German Military, 20 and 21st Century

German Military

World War I

• Germany's plan to deal with Franco-Russian alliance was called the Schlieffen plan.
• Germany attacked France through Belgium to avoid defenses.

• Germans were defeated.
• 3 years of trench warfare.

• Germany's navy was mostly bottled up by the more powerful British navy
• Germany starts using U-boats to sink merchant ships
• As a result America declares war in 1917

• Spring of 1918 brought the Spring Offensive
• Germans had four offensives code-named Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, and Bluecher-Yorck

• Allies push backed against germans
• Germany signs armistice in November 1918

1918-1939

• Treaty of Versilles restricted Germany's military
• 150,000 men (50,000 in Navy)
• 24 ships
• No tanks, heavy artillery, or Airforce 
• Followed treaty besides training soldiers secretly in the Soviet Union

• In 1933 the Nazi party came to power
• Immediately began strengthening the military
• Hitler established the Luftwaffe, a new air force
• No force used except for Spanish Civil War

WWII

• Germany begins with blitzkrieg invasions in 1939-1940
• Germany invades Soviet Union in 1941
• Hilter tried to maintain living standards, put off full mobilization of economy until 1942

• 1942 proved to be turning point
• 1943 brought a loss to Germany at Stalingrad
• North Africa, Sicily, and southern Italy were taken by Allies 
• Hitler refused to surrender as both Allied forces and Russians pushed into Germany
• He committed suicide as the last of his forces were defeated

Cold War (1945-1989)

• Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1949
• During the cold war Germany is split into occupation zones
• Bundeswehr established in 1955 and grew to a strength of 495,000 military and 170,000 civilians
• Cooperation between each military resulted in new tactics and technology for both sides
• East Germany saw the introduction of the Nationale Volksarmee in 1956
• Was volunteer army until 1962 
• At its peak in 1987 it had 175,300 troops
• 1989 the NVA rejected communism and led to the Collapse of East Germany

 Current Military

• The "Treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany led to reducing forces to 370,000
• Bundeswehr took on parts of the NVA after reunification 
• First offensive conflict since WWII came in 1999, the war on Yugoslavia in Kosovo
• In 2000 women were allowed to join the Bundeswehr
• Mostly involved in peace keeping missions
• Deployed around 2250 troops to Afghanistan
• In 2011/12 a reform of the military was announced, as of 2012 personal was down to 192,000

Sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Germany#Naval_race

Robert Cowley, Geoffrey Parker, eds Reader's Companion to Military History (1996) 
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica 
"Military History Resources" topics links ed. by Thomas Pilsch

1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
Drugs are everything to Ickarus, nothing is more important to him. I think the movie really makes this point when his girlfriend asks him to stay off the "hard" drugs. Ickarus completely ignores this suggesting that he would throw away his relationship for drugs. Another thing that makes it apparent is that even he himself believes he must be on drugs to produce his music, or at least for it to be good. He is so blinded by drugs that it took him being sober for awhile before he knew what he was capable of. 

2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?
Most of the drugs were done at his, or related shows. The most common drug I saw was cocaine, his fans and him were doing lines everywhere they could. I think a lot of them take the drugs for the same reasons as Ickarus, to escape. The depictions of the shows were very "spacey" in that the feel you got was almost a detached sensation, so the drugs just fit the environment.

3. While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?
I think a lot of it can be attributed to the music they listen to. The electronic music is obviously making a movement in Germany among the youth and the drugs are along for the ride. In this day and age you'd have a tough time finding a techno show where drugs aren't present, it's all part of the "rave" atmosphere.


4. Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?
The main thing I see is that people are just more comfortable with themselves. America's youth is more concerned with what other people think and trying to be cool than expressing themselves as individuals. Granted this does not fit all of us, but I would definitely say the majority. Everyone in the movie was more open to everything. Just look at the music, America has never caught on to the techno craze, peoples taste in music is controlled by the radio and aren't open to new styles. Once again many Americans like electronic music but are the minority.

5. Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then re-signs him?
I don't think Germany as a whole will change much, the industries will just make a shift to the more technological side of things. However, only considering the people depicted in the film, yes the country would definitely change. I know that the youth in the film is not everyone though which is why I'll stick to my first statement. Speaking of technology, I think it plays a big part in work ethics. As we become more technologically advanced we become lazier. Ickarus was definitely on the "lazy" side of things. Alice however, reaching as high of position as she did, must have a good work ethic. 

6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?
Im not quite sure what can be considered a "cult" movie but the one that sticks out the most is Fight Club.
others: This is Spinal Tap, The Big Lebowski, Anchorman
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Usually I am not a foreign film type of person, but I really enjoyed this film. The reason I liked it so much was, in my opinion, the largest cultural difference I saw in the movie, the music. I am confident in saying that electronic music is by far my favorite style of music. However, as I said before, I am definitely in the minority. I actually Dj in a few bars in downtown Saint Cloud and I can tell you right now that playing the style of music I would like, electronic, would not go over well with crowds. I found the movie almost refreshing because of this, besides the drugs. Time and time again I'm am forced to play songs that people want to hear, and only hear, no one considers anything like the flow of the playlist, the energy of the room, ect. People want to hear what they want and that's it. This shows the close-mindedness of many youth in America today. The people in the film and generally in real life in Europe as a whole are more open to things that strongly effect culture like sex, drugs, and music. America once had the same mentality: “Sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll.” The youth of today are much much different, we still have open minds, just not to the same things. Only time will tell how the youth of today's views effect our future.