History of Germany, Japan, and Russia, Comparing

¶ … history of Germany, Japan, and Russia, comparing it with that of Mexico in the time-Period 1919-1945.

GERMANY, JAPAN, RUSSIA, AND MEXICO

One of the most interesting parallels between Mexico and the other countries in question is the way the people of Mexico reacted to what was happening in their country. Mexico, with its distinct peasant and upper-class populations, was ripe for changed during this time. "A veneer of Mexican culture scarcely overcomes the distance between the Mexican peasant and the Mexican citizen. The Mexican peasant, like peasants everywhere, lives in one world, the Mexican citizen in another" (Gran 160). However, while Russia, Japan, and Germany turned to socialism and dictatorship, Mexico turned to socialism for a time during the rule of Cardenas, but rejected it for a capitalistic democracy, much influenced by the United States. Cardenas' administration "expropriated U.S. And British oil companies. President Roosevelt and his ambassador to Mexico at the time, Josephus Daniels, resisted oil company and State Department pressure to punish Mexico and succeeded in resolving the conflict in an amicable way" (Jones 417). In fact, Mexico became a U.S. ally when the U.S. entered the war.

Between 1919 and 1945, Germany became one of the most powerful nations on Earth, if only for a time, but it had a very shaky beginning. From 1919 through 1923, the Weimar Republic was a new form of government in Germany, but it faced numerous problems. The Weimar Republic was a result of yet another revolution, the German revolution of 1918. After 1924, the Weimar Republic was replaced, and a young writer named Adolph Hitler began to speak to the people and gain their support. By the 1930s, Germany was in economic depression, and more people began to listen to Hitler's thoughts, and join his party, the Nazis. Hitler wanted to control the world, and his first step was to invade Poland in 1939, beginning the European war. For a time, Mexico and Germany were allies, Germany relied on Mexican oil, but when Germany blew up two Mexican oil tankers in 1942, Mexico declared war on Germany.

Mexico and Russia were also allies before World War II, and in fact, both countries faced revolutions about the same time. While history has connected the two revolutions for decades, many historians now refute the connections.

To set the historical record straight, Lippmann explained that "this revolution, which is loosely called Bolshevik and is often ascribed by careless writers to the Russian Communists, was fought out and consummated while the Czar was still on the throne of Russia. The new Mexican Constitution, which embodies the results of the revolution, went into effect on May 1, 1917, over six months before Lenin seized the government of Russia" (Spenser and Katz 134).

Russia underwent the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, and became a socialist state under Lenin. After Lenin took power, Russia, who also had a huge peasant population like Mexico, transformed from an agrarian country into an industrialized nation.

Germany and Russia were both under the influence of the First World War as their own countries began social and political upheaval. Their countries were in ruins and facing inflation and economic depression. These situations made it easy for someone like Hitler to take power in Germany. The people wanted change, and saw Hitler as a source of revolution. In fact, after Hitler took power, he imposed more rules and regulations on the Germans than they had ever had before.

Japan, like Germany went from a democracy to a dictatorship, and hoped to gain world dominance. They invaded China in 1931, and when the League of Nations protested, they withdrew from the League. By 1936, Japan had signed an "anti-communism" agreement with Germany and Italy, and "in September 1940 the empire concluded a tripartite alliance with Germany and Italy, the so-called Rome-Berlin Axis, pledging mutual and total aid for a period of ten years" (Mayer), and their fate was sealed with the Nazis. This put them in direct conflict with the U.S. And her allies, including Mexico.

While Mexico had its share of Communists and Bolsheviks throughout the 20s and 30s, the country ultimately sided with the United States and democracy, gradually growing disenchanted with socialism and Lenin.

Whereas the conservative governing elite saw the need to accept the inevitability of neighborly relations with the United States and the consequences of the latter's economic superiority, the leftist elite grew disillusioned with the Soviet Union and its influence over the Mexican Communists. The attacks by the Soviet press on the Mexican government offended those who once admired the Bolshevik Revolution and were inspired by the accomplishments they thought it had achieved (Spenser and Katz 178).

Just as Russia was trying to leave behind the 19th century world of the peasant farmer, so was Mexico struggling to become more industrialized and less agrarian, and the United States was always there to lend a helping hand in this regard. During the Second World War, Mexico sent workers to the U.S. under the "bracero" program, and supplied oil to the war effort.

While Mexico's principal contribution as an ally to the war effort was to supply the United States with increasing quantities of strategic resources and laborers, it also sent an air squadron that saw action against the Japanese in the Philippines and in Formosa. Almost a quarter of a million Mexicans living in the United States entered the American military, and fourteen thousand of them saw combat (Jones 429).