which
included harsh punishments for Germany.
The Treat included the following terms:
Germany must give up some of its own territory and all of its colonies.
Germany must accept responsibility for causing all of the loss and damage to Allied
governments
Germany must pay approximately US$4.5 billion (at the time) in reparations to the
Allied governments between 1919 and 1921 and an additional US$18 billion after.
Even though Germany was forced to accept the terms of the Treaty, the government
could not afford to pay the reparations that it demanded. By 1923, Germany stopped
paying them.
At the same time, the German government had printed massive amounts of the German
mark, which in turn made the value of the mark decrease. The people of Germany face
hyperinflation.
The Weimar Republic face hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and a drop in the
standard of living. These were things that a liberal democracy had never face before.
The 1930s brought the Great Depression, and nearly 5 million Germans were
unemployed. Many people blamed the democratic government for their problems.
There was also political chaos at this time. The Weimar Republic had no strong leaders
or clear leadership of the country. It also lost the support of many Germans because it had
accepted the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
As support for the Weimar Republic dropped, support for new political parties began to
rise. One of these parties was the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party or the
Nazi Party.
While economic and political factors contributed to the rise of Hitler and fascism, there
was also an extreme fear of communism that led to his rise. The people did not want a
communist revolution such as the one in Russia, so they turned to the other ideology that
rejected liberalism – they turned to fascism.
Hitler and the rise of Nazism
Hitler began his rise to power in the Nazi party in the 1920s.
By 1923, he decided that the only way to gain power in Germany was to take it by
force. After his attempt to take control of the government failed, Hitler was tried and sent
to prison. At the same time, the Nazi party was banned.
While
in prison, Hitler wrote his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which described his
understandings of fascism and that would influence the fascist movement in Germany.
In 1925, Hitler was released from prison after promising to use legal means to promote
his ideas and politics. At the same time, the ban on the Nazi party was also lifted and
within 2 years, support for the party had grown.
Hitler blamed many people and groups for the troubles that Germany was facing. Some
of the groups included the Weimar government, communists, the Jewish population, and
other minority groups.
Nazi support continued to grow.
In January of 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, leader of the democratically
elected government.
One month later, the German Parliament building (the Reichstag) was on fire, and a
member of the Communist Party was found inside.
Hitler used this chance to blame the Communists for the destruction of the Reichstag,
and used the peoples fear of communism to take further control of the country.
Hitler made it out that the communists were planning a revolution with the burning of
the Reichstag – the people feared this.
With the turmoil occurring, a snap election was called and the Nazi Party became the
party with the most seats in parliament.
Hitler then passed the Enabling Act, and any opposition was wiped out, as well as many
individual rights and freedoms.
Germany was now a dictatorship.
Nazism uses fascism but with the added belief that there was one superior race, the
Aryans.
Hitler used many techniques to ensure the support of the German people such as
propaganda, youth movements, elimination of the opposition, the use of terror and force
(the SA – storm troopers and the SS – Schutzstaffel), and the use of scapegoats.
Hitler also encouraged the rejection of liberalism and its values.
He used fascism to take away the rights and freedoms from those who he deemed as not
part of his ideal society. For example, he targeted the Jewish population, Roma, people
with mental or physical disabilities, homosexuals, and those who opposed Hitler’s rule
(communists, democratic socialists, feminists, etc)
The group that Hitler focused on most – the Jewish population.
The Jewish population was blamed for a lot of Germany’s hardships even though they
only made up 1% of the whole German population.
Hitler believed that northern European “Aryans” were superior and that the Jewish
peoples and others were inferior, therefore they needed to be removed.
In 1935, Hitler passed the Nuremberg Laws to define who was Jewish and who was not
in order to preserve the “pure Aryan” or master race.
In November of 1938, the Night of the Broken Glass or Kristallnacht occurred and
many Jewish people were sent to concentration camps.
After this night, many others were sent to the concentration camps and by the end of
World War Two, approximately 6 million Jewish people were killed of the 9 million that
had resided in Europe.
Hitler did not only target the Jewish population. In the end nearly 14 million people
died in the camps. They included Polish people, Soviet POWs, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and
anyone who opposed Nazi beliefs or values.
Nazism rejected the political values and beliefs of liberalism. It was a dictatorship that
limited the rights and freedoms of individuals. The state was the primary concern of
Hitler and the Nazi’s, not the people.
Similarities of Communism and Fascism
Both are anti-democratic and elitist in practice, in both the USSR and Nazi Germany
the leader was glorified and given unlimited powers
Both emphasize the collective good over individual rights and freedoms
Both are willing to use force and terror and use secret police to enforce their one party
rule
Both are willing to use scapegoating
Both used controlled participation. E.g. in both the USSR and Nazi Germany
membership in the ruling party ensured success, and although elections were held
regularly, the elections did not allow for free choice or a secret ballot.
Both used propaganda and indoctrination. E.g. in the USSR and Nazi Germany,
totalitarian control was common. Media and education, as well as other areas of life were
controlled by the government. All information was controlled by the government.
Organizations for young people like the Hitler Youth or the Young Pioneers (USSR)
helped to indoctrinate the youth.
Differences of Communism and Fascism
Communism
Based on ideas by Marx and Lenin
A form of left wing dictatorship
Stresses reason and logic
Believes in equality
Emphasizes internationalism
Stresses public ownership
Emphasizes class struggle (rich vs. poor)
Appeals to the working class, especially
the poor
Fascism
Based on the ideas of Hitler and
Mussolini
A form of right wing dictatorship
Stresses emotion
Believes in inequality
Emphasizes nationalism
Emphasizes private ownership
Emphasizes racial struggle (Aryans vs.
others)
Appeals to industrialists, militarists,
middle class