From 1945-1991, a Cold War raged between the Western world and the communists. The communist governments of the East reigned over their territories with an iron fist. Few of the citizens enjoyed life under their governments. In Germany, East Germans found various ways to flee to West Germany and escape their oppressive leaders. Through various revolts, the totalitarian USSR government eventually hemorrhaged and was forced to dissolve. Throughout history, human beings have rejected totalitarian rule. Even here in America, many youths protested their lack of voice in the country that they were such a large part of. People need their individual rights and freedoms. This vital lesson can be applied to Egypt, where protests are under way because of the overly militaristic domestic policies of President Mubarak. Reactions to the presence of the Berlin Wall demonstrate how humans need their freedoms. Prior to the installation of the wall, a citizen could simply cross a street and arrive at the other Berlin. But before long, the GDR (East German Government) noticed that many of their young, skilled workers were crossing over to West Germany, seeking asylum in the FRG (West Germany) (Dowling). These refugees, 200,000 on average annually, crossed over to free themselves from the new government by which they were controlled against their wills (Dowling). One can just imagine how oppressed citizens must have been in the GDR and other communist states, by seeing the overjoyed reactions of the citizens once freedom was declared (Fall of the Berlin Wall). This is a prime example of why citizens need to have their individual freedoms. Nobody can be happy under a leader they do not believe in, nor under oppressive rule. People need their individu... ... middle of paper ... ...overning he was using, the style of repressing citizens and aggressively pushing them around, he might have been able to change before protests erupted. However, he was not the first leader to govern in this manner. Throughout history, one can find countless examples of angry citizens rebelling. It happens everywhere: America, with the American Revolution against England; the poor rising up during the French Revolution; even in the peaceful protests of India, for her independence from England. Revolutions happen everywhere. It takes a good leader to prevent them, so anyone can see what this implies about Hosni Mubarak. It is strange to think that after countless rebellions throughout history, from America to the USSR, totalitarian leadership is still occurring. Eventually, it must be globally acknowledged that people need their individual rights.
On Sunday, August 13th, in 1962 the Eastern German government began construction of the Berlin Wall (“Berlin Wall”). The Berlin Wall was built to divide the post World War II communist ran East Germany with the democratic West Germany. On that day families in Berlin were awaken to military machinery, barbed wire coils, and armed guards. The families that had crossed the newly made border the night before to visit friends and/or family were greeted to a wall and closed transit systems (“Berlin Wall”). For them this meant they were no longer going to be able to go home and be with their family however long this division of the country would last. As the day went on some government officials in East Germany feared that the citizens would start an uprising. However, contrary to their fears the streets of East Berlin stayed eerily quiet. Almost thirty years after that day the wall still separated friends and family only miles away. The wall was a physical division between the two superpowers of the time: the East controlled by the communist regime in the Soviet ...
The Egyptian January 2011 revolution initially created hopes that a genuine process of Egyptian democratization would take off under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious, political and social movement. The June 2012 presidential elections, brought the group’s candidate, Mohamed Morsi, in office. While in power the Muslim Brotherhood kept and enforced many laws and articles from the old regime to maintain control of the country. The continuation of torture and murder behind bars under the Muslim Brotherhood disqualifies it as a rebellion as Camus clarifies, “to exist, man must rebel, but rebellion must respect the limit it discovers in itself”( Camus 22). On June 26, 2013, El Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, published a report in which it described torture during the first year of Brotherhood rule as “widespread and systematic.” “ The report documented 359 cases of torture and 217 cases of torture-related deaths over the period from June 30, 2012, to May 31, 2013” (Selim 193). The transgression in Muslim Brotherhood regime through the use of violence to punish it opponents oversteps the boundaries of a rebel. The main complaint of the Egyptians citizens was that the Muslim Brotherhood failed to live to its promise to get rid of authoritarianism and put Egypt on a path toward democracy. Under
A totalitarian government is place that no person should ever be forced to live in because this type of government controls almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives. The dictators controlling these kinds of government’s take away people’s basic human rights, brainwash kids into showing no loyalty towards their families, and imprison or execute all who might be a remote threat to their party. The government then controls the remaining population with the fear of being arrested by secret state police regardless if they have committed, or planned to commit, a crime. The leaders of these societies have no regard for the wellbeing of anybody but themselves, and once they come to power, it is usually too late to stop what happens next.
As the wall rose, mass panic caused many Germans in East Berlin to flee in hopes of evading the chains of communism. Those who didn’t cross into West Berlin were trapped, forced to live the Nazi way of life, separated from freedom. With Berlin dwindling from the previous war, the people were neither strong nor weak, but their fears grew. The fear that the Nazis would soon consume all of Berlin plagued the people of West Berlin (Widmer 2013).
Many countries have decided against having a totalitarian government system, but there still are countries that continue with running their country with authoritarianism. The Middle East persists on having an authoritarianism style government over having a democracy. Theories that prove to be true to Middle Eastern people of how a totalitarian government is better relate to economics, religion, and international involvement. People living in the Middle East want to avoid having political liberation because that can lead to a consistent and stable democratic government. Another reason keeping them from changing is that since their countries aren’t struggling economically, the citizens don’t see it necessary to elect new leaders. The countries in the Middle East region decide to continue with authoritarianism because the fear and pain is greater than the feeling of freedom.
...ion and uprisings usually don’t accompany these problems. One of the main reasons the activist groups became so forceful was due to the media emphasizing it. The media made a bigger deal out of the Arab Spring than necessary, so the word spread across the countries and it brought courage into more people everywhere causing the revolts to continue to grow. Egypt and Tunisian protests were aired on Qatari-based Al-Jazeera television channel even when there were continuous requests to stop it (Delacoura).
The Berlin Wall oppressed people and literally trapped them in Eastern Germany with little to no freedoms. Many people risked their lives trying to escape Eastern Germany in a multitude of ways. Berlin was a main access point for people attempting to cr...
In conclusion Berlin Wall was an important milestone in the growth of the Cold War. It was the expansion that represented the thinking of a determined Communist system. Western Capitalism, which was more powerful, eventually defeated the system. The massive wall that did so much harm to a country was finally destroyed, and the people of Germany could now live the way they all wanted to live. They could live the life of freedom. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall East Germany has went through a lot of changes, and it still is not easy for all of the people in East Germany. But no matter how hard it is for the people of East Germany now, it is better than being alone and separated from their families, friends and rest of Europe.
The Egyptian military coup took place on July 3, 2013. Before this time, Egypt was under the leadership of Mohammed Morsi from the Freedom and Justice Party. Mr.Morsi was the first freely democrat elected president in the history of Egypt. Immediately after engineering the coup, the military leaders suspended the constitution and endorsed Adly Mansour as the temporary acting president. Even though observers clearly pointed out that the action by the military constituted a coup, the US government was reluctant to term it a coup. According to Reuters (par. 6), a US congressional delegation paid a visit to Egypt in January 2014, where they concluded that the country was on th...
What if I told you that Berlin, a city, was once separated like two different countries? This wall slashed through the rights of the people of Germany. People have the right to go and live where they choose. Constructing a wall to trap and limit people was wrong. The people of Germany were oppressed economically and politically. The Berlin Wall split a city, of people, tearing apart families and friends for decades, and becoming a powerful symbol of the Cold War, representing the deepening divide between East and West. The building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, dividing families and neighborhoods in what had been the capital of Germany. Which created a huge conflict around the world.
In modern history, there have been some governments, which have successfully, and others unsuccessfully carried out a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is one in which a single ideology is existent and addresses all aspects of life and outlines means to attain the final goal, government is ran by a single mass party through which the people are mobilized to muster energy and support. In a totalitarian state, the party leadership maintains monopoly control over the governmental system, which includes the police, military,
In comparison, a totalitarianism government gives a citizen almost no rights whatsoever. This system of government is made up of a single leader that has not been elected, but rather used his power to force himself into leadership, and will most probably...
The wall symbolized everything that was wrong with Communism or any form of government in which the people have no voice. The communist government attempted to control the lives of the citizens of East Germany. They outlawed religion, divided families, and created a world so horrible that it was necessary to build a wall to keep people from leaving their land. The government enslaved the citizens of East Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a victory for the West, for Democracy, and most especially all of the citizens in East Germany. There are still countries in the world where the government rules over its people. For these these citizens, the destruction of the Berlin Wall is a symbol of hope.
Although President Ronald Reagan’s speech at Brandenburg Gate is most known for his demand for tearing down the Berlin wall, his speech was a motivational speech to encourage the Germans of freedom to come. He wanted to encourage the world for that matter that at some point Germany and the entire Soviet Union would be free and safe. President Reagan does a side by side comparison of what freedom can do to society. He explains this through the comparison of post-war Germany to the Soviet Union and the 1987 industrial West-Berlin. Reagan describes the Soviet Union as unable to feed themselves, but reminds everyone what has worked to solve peace and happiness is freedom. This kind of freedom that President Reagan speaks of is freedom to free enterprise, basic needs, and security.
The term totalitarianism describes a government that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public and private life. Totalitarian leaders appear to provide a sense of security and to give a direction for the future. In the 20th century, the widespread use of mass communication made it possible to reach into all aspects of citizens’ lives. A dynamic leader who can build support for his policies and justify his actions heads most totalitarian governments. Often the leader utilizes secret police to crush opposition and create a sense of fear among the people. Totalitarianism challenges the highest values prized by Western democracies about reason, freedom, human dignity, and the worth of the individual. All totalitarian states share basic characteristics. To dominate an entire nation, totalitarian leaders devised methods of control and persuasion like the use of terror, indoctrination, propaganda, censorship, and religious or ethnic persecution.