The Influence of the Nazi Party. East vs.West Germany. Aftermath of the Collapse of Communism - Essay Example

? History and Political Science Nazi party which had a greater influence in every part of Germany and the country was completelyunder the control of the Adolf Hitler. Hitler not only gained more popularity, but his idea of dictatorship surprised many. The influence of Nazi party was felt throughout the country and the people had no other option, but to support the system. Hitler’s authoritative nature and commanding abilities helped him to tackle the problems that resulted due to his dictatorship. The late 1900’s witnessed a series of events which brought about a complete change to the country as well as the governmental policies. (Wollenberg, 1996). Due to this, the German societies felt a sense of fear, since the people of all strata were affected by the political changes. Hitler and his party was able to takeover many industrial establishments and other army camps and this in turn drew the attention of many countries. Apart from all the other reformations, the territorial expansion of Germany and the Persecution of Jews were the ones that created a wave of fear among the other countries. Hitler’s aversion towards the Jews led to a situation where he reformed the policies which treated Jews as people from other countries and they were never given an opportunity to establish their citizenship in Germany. (Beckers, 2003). Hitler continued his commanding movement against the Jews by taking over the businesses from them and treating them like slaves. Jews were not permitted to live in normal places were the German citizens made their living. Instead they were made to stay in a remote place which lacked in even primary and basic facilities. (Lee, 1998). In the later 1940’s, thousands of Jews were killed, as Hitler proposed a shooting order in order to evacuate the Jews. Another most prominent act was the territorial expansion of Germany. The territorial expansion of Germany was initiated years after the First World War. Hitler staged several protests like the ones he implemented in parts of Germany and this was done to threaten the people who lived around Germany to join his army. The Saar region came under Hitler’s control soon after the Versailles Treaty. The German army continued to occupy smaller territories around Germany by invading them. The Nazi party even threatened the government of many places like Austria and brought them under his control. Within a period of six to eight years, Hitler’s government acquired almost all the places that surrounded Germany. His act of threatening the Czechoslovakian government for war pushed them to the extent of surrendering their country and this was approved during the Munich Agreement. (Peery, Berg & Krukones, 2011). Due to the aggressive nature and commanding authority of Hitler, the Nazi party made its presence felt by creating havoc to the neighboring countries by creating a sense of fear. Germany, which was under the control of Hitler, faced greater challenges during the period of Second World War. To be precise, the Second World War led to changes in terms of country’s economic, political and social factors and led to a major reformation, the division of Germany, as East and West. The expansion of Germany during Hitler’s reign brought about a sense of insecurity among the people of Germany. This also sowed the seeds of enmity and rivalry in the minds of people of other countries. These eventually led to a state where Hitler’s government surrendered after the Second World War. (Ostermann, 2011).During this time, Germany was divided into four major divisions and they were under the control of countries like France, Soviet Union, Great Britain and The United States. This act was not successful and soon the four zones were reformed to be two major zones namely, East and West Germany which was controlled by Soviet Union and United States respectively. These changes brought about changes not only in the political front, but also in the social and economic status. The social inequality and the economic downturn proved to be a greater issue for the people in both East and West Germany. The difference between the East and west was not restricted to the political and social factors alone; the educational factors also played a spoilsport. Compared to the West, the Eastern part of Germany was deprived of even basic facilities like educational and employment opportunities. The social and economic factors went through a drastic change since most of the industries from the East were taken over by the Western part of Germany. The reason was the enormous flow of funds and social stability that helped them to acquire industries. The main reason why Eastern Germany lacked in the economic status was the unavailability of sufficient labor class people. Due to this reason, East Germany faced a severe turmoil and was held back in terms of economic improvement. (Madden & Muhlberger, 2007). The political culture of Germany was completely different during the initial stages of 1900’s and later it went on to a state where Hitler changed every political policy that existed then. Since the democratic way of German government went through a major change during the separation of Eastern and western Germany. Even the minor political activities were different in both zones and the tasks related to election were also changed. The educational differences among the people in East and West also contributed to the problems, as they had a different opinion about the political aspects of the country. Collapse of communism brought about drastic changes in the Eastern Europe as well as the Soviet Union. Since Soviet Union was considered as the main target for United States, the collapse of Communism paved the way for wars and other problems. Collapse of Communism led to some positive changes too, like the unification of East and West Germany. But the people in the Soviet Union felt a greater sense of insecurity as most of them were treated like slaves. The revolutions and wars led to the end of communism in places like Eastern Europe and Soviet Union. Soviet Union emerged as an epitome of socialism in the beginning of 1900’s but the situation was completely different after Bolshevik revolution. The states in the Soviet Union experienced changes in the way they interacted with other states and other countries as well. The situation in Eastern Europe seemed to be declining, since communism came to an end during the 1990s. Though the initial stages of the changes in political and economic system seemed to be advantageous and beneficial, the later period of implementation did not turn out to be fruitful. The most prominent challenges the people of Eastern Europe and Soviet Union faced was the economic and social problems that played a spoilsport. As the problems faced during the emergence of communism showed its true face during the collapse of communism, people of Eastern Europe were held between the religious and other political and national issues. The result of the collapse of communism was felt in places like Yugoslavia, as racism started to emerge. The republics of Yugoslavia treated people like slaves and they spent most of their lives in prison. The prisoners were brutally murdered and if they resisted any of the government’s order, they were given corporal punishment. (Perry et al., 2011). Apart from all these, the privatization of industries and business establishments and this led to financial crisis in the country. Even though collapse of communism witnessed more problems, it led to certain acts that proved to be beneficial to the Eastern Europe and Soviet Union. The Cold War came to an end only after the collapse of communism. The Eastern Europe was reformed and the concept of Democracy started to spread in most parts of the Europe. This eventually brought changes in the political as well as the cultural front. References Beckers, S. (2003).Political Culture: Differences in East and West Germany. Perry, M., Berg, M., & Krukones. (2011). Sources of European History Since 1900. U.S.A: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Madden, P., & Muhlberger, D. (2007). The Nazi Party: The Anatomy of a People’s Party, 1919-1933. Germany: International Academic Publishers. Wollenberg, J. (1996). The German Public and the Persecution of Jews, 1933-1945. U.S.A: Humanities Press. Lee, S. (1998). Hitler and Nazi Germany. New York: Routledge. Ostermann, C. (2001). Uprising in East Germany, 1953: The Cold War. New York: Central European University Press. Read More