The German Revolution of 1918 - 1919

The Junius Pamphlet

The Crisis of German Social Democracy

 

This is a good and educative essay, which give the details on Socialism, Capitalism and Nationalism movement, the conflicts in Germany during the First and Second World War and the historical development that led to the Third World War. The passage i chose is " A friend in need is a friend indeed. This old adage has once more proven its soundness. The social democratic proletariat that has been prosecuted and clubbed for its opinions went, like one man, to protect our homes. German labor unions that had so often suffered both in Germany and in Prussia report unanimously that the best of their members have joined the colors. Even the capitalist papers like the General-Anzeiger note the fact and express the conviction that 'these people' will do their duty as well as any man, that blows will rain most heavily where they stand". This passage showed the integration of principle of national unity as being proclaimed by the Social Democratic press and the Capitalist group also accommodate the sense of national unity as one German nation. The passage showed the sense of loyalty to one's nation despite the different in political ideologies. 

1. Why does Luxemburg believe that wars of 1871 affect the wars in 1914?

She believe that, the war of 1871 affect the war of 1914 because, the was two lines of development in history that led to the war of 1914. One is the development, that led to the institution of national states during the time of Bismarckian war against France, and second is the development that led to the unification between French Republic and Russia and which divided Europe into two opposing camps.

2. How does Luxemburg judge the claims made about "Russian despotism" supported by the SPD?

Luxemburg criticized the idea of Russian despotism, she said it will be very dangerous to deport Russians and also wage war against them because, the civilization and independence of German people is of paramount important at that time. "Much, aye everything is at stake for our people and its future, if Russian despotism, stained with the blood of its own people, should be the victor. This danger must be averted, the civilization and the independence of our people must be safeguarded" 

3. What is the relationship between nationalism and capitalism?

Capitalism is an economic system that is characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. 

Nationalism is a loyalty and devotion to a nation. A sense of national consciousness exalting one's nation above all others, and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interest as opposed to those of other nations.

4. Why does Luxemburg believe that the war supports the business interest of steel and the banks?

Luxenburg believe that, the war supports the business interest of steel and the banks because, there was an increase in monopoly power in Europe, and also the strong banking system in the whole world. The monopoly power  was used to organize the steel and iron industry, this power led to the interest in government orders, the production of military equipment, building of railroads and also, to take advantage  of the mines into the most control factor in the country.

M

This is such an interesting film, and it covers a lot such as, the process of conducting investigation as far back as 1931, the role of police and the fundamental human right. The film shows that people of German as at that time, never trust the police and also lack the commitment to democratic values and attitudes.
The scene that i choose is where Elsie's mum is preparing table for Elsie because, she knew the time for to come back from school, and was so painful when Elsie never returned from school. I remember my mother used to do same thing, preparing the table and also sitting outside for me to come back from school. If she waited too long, my mother will trace my way back to my school and some times she meet me on the way and we come home together.

1. The police were being given more than necessary power, they have the power to search the people's house without warrant which was so bad at that time. The Germans at that time never trust the police, and they also make use of the constitutional power excessively.

2. To my own point of view, he deserve to die because, he had murdered so many lives of children, who have the equal right his is claiming. There are also similar cases, in which they are claim to be having psychological disorder. We all have ways of defending our inner characters. Therefore, justice needs to be done.

3. The police has been disturbing their business activities, they have the ability to organize the group of real beggars in German at that time, and turned them into network of spies and informants. The criminals also have the ability to organize themselves and concluded to ignore the police investigation because, they rely on their experience and tools which also give the confidence of doing it without the police assistance.

4. The Nazis were being depicted as the criminals because they coordinate the unscrupulous business activities with divisions in German at that time. As you can see in the film, they have possession of the key to the building where found the murderer and also knew about the alarm system in that building. They carried out the operation successful in which the police were not able to execute.

5. The media was able to publish the murderer letter in the newspaper after the police had failed to recognize the first letter sent to them by the same murderer. There was a widespread information about what was happening at that time. 

Blue Angel

This is an interesting film and i also found it to be educative.
The scene that i chose is where Professor Rath was asking his boys question at the clown. He asked them what are they looking for in that place and one of the boys responded and by asking professor the same question, and the professor got irritated and beat them up. One of those boys was even smoking in his presence which they cannot do while in the class. This scene symbolize the absolute lost of respect as a professor, because he never realized that those boys have been looking at him, when he was assisting Lola with make up and face powder. The boys love Lola and was also painful to them, having seeing their professor with someone they really love to be with. It's a shame to the professor and lost of dignity for dragging women with his students.


1,There is natural feeling from both Siddhartha and Kamala, in which they were able to express their feeling unto each other, while Rath and Lola never seem to be any existence of love but lust from Professor Rath. Lola does not have any feeling and all she did was using the professor because, she knew he is so obsessed about her.


2, Lola cannot be describe as an emancipated woman, she is totally impassive because, she has no emotion for Professor Rath. she just seduced and used the professor.

3, The significance of the clown in the film is to portray the modification of artistic's attributes into comedy and magic to promote entertainment industry.

4, The chaos is being represented where there is excessive use of power. The Professor is using power as a professor on his students to go away for the Blue Angel, and they all came there for the same purpose. He also used the power to fight and kick out the Sailor who brought money for Lola. The police used his authority by not handle the matter between the  Professor and the sailor, and ended up arresting the wrong person. 

5, This is an absolute lost of dignity and also weakness of heart on the part of the professor, he got seduced by Lola and was overwhelmed by passion and lust. The weakness of interllectual


6, You are right, The professor was not able to see the other world due to his bookish way of life. He has total inner weakness and also incapable of enjoying and appreciating the pleasure of the world.

Expressionism

Screen
The screen where Francis requested to see the Head of the Institute, and surprised to see Caligari, as the Head of the institute, the person he traced to the mental institution

I choose this scene because, Fancis got confused and looked stupid for seeing Caligari as the Head of the institute. it is also part of the framing device intended by the producer of he film and also seems to put the audience at suspense. 

1. What is the symbolism of Caligari's power over Cesare?
Caligari's power over Cesare is the representation of peaceful sleepwalker forced to carry out the delirious idea  of his show-master, with touching, terrifying and also to attract the viewer's attention immediately.
" Cesare is like all the young soldiers who are hypnotically drilled into becoming killing machines on the battlefield."(page 7)

2. How does the profit motive affect cultural production in the modern age?
The decision to have a framing device and twist ending in the film production motivated the profits in the modern age." The ending would presumably have the effect of reinforcing traditional authority assuming the audience receives the message in the intended way." (page 8)

3. How would evaluate the frankfurt school's elitism regarding mass culture? 
They found it very hard to connect themselves with the mass culture due to their elitism. Their artistic work was writing in German language, and the style was known to be ambiguous. Most of their writing work was not translated into English until the 1970's.

4. Explain three aspects of the film that relate to the attributes of the culture industry
(A) Cultural industries tend towards monopolies like other industries : The scene where Caligari goes to apply for a permit to open his artistic exhibition and was rudely attended to by town clerk.
(B) The Profit Motive and not the artistic integrity of the product: The use of framing device and twist ending to motivate the audience in order to make profit. This is where the scene came back to the opening scene in the garden, which the whole story was a fantasy by Francis who is a patient in the hospital along with Cesare, Jane and Alan, and Caligary is the true head of the hospital.
(C) The Culture Industry incorporates all the most recent advances in technological development
The use of lights and shadows as a dramatic effect, these are the scenes where the shadow killed Alan and where Cesare is moving through the shadow to see Jane.


5. Why does Kracauer interpret the film as a choice between tyranny and chaos?
Kracauer interprets film as a choice between tyranny and chaos because, he saw the Germans going through the choice of tyranny on one hand and chaos on the other hand, and which is  what he called "unsolvable dilemma" in the 1920's and 1030's

6. Why was there increased pressure to develop the German film industry after the first world war? The film industries was seen as a very important export for Germany's economy because, their economy was desperately struggling to survive.

7. How would you evaluate the claim that expressionism breeds excessive inwardness and withdrawal  I do not agree with the claim because, expressionism tends to analyze or explain the content of the inner mind as being subjective.

8. How does the film foreshadow the Nazi regime according to Kracauer?
Caligary foresee Hitler, and the screenwriters determined to represent the German military command, even though the screenwriters did not know Hitler at that time.

9. What is praxis and how does it relate to cultural criticism?
Praxis is the mixture of theory and practice. It relates to the cultural criticism because, the intellectuals tend to  study only the theory in isolation from the practical. This is regarded as "Practice without theory, they say, is misguided action or at worst just blind expressions of rage that serve no purpose"