A Time When Europeans and Americans Loosened up Culturally and Socially - Essay Example

? The 1920s: A time when Europeans and Americans loosened up culturally and socially Grade (6th, May. The 1920s: A time when Europeans and Americans loosened up culturally and socially The 1920s era is marked with rapid social and cultural changes that transformed the life in Europe and America. This discussion seeks to argue in favor of the opinion that the 1920s were a time of celebration, when Europeans and Americans loosened up culturally and socially. 1920s is the period of the literal renaissance, where many writers emerged to create various forms of literature (Nadeau, 1989). The literature detailed and documented the lives of the society before and during the 1920s, with some criticizing the ills of the then society, and others applauding the gains made by different heroes of the time, following the previous wars (Oswald, 1922). The 1920s era was also the golden era of music development, when various styles that have dominated the European and the American society to date were developed, such as the jazz. Secularism was also a concept that was breeding during this era, owing to the modernization and civilization wave that was sweeping across the America and Europe in the 1920s. This concept forced fascism to react to the development through the introduction of the concept of Weltanschauung, which meant a different form of civilization, based on intellectualism (Sigmund Freud, 1918). Fascism was a reaction to the more liberal social practices that became common in the 1920s, where it sought to limit the liberalization of language, religion and lifestyle of the German people. The German citizens were required to have both a spiritual and physical obligation to work towards. Additionally, the Roman Laws, which were considered to be materialistic, were to be abolished, and in their place, the German Laws instituted (Sigmund Freud, 1918). This move was particularly a reaction of the adoption of the Roman laws by various European nations into their legal system, which fascism did not want to associate with. Religion was also to be adopted as a cultural concept of the German people, which was to counter the wave of social and cultural secularism that was emerging in both Europe and America during the 1920s. Additionally, fascism sought to counter the emergence of the media freedom and the literal renaissance, which were major concepts of the social and cultural loosening of the American and the European society in the 1920s. The reaction of fascism regarding this development was to introduce a strict demand for all the writers of the newspapers to write in German language. All the employees of the news agencies writing in German had to be members of the race, while the newspapers writing in foreign languages had to seek the representative authority of the German state to do so (Eher, 1946). This was a move aimed at segregating the language aspect of the German people from the rest of the nations, as a reaction to the wave of language interaction that was sweeping the region in the 1920s. Owing to the social and cultural changes that occurred during the era, fascism emerged as a reaction to the more liberal social practices that became common in the 1920s, to make Germany a more closed society, as opposed to the rest of Europe and America, which were constantly embracing diversity and were thus loosening up culturally and socially. As a reaction to the more liberal practices that were being experienced during this era, fascism felt that the move would make it difficult for it to achieve its solidarity and campaign against the rest of the world that had dealt it a blow during the First World War. Consequently, it established a social system that recognized the citizenship of people of German origin only (Ley, 1920). Through the perceived liberalization of the social and cultural aspects of both the American and the European societies, fascism sought to be uniquely constituted, without embracing the liberalization concepts, and thus introduced the unification code for all Germans, based on the self-determination of the people (Eher, 1946). Fascism was feeling threatened by the liberalization of the social cultural aspects of the American and the European countries, which paved a way for more interaction between the countries, creating a channel through which more integration would be enhanced and thus more alliances of the nations forged. In reaction to this threat, fascism embarked on establishing a code of unifying the German people, based on demand of equality of rights for the German people, by requiring that the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain be abrogated (Eher, 1946). The media also expanded rapidly and thus the accessibility of information by the society became easier during this era, promoting various social and political revolutions that were instigated by the media to address of the ills of the powerful and the mighty governance of the time in different European countries and America (Eher, 1946). Print media, radio and film industry expanded rapidly during the 1920s, and the rise of the literary movement served to make further gains for the media, considering that there were sufficient professionals to articulate the social, cultural and political issues that the society felt were not taking the right direction. Thus, by the close of the era, both the America and Europe had loosened up both culturally and socially. In reaction to this, fascism, through the concept of Surrealism, was issuing a formal warning to the rest of the society for its deviations (Nadeau, 1989). The liberalized social practices also point to the limitless tending upwards of the society, towards achieving the ideals of the countries, which in turn breeds conflict, as different nations try to safeguard their interests and their ideals. The enlightenment and modernization brought the concept of civilization and with it democracy, materialism and capitalism (Eher, 1946). These concepts bred inequality amongst the people, which formed the basis of resisting materialism and capitalism by fascism, through the advocacy for the removal of unearned work and labor incomes, while pushing the government to expel the non-German population, in case it fails to adequately provide for its population (Eher, 1946). Thus, while the rest of Europe as well as America were loosening both socially and culturally, fascism’s reaction was contrary. It sought to establish a more closed society, which would interact with the rest of the world on the basis of the rest of the world meeting its demands, as opposed to an open social and cultural interaction, where the country and the rest of Europe and America would share their social and cultural aspects. Consequently, fascism sought to demand more land and territory for its people, through the colonization of other territories, while also blocking other races such as the Jews from obtaining the citizenship of the country (Eher, 1946). Instead of opening up its social and cultural aspects for adoption and integration into other cultures, fascism set on a move to segregate those races that lived in Germany that were not of a German descent, into the category of visitors, who would not be governed under the same laws that governed the German citizens, but rather would be treated under the legislation of foreigners. Such a move was meant to block all avenues through which Germany would be socially and culturally opened up to the rest of Europe and America, since it sought to remain a closed society, having been aggrieved by the outcome of the World War I, where it emerged as the biggest loser. Therefore, all the non-Germans who had immigrated to Germany were to be forced to live the territory (Eher, 1946). References Eher, F. (1946). The program of the NSDAP: Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. Ley, R. (1920). An Early Nazi Program. Central Publishing House of the N.S.D.A.P. Nadeau, M. (1989). The History of Surrealism. Cambridge: Belknap Press, pp.240-41. Oswald S. (1922). The Decline of the West, 2 Vols., trans. Charles Francis Atkinson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Sigmund Freud: Civilization & Die Weltanschauung, 1918. (1918). Retrieved, May 06, 2013, < http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1918freud-civwelt.html> Read More