The Axis and Allied Nations - Present Tense

THE AXIS AND ALLIED NATIONS – PRESENT TENSE


The Second World War truncated the Axis nations of Germany, Japan and Italy to depressed economies whilst it converted the Allied nations into war-mongers always willing to bomb some third world country or other for robbing them of their mineral resources or hydrocarbon resources and in many cases for just plain bullying!


The USA went on to form its own blocs like NATO, NAFTA and others whilst the erstwhile USSR went on to drape an iron curtain to divide Europe (after robbing most of the gold and precious artworks) and form the Soviet bloc to start a Cold War which lasted for many decades till the 1980’s. The Cold War begat a large bunch of toothless treaties between the USA & USSR which, in turn, lent them license to build huge caches of arms (including the nuclear variety) and behave like untamed bullies.


The USA having felt guilty enough after robbing the Axis nations, went on to make provisions for their economies to be rejuvenated by arm twisting UK, France and other nations to pay for the revival and keep its own liabilities to the minimum. The USSR though, had no such qualms of conscience and continued to rob the member nations of the Soviet bloc and turned them into slave economies. They re-invented the October Revolution and created a super-rich ruling class whose members stashed away all the ill gotten gains from the slave economies in isolated and expansive dachas!


The Japanese did not lose time and quickly set off an industrial revolution by adopting a policy of importing, deconstructing, copying and reconstructing! And to make their products more attractive on the price front, they came up with astounding supply chain and logistics management techniques such as JIT and others which when used in association with extremely efficient assembly line techniques drastically cut down their cost of production. This was then underlined by a manufacturing/design policy of ‘use and throw’ which meant that any and all of their products were rendered BER (Beyond Economic Repair) in a short span of 5 years or less! The former led to a huge demand for their products due to price advantages and the latter ensured a continuation in demand due to the product lifespan being short. And by the 1960’s, their economy was up and running.


In contrast, Germany, which already had a sound industrial & technology base built upon the same and went in for a policy of producing high quality goods which were reliable and long lasting. This enabled them to set very high standards in pricing and with their marketing skills was able to create a huge demand for their products. Their economy was also up and running in a short span of time after the war.


The Italians, on the other hand, continued to fumble around as they did under Mussolini and were never able to give direction to their economy and are still floundering today thanks in large measures to people like Berlusconi! Is there then more to be learnt from the Axis countries than the others? Japan and Germany taught the world what to do and how to get it right and the Italians taught the world what not to do! Even today, with the financial crises pounding most of the world economies, Germany stands strong and Japan has been able to make a recovery despite a severe recession and having to face various natural and man-made calamities.


Amongst the allied nations, the USSR broke up because it could not sustain its bullying ways and the USA along with many of its NATO allies is in the throes of recession. The Non-Aligned Movement started by Nehru-Nasser-Tito to avoid being involved in the Cold War is dead and most of its members are now aligned with the USA or Russia or China. What about us the Indians – we were ridiculed because of our reluctance to fast forward our economy after gaining Independence and were even termed as having a ‘Hindu’ rate of growth. Today, we along with China, Brazil and South Africa are having the last laugh and playing a key role in guiding the first world economies despite most of our resources being stolen by the British, the French, the Portuguese, the Dutch and before them the Mongols and others whilst the present day thieves are stashing it away in the tax havens of the world!