The historical and political evidence film "The Rise of Great Powers" and its series tell the development path and lessons of nine world powers since AD 1500 from an objective and fair perspective, trying to inspire Chinese people to think about the road of the rise of great powers and let history illuminate the future journey.
I. Review of Great Powers
1, Portugal and Spain
The key factors of Portugal's rise are the unified and powerful national regime and the emphasis on science. Portugal implemented the navigation strategy in the name of the country, so with the help of the country, they established the first navigation school for mankind, organized scientific research and carried out navigation practice. With the support of national financial resources, material resources and talents, the accumulation of scientific research and practice enabled the Portuguese to dominate the ocean and carve up the world at the earliest, thus obtaining rich returns. Spain, like Portugal, seized the historical opportunity, made navigation a national strategy, and eventually became a maritime power and began to colonize overseas.
/kloc-In the 6th century, driven by interests, Portugal and Spain went to sea in succession, and gained rich returns through overseas colonization. This is a successful epic of the navigator's fearless exploration spirit and a successful epic of national strategy. However, this method is not sustainable. Because we don't pay attention to our own industry and commerce, great wealth flows into the Iberian Peninsula like the tide, and then recedes like the tide.
2. Netherlands
/kloc-In the 5th century, the Netherlands, a small country with a population of only one million, built its country through industry and commerce and achieved national prosperity. The Dutch are very aware of their strategic positioning, and have achieved great economic benefits and social development through differentiated international division of labor and institutional innovation. In the era of geographical discovery, they didn't have strong political power and enough human resources to plunder overseas directly, and the road of transportation and trade development they chose was very suitable for their reality. In the right direction, we must have core competitiveness, and institutional innovation is the weapon for the Netherlands to win. 1609, Amsterdam established the first stock exchange, bank and later credit system. They innovatively invented many commercial systems, which still exist today. However, they not only reformed the commercial system, but also established a "country that endowed the merchant class with full political rights" and "they bought autonomy from the nobles like buying goods".
The Netherlands focuses on business, establishes core competitiveness and establishes a business empire through institutional innovation. At the same time, these systems transform national capital into national wealth, and people's lives are as rich and comfortable as Dutch chefs painted by Vermeer in the17th century. However, Holland is a small country after all. With the rise of great powers, the Netherlands gradually left the center of the historical stage.
3. Britain, Britain
As the earliest modern country, the history of Britain for nearly 500 years is the history from childhood to adulthood. The rise of Britain began with the victory of the great naval battle between Britain and the West. In 16 and 17 centuries, he took the lead in starting the industrialization process, made major breakthroughs in scientific theory and engineering practice, established a modern democratic country system and a modern economic order, and naturally became the world development leader in 18 and 19 centuries.
Watt made the steam engine, and Bolton (Watt's partner) made the power. This is the power to push mankind from the first wave to the second wave, and it is the patent system that urges ambitious capitalists and talented inventors to jointly create this power. Similarly, the practice of capitalist society under the guidance of Adam's secret sutra theory has also made rapid progress in the 18 and 19 centuries. Britain has established a visible free trade policy and economic model with its invisible hand, and has become the factory of the world, thus ruling the world. In terms of state system, after the king was guillotined, he established a constitutional monarchy with a glorious revolution without bloodshed. This peaceful reform model has enabled British society to make continuous progress at no cost.
With the advantages of modern industrial and commercial system and national system and the military strength of real powers, Britain dominates the world and dominates the modern world pattern. However, the huge colonies also became a huge burden for Britain. Coupled with the inherent defects of the free economy, Britain has been surpassed by Germany and the United States.
4. France
The rise of France is as romantic as the French. France has written a unique and brilliant chapter in the history of a world power because of its ideological and cultural achievements. Under the guidance of the ideas of freedom, equality and fraternity, France, the most powerful monarchy at that time, completed the great transformation from absolute monarchy to the promotion of human rights, and behind this transformation was the power of culture and art, which was a great nation that knew how to respect ideas, and thus produced great ideas. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, France developed classical art to its peak in architecture, painting, drama and dance, and at the same time, great thinkers were born in the salon of the lady's living room.
France gracefully transformed soft power into hard power, making it a big country. Although the Second World War delayed the development of France, it quickly regained its status as a great power after the war.
5. Germany
German unification was promoted by economist Lester, who promoted economic unification, and then Bismarck realized German political unification in 187 1. Due to attaching great importance to national education and academic freedom guaranteed by the state, the rise of rising star Germany "has long been decided on the podium of primary school teachers." When the relatively peaceful international environment created by Bismarck won valuable development opportunities for Germany after reunification, Germany's total industrial output value exceeded the sum of European countries in just 40 years. Germany has produced many scientists and philosophers, and intelligence has become the most important resource of this country. Britain started the second wave, but Germany led the second wave. ,
As the source of the two world wars, Germany itself is also the biggest victim. After World War II, Germany split again, and 1990 Germany was unified. The experience of two defeats made Germany realize that the road to conquer the world by force was not established, but it was a fire.
6. Japan
Historically, Japanese students have been studying in China for a long time. From 1853, they opened the door to learn from Europe and America. First shocked by the material development of the West, then intoxicated by the spiritual civilization of the West, and finally obsessed with the learning system, Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War and became a great country 40 years later. In the process of total westernization from scratch, Japan is facing great pain of social, cultural, economic and political system transformation. Through the Constitution of the Great Japanese Empire, Ito Bowen resolved conflicts by law, recognized civil rights, and at the same time gave the emperor (a symbol of traditional culture) supreme power, and Chinese and Western cultures were well integrated in Japan.
Japan's war of aggression against China played a key role in its rise. Through the Sino-Japanese War, Japan gained valuable capital. In World War II, Japan was defeated and the whole country was almost in ruins. But at this time, Japan has completed modernization, accumulated rich soft power and talents, and quickly restored its post-war status as a big country.
7. Russia
Russia's modernization process was brutally promoted by Peter the Great, which completely interrupted the process of its own cultural evolution. Forty years after the death of Peter the Great, yekaterina inherited his unfinished business. Different from Peter, she developed education, cultivated enlightenment ideas and gave freedom to nobles with the delicacy unique to women. Yekaterina achieved Russia's powerful military empire through internal autocratic expansion, but it did not change the essence of Russian society.
The Soviet Union, a brand-new country initiated by Lenin, was industrialized in Stalin's time. The new country and planned economy model based on the ideology of * * * have greatly inspired the people's enthusiasm for building the country. When the capitalist world was in deep economic crisis, the Soviet Union stood out, and it took only 20 years to complete the journey of industrialization. Complete government intervention is in sharp contrast to complete free economy, as are ideology and people's livelihood. Until Stalin's death, people's livelihood did not improve significantly, and the per capita output of food and meat was not as good as that of the tsarist era.
It was ideology and people's livelihood that eventually led to the disintegration and liberation of the Soviet Union. Roman Roland saw this, but the Soviet Union's superstition of planned economy and the unified ideology behind it lost the opportunity of self-improvement of the socialist system.
8. America
Since its birth, the United States has been like a testing ground for human civilization. The American dream created without historical burdens is almost perfect, and the ideas of autonomy, democracy and legal system are innate. The history of the establishment and development of the United States is the history of the continuous improvement of laws, from the Declaration of Independence, the first constitution, to the patent law and homestead law, from legal procedures to legal entities, all of which correspond to universal values.
In the 20th century, it was these values that led to the progressive movement and made the government intervene in the barbaric free economy. Through social security system, minimum wage law, welfare law, government employment and other measures, Roosevelt's New Deal assumed the responsibility of ensuring the economic security of the American people, supported people to obtain economic freedom, and enabled citizens to enjoy "freedom in the name of want". Roosevelt practiced Keynes's theory and corrected the defects of free economy.
The United States, with its visible and invisible hands, guides the free people to create great material wealth and spiritual wealth. As the largest country in the world today, the United States is leading the third wave, and the production and lifestyle of human beings are undergoing rapid transformation.
Second, think about the road.
But as the film says, there are different opinions on the road to the rise of great powers. Looking back on this magnificent history of 500 years, there are many things worth pondering. In the interview with the elites of big countries in the twelfth episode of Thinking on the Avenue, we talked about the following factors that make big countries become big countries: nation-state, maritime superiority, strong economy, mutual trust between people and leaders, certain military strength, certain internal cohesion, institutional innovation, openness and being good at learning. The process and methods of the rise of great powers include military expansion, economic expansion, overseas colonization, export of cultural values, learning and innovation, and the integration of national culture and foreign culture.
Historians and political elites of various countries have one thing in common. They generally agree that the influence of ideology and culture on the rise of great powers is the foundation of the rise of great powers, and education is the most basic. Great powers attach importance to education without exception, and have established a relaxed ideological and cultural atmosphere without exception. Only people with free thoughts can release great passion and energy under the guidance of national strategy, thus producing great dazzling wealth and colorful culture.
In the past, human civilization crawled in childhood, but in the modern 500 years, human beings have moved from walking to running, while in contemporary times, it is an era of flying. How to seize the historical opportunity, realize the rise of great powers and regain the dignity of the Chinese nation is the theme of this film.
Third, the great cause of enlightenment.
A big country before World War II 60 years ago is still a big country, even if the country is divided, even if the home is deserted, even if the people are displaced. As long as there is a peaceful sky, these countries and people will bloom brilliantly.
The century-old modern history of China, which began at 1840, is a century-old history of humiliation, in which countless Chinese elites reflect and explore. History chose capitalism to create red China, and Socialism with Chinese characteristics was formed after the reform and opening up. Under the guidance of the idea of letting some people get rich first, the great economic vitality released in 30 years has made China's huge economic volume, and China, as an economic power, has begun to exert its influence on the world stage. Then China's social transformation has just begun, the modernization process is not over yet, and various social contradictions are acute and prominent.
Our nine-year compulsory education school still collects fees from students. Hundreds of years ago, European and American powers implemented free education and only fined parents of children who were absent from school. When our universities became more and more administrative, European emperors donated palaces to universities and accepted the condition that they should not interfere with academics. When our parents were still worried about their children's schooling, the yellow school bus in the United States, which was safer than Hummer, had been driving for hundreds of years, and the presidential car had to make way for it.
Education has brought up high-quality people, which is the most precious resource in 2 1 century and the source of soft power. With the rapid development of modern high technology, the production efficiency of material wealth is extremely high, and the socially necessary labor time in Marx's Das Kapital presents geometric differences due to the differences of people. Indicators used to measure the strength of a big country, such as railway mileage, annual steel output, heavy industry capacity, etc. Now it is replaced by R&D ability, innovation ability and cultural influence. Behind these soft powers are the active people's thoughts and the prosperity of culture, and the resulting creativity and vitality will make the society full of vitality, and the superstructure such as economy and legal system will be improved. The road to great powers in history has revealed this point many times.
China was ahead of the world with its ancient wisdom 500 years ago, and the drastic changes brought by the information revolution are no less than another world war. May our country and nation seize the historical opportunity and achieve a peaceful rise.