Fascist Germany The Result of Instability

A detailed Summary of Fascist Germany The Result of Instability

The 1930s were turbulent times in Germany's history. World War I had left the country in shambles and, as if that weren't enough, the people of Germany had been humiliated and stripped of their pride and dignity by the Allies. Germany's dream of becoming one of the strongest nations in the world no longer seemed to be a possibility and this caused resentment among the German people. It was clear that Germany needed some type of motivation to get itself back on its feet and this came in the form of a charismatic man, Adolf Hitler. Hitler, a man who knew what he wanted and would do anything to get it, single-handedly transformed a weary Germany into a deadly fascist state.

In order to understand why exactly Hitler was able to make Germany a fascist state, we must study the effects that the end of World War I had on the country. Germany was left devastated and vulnerable at the end of the war. The Treaty of Versailles had left the country without a military and with a large debt that it just couldn't pay. Aside from that, it was forced to withdraw from its western territory where most of its coal and steel were located. This was a major implication for Germany because without these resources, it had no industrial gro

Germany was slowly falling apart and could not handle another crisis.

Frei, Norbert. National Socialist Rule in Germany. Translated by Simon B. Steyne.

Once Hitler had captivated the attention of the German people by giving them a common enemy, it was time for him to put his plan into action. With propaganda and promises of a brighter future, Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor in 1933. It must be noted that Hitler won not so much because of his propaganda, he was just beginning that phase of his plan, but because the Germans were not interested in voting for any other political party that represented the government they mistrusted. That's why they opted to vote for the National Socialist German Workers Party, which would later be known as the Nazi party (Frei 2). As soon as he was appointed, Hitler focused his attention on reinforcing the beliefs that Germans already had. A common misconception is that Hitler's propaganda "implies nothing less that the art a persuasion, which serves only to change attitudes and ideas" (Welch 5). This is not so. He didn't persuade the Germans that nationalism was a solution or that democracy was a sham. The Germans, as a result of the lack of efficacy and trust, had already formed these ideas. Hitler was only smart enough to see that there was a way to use these ideas to his advantage.

Hitler was also successful in having the German people trust him. There goes that word again, trust. While the working class trusted Hitler because of his "ostensible support for the [industry]," the elite trusted him because of the alliance they held with the Nazi party (Berlet 1). Hitler created an illusion of a modern institution (for a time it seemed stable because the economy rose slowly after Hitler came to power) but he also had the trust of the people, something the government under the Weimar Republic never had. That is one of the most important reasons that fascism was so successful.

There is no denying that Hitler took advantage of Germany's instability. He appeared at a time when Germany needed someone to give it a solution to its problems. The first action he took was to assure the German people that they were not at fault for any of their dilemmas. According to Hitler, there was an internal enemy amongst them that had caused all of Germany's powers and was to blame. Hitler identified Germans as good and superior while he marked the enemy as evil and inferior. This served to once again inflame the Germans so that their nationalism was now at a maximum and also made them more susceptible to Hitler's charismatic personality and his ideas. Events were now changing; Germans could now focus their attention on an enemy they could actually attack (they didn't trust the government but aside from not participating, there wasn't much else they felt they could do).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Weimar Republic, Party Nazi, War II, Germans Germans, According Hitler, People Frei, Third Reich, French Revolutionaries, Unfortunately Depression, Treaty Versailles, german people, world war, modern institution, berlet 1, trust government, world war ii, germany fascist, germany left, nazi party, war ii, national socialist,

Approximate Word count = 2134
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History