What I learned in intro to German culture

I learned some stuff bout Germany. read all posts below for elaboration.

my research finding involving the RAF

The RAF was a German terrorist organization that in its early stages was known as the Baader-Meinhof Group.  the Baader-Meinhof Group was created sometime after the second world war and their goal was to change the fascist nature of the German government in the seventies and to get the German government to stand up against wars such as the ones that were going on involving Israel.

One of the main factors that caused conflicts leading to the creation of the Baader-Meinhof Group was the generational gaps between these students and young people and the government.  The new generation was much more concerned with social and individual liberties such as womens rights and racism.  One of the main contributing factors of the creation of the terrorist groups comes from this generational gap.  The new generation of young adults grew up relating all mistakes and bad events to the third Reich or the Nazi's.  These individuals soon realized that a lot of people who were very active in the former Nazi regime were still in power now ans that these people were still calling some of the shots in their country.

The second generation of RAF was formed after members of Socialist Patients Collective joined.  The third generation of RAF existed in  the 80's and 90's was just a continuation of the previous group.  Each generation was more brutal and did less morally acceptable acts then the one before it.  In 1998 there was a paper sent to Reuters news agency declaring the RAF dissolved.  

The main differences between the RAF and current day terrorists is the level of brutality that is involved.  Today's terrorists will do anything and everything in their power to harm their targets and their seems to be no question of morality or value placed in human life.  This is in contrast to the RAF because the RAF did value human life, or at least the first generation did.  Also the RAF never participated in suicide bombing which is a common occurance in terrorist attacks today.

My response to Baader-Meinhof Complex

The film Baader-Meinhof Complex, without getting into the history or statement of the movie, was overall a well made film with good acting and a firm plot.  I really enjoyed the character development as well, especially the second and third generation of the RAF and how the movie explained that some of these members didn't even know the original members of the militant group.  Watching these characters develop, and seeing the events take place that shaped these individuals into terrorist soldiers who hijack a plane and kidnap a government representative was an enlightening experience that taught me a lot about how these terrorist organizations can become so brutal so quickly.
The movie, in my opinion, might have glamorized the life of the terrorist group with scenes like the one with them driving down a freeway shooting a pistol and racing in stolen cars.  In the beginning  of the movie there was a very notable effort to make the main players of RAF seem cool and trendy.  This was done mostly to make the film more entertaining in my opinion and it is less likely that this is an accurate representation of those characters.  These factors notwithstanding, this was an excellent movie that portrayed well, the other side of terrorist activity and organizations.  The movie did an excellent job of really trying to make you understand the futility, frustration, and disillusionment that is felt by these terrorists who believe in their very souls that they are on the side of justice and greater morality.  After watching Baader-Meinhof Complex I also understand what an unyielding opponent a government can be when it comes to trying to make a change to a country.  The main lesson I got out of the movie is if you truly believe that the ends justify any means, then the acts taken up by terrorists are explainable and understandable (but only if you believe that the ends justify the means which i do not).

20th Century Inventions and Industry

The fifth Group Presentation

Music Theater and Dance of the 19th century

The presentation itself

Why the EU will continue to be a pivotal organization for Germany in the 21st century.

1. The EU acts as a cheap international marketplace were other countries can effectively buy German goods which in turn has lead to Germany being very prosperous.

2. Within the protection of the EU the German population does not need to fear tariff or trade wars. Allowing them to sell their goods as competitively as they can and if other countries cant keep up then too bad for them.

3.The EU gives Germany a good reputation with other countries that would otherwise hate them for past transgressions.

4. The EU provides the Euro to Germany which unites them with the rest of Europe through currency.

5. The EU allows and has allowed free movement for citizens of all nations in the EU to all other nations of the EU meaning even if Germany wanted to separate and reorganize it would be difficult to get all the Germans back in Germany and all of the non Germans out of Germany.

6. Being involved with the EU is what will allow Germany to remain a global competitor with the rest of the world.

Work Cited

Specht-Jarvis, Roland. Class Lecture. 8 Nov, 2010.

This is my second group presentation on authors and poets of the 20th century

this is the presentation. It covers a wide array of 20th century authors