Essay Questions

How is communism described in the play?

Communism is described in an extremely positive way. Communism is presented through the view of the four Russian men trying to spread the "good word" of communism. Communism is almost raised to the status of a world-wide and universally accepted religion and seen as the only way through which a person can achieve true happiness and freedom. The four men become missionaries sent to a dangerous society where they have to teach the rest of the people about this new idea. The importance of communists is highlighted by the willingness the characters display to lay down their lives for the greater good, represented here by spreading the communist ideal.

Why do the four Russians go to China instead of Germany?

The author of the play is German and through his writing, he tries to make other German people more willing to accept communist ideals. To achieve this, he gives as a positive example the country of China wherein 1930 a communist party was established and was slowly growing bigger and bigger, attracting people working predominantly manual jobs. By the time when the play was written, the communist party was slowly gaining more and more influence and power, becoming one of the major political players. In comparison with the way in which communism came to power in Russia, where it was marked by general unrest, extreme violence, and countless executions, in China, at least in the beginning, they had a more controlled ascension to power and a less bloody one. Many communist sympathizers saw this way of coming to power as the ideal way and as such gave China as the ultimate example to follow.

What was the historical context in Germany when the play was written?

The historical context can be described as being an extremely tense one, the play is written in 1930, during a time in history known today as the Weimar Republic. This was an unstable period in history for Germany as well as a transitionary one. During this time, the government changed to a democratically chosen one and the economy was unstable as a result of uncontrollable inflation and the money the country had to pay as compensation to other countries, as stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles. This created a general sense of discontent among the people and as a result, many extremist political groups emerged and even rose to power. The general population was attracted by these groups because of the promises they made and because they openly criticized the government of that time openly. All these elements are present in the play as well, the author trying to push an outside political regime as being the answer to all their problems.