Question

How has the nature of global capitalism changed across the 20th century?

Answer 1

Modern Capitalism was born during Industrial Revolution in Great Britain at the end of 18th C and was spread in other European nations, America and Oceania in the first half of 19thC

Bu opening of 20thC, European Imperial powers joined by US, Puerto Rico and Philippiness created a world in their image. 5/6th of the inhabited world was linked together by global trade financed heavily by British banks and capital markets.

At the start of 20thC, First World War shattered the global capitalist system based on European Imperialism. First World World economically weakened European powers. As predicted by Keynes, trade and financial imbalances. It took rest of the century to create a comparable system to take its place. Rest of the Europe in 1920s was a time to rebuild the foundation of the capitalist economy.

By the start of 1929, pre First World War normalcy was more or less reestablished but then the Great Depression happened leading to the biggest collapse of capitalist economies during the 200 years from the start of Industrial Revolution till today. Financial troubles brought down several banks in Europe and US in early 1930s.The economic crisis in Europe was the opening for the rise of Nazism in Germany and with Hilter’s rise to power which led to Second WW. Second WW finished the European conflagration started in First WW with great impact on world economy.

Much of the world arrived at capitalist institutions the hard way. By 1990s almost the entire world adopted the fundamental elements of males economy including private ownership at the core of the economy

Snuggles between first world (capitalist) and the second world (socialist) economies was even more complex with developing countries opting for political non alignment and an economic third way between capitalism and socialism. Third World fared better than the second world during economic stagnation in 1960. By 1980 most of the third world fell into a state of state insolvency mainly because export earnings were never enough for imports and hence went into a state of debt.

US after his victory in Second WW hoped for emergence of a new world economic system based on the newly established international institutions of United Nations (including World Bank and IMF). US strongly supported a return to democratic capitalism in western Europe and Japan through extensive aid programs and military backing. US, Eurpe and Japan also pursued step by step trade liberalisation through a series of negotiations on tarriff reductions.

By the end of the 20th C, almost all the nations in the world including the poorest ones have adopted the basic framework of modern capitalism. 21st C opens with an international system that can be fairly characterised as a global capitalism, though this system has elements of social conflict and political contestation at national and international levels.