History Lessons - Power of Political Persuasion - Term Paper Example

History Lessons: The Power of Political Persuasion The power of political persuasion is limitless. Leaders, over time, have used it for so many reason and interests. Some have been for the benefit of the nations, others to their detriment. Nationalism has been used by leaders to achieve their political and power ambition. In this paper, we take a look at the quest for nationalism in Germany and its results; both positive and negative. Otto von Bismarck believed that for a nation to be healthy it had to be powerful. Power was not a thing that was gained by speeches aretreaties. Power was something that was to be seized. Power had to be taken so that it can be owned. One cannot own something that does not belong to him. German had to make power belong to them so that they can own it. The only way to own power according to Otto von Bismarck was through war. German had to seize power through iron and blood. They had to take arms and go to war. They had to sacrifice themselves so as to own power. He highly advocated for the strengthening of the military. The military defined a state. The healthiness of a state was solely dependent on its military ability. If the military was inadequate, then they would lose in any war. Defeat was a state of unhealthiness to the nation (Toland 142). There was no power that could be recognized in such a state. When the council argued about shortening the military service, Otto von Bismarck responded by giving the speech on iron and blood. This was to emphasize on the need of the military for the survival of the great nation of Germany. Storm of steel is a memoir of Ernst Junger, a German officer. It describes his experiences in war, specifically World War 1. Ernst glorified war. Most of his passages emphasizes his enthusiasm in fighting. He claims that war schooled his heart. For all the glory, destruction was no inhibitor. His enthusiasm in war earned him laudation from a Nazi Propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbles. The book as a great and brilliant one in reference to war. It passes as the German book on the World War one.His memoirs describe national passion and loyalty. To him fighting in war was a great reflection on national loyalty. He describes his experience without restraint. His memoirs were used as a manual by German soldiers. He influenced the German youth so much that they wanted to join the army and become heroes like Joseph Goebbles. War was a way of proving ones worth. War was everything that was needed to define the military power of a country. Power was all that mattered to a country. His memoirs describes the war lucidly rather that his reaction. These descriptions lured a lot of young men into war. He made war to be used to define an individual. He endorsed for prisoners to be shot. The prisoners were a threat to his mother nation (Toland 142). Adolf Hitler was not ashamed for the war situation in his country. He was enthusiastic the whole situation. In the world war, he thanks the heavens for allowing him to live in such times. He considers himself fortunate to be in that time. His heart overflows due to being granted the fortune. He uses the spiritual base to support war. He goes on and gives the ingredients of war. The spiritual base must be certain for violence to spring. He supports force with spirituality. Force becomes moral if it is supported by spirituality. To him force had to supported by a spiritual concept for an idea to be destructed. His methods were not to destruct ideas but to ruthlessly exterminate them. For complete extermination all traditions had also to be wiped out. He used spiritual basis to camouflage then effects of violence. One had to be spiritual and the violence and force would be justified. Being spiritual is having faith. Having faith is believing in something. If one believed that force and violence was the way to become champions, then it is morally sound. Every form of force that lacks the support of spirituality is always uncertain. Germans were champions, force was necessary for them to remain so (Toland 142). Adolf Hitler was a firm believer of propaganda. Propagandas had to be popularized. He advocated that propaganda had to reach to everyone. Intelligence of the propaganda was not to stand in the way of it being delivered to the people. The intellectual level of the propaganda would be modified and adjusted so as to get to even those with limited intelligence. He demonstrates this in the sixth chapter of Mein Kampf; war propaganda. The use of propaganda was an art. An art that was only known to the strong parties. Only strong parties would use propaganda effectively for persuasion. The Third Reich was a strong party. Propaganda was an instrument of great virtuosity. A lot of success is owed to it. Propaganda must be limited to simple themes. For it to be fully realized, the themes must be represented over and over. That is the main way in which propaganda is administered. According to Hitler, a lie told over and over and over, eventually becomes the truth. Everything can be perceived in any way possible, all one has to do is convinced. The chief function of propaganda is convincing the people. The masses has to be given time to perceive the information for distribution to be effective. “Only constant repetition to a notion will succeed to the notion being imprinted into the memory” (Toland 142). Propaganda was the stronghold of conveying the will, this Hitler considered to be for the greater good of the state. Adolf Hitlerbelieved that the German Aryans were a great race. He insisted on maintaining a pure blood for the survival of the great nation. Mingling with an inferior race will see the end of the great race. He described this by using nature as a reference point. He explained that even a lesser woman desires to mate with stronger individuals. The desire of higher breeding is rooted in the mind of every woman. Being racially pure ensured that the greatness is upheld. A pure German individual would remain the master if and only if he does fall victim to the mixing of blood with another race. He divided mankind into three groups. There were those who founders of the culture, the owners of the culture. The second group were those who are bearers of the culture. The third group are the destroyers of culture. Aryans were considered to be the founders of the culture. From the Aryans foundations of the foundations of all human creation are originated. He believed that Aryan influence in the world should be enforced through all ways even war. The survival of the world depended on the Aryans. According to Adolf Hitler other cultures would freeze and sink if the Aryan culture did not intervene. He preached that the Aryan Germans must protect their culture with all means. They must not allow the culture to be diluted. Any race that was a threat to the Aryans was to be exterminated. This was to ensure that the greatness of the Aryans was to compromised in any way. In the second volume, Adolf Hitler, the fighting factor is emphasized. In chapter 1, He accolades that fighting opens the way to recognition. Citizens had to inwardly armed. Adolf Hitler advocated for individual to embrace war, and have it embedded into them. Fighting was a way of showing confidence. Confidence in ones beliefs is stressed. Believing in something or a course defines someone. Having confidence in the believe makes the course a greater course. He uses the indestructibility of the soul to strengthen ones beliefs. The binding force of faith should be based on the eternity of existence and the existence of a higher being. If the belief was staunch, Adolf Hitler believed that even God will be on your side. This was regardless of how other perceived the beliefs. Faith safeguards the existence of humans. Faith contributes to the reality and secures the existence of humanity. The Germans had to believe the causes that were undertaken by the Third Reich. They had to have faith in it. This faith and beliefs would secure and safeguard them against any external factors. Adolf Hitler was asking the Germans to have faith in his actions. They were to believe in his actions. This would reflect the greater good the actions undertaken. This would justify all the action and all the wars that Germany waged would be justified if they had faith. Faith was the back bone of belief. Otto von Bismarck made the speech blood and iron as a reaction to the notion of shortening military service made by Max von Forckenbeck. He felt that military power should not undermine because of a constitutional budget. He believed that the power of any state was determined by it military ability. To him all standing armies were superfluous. He convinced the Prussian emperor that could stay in the monarch as long as the army was great. He argued that Germany was not looking forward to Prussia’sliberalism. Prussia was already liberated. Germany was looking forward to attaining its power. All other states that were indulging in imperialism would not be given the role of Germany getting to its power. He described the German people to be too hot blooded. War defined them, and in return they defined war. Germany would get in any war regardless of the size. He states that the German prefer wearing an armor that is too large for their bodies than wearing no armor at all. Germans had the potential of fighting. It is in them. According to Otto, Germans were seasoned for war. Going for liberalism was simply a waste of the potential that the Germans possessed. He believed that it was time the Germans utilized their preference of wearing an armor and marching to war (Katz 35). He argued that German had to seize any moment that would enable it to concentrate its powers. Those moments had already presented themselves but due to liberalism they passed on. He even quotes the Vienna treaties that stated that the Prussia’s borders were favorable for a healthy nation. Otto believed that German was not health due to the state of its powers to the world community. German had to strengthen it powers for it to become healthy. Powers can only be seized by war. He interjects with his famous phrase; great questions are not decided by resolutions and speeches. Great questions are decided by iron and blood. German must take up arms and act. Germans had to seize powers. This was not to be done by speeches in the councils. Speeches and resolution were a wastage of time according to Otto. Action decided the answers to questions. Actions were the answers to resolutions. Power was not gained by resolution. According to Otto, power was seized. Heinrich von Treitschke goes ahead and compares the German character with English character. He explains that simple loyalty of Germans contradicts greatly with the character of the English. He terms the Germans as people with great chivalry. He argues that England physical culture is sought through sports. Sports like boxing are brutal and are purely athletic. But for the German, the physical culture is sought through war. Germans favor group calisthenics and not prized athletic sports. The body is willed through exercises the field being the war field.He claims that the German character is bred. Pure from father to son. The German is not acquired but it is passed down. He felt that peace was an illusion. Those who supported peace were weak in character. He termed that the member of a community got more devoted to each other in war. Devotion to each other was more conspicuous in war than in any other situation. Peace would make this devotion fall apart. The reason for devotion would be lost at the settling of peace. Peace would weaken the bond between a community and the nation at large. For a state to be stronger, according to Heinrich, war must be a necessity and not a priority. For a state to be fully conceptualized an individual must be ready to pick up arms and stand for the state. Modern wars were not waged for resources; in contrast, more resources were wasted (Murray 86). War is for the national honor. An individual’s loyalty was measured by the sacrifices that would be made for the national honor. Heinrich emphasized that the morality of the honor of the state compelled one to sacrifice himself. An individual had to forget his egoism and divot wholly to the nation. What is at stake should be sublimed into the good of the state. This good was only vivid by the honor that war brought. Heinrich von Treitschke acclaimed militarism. He emphasized on authoritarianism in his works. Heinrich believed that the path to German greatness was war. His views were accorded by the many Germans who feared socialism. He was accorded by those who yearned for Germany to be a superpower by use of military. He advocatedagainst peace. He termed peace as an illusion for the weak character. In contrast, war woke peace in noble nations rather than bring chaos and destruction. War was a medicine to the human race. He even committedblasphemy by claiming that God himself will always see to it that war recurs (Emerson, 25). The notion that peace could be maintained in the world was impossible. The arms that try to hold on together for peace will gladly pick up their arms at the thought of war. Peace to him was a great political sin in great states. A state contemplating on peace was a feeble state. War was an elevating situation to him. The most important possession of a state is its power. This was all and end-all of the fabric of the state. Power was for the greater good of mankind. According to Heinrich power justified itself. The foremost duty of any state was to increase its power. It was a moral duty (Murray 86). An individual was more conceptualized if the state was at war than if it were at peace. In war a state is more conceptualized. War made a community to more devoted according to him. An individual would become more devoted to another in the community if they were in war. According to him, peace made individuals fall out on one another. The reason for togetherness was dispelled by peace. War was the bonding peace to a state. Wars, according to Heinrich, were not waged for the benefits of resources. It was not for the resources. A lot would be lost in the course of the war anyway. War was waged for the honor of the state. What was at stake,was to be retrieved for the morality and honor of the nation. The honor of the state was sanctified by war. Heinrich believed that this sanctity was unconditional. An individual would be compelled to sacrifice himself for this sanctity. Richard Wagner amplified social conflict. He terms the hatred for the Jews as an involuntary repellence. He attacked the Jewish contemporaries. His work accuses the Jews of being harmful to the German culture. The Jews were alien. Aliens are regarded as invaders. To him the Jews were pests that fed on what belonged to the Germans. He stated in his works that the Jews appearance and behavior was repulsive to the Germans. He undermined the Jewish emancipation. The liberation to him was a great mistake. Any contact between the Jews and Germans was repulsive. He states that the Germans could not contain them. The Jews were not needed in Germany (Murray 86). There was no connection between the Jews and the Germans. For people to co-exist there had to be a connection. The connection was either physical or spiritual. The Jewish appearance was repulsive to the Germans, so there was no physical connection. He regarded the Jews as being inferior. They were so inferior that they could not march up to the German spirit. He heavily criticized the Jewish musicians. To Richard, the Jews could not produce original and tangible music. Their inferiority made them produce shallow music that was so artificial. They lacked the character because of their compositions which were mediocre. They only did compositions to attain popularity hence financial success. They did not have in them the charisma of a true composer. For Richard, a composition had to be a genuine work of art and not a shallow production. This was the characterizes of the Jewish composers; they were shallow. He feels that Jewish tarnish the art of composition. They degrade the mastery of compositions. As a result, his public view on the Jewish community led to several public protests against the Jews. He preached his resilience against the Jews so powerfully that he won over the Aryans beliefs. Richard created a social disorder by his claims against the Jews. A lot of Jewish compositions went unpublished due to his criticism. He made the Jewish culture face a social challenge. He was a contributor to racial degradation. He created a racist philosophy that was adopted by a majority of the Aryans. This philosophy gave the reasons why there should be clear boundaries between superior and inferior races. Each should be kept apart from the other (Hitler 73). They cannot co-exist together. He even regarded the western society doomed because of miscegenation of the races. For the survival of the superior race, the inferior race must be kept away from any contact. His views actually influenced the Nazi thinking. The Nazis uses many parts of Richards thought in their propagandas. Only the parts that suppressed the Jews were picked. The others were ignored. The public view of Richard about Jews was so embraced that some of his music was used Dachau concentration camp. The Nazis believed that the music would ‘reeducate’ all the political prisoners. His effect was so immerse that his music was considered the ‘national music’. Sowing social discord among the people always works to consolidate them together. In the second and the third Reich, Otto von Bismarck and Adolf Hitler, used the needs of the state to manipulate people. Many dictators take advantage of people’s fears, their problems, and grievances. For instance, Adolf Hitler made many promises to the people of Germany. He knew so well that, after the First World War, people were extremely disenfranchised. The German citizens wanted a person to believe in; somebody to return Germany to its former days of glory. Germany was in depression, and anybody who presented himself to offer hope would be believed. Hitler took advantage of the troubles and confusion the German people were going through using indoctrination and propaganda. In times of fear, people always come together. Hitler ensured his ideas got to the people using films and books. This technique of mass mind control and mass suggestion, delivered in a confident and positive manner by Hitler, made him rise to a near divine status in the minds of Germans. Food shortages and unemployment, in the 1930’s and 1940’s, helped Hitler to take advantage of people. To justify the action to get rid of the crippled, he used the people’s financial insecurities to convince them that using state funds to support the crippled put a lot of strain on the country’s resources; so the crippled did not survive the third Reich executions (Emerson, 25). The technique Hitler used in the third Reich worked the same way it did in the second Reich. Otto Von Bismarck, then the leader of the Germans, was able to create a sense of national loyalty among the Germans by playing power politics. Germanization was a success mainly because people wanted the needs of the country to be solved. Idealism was illegal. Only Bismarck was the voice of the people. The leaders provoked wars and convinced the people that all that was for their own benefit. Using these propaganda and mass persuasion the political and power ambitions of the leaders of the second and the third Reich came to life. Political control came on a silver platter once people consolidated themselves under one leader. Work cited Emerson, Kent, “Blood and Iron”, Otto von Bismarck 1862. 2005. Hitler, Adolf. "Mein Kampf," translated by Ralph Manheim, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1971. J. P. Nettl.“Rosa Luxemburg.” Abridged ed. 1967 Jurnger, Ernst, “Storm of Steel From the Diary of a German Storm Troop Officer on the Katz, Jacob. ”The Darker Side of Genius: Richard Wagner's Anti-Semitism”.Hanover and London.1986 Murray, Stephen. “Thomas Mann's subtle 1929 novella about fascist mass hypnosis”, 2008 W. L. Guttsman.“The German Social Democratic Party, 1875-1933“. 1981 Rose, Paul Lawrence.“Wagner:Race and Revolution,”. London,1986. Toland, John. "Adolf Hitler," Anchor Books Doubleday, 1976 Watts, Sara, “Nationalism, Rasism, and Militarism”, Heinrich von Traitschke, 2001. Western Front”,1919 ” Read More