#1 Summary of Contents
2020 has become a deeply a turbulent year for global history. Wars in the Middle East have been with us now for nearly two decades and the movement of people East and West to find work or to flee war and oppression seem never-ending. Now, almost out of nowhere, an existential threat to all our futures arises: the climate crisis. On top of this is the global pandemic of Covid-19; and finally, the murder of one black American man at the hands of the police which has motivated thousands to join protests for social justice across the world. Each of these crises is global, and each crisis is understood in the media separately.
I wrote a long book titled: Wealth and Power: Global Transformation and Destruction Over 500 years, from 1500 to the Present Day to make sense of the many issues that flood our everyday consciousness. This is a book that would show the connectedness of our present-day world and offer historical context to the crises of racism, war and global conflict. With the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others sparking a global outcry which has driven many to strive for change, I decided to publish the book as a free blog here which can be shared with a wider audience.
Wealth and Power is about the Atlantic slave trade, the Chinese and Indian opium trades, and key components of Western European imperialism and colonialism over 400 years. The book also discusses imperialism and colonialism in Japan and the USA in the 19th century and thereafter.
Wealth and Power is highly relevant to the crises confronting the world right now as it covers:
The rising of Black, Asian and Indigenous communities demanding social justice
The clash of Empires as China exerts herself and the USA resists
The threat of a recession, not unlike that of the Great Depression
To make the book readable, I have divided it into 5000-word chunks that will be published as a blog post, and each will have a short introduction. My first blog includes the details of the table of contents. Have a read and decide if you wish to sign up and receive regular updates.
Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg
Summary of Contents
The blogs began life as a book with a table of contents, the table of contents has been reproduced. Please click on any title below that interests you, the blog will then open in a new tab.
Volume One
Slavery, Monopoly, Colonialism and the Struggle for Political Transformation to Urban Capitalism 1492 to 1914
Part One: Our World Turned Upside Down
Our World Turned Upside Down: An Overview of 500 Years
Globalisation: The Silk Road; Trade from East and Central Asia through Russia, and The Mediterranean
The Struggle for the True Religion in Europe: The Renaissance and Reformations
The French Revolution and the Struggles for Political Transformation
Part Two: Understanding Colonialism
Understanding Colonialism: Globalisation from 1492
Understanding Colonialism: The Destruction of the European Feudal System
Understanding Colonialism: The Key Role of Slavery from 1492 to 1875
The First Age of Monopoly
The New Globalisation: The Age of Monopoly Global Companies
The Early Monopoly Companies and Colonisation
Competitive Colonialism & Defending Colonies
Invasion, Settlement, Slaves and Colonisation
Invasion, Settlement, Slaves and Colonisation
The Age of Nationalism and Racism
Death and Impoverishment
Understanding Colonialism: Death and Impoverishment Part I
Understanding Colonialism: Death and Impoverishment Part II
Understanding Colonialism: Death and Impoverishment Part III
Colonisation in the 19th and 20th centuries
Indian Colonialism: A Special Case from 1600 to 1914
Russian Colonisation: Another Special Case
Understanding Colonialism: Africa (Part I)
Understanding Colonialism: Africa (Part II)
Understanding Colonialism: Settler and non-Settler Colonies
Part Three: Transformation to Urban Industrial Capitalism
Transformation to Urban Industrial Capitalism
A Transformative Timeline: Transformation and Destruction
Transformation is Revolutionary
Transformation and Western Social Science
War, Revolution and the Struggle for European Domination 1750 to 1815
The French Revolution, Napoleon and the Beginnings of Transformation Across Europe
European Transformation and World Power
The Nineteenth Century: Part 1
Industrialisation and Technological Transformation
Finance, Banking and the Gold Standard: a Privatised National Money Market
Catching Up and Falling Behind
The Nineteenth Century: Part 2
Monopoly Cartels: Concentration of Capital
Industrialisation: the USA and Germany
Colonisation Renewed: The Struggle for Global Dominance in the 19th Century
Part Four: Understanding the wars of 1914 to 1945
1914 to 1945 Global Destruction
Introduction: 1914 to 1945 Global Destruction
Was Germany Responsible for Starting the War?
Geopolitics and Racial World Dominance
The Primary Geopolitical Framework
Could Britain have been solely responsible for the 1914 war?
The World in Turmoil, 1914 to 1945: War, Revolution Crisis and Destruction
The Global Geo-Political context 1914-1945
War and Global Capitalism in Structural Change
Global Structural Change as a Consequence of the 1914-1918 War
The Invasion of the Ottoman Middle East and Arab Oil
The Balfour Declaration and the Palestinian Question
A Vassal State in the 20th Century
Unforeseen Consequences - Part 1
The Loss of Global Financial Control
The Collapse of the British Empire
The Growth of the Japanese Empire
The USA Takes World Power part II
Chapter 15: The Rise of Hitler: Unforeseen Consequences - part 2
Understanding Nazism and Hitler as a Millenarian Movement
The Jewish Holocaust: Racism's final Horror
German Racism and her Intellectuals
Part Five: Transformation and Destruction Continued: The Struggle for Wealth and Power in the 20th and 21st Centuries
1945 to 2020: The Big Picture
World Power: the Birds-eye View of Major Change
Global Structural Change 1945 -2020
Independence, Democracy Freedom from Colonial Rule
American Imperial Rule: American Intervention, Colonialism and Foreign Policy
Arabic Mesopotamia
The Chinese Revolution
Appendices
Competitive Advantage defined
Controlling the Peace: The Re-establishment of World Power 1945-1955
Preface
Introduction: The USA: The Beginnings of World Power
1945: Chaos throughout Europe and Japan
Winning the Peace
The Global Architecture and US Dominance
Restarting the German and Japanese economies
Germany and KfW
Japan and DBJ
USA: McCarthyism
The Korean and Vietnamese Wars
The Cold War 1945-1989: Containment or a Battle to the Death
The War Against Socialism in the USA
The Cold Aar Against the USSR
The War Against Socialism in the rest of the World.
Independence Struggles in the 'Third World'
The Global Economic Struggle: Wealth and Power and the State in 20th and 21st Century
Introduction: A framework of the world economy in the 21st century
1945-1971
Economic Recovery in Europe: The European Union and the Welfare States
Tax Havens and the World's Rich
The Trades Unions, Radical Publishers and the European Union before Neo-liberalism
1971-2020: Economic Normality The Market and Neo-Liberalism
Gold, Dollars and World Trade
Monopoly and Oligopoly
Inequality
The Growth and Growth of China 1949-2020: The New Contender State
Introduction
China's long history
China between 1900 and 1949
Chinese Economic Growth 1949-2020
Chinese Foreign Policy and the rest of the world
Introduction: Chinese history and Foreign Policy
Chinese Foreign Policy in the 21st century
The Struggle for World Supremacy 1899 to 2020: Part 1
The Struggle for World Supremacy from 1945 to 2020: Part 1
The Creation of Israel: Some Consequences
The Old Colonies, Development and Underdevelopment
Nigeria and the Congo
The Middle East and the War on Terror
The Afghan wars and Empire
Jihad and the Rise of Radical Islamic Ideas
Conclusion: The Struggle for World Supremacy Part 2
Introduction
The Post-1945 World: Colonialism and Postcolonialism
American Global Ideology
The Russian Revolution and the Threat of Socialism
The Most Powerful Nation in the World
American and China and The Struggle for Global Hegemony
Appendices
Definitions
Methodology
Comparable books
I wrote a long book titled: Wealth and Power: Global Transformation and Destruction Over 500 years, from 1500 to the Present Day to make sense of the many issues that flood our everyday consciousness. This is a book that would show the connectedness of our present-day world and offer historical context to the crises of racism, war and global conflict.