Blog #5 Modernism, Post-Modernism and revolutions

The leap from modernism to post-modernism does not only imply a change of ideals but also a change of power, the change of a government and how it affects the people under its control. Throughout France’s history there have been many changes, one of the most important ones has been the French revolution of the 18^th century. In this essay I will focus on the most important characteristics of both the Weimar’s republic and the French revolution, and later on I’ll highlight some connections between both of these events.

The Weimar’s republic was a parliamentary democracy established as a consequence of the treaty of Versailles which was signed at the end of World War I as a result of the defeat of the German Empire. This sudden happening did not turn out so well for the modernist Germany, as the conditions to which the country was subjected were rather unfair. The republic’s citizens and political leaders had to hassle in order to keep the fragile government system running. The economic system suffered of hyperinflation which devaluated the mark to an obscene value.  The rising popularity of the Nationalist Socialist party and the public opinion which blamed the past regime for the countries problems ended up dissolving the new republic and leading the way towards the Third Reich.

The French revolution was a period of extreme change within France which occurred from 1789 to 1799. The revolution started due to large amounts of debts which had been originated from ludicrous expenses made by the aristocrats and their tax avoidance. The conditions in which most of the peasants lived in France were inhuman and the politic stability had started to fade just after the family bonds with other kingdoms began to weaken.  With a fragile monarchy and angry peasants the stage was set for a revolution.  After overthrowing the King, there were several changes in order to convert France into parliamentary democracy.

Having analyzed both of these cases, you can notice that the parliamentary republics which were established as direct consequence of any type of armed conflict don’t have solid foundations and therefore their governments are most likely to perish.  The foundations of a solid governmental system consist not only in having a solid economy, but also possessing a certain amount of support from the people.