Contexts of Metropolis and 1984

The reparations outlined in the Treaty of Versailles sparked an outrage because many thought that it was unfair to not directly state the amount of reparations that were going to be paid. That is a valid argument, but most people were not aware of what kind of state Germany was in even after the war. Margaret Macmillan brings up a huge point in saying that after the war, “Germany was also potentially very powerful. Its infrastructure was largely untouched by the war; it had a large and educated population; and, even without Austria, it was the biggest country in Europe west of the new Soviet Russia” (Pg.3). Even though it was not directly stated how much in reparations they were going to pay, Germany was capable of paying it off. For many other countries, the amount of $33 billion would take possibly up to a century to pay off, and it only took Germany a generation. Like Macmillan said, Germany had the infrastructure to keep their economy strong and the smarts to pay off that massive amount of debt with ease. Even though it was unfair

Second, the reparations of the Versailles Treaty further stalled Germanys attempt at a Democracy by critically maiming its economy. Germany,

The Working class that made up around 80% of society had little or no bargaining power with their employers resulting in the continuation of unfair working hours, bad wages, and unsanitary and hazardous working conditions. The workers could not even fight for their rights in the political system as only the rich were eligible to vote.

• The German government made on payment of reparations to France, but the following year it announced it could not make any more payments due to financial crisis.

Germany and Austria had to make huge reparation payments and were able to do so only with

Through this activity, Winston introduces us to Doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in your head while guiding yourself to believe the one that best fits the principles of Ingsoc, the party doctrine. To even doubt or question Ingsoc is dubbed ‘thoughtcrime’, and pursued ruthlessly by the thought police.

Germany, after losing World War 1 encountered social and economic changes. The treaty of Versailles, which was one of the peace treaties created at the end of the war, made various restrictions to Germany. Consequently, the Nazi party, greatly affected by this punishment, tried to reestablish Germany prior wealth. Germany was blamed for the harm caused during World War I, and therefore, it placed total responsibility on the reparation payments, creating huge problems that disrupted their good economic development. Part of their territory had to be given to nations such as Belgium, France Poland and Denmark, how it is clearly stated in part II of the treaty 1.

Germany emerged from World War I with huge debts incurred to finance a costly war for almost five years. The treasury was empty, the currency was losing value, and Germany needed to pay its war debts and the huge reparations bill imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war. The treaty also deprived Germany of territory, natural resources, and even ships, trains, and factory equipment. Germany’s population was undernourished and contained many widows, orphans, and disabled veterans living in poverty. The new German government struggled to deal with these crises, which had produced a serious hyperinflation.

The huge sum of reparations destabilized Germany’s economy and led it into hyperinflation. After the WWI, Germany’s financial situation was already terrible, but the ridiculously high reparation further destructed her economy. To make reparations payments, Germany had to borrow large debt from other foreign countries. “Until 1931, German foreign debt stood at 21.514 billion marks.” “During the time, the debt Germany had was about 300% of its 1913 GDP, and reparation GDP per capita was around 2129 gold mark”It refers that every German wake up in the morning with debt greater than disposable income. Although the reparation commission reduced the reparation to “132 billion gold marks in 1921”, it was still

Germany also had to accept blame for starting the war and pay for all the damage of the war. This was in the amount of £ 6,600 million.

Germany was left indebted to the United States for the relief it received. Guinnane noted that prior to entering the war, governments guaranteed their citizens that allied parties will pay for the costs accumulated during the war (9). The assurance left Germany indebted to France and Italy given that they entered the war in alliance to the nation. Guinnane reported that end of World War II marked the end of the Nazi regime and reparations from Germany to the Jewish group for the cruelty inflicted by the movement (5). The Jewish group was regarded as a nation by the United States. Germany paid an amount of $ 500 million to German-Jews to appease the damage they endured. King stated that after the war, the Soviet Union showed preference to

When technology and power is abused certain positions are attained at the detriment of others. Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang in 1927 and Nineteen-Eighty-Four written by George Orwell in 1949 both explore dystopian societies which reflects early 20th century concerns about urbanization. In both texts we can already see intertextual perspectives through social divisions, class tension and segregation due to technology and power.

Millions of people died from it, many would die over night for the initial catching of the disease brought death swiftly behind it. Civil unrest was brought on by several different things, such as worker shortages, hence not enough farmer, and so not enough food. The leaders decided to the try and repress the unrest but that only made them more unpopular.

In maintaining our identity and in essence our humanity, through the upholding of our own values, attitudes and beliefs; being an individual is a critical aspect of human psyche. The comparative study of the intertextual perspectives within Metropolis by Fritz Lang and 1984 by George Orwell leads to an enhanced understanding of the oppressive measures that strip individuality through a forced submission and conformity to the ideologies set by the higher powers. Metropolis scopes a dystopian society wherein through systematic dehumanisation the underground city workers become merely extensions of the machine that serves as the foundations of Metropolis city. In 1984 explores the victimised civilians of Oceania deprived of individuality under

Germany had to pay reparations of £6.6 billion, which would ensure that the economy would not recover. Germany’s armed forces were severely reduced. For example, there was no air force, a maximum 100,000 soldiers and a reduced