Post-War France

We recently read two different accounts of post-war France, and I found the comparison to be really interesting. For my book review, I chose The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s by Eugen Weber. I am only a few chapters into the book so far, but the sentiments of the author were obvious after the first chapter. Comparing this to the French people described in Large's piece makes for another interesting question in history - who, of these two authors, is correct? Weber makes France appear to be a nation united by the shear fear of war, a collection of pacifistic survivors of the Great War. Large's account of France is of a more divisive people, a country full of warring factions struggling for power in the wake of the war. Either way, I find the topic of France after the Great War to be extremely interesting. The statistics presented at the beginning of the Weber chapter are mind-boggling. When 10.5% of your male population perishes in the trenches, it is not hard to see the difficulties in attempted recovery. I do believe France was a weary nation after the Great War, but I am not sure I completely agree with Wegner's piece. It is hard to imagine pacifism that widespread in a traditional European power, even France.
Reading about Stavinsky and the scandal that followed his death showed France after the war in a different light. France is plagued by domestic issues, many of which have arisen because of the Great War. France took a serious hit in the war, and no matter how one looks at it, the years that followed were tumultuous, to say the least. No country in Europe was affected as badly as France population-wise, and this is shown in the statistics. The people of France and their survivors were left to cope with the loss of many of their best and brightest men. With the situation France was in, it is not hard to see how Germany defeated them so quickly in WWII. No matter the differences between the two readings, I think that they share the theme of the struggling French society found after 1918. Looking at the details of WWI and the following events that took place - no matter how they are depicted, it is evident that France is struggling to regain its identity after the brutalities of the Great War. In both readings, looking closer into the post-war culture of France gives us a better understanding of why the things happened leading up to 1940.

The Komsomol and its Failings

Reading about the Komsomol, or the Communist Youth Party, gave me an insight into the times of the Russian Revolution and the specific things that made the Communist Party turn into such an awful thing. Throughout history, totalitarian regimes have tried to establish control by turning to those who are most susceptible to radical ideas. In Russia, there was hardly anything standing in the way of the Soviets from doing just this. Most of the youth in Russia were poor, uneducated farmers, and it did not take much to offer them an escape from this. The fact that the Komsomol turned into nothing more than a violent, ignorant, sexually aggressive group of men is not surprising to me, and has been seen time and time again in history.

By offering someone to be a part of a "bigger thing" than themselves, he or she is enticed to the inherent power associated with this. While sometimes this can turn into a collective group of people working to do good, most of the time it is quite the opposite. In the case of the Komsomol, this group quickly turned into a massive, uncontrollable force with no real leadership. It seems crazy that they were able to rape women, destroy property, and sometimes even kill those who opposed them and get away with it, but to me it just an example of the danger mass mind-shaping of the youth can bring about. As humans, we hope to think that the youth is the next step, the progressive force in society. That is apparent in American politics today. Our generation is the one looked to to stop pollution, improve education, and basically bring America back to where it was when we viewed ourselves as the sole superpower of the world. In many ways, I believe that this is true: that much of the youth in this country are aware of the problems that have been created by those before them, and many of us strive to fix them. However, the power of controlling the youth in a negative light, much like the Communists did with the Komsomol, is very evident across the world, specifically the Middle East. Terrorist groups constantly target the youth as their weapons; by telling an innocent mind about the evils of the Western world, over and over again, it is not hard to see how these same people end up being the suicide bombers, the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. I feel sorry for these young men and women, and immediately saw the parallel between these people and those in the early 20th century that were convinced to join the Komsomol.

I think reading about the Komsomol gives great insight into the power of the masses, and how the easiest way to form these masses is by tapping into young minds at a young age. The power of the youth is not something that should be ignored; in fact, it should be cherished and used in a powerful, productive way. I hope to see the American youth of today band together in a productive way, one that will help reverse some of the problems with our society that have been established by those before us. And by reading about the Komsomol and comparing this organization to those such as al Qaeda, it is easy to see the dangers that the youth can bring. Looking back at history, like always, can point us in the right direction by showing us the failures of those before us.