The Weimar Republic
In the lecture on the Weimar Republic, I found the comparison between the failure of the Weimar Republic and the difficulties in establishing democracy in the Middle East quite interesting. We as Americans are so used to thinking of democracy as applicable to all societies and all eras that we are confounded when it fails. Of course, this is not to say that it is not a noble form of government. It is just that coming from our culture, we fail to appreciate that conditions must be right for democracy to flourish. This was exactly the mistake in attempting to establish U.S.-style democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan, as these are countries with no history of democratic governance. Not only had these countries been under totalitarian rule until fairly recently, but in the case of Afghanistan and other Middle East countries there is also the tradition of Islamic fundamentalism to contend with.
It is intriguing to speculate on the reasons that the Weimar Republic ultimately failed and gave way to the Third Reich, since "on paper" it seemed like the ideal democracy, ahead of even the United States in terms of voting rights. But as in the Middle East, Germany was incredibly unstable politically and economically after the first World War. I wonder if this post-war instability gave rise to extremist sentiments on both the left and the right, making moderation unpopular. Considering that both far left-wing (KPD) and far right-wing movements existed at this time, it is interesting that by 1933 the far right came out on top with the Nazis establishing a one-party state. Perhaps for Germans, losing the war, losing much of their territory, and being forced to pay damages for the war fostered the extreme nationalistic sentiment the Nazis were known for.
One question that the Weimar Republic's failure brings up is why Germany was eventually able to establish a democracy after World War II, which exists to this day and is on par with other developed nations. Conditions in the country were certainly disastrous after World War II, just as they were after World War I, probably more so. However, this time around, the economic infrastructure of Europe was rebuilt thanks to the U.S.-sponsored Marshall Plan, and so with less economic desperation, Germany may have been more open to democracy. I believe this points to the economic collapse of Germany after World War I as a chief reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic.
Luxemburg's Essays
Luxemburg disagreed with the views of V.I Lenin. Lenin believed "that the working class by itself was incapable of bringing about a true socialist revolution." Luxemburg argued "that a general strike had the power to radicalize the workers and bring about a socialist revolution." Luxemburg was famous for her philosophy or spontaneity.
Luxemburg believed a "Social democracy is simply the embodiment of the modern proletariat's class struggle, a struggle which is driven by a consciousness of it's own historic consequences. The masses are in reality their own leaders, dialectically creating their own development process. The more that social democracy develops, grows, and becomes stronger, the more the enlightened masses of workers will take their own destinies, the leadership of their movement, and the determination of its direction into their own hands." If I was present around this time, I would of agreed with Luxemburg's views, in a sense that the working class needs to be able to make their own decisions so that they can learn from them, and learn from their mistakes. This relates to politics today because in the United States the workingmen and women are losing the fight to survive and live in this country, which seems to be a capitalist country. There seems to be more poor and rich rather than the median of being middle class.
The Blue Angel
In Blue Angel, The main characters were Lola and Professor Roth. Roth is a respected professor and Lola is a dancer and singer at a local speakeasy or bar. Roth sees his students frequently visiting the speakeasy and he goes there one night to confront them. When he gets there, he is seduced by Lola and falls in love with her. They begin an intimate relationship that his co-workers and principal soon find out about. He is then fired from his job. But this doesn't stop him from going to Lola and proposing to her. She accepts, but soon their relationship becomes difficult. Roth is unemployed and Lola is the only one earning an income. This brings distance and troubles in their relationship. Lola flirts with other men and Roth doesn't bring this up because he realizes he doesn't hold much weight in the relationship financially. Education levels also create trouble between them. Roth being an educated professor and Lola being a dancer and singer leave these two love birds on two different levels. In the end, Roth dies.
This is classic lust at first sight. Roth saw someone he wanted and didn't think rationally. In my opinion, he was not in love, he was in lust. Once they both got to know each other and their daily lives had to become one, it soon became clear they were not such a great match after all and they were not as in love as they thought.
