Political Life in Germany in1871-1933 - Essay Example

Running head: Political life in Germany between 1871 and 1933 reflection on the segmented nature of German society Political life in Germany between 1871 and 1933 reflection on the segmented nature of German society Insert Name Insert Course Title Insert Instructor’s Name 19 November 2011 Outline Introduction Political Life in Germany between 1971 and 1933 Political Affiliations Conclusion Political Life in Germany between 1871 and 1933 Reflection on the Segmented Nature of German Society Introduction The nature of segmented German Society has to some extent has its origin from the political life and situations that existed between 1871 and 1933. German society can generally be described as a segmented society characterized by religion, ideology, and social class that produces clear distinctions incorporated into political life aspects in the country for almost close to a century. Political life in Germany, shaped by pressures from the rising standards of living and secularization in the general society, has brought about interesting complexities in governance and social structure. Social structures move beyond political party affiliations where continuity of organizations of parties ceased to exist alongside social cleavages persistence, which were overtaken by group ties based on common interests. This is based on the fact that attainment of group interests is not evidently achieved from particular political parties, but the social segments linking individuals with common interests such as living standards. German segmented society can be clearly linked to group ties with political interests that existed between 1871 and 1933. Political Life in Germany between 1971 and 1933 The German economy was modernized by the industrial revolution, which resulted in expansion and development of cities alongside the rise of the socialist movement. The city of Berlin developed significantly, with Prussia becoming powerful. However, Germans had deviant behavior to modernity that put into consideration concepts of political conduct and peasantry in general. The resistance to modernity could also be attached to moral image that German conservatisms had towards modernity in the nineteenth century. German peasants were loyal to their political behavior that was attached to pre-industrial norms, traditionalism, and their unwillingness and inability to embrace transformation processes of the German society1 (Evans & Lee 15). In 1871, the region unified to be led by Otto Bismarck, the German Chancellor, thus characterizing German empire formulation. Bismark’s leadership to the German empire went on to embrace expansion of the naval race and her colonies with its economy growing to match Britain’s economy by 1900. However, its growth was brought down by its participation against powerful countries such Britain in the World War I, after which it was striped of colonies and forced to pay back for war costs. This is the result of the German empire revolution, with Weimar republic coming to power and unstable democracy being rapid in parliament. The global great depression was severely felt in the German economy in1930s, with standards of living reaching unbearable levels and unemployment being the order of the day. The German society felt pressurized by the economic situation and began to lose confidence in the then government. Common interests against the government with respect to the unemployment and rising living standards largely contributed the establishment of the Nazis power and totalitarian regime under Adolf Hitler in 1933. The totalitarian regime was characterized with massive killing and imprisonment of political opponents, with the regime adopting aggressive foreign policies that initiated the Second World War. These interactions of economic constraints, social structure interests, and political interests have characterized the wave of political disparities in Germany in the first half of the twentieth and second half of the nineteenth century. With respect to the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twenty first century in Germany, complex social structure and political affiliations, such the Catholics group movements were formed. Such complexities in affiliations have been the result of rise of social movements, which were then referred to as ghettos and subcultures. Significant movements that characterized the nature of the segmented society in German include the German tower and the Dutch Catholic pillar. These movements begun to disintegrate in the last three to four decades, although the nature of segmented society based on these movements remain traceable if not visible. The most popular of these affiliations is the German Center, which can clearly be traced back to the German political life history from the 1970’s. The relevant description of these affiliations is that, they are ill-assorted affiliations that mobilize their collective efforts against the nation. The reign of Bismarck clearly indicates his opposition to public good for the sake of securing interests of specific groups. These interests can be referred to as selfish interest. However, these affiliations are seen to be heading towards recognition and embracing of national interests forwarded by the state and not interest groups. Nationalism remains the key, though the nature of segmented society in Germany traces its roots to this political life between 1871 and 1933. The nationalists were the main losers defeated by socialist and communist in 1928, although this received subsequent attacks and opposition of conservatisms. Old leaders before the rule of socialist later agreed to back up the socialist government, with agricultural interests being their main motivation. However, farmers were disappointed by the government’s rejection of democracy at the onset of depression. Indeed, agitation for agrarian interests was the in thing for farmers2 (Tipton 402). The political life in Germany is tied to the movements interpreted to have been the result of Germanys transformation to the modern capitalist society from past agrarian society. The modern capitalist society represents interests groups that had been neglected for along time by socialist policies and governance. The interest groups include preindustrial traditionalists and peasants. During the 1930s, class conscious and politically literate citizens knew that the consequential rise of fascism rule in Europe had come as a direct response to capitalist society with regards to revolutionary intentions that had been posed by socialist movements. The socialist movements had come up because of group interest such as economic improvement and living standards of individuals, which had clearly been depicted by groups of workers. Hitlers coming to power in Germany was a clear indication that fascism was the result of the counter revolutionary movements, challenging governance towards capitalist interests through political mobilization. Interest groups were seen to concentrate towards capitalism against socialist movements with widespread participation and involvement by the middle classes. The working class movements representing economic interests ceased to exist when fascism came to power in Germany. However, the nature of segmented society in Germany was not only based on the political life that as a result of capitalist and fascist relationship but also the social structure characterized by the Jews. The Jews were apparently threatened with physical annihilation because middle class citizens had been destroyed economically by the capitalist that led to fascism. In general, the social structure has been the result of such events, which characterize the system of political life in Germany between 1871 and 1933. The German society exhibited a combination of segmented social structures with different universal social aspects that were formulated in the past with respect to political situation. Although the political situation was resolved, societal segmentation in Germany remained. The political situation in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twenty first century in Germany has been the result of segmented society and social diversity. Despite existence of limited number of social organizations in Germany both in the past and present, German’s social structure remains highly segmented. Political Affiliations Political life is by nature an expressive aspect of national and individual interest challenged through private groups. National, group and individual interest are seen to be pursued through lobbying and pushing the government towards consideration of these interests even though in most cases these interests are against bureaucracy systems. Differential interests in politics and governance systems are often the result of the nature of segmented societies such as the case in Germany3 (Kohler-Koch and Eising 22). The feudal, liberal, and authoritarian social structures were all once the leading and governing principles in the German political arena in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twenty first century. More to these interest governance groups, Germans social structure was also largely contributed by religious anarchy, and rebellious criminal groups. The segmented nature of the German society is generally based on a wide variety of general life aspects although political life can be insinuated to be the biggest contributor. General life aspects involve the interaction and co-existence of existing and past social organizations. Societies such as the soviet society, the United States society, and post-Soviet Russia are the best examples of society’s characterized political situations and interest groups. The soviet society can be clearly analyzed through the development of the feudal tendencies during the civil war. Post-Soviet Russian society is characterized by the global economic depression, with private property being the main agenda in the situation with possibilities of authoritarian transformation. Analysis of political influence on social structures puts into consideration the relationship between governments and corporations, individual autonomy, opposition group’s security, effects of money on processes of election, and individual relations in the political arena. Germany went through one of the worst inflation during the 1920s, with general prices of goods increasing weekly more that fivefold and even six-fold in the early months of the 1923, after which it came to a halt. General prices of basic commodities such as foodstuff were rapidly increasing and consequently loss of confidence in the reigning government among the citizens. This propagated opposing political views with group’s interests on the basis of living standards rapidly forming as a reaction to the unbearable situation. Currency rates with dollars however ware not that significant, even though the working class were facing economic constraints that were rising each day. Group’s interests in the early months of 1923 grew significantly, with segmentation of the society becoming more visible with sociological characteristics. Economic depression was becoming the order of the day among businesspersons, peasants, landowners, and factory workers. Conflicts within the German society were significant with the evolvement of diverse social strata against a homogeneous society with common race and blood. The increasing urban population was becoming more diverse with increasing economic constraints. Diverse social strata were characterized by rise of stereotyping of persons of Jew origin as a common enemy in the German society ruled by Nazis. European society was substantially transformed between 1871 and 1914 where the industrial society promoted increase in population and spreading of urban centers. Urban centers were proliferated by huge population, with much of rural dwellers moving from rural areas into the city. Political parties came up as a result of interests of small groups since agricultural population were more linked to the city and national cultures facilitated by communications and transportations systems, thus influencing societal norms4 (Mitchell 38). Segmentation of the German society came in the wake of unbearable inflation levels that were seen to hurt a few people and help people through natural process of wealth distribution. This is tied to the fact that buyers are hurt by the rising prices; however, producers gain highly from the rising prices. German citizens on fixed incomes such as factory workers suffered severely. Likewise, creditors who owed fixed sums of money that were scheduled to be paid in future also suffered, while on the other hand, debtors benefited widely, since they were obligated to making fixed payments irrespective of the variation in the value of money. Differential inflation was precluded to be a political affair where a few individuals were negatively affected while other individuals benefited. This largely contributed to the rise of diverse social strata where interest group groups sought to protect themselves through political movements. Wealth in Germany had been radically redistributed by the year 1924, owing to the rapid inflation that came to an end in 1923. The middle class was the worst hit segment of the German society while the poor were insignificantly affected since they had little wealth to lose. The rich were also insignificantly affected, since their huge wealth allowed them to look for other ways of getting additional income not affected by inflation. Hyperinflation became the root cause of behavioral change with social loss and transformation of interest groups into political parties. Between 1971 and 1933, the number of political parties went up to 25 and made the political situation very unstable in Germany. The extremists, small interest parties, and special interest groups alongside regional groups characterized the large number of political affiliations that reshaped the society in general5 (Conradt 113). Social characteristics became diverse on this basis, with significant segmentation of the German society being evident. Conclusion The nature of segmented society in Germany was characterized by Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, although these affiliations have been fading as years went by. Political issues in Germany between 1871 and 1933 that were unresolved were the major contributors of societal segmentations, with enmity between persons of Jewish origin and non-Jewish being significant. Segmentation became deep-rooted with rising ignorance in German political life due to pursuit of personal wealth and power at the expense of others. Selfish political interests sought to control the German economy through social movements and political affiliations, while unresolved social interest worsened the natural progression of segmentation of the German society. Moreover, political life in Germany ignored what was common among German citizens amidst economic constraints, and concentrated on issues such as Jewish origin and non-Jewish origin that further segmented the society. In general, Group ideologies that exalted a specific race, tribe, religion, and culture are the basis in which political life in Germany between 1871 and 1933 contributed to the nature of societal segmentation. Works Cited Conradt, David P. The German Polity. OH: Cengage Learning, 2008. Evans, Richard J. and Lee, W.R. The German peasantry. Conflict and community in rural society from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. London: Routledge, 1986 Kohler-Koch, Beate and Eising, Rainer. The Transformation of Governance in the European Union. NY: Routledge, 2004. Mitchell, Otis C. Hitlers Stormtroopers and the Attack of German Republic: 1919-1933. North Carolina: McFarland, 2008. Tipton, Frank B. A history of modern Germany since 1815. CA: University of California Press, 2003. Read More