GERMANY: FROM CHAOS TO STABILITY
JUHEE BHATT
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
20th century Germany has experienced a seemingly endless succession of traumas: World War 1; the inadequate Weimar Republic; the vengeful Treaty of Versailles; the hyperinflation of the 1920s paired with the stock market crash of 1929; the evils of fascism, and the consequential World War II; the division of two hostile states; and most recently the collapse of GDR resulting in final unification. The twisted road towards democracy, needless to say, has faced many obstacles and yet, Germany remains an unquestionable haven for parliamentary democracy. The pathway to Germany’s democratic success has not been linear process; rather, the rapid and immediate succession …show more content…
Vigilante and communists groups such as the Freikorps, consisted of former soldiers, contributed to the domestic crisis and clashed openly on streets. The armed uprising perpetuated upheaval from both left and right activists, and in the spring of 1920 Berlin was seized by 5,000 Freikorp troops. Defiance became a norm as chaos settled, and other vigilante groups took over (Turk 102-03/Furbrook 298). Many groups like the Freikorps show the lack of fraternity as soldiers felt their efforts in the war went to complete waste, and all the while many Germans were simply taking the blame for the atrocities. The Weimar culture was both complex and divided, making it weak to sustain the new Republic. There was a left wing—artists and writers like Georg Grosz, Kurt Tucholsky, Arnold Döblin and many others—who attacked bourgeois capitalistic society, and a right wing—intellectuals like Ernst Jünger and Möller von den Bruck who criticized parliamentary democracy (Wende 133). The opposing viewpoints and the violent vigilante groups such as the Freikorps showed the lack of harmonious unity within the Germany society. The ideas of Heimat that were once so apparent, and the efforts to compromise faded as the Weimar Republic began to crumble, and the dark age of Germany …show more content…
Ideas of unity were less onerous after the fall of the Third Reich as many people bonded through the sentiment and hardships. The end of the war signaled a shift in geographical matters as military operations resulted in the Soviet Union occupying the eastern part of Germany and most of Eastern Europe. As the Cold War emerged, not only did Europe become divided but also Germany, along with the country’s capital Berlin. The Berlin Wall ran through the center of the city symbolized the division within Germany split between a communist regime and parliamentary West Germany. The actual physical split within Germany through the creation of the Berlin Wall in 1961 served as an obstacle in allowing fraternity to flourish within Germany. West Germany and East Germany tensions could be seen as the two regions were disconnected through means of transportations. Though East Germany was run under communism, West Germany made great efforts to implement ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity; the Basic Law had intentions to serve as a provisional constitution and parliamentary elections were held and the Adanauer era
JUHEE BHATT
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
20th century Germany has experienced a seemingly endless succession of traumas: World War 1; the inadequate Weimar Republic; the vengeful Treaty of Versailles; the hyperinflation of the 1920s paired with the stock market crash of 1929; the evils of fascism, and the consequential World War II; the division of two hostile states; and most recently the collapse of GDR resulting in final unification. The twisted road towards democracy, needless to say, has faced many obstacles and yet, Germany remains an unquestionable haven for parliamentary democracy. The pathway to Germany’s democratic success has not been linear process; rather, the rapid and immediate succession …show more content…
Vigilante and communists groups such as the Freikorps, consisted of former soldiers, contributed to the domestic crisis and clashed openly on streets. The armed uprising perpetuated upheaval from both left and right activists, and in the spring of 1920 Berlin was seized by 5,000 Freikorp troops. Defiance became a norm as chaos settled, and other vigilante groups took over (Turk 102-03/Furbrook 298). Many groups like the Freikorps show the lack of fraternity as soldiers felt their efforts in the war went to complete waste, and all the while many Germans were simply taking the blame for the atrocities. The Weimar culture was both complex and divided, making it weak to sustain the new Republic. There was a left wing—artists and writers like Georg Grosz, Kurt Tucholsky, Arnold Döblin and many others—who attacked bourgeois capitalistic society, and a right wing—intellectuals like Ernst Jünger and Möller von den Bruck who criticized parliamentary democracy (Wende 133). The opposing viewpoints and the violent vigilante groups such as the Freikorps showed the lack of harmonious unity within the Germany society. The ideas of Heimat that were once so apparent, and the efforts to compromise faded as the Weimar Republic began to crumble, and the dark age of Germany …show more content…
Ideas of unity were less onerous after the fall of the Third Reich as many people bonded through the sentiment and hardships. The end of the war signaled a shift in geographical matters as military operations resulted in the Soviet Union occupying the eastern part of Germany and most of Eastern Europe. As the Cold War emerged, not only did Europe become divided but also Germany, along with the country’s capital Berlin. The Berlin Wall ran through the center of the city symbolized the division within Germany split between a communist regime and parliamentary West Germany. The actual physical split within Germany through the creation of the Berlin Wall in 1961 served as an obstacle in allowing fraternity to flourish within Germany. West Germany and East Germany tensions could be seen as the two regions were disconnected through means of transportations. Though East Germany was run under communism, West Germany made great efforts to implement ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity; the Basic Law had intentions to serve as a provisional constitution and parliamentary elections were held and the Adanauer era