The document provides historical context surrounding the revolutions of 1848, World War I, and its aftermath. It discusses how the revolutions of 1848 extended voting rights and ended absolute monarchy in Europe. World War I involved over 100 countries and resulted in unprecedented casualties. After World War I, the former empires like Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman were divided into new states and borders. Germany and its people faced severe economic hardship after World War I, creating anger and frustration.

1. Industrial RevolutionRenaissance
Enlightenment
Romanticism Victorian
Modernism
Copernican Revolution
French Revolution1848
Das Kapital
Levia
The Descent of Man
Hegel
SchopenhauerNietzsche
Decadence
PostmodernPost-War/Post-Holocaust/Postcolonial
Part Two

2. Historical Contexts
The revolutions of 1848, World War I and its
aftermath

3. The Revolutions of 1848
Swept across Europe;
Voting rights extended to
more men;
Austro-Hungarian
Empire adopts
constitutional
government;
No more absolute
monarchs in Europe.

4. The Empires Strike Back
Austro-Hungarian Empire on verge of collapse;
Serbian nationalist assassinates Archduke
Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austro-
Hungarian throne;
Austria-Hungary cannot declare war against
Serbia without incurring the wrath of the
Russian Empire;
The Hapsburgs enlist the help of Kaiser
Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and King of
Prussia;
War on Serbia declared;
Allies join forces against Central Powers;
By the war’s end, over 100 countries are
involved.
Europe in 1914

5. World War I
Introduction of biological warfare,
machine gun, tank, and ever-efficient
ways to kill people;
Highest death toll of any war in the
recorded history of wars until World War
II:
9 million soldiers
10 million civilians
80% of France’s and Germany’s
male populations, ages 15-49.
Armenian genocide in the Ottoman
Empire.
1-1.5 million were murdered

6. Austro-
Hungarian
Empire after
World War I
Austro-Hungarian Empire divided
into Austria, Hungary, and the
Czech Republic; Serbia
incorporated into the new
“Yugoslavia,” sharing this nation
with Croatians and Slovenes;
Those ethnic groups without a
nation given “minority protections”
within the newly-formed nation-
states;
These “protections” were
meaningless and prompted mass
migrations across Eastern and
Central Europe, especially to
Germany’s Weimar Republic, which
replaced Wilhelm II’s German
Empire.

7. The Ottoman Empire after World War
I
Sykes-Picot Agreement
France awarded influence over Syria and
Lebanon;
Britain given influence over Palestine and what
would become modern-day Iraq;
The Balfour Declaration of 1917
Arthur James Balfour (Britain’s Foreign Secretary)
wrote a letter to Baron Rothschild expressing his
desire to establish a Jewish nation-state in
Palestine with “it being clearly understood that
nothing shall be done which may prejudice the
civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine…”
Despite anti-semitic propaganda, this “declaration”
was not a promise; it was an expression of
support…that’s all.

8. Germany after World War I
Wilhelm II was ousted and fled to the Netherlands where he
lived out the rest of his life in comfort;
The Weimar Republic served as what would be the interim
government between two absolute rulers (Wilhelm II and
Adolph Hitler);
Due to a number of reasons, not the least of which were the
stripping of Germany’s colonies, a global depression, mass
immigration from Central Europe, and economic sanctions
against Germany, the nation was basically on the verge of
collapse;
The populations of the former Austro-Hungarian and German
Empires were starving;
The people of these nations were desperate and frustrated;
they hated the Weimar Republic for not bettering their lives
more quickly and, in such dire conditions, began to hate their
fellow citizens since all were competing for resources such as
food and shelter;
The economy was in a shambles, and the German people
were angry—very angry. They saw themselves as victims of
the Allies and their excessively punitive measures taken after
the war for the sake of their own greed.

9. Conspiracies
Real and Imagined

10. The Dreyfus Affair
Alfred Dreyfus, obscure officer in French
Army, convicted of sharing information with
Germans;
Sentenced to life imprisonment on
Devil’s Island in 1894;
Evidence surfaced exonerating Dreyfus,
but French government wouldn’t listen;
The real culprit was acquitted;
Dreyfus finally given a new trial in 1899,
given a ten-year suspended sentence
(even though he was innocent)
Fully exonerated in 1906.

11. Why the Dreyfus Affair
Matters
Dreyfus was Jewish;
The “Affair” bitterly divided France;
Lines were drawn according to citizens
view of Jewish population;
Majority of “Anti-Dreyfus” contingency
were also anti-semitic;
Prompted prominent novelist Emile Zola
to write an open letter titled J’Accuse! to
French government regarding their gross
mistreatment of Dreyfus, and their
attempts to cover up their racially-
motivated persecution of the army
officer.

12. The Protocols of the Elders
of Zion
Forgery cooked up in France by
Russian officials and published as
“authentic” in 1905;
Not only a forgery, but a plagiarism
of Maurice Joly’s “Dialogues in
Hell”— a satirical critique of
Napoleon III;
Gained popularity in 1919 and
translated from Russian into all
Western European languages;
“It’s circulation thirty years later
[1949] was second only to Hitler’s
Mein Kampf” (Arendt 241).

13. The Popularity of the
Protocols
“in their crackpot manner, they hit upon every important
political issue of the time” (Arendt 358)
Protocols claim Jewish people are:
Anti-nationalist;
Will take over the world through organization alone;
Global conspiracy;
Take over will be economic.
Believable because
“Secret” international organizations are always
suspected of world domination (Freemasons?);
Jewish people are God’s “chosen ones” who will,
according to the Bible, initiate the redemption (not
destruction) of all humankind;
They had no “nation” and tended to isolate themselves
from the mainstream cultures of the nations in which
they resided (“Jews and their ‘clannish’ ways”—Eliot
Borenstein).

14. Cult of
Personality
“Sell the sizzle, not the
steak”

15. 1. Present yourself as a “man of the people,” highlighting humble
beginnings, hard work, a struggle against the more powerful elements of
a society;
2. Embody the exact opposite of the hated government that went before
you;
3. Encourage the people to “dream the dream,” playing up their underdog
status and your ability to “show” whomever has been oppressing all of
you who is boss now;
4. You cannot be divinely appointed in this day and age, so you will need to
market yourself as the culmination of the culture’s history; symbolically,
you are the descendant of some folk hero or god of the people; you are
fulfilling the prophesy and your nation will rise again;
5. Insist and somehow prove your restless devotion to your people and
nation;
6. Make sure everyone is absolutely clear regarding who the good and bad
guys are; do not confuse folks with any gray areas; create a common
enemy if you have to, but chances are there is one already in place
How to be a tyrant: acquiring popularity and
power

16. 1. Get rid of any opposing ideas by burning books and
censoring other forms of media; in effect, do
everything in your newfound power to erase history;
2. Gain control of the press and make sure it does your
bidding; you will need plenty of photographs of your
heroic exploits;
3. Have your minister of propaganda (don’t call him
that, or folks will catch on) stage rallies, candlelight
vigils, etc. to show the solidarity of the masses under
your control;
4. Carefully rehearse your speeches and make sure
you hit as many buttons in your audience as
possible; we’re talking emotional frenzy here;
5. Take credit for every positive thing that happens in
your country and blame the “enemy” for anything
negative;
Exercising power
Hitler practicing gestures for his
political speeches

17. 1. Keep reminding the people who the enemies are—you will probably need more
than one; make these enemies as threatening as possible while making yourself as
menacing to these enemies as possible:
2. Do not associate yourself with the “baser” elements of your regime, even if you
have given them the orders to commit unspeakable acts; key excuses:
1. You were completely unaware of and are now thoroughly outraged by your
underlings’ disobedience;
2. You don’t recall giving any orders to do such a thing;
3. Scapegoat a few people in your party or massacre a whole handful to prove
you do not approve of such shenanigans
3. Always remain kind, yet aloof—like a merciful god smiling down upon the people;
after all, you are the nation-made-flesh;
4. Even if you can’t be everywhere physically, be there in statue, poster, art, books,
films, music, etc. The people need to be reminded of their leader at all times;
otherwise, they might forget that they are followers and, most important, what a
fabulous and successful leader you actually are;
5. Do not fail once the novelty of your existence has worn off; the people are fickle
and will turn on you in no time.
Maintaining Power

18. Advance your more “radical” (insane) views as
positive rather than negative and be subtle about it
NO YES

19. Language, Emotion,
“Reality”
“No one in their right mind would try to grow grapes by the light of the
word ‘day’.”
—Paul de Man, Blindness and Insight

20. “Politics and the English
Language”
the English language is in a bad way…Our
civilization is decadent, and our language—so
the argument runs—must inevitably share in the
general collapse…It [language] becomes ugly
and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish,
but the slovenliness of our language makes it
easier for us to have foolish thoughts…If one
gets rid of these habits one can think more
clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary step
towards political regeneration: so that the fight
against bad English is not frivolous and is not the
exclusive concern of professional writers…if
thought corrupts language, language can also
corrupt thought. A bad usage can spread by
tradition and imitation, even among people who
should and do know better. (Orwell 2384, 2391)

21. “Politics and the English
Language”
In our time, political speech and writing are largely
the defence [sic] of the indefensible. Things like the
continuance of British rule in India, the Russian
purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom
bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only as
arguments which are too brutal for most people to
face, and which do not square with the professed
aims of the political parties. Thus political language
has to consist largely of euphemisms, question-
begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless
[sic] villages are bombarded from the air, the
inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle
machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary
bullets: this is called pacification…Such
phraseology is needed if one wants to name things
without calling up mental pictures of them. (2390)

22. Syria
“Civil War” “Genocide”
Word choice, connotation,
emotion, thought, persuasion
Both sides are armed, can defend
themselves, and follow the conventions of
armed combat.
Racially motivated; only one side has arms and
uses them to eliminate an unarmed group they
have already disempowered through legislation,
relocation, and draconian economic practices.

23. Guantanamo
“Enhanced Interrogation” “Torture”

24. ObamaCare
“End of Life Consultation” “Death Panel”

25. Political Ideologies
Totalitarianism Fascism
• State holds complete
control over all resources;
• State forces the individual
to conform to its ideology;
• Uses terror and hatred to
persuade public to its
opinions;
• May be called by various
names and claim various
origins, such as:
• Communism
• Nationalism
• Fascism
• Socialism
• In the end, the state must
have control over all
resources (complete
centralization) in order to
exercise such control.
• All fascist governments are totalitarian,
but
• not all totalitarian governments are
fascist.
• Mussolini sold fascism to the people
(even the Catholic Church) by
marketing it as a “spiritual,” not
economic or social, doctrine.
• Mussolini himself defined fascism as
“totalitarian”; however, it differs from
other totalitarian regimes in its
ideology and, in some ways, practice.
• Fascism is the total indoctrination
of the individual;
• The individual sees him or
herself not as an individual but
as an emanation of the state’s
will ;
• Differs from being an “instrument
of God” in that the State’s aims
are to improve life on earth, not
to achieve the rewards in
Heaven;
• Thus, Fascism respected and
encouraged religious worship
(this is why the Catholic Church
was ok with it);
• Not opposed (at least in word) to
free trade and competition, and
defined the state as a
corporation;
• As a corporation, the state must
expand and diversify;
• It does this through imperialism;
• Perpetual global war is the best
way to ensure civil peace.

26. Nationalism, Essentialism,
and Anti-Semitism
Pennsatucky: What’re you doing?
Nicky: Playing the oldest game in the world.
Pennsatucky: Oh! Really? What’s it called?
Nicky: Exclusion.
—Orange is the New Black, 2014

27. I am who I am because I am not
you
We compare/contrast ourselves with others to form an
identity;
Example: four-year boys tend to be obsessed with their
difference from girls and women and often speak of
how they are “boys” because… and girls are “girls”
because…
Comparison results in identifying with a group (family,
church, etc.);
Contrast results in seeing one’s “group” as distinctly
different from other groups;
Group may manipulate individual’s deep-seated anxieties to
promote hatred of another group;
Anxiety usually arises from individual’s identification and
subsequent denial of his/her similarities with the other
group;
Must have a “them” in order to be an “us”;
Group identity tends to flare up during moments of crisis that
affect a group as a whole (example: aftermath of 9/11).

28. Exampl
e
Syllogism
Americans are not communists;
Communists are un-American;
Anyone in America who is a communist is not an American.
Major premise is invalid;
Nothing in our constitution requires our country to operate its
economy according to capitalist principles;
In fact, our constitution is set up to allow any economic system
to exist.
Word Play: Capitalizing on Confusion
“American” a metonym for democracy (a governing system);
Communism is an economic system;
Because there is a communist party, people believe
communism is a governing system;
Thanks to Bolshevism (Stalin’s brand of communism),
Americans equate communism with totalitarianism;
There is nothing inherently totalitarian about Marxist socialism.

29. Nationalism
Result of imperialism;
Austro-Hungarian Empire made up of
multiple nationalities (Serbian, Croatian,
Slovene, Austrian, Hungarian, Czech), all of
whom were united by two things only:
language and a common ruler;
Stemmed from a desire of the oppressed
national groups within an empire to govern
themselves and to follow their own cultural
traditions and enforce their own cultural
values;
All well and good until those (like the ones
in Pan movements) started believing their
ethnicity set them apart from and above
others.
“The heights of
popularity and patriotism
are still between the
roads to power and
tyranny”
—David Hume

30. Pan Movements
Movements among intellectuals in Russia,
Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire
before and after WWI that believed one need not
live in a particular nation to be a member of that
ethnicity;
Stressed there was something essentially
“German” in being German, so on and so forth to
make one’s nation of residence one’s “race”;
Used the Jewish population as an example of the
maintenance of a national identity without a
physical nation;
Oddly enough, were extremely anti-semitic,
believing the Jewish population and their claim as
God’s chosen people would stand in the way of
the Pan movement’s declaring their God-
appointed function of saving the human race
(Arendt).
“There are some ideas so
absurd that only an intellectual
could believe them”
—George Orwell

31. Outrage, Frustration, and
Abjection
Anti-Semitism was rampant in interwar Europe and
America and used in political propaganda worldwide;
Westerners needed someone to blame for their
misery;
Germans needed someone to blame for their own
country’s devastating defeat in World War I and its
aftermath;
Since Jewish population had no nation to protect
them, they were an “easy” target;
Nazis basically took all the ills of Europe, assigned
them to the Jewish population, and set out to destroy
them as a result;
Abjection is projecting everything a group fears about
itself or sees as a threat from the outside and
projects it onto another group, then either outcasts
and/or demonizes the abjected group (Julia Kristeva).

32. The Power of Propaganda
Nazis scapegoated Jewish population; blamed
them for the global depression of the interwar
period in general and that of Germany in
particular;
Could do so because Jewish populations in most
countries were involved in banking and other
areas of finance;
They were often financial advisors to the
monarchs, especially the Hapsburgs;
Used the “landlessness” of the Jewish population
to characterize them as “parasites” who lived on
and basically stole from the “rightful” citizens of a
nation;
Were able to cast Jewish population as
communist in Hitler’s campaign against
Thalmann, his communist opponent in the
election.