Democratic Awakening (1989 - 2009) - Essay Example

Democratic Awakening (1989 - 2009) due: Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 3 The fall of communism as marked by the fall of Berlin Wall 3 The fall of Berlin Wall and the beginning of democratic awakening 4 Post-catastrophic learning processes 5 Americanized its popular culture and consumption patterns 7 Conclusion 8 References 10 Introduction Transitions to democracy happened in Eastern Europe during the ‘autumn of the people’ in 1989. The fall of communism surprised everyone because it was not anticipated that the communist system that was rigid would fall suddenly and peacefully (Przeworski, 1991). This essay will look into the fall of communism and the initiation of democratic awakening as a result of the fall of Berlin wall. Also, the discussion will involve a clear topic that concentrates on a major development in post-war German. The major progress in post-war German includes the analysis of post-catastrophic learning procedures the resulted in the westernization of the Federal Republic. Furthermore, this paper will analyze the processes that Americanized Germany’s popular culture regarding re-establishment of an exciting civil society and its consumption patterns. The fall of communism as marked by the fall of Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall identified the turning point in the 20th-century history with the end of the Cold War in Europe. People were tired of the long period of misery in one of the world’s greatest cities. The Berlin Wall divides Germany for 45 years, and its fall signified that German was once again one country (Sarotte, 2014). In the 20th century, Berlin went through violence and hatred that saw most of the city destroyed during the World War II (1939-1945). The city was separated amongst the nations that won the war during the period of peace. In the East Germany, the Soviet Union established a Communist government and took control of East Berlin. The West Berlin was further divided into three parts that were governed by the Americans, the British, and the French. The East Germany under communism was under a strict Soviet control while the West was made up of free democracies. The East Berlin was poorer as compared to West Berlin. To stop the movement of people from East to West Berlin, the East Germans constructed a wall of iron and concrete through the city in 1961. The fall of the Berlin Wall on 10 November 1989, marked a new era in German (Williams, 2007). The fall of Berlin Wall was the beginning of a key shift in Europe since the World War II. This is evident on November 9, 1989, where the East German government announced its effective opening of the Berlin Wall. The period of the collapse of Berlin Wall concentrated on the diplomacy that resulted in the unification of German and realignment of Europe (Wohlforth, 2010). The fall of Berlin Wall and the beginning of democratic awakening The fall of Berlin Wall triggered a wave of famous revolutions in Eastern Europe that led to the disintegration of Soviet Union and the tumble of communism that led to European Unification (Bundestag, 2006). The uprising of the East German citizens was provoked by three major occurrences that threatened the gerontocratic governance. The first event was the mass movement of East Germans in the fall and summer of 1989. The second force was the fast development of domestic opposition in the East German country. From mid-1970s, small parties of feminist, pacifists and ecologist activists in the Protestant Church put pressure on the state to honor the 1975 Helsinki Agreement on human rights. The Socialist Unity Party (SED), reacted by illegalizing the activities, developing a complicated system of secret service informants and falsifying election outcomes. The travel limitations displayed the unyielding will of the government, many people went to the streets for non-violent demonstrations (Roberts & Ash, 2011). The peaceful demonstrations eventually forced the SED to legalize an organized opposition in its dictatorial command. Thirdly, the expanding famous unrest spread to the ruling party resulting to calls for the resignation of Erich Honecker, the party leader who ruled since 1972. Critics within the SED party were enhanced with an aim to make the communist system more competitive economically. When the party leader refused to liberate East German, a new rebellion group (GDR), emerged within the party that consisted of young people. The conflict within the SED led to the balance from suppression to a political solution on the challenges of mass demonstrations and movements (Goldstone, 2015). In addition, the West German media played a part in the 1989 crisis because the East Germans watched the television broadcast that informed them of what happened in other parts of German. For example, the East Germans became aware of the pro-democracy movements and Monday evening demonstrations in Leipzig. Likewise, the East Germans knew about the summer movements through the television broadcast that forced others to leave as they saw the successful transportation of their fellow citizens. The understanding of people movement facilitated reform-minded East Germans to join civic groups and engage in peaceful demonstrations (Smith, 2011). Unlike pro-democracy and solidarity groups in east-central Europe, the East German civic groups envisioned GDR to pave a way for capitalism and communism. Democracy stated that ‘socialism must now find its true, democratic structure if it not to disappear. It cannot be lost forever because humanity, faced with its extinction and in the search for a form of co-existence that lasts; needs alternatives to western consumer community whose success is funded by the rest of the world’. The democratic awakening showed that even if it ‘takes a critical perspective of a lot in existing socialism, it does not signify that it dismisses in the principle of a socialist social order’ (Smith, 2011). Post-catastrophic learning processes The closure of the World War II brought transformations to a lot of familiar patterns in the society. The year 1945, for Germans, was viewed as a ‘zero hour’, an end and a beginning at the same time. Pragmatism, disillusionment, regret and remorse followed the ‘German catastrophe’. Upset by the ruthless of the Nazi leadership and catastrophic behavior in the final months of the war, the German society was declared a victim of Third Reich. The main characteristic of post-war Germans was self-pity while the most celebrated group of the people became Germans who individually struggled to survive and hence avoided the issue of collective responsibility. As argued by Vollnhals, the democratic ‘new beginning’ of German community, was minimized to a small minority that comprised of exceptionally generous policy of incorporating individuals with Nazi relations (Kettenacker, Riotte & German Historical Institute in London, 2011). According to Konrad Jarausch, the war encounters played a critical role for the Germans in keeping themselves away from militarism and nationalism (Kettenacker, Riotte, & German Historical Institute in London, 2011). The first half of the twentieth century was a negative spiral where the encounter of killing and death in World War I assisted to undercut the Germany Republic. In addition, Hitler’s diatribes against the Diktat of Versailles motivated the Nazi cause. Moreover, the removal from the East strengthened revanchist attitude, and the failure of authoritarian nationalism gave way to chauvinism, selective and influential biopolitics, radicalism, and racism. However, the second half of the twentieth century was characterized by a positive cycle where negative encounters raised affectionate growth that underpinned each other (Jarausch & Welsh, n.d). For instance, the murderous repercussions of militarism generated a deep rooted peacemaking, the two failures of hegemony promoted a regard for the restriction of power. In addition, the agony of mass transportation triggered more acceptance of immigration. Likewise, the excesses of racist patriarchy motivated women equality. Consequently, the suppression of dictatorship encouraged a shift towards democratization. The connection between the learning encounters of the two unequal halves of the twentieth century seeks to avoid a recurrence of the previous catastrophes (Jarausch & Geyer, 2003). Additionally, Bonn’s postwar agreement to European incorporation served as an indicator of a hard process of learning from catastrophe. The Federal Republic under Adenauer’s leadership comprehended that cooperation was the path to recovery. The German economic ability was utilized as an industrial locomotive to push the procedure of European integration (Jarausch & Geyer, 2003). Americanized its popular culture and consumption patterns From late 1950s, the German society underwent a significant modernization of cultural and social beliefs that generated new structures of strength. Unlike there before these frameworks of strength no longer relied on the military and aspects of violence and hardness. Alternatively, they referred to role models in technology, popular culture, youth and sports. The U.S. military occupation and predominance of American popular culture and consumption patterns contributed significantly to the changes in cultural beliefs. 80% of Germans from the age of sixteen to twenty-nine years were demanding that draftees be a free choice between paying dues to nation through alternative service or serving in the military (Höhn & Moon, 2010). In the 1970s, West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt confirmed that opinion by insisting that in a democratic society, schools were not the military but ‘school of the nation’. With such a paramount change of society, the military’s century-old monopoly as the basis of a German masculinity and national sovereignty was shattered (Höhn & Moon, 2010). The American popular culture was associated with gangling GIs who had cigarettes casually hanging from the corner of the mouths, jazz and swing music. The African-American GIs bonded with the poor population who received the same treatment as people of low class. The young Germans quickly recognized with the democratic conduct of the American GIs. The American dances and music from the Charleston, to shimmy and the one-step, became a part of the standard repertoire in the entertainment production in the Weimar Republic. In the Golden Twenties, in Berlin, show celebrities such as Revue Négre and Josephine Baker and black jazz musicians were famous. Young people from working class neighborhoods in the big cities engaged in boogie-woogie and jitterbug music, formed fan clubs and raced through the cities on motorbikes with their girlfriends behind them. The American entertainment was viewed as a liberation from the imprisonment of the parental home and young dependency sustained by society and school. The world of films such as Rebel Without a Cause gave the young generation a model of complete consumption, leisure conduct, and mobility. In addition, the American popular culture influenced the dress code of the young Germans. To be ‘cool’ both East and West German youth dressed in authentic blue jeans (Stephan, 2006). Conclusion All in all, the democratic awakening in German resulted in the first free election on March 18, 1990, since 1932. The communist SED was defeated in the elections that saw the ‘Alliance for Germany’ triumph. The ‘Alliance for Germany’ consisted three parties; the Democratic Awakening, East German Christian Democratic Union, and German Social Union. The governments of the two German nations that were the elected government of East Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany endorsed the Treaty on the Restoration of Germany Unity. This unification occurred on October 3, 1990 (Kühnhard, 2009). The transfer of American culture to Germany norms was seen through popular musicals and literature, movie houses, television, education, political campaigns as well as music clubs. The American popular culture in the Golden Twenties established rigid roots in Germany, by conquering the young and slowly breaking down the resistance established by elites to safeguard the established high culture. As a matter of fact, the Cold War was the propelling force behind the U.S. – European connection in the second half of the twentieth century. The fall of Berlin Wall, which was regarded as a threat from the Soviet Union, acted as adhesive to the Old and New World. The U.S. preserved a continuous political, military and economic commitment as well as a strong cultural presence in Europe, to contain communism. A broad network of American cultural facilities and military bases continue to expand up to date (Stephan, 2006). References Bundestag, G. (2006). History of European cooperation after 1945. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from https://www.bundestag.de/blob/189786/ba487d40183044e475f2e4e4b098dd85/europe_cooperation-data.pdf Goldstone, J. A. (2015). The encyclopedia of political revolutions. Routledge. Höhn, M., & Moon, S. (2010). Over there: Living with the U.S. military empire from World War Two to the present. Durham [N.C.: Duke University Press. Jarausch, K. H., & Geyer, M. (2003). Shattered past: Reconstructing German histories. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Jarausch, Konrad H. & Welsh, Helga A.,eds. (n.d). “Two Germanies (1961-1989),” volume IX, and “One Germany in Europe (1989-2009),” volume X of German Historical Documents and Images, and . Kuhnhardt, L. (2009). The fall of the Berlin Wall and the European integration. Panorama. Insights into Southeast Asian and European Affairs, 20, 47-60. Kettenacker, L., Riotte, T., & German Historical Institute in London. (2011). 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