Western World Transformation

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Mass Societies
Alliance Systems
Realpolitik
Kulturkampf
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Historically, the western world has been under revolution in social, political, and industrial sectors. The transformation of the Western society led to the formation of mass societies, alliance systems and the emergence of concepts like realpolitik or Kulturkampf as discussed in the following article.

Mass Societies

The roots of mass society go back to the nineteenth century where the elite individuals ruled the Western world; actually, industrial revolution led to the emergence of mass society, subsequently dividing the society into three social classes, the elite class (wealthy), the middle class (professionals), and the lower class (Macionis, 2009, p.497).

Regrettably, the lower class consisted of about 80% of the population while the elites, who controlled the politics and the wealth of the society, were only 5% (Macionis, 2009, p.498); consequently, the society deprived women education, political and property ownership rights, which led to movements to call for equality in the society.

The growth of political awareness or alliances and eventual call for political democracy by socialists including Marxism forced the political elites in the Western world to back off and the political wave or change in the western countries in the 20^th century ended the prosperity of mass societies.

Alliance Systems

The Western society adapted to the formation of alliance systems immediately after the fall of the mass societies with the aim of preventing emergence of wars and disagreement among different states in the western world. The ideology of the alliances in the western countries goes back to 1870s where the system was meant to ensure existence of peace thus reducing tension between the superpowers; a country like German adapted the system to keep her enemies (France) at bay by isolating them.

In addition, alliance systems were to promote neutrality in the western world, which ensured peace prevailed and the system lasted for three decades as the First World War and Second World War broke out in Western world due to rivalry among the states. Although the United States maintained neutrality by establishing friendship with all states, the break of alliances or peace forced her to engage in the wars.

Realpolitik

In the 19^th century, a politician, Ludwig von Rochau, came up with the phrase realpolitik to mean practical politics, which differed from moral politics (Robertson, 2004, p.420); actually, realpolitiks became common in European states such as German for instance, through manipulation of Bismarck, a German ruler who took over the control of the Prussia. Hitler also used realpolitiks while attempting to take control of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Similarly, in the US, Henry Kissinger adapted the ideology of realpolitiks in 1973 when he stopped the war between Arabs and Israel through diplomacy or negotiations but his main goal was to end the oil crisis in the world at that time. In the United States, the term realpolitiks meant the use of political negotiations rather than a philosophical system to attain their goal; therefore, realpolitik was for peaceful acquisition of power in the Western world especially among powerful states like the United States and German.

Kulturkampf

The word Kulturkampf emerged after a disagreement between the German government and the Catholic Church between 1872 and 1886 as the imperial government fought over the control of catholic appointees and education system.

Otto van Bismarck was the perpetrator of Kulturkampf, mainly to enable him to contain the power of the Catholic Church by redefining the catholic laws; consequently, Bismarck imprisoned the priests, monks, nuns, and bishops who defied his sanction orders closing down monasteries, seminaries, or churches especially in the Prussian state. Bismarck’s aim was to curb or cut-down the political impact and social influence of the Prussians.

Unfortunately, his doctrine failed because the Catholic Church became more powerful than before by forming its own political party, which forced him to resort to another system of rule. Furthermore, the term Kulturkampf also applied in the United States especially in conflicts between the religious leaders and the social liberalists.

Conclusion

In summary, the Western revolution led to the transformation of politics, religious and other social issues in both Europe and United States of America. Through political ideology and manipulation, the western society was able to maintain peace while controlling other societies in the world.

References

Macionis, J. (2009). Culture, society: The basics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Publishers.

Robertson, D. (2004). The Routledge Dictionary of Politics. New York. Routledge

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