Short Story - Assignment Example

English Literature ic and Modern) A Teacup in Berlin in The 1930s Throughout the 1930s, people in Berlin enjoyed their tea as they discussed various issues that touched on their society. These discussions were supported by the propaganda that was being spread by the Nazi regime and the Nazi newspaper publications. During the early years of the 1930s, discussions were based on the social economic strains that were affecting the country after the First World War. People then turned their attention to the emerging political leader, Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi Party (Isherwood and Christopher 39).

After the Nazi party captured power, discussions shifted to the torture, arrest and murder of Jews. In the late 1930s, the main topic of discussion was the declaration of war on German following German’s occupation of Poland. In the 1930s, my uncle and his friends enjoyed a cup tea while discussing issues pertaining to the social, political and economic state of Berlin and Germany. On this day, they went to the city center where there was a military cafeteria that used to serve people during the First World War.

As they sipped their hot tea, they would talk about political and social experimentation and exploration. My uncle said that most of the topics under discussion were based on socialism, communism and sexual freedom. During the 1930s, Germany and its capital Berlin were reeling under the effects of the First World War, and the hyperinflation that was caused by the Great Depression. This period was straining because the country was crippled by the accrued debts from the First World War, financial instabilities and poverty.

According to my uncle, one of the most exciting events of the period was the emergence of Adolf Hitler as a promising leader. Discussions were also based on the Nazi Party and its representations of the ambitions of the society (Isherwood and Christopher 54). As my uncle and his friends took their cup of tea, they would discuss the promises of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and their impacts on the social, economic and political aspects of the country. My uncle recounts that the grip of Nazism began in the late 1920s.

In the 1930s, the city was in support of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler. The Nazi Party and its leader Hitler led hundreds of meeting and torchlight parades, and the party plastered the city with propaganda posters and Nazi newspapers (Isherwood and Christopher 27). This provided subjects for discussions between people as they took their tea. Hitler had promised to restore the hopes of the population with the restoration of Germany, employment opportunities, profitability and prosperity. After Moscow, Berlin was deemed a governmental stronghold in Germany in the early 1930’s.

The German capital suffered a riotous decade in the 1930’s under the rule of Adolf Hitler. In addition, the Great Depression triggered life-threatening economic problems, coupled by the crushing of any oppositional forces. This conjures an image of a hazardously ferocious place, which got worse after the domination of the Nazis in the middle of the decade. My uncle also recalls that as they took tea, they discussed the printing of local currency, which triggered inflation. The money, which was meant for reparations, had a negative effect on the conformist savings.

It was later in the decade that Berlin enjoyed considerable growth after the American government aided them with loans for development. The effects of WW1 reverberated across the world. Berlin suffered the brunt of the confusion that came after the warfare. In consequence, hostility brewed owing to the dissatisfaction the populace had about communism and democracy. Berlin enjoyed its own music after eradicating all forms of foreign music within its region. Cultural influences stemming from other traditions, for instance, that of Black-Americans were considered inferior.

They embraced their own culture, and even claimed to own the patent of some instruments, such as the saxophone, as their own. The Nazi party and Adolf Hitler extended their reach and power following the formation of Gestapo and the introduction of laws that sanctioned the torture and persecution of Jews and minority members of the society. The establishment of concentration camps and annexation of neighboring countries introduced Germany and Berlin into new social and political orders, which provided people with topics for discussion as they had their tea.

Towards the end of the 1930s, two major events escalated tensions in Berlin. The first event was the death of Ernst vom Rath, a German-Jewish diplomat. Following the death of the diplomat, the city was thrown into chaos. Youths and supporters of Hitler and the Nazi Party began arresting and murdering Jewish people, in addition to burning synagogues in Berlin. The second event that influenced discourse was the declaration of war after Germany occupied Poland in 1939. During this period, the British Ambassador in Berlin demanded the withdrawal of German troops from Poland.

The German government in Berlin did not take actions, which led to the declaration of war on September 1939 (Isherwood and Christopher 47). The ensuing violence had devastating social and economic consequences.Work CitedIsherwood, Christopher, and Christopher Isherwood. The Berlin Stories. New York: New Directions, 2008. Print.