The rise and fall of Nazi Germany - Term Paper Example

The Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany The horrors of the holocaust and the human fatalities that were associated with the Second World War underline the importance of examining Nazism. In this case, it is evident that Nazism, and by extension Hitler, was responsible for the holocaust that divides opinion to date. In effect, the rise to power in Nazi Germany, and the Third Reich, becomes a significant area of study since there were other parties in Germany that were competing against the Nazi Party and never reached the status of the Reich. Despite other parties competing for power with Hitler’s party, it is evident that the Third Reich emerged as a powerful player in the country’s history with the party gaining support from a majority of Germans who helped it advance its agenda despite the party being retrogressive and undemocratic. This essay investigates the rise to power of the Third Reich and investigates the factors that contributed to Hitler’s outperforming his competitors. Before investigating how Nazis rose to power in Germany, it is important to understand the person who was instrumental in the rise of the Nazi and the Third Reich to power in Germany. In this regard, Adolf Hitler remains the most important person in the history of Germany since he defined the history of the country and that of the world. Born Adolphus Hitler “on April 20, 1889, in the small Austrian town of Braunau located at the border between Austria and Germany,” Hitler was the fourth child to his parents and the first child to live beyond two years (Giblin 4). Importantly, no one expected such an unlikely figure would become the successor to President Hindenburg since his parents were peasants although they lived a middle-class life. Nonetheless, Hitler’s upbringing and place of birth were instrumental in his quest of having Germany and Austria, two German-speaking nations, become one republic and joining each other in a single Reich. At the age of thirty-five years, Hitler sat in a German prison and dictated the book that became the blueprint for the Third Reich and his rise to power in Germany. Titled the Mein Kampf, the book starts with an outline of the important role that his birthplace of Braunau played in shaping his philosophy about uniting the two nations into a single Reich. In this case, the book starts with his narration of the important factor played by Hitler’s place of birth with Hitler noting that: Today it seems to me providential that fate should have chosen Braunau am Inn as my birthplace. For this little town lies on the boundary between two German states which we of the younger generation at least have made it our life-work to reunite by every means at our disposal. . . This little city on the border seems to me the symbol of a great mission. (qtd. in Shirer 6). In effect, the introduction to Hitler’s blueprint outlined his desire to see Austria and German become one Reich. In effect, this contributed to his desire to join the army and fight the coalition of the British, Russians, and the French in the First World War. After Hitler’s discharge from military service on March 20, 1920, he left the military at a time when his star in German politics was on the rise. Hitler knew how to give moving speeches and he used this ability to his advantage in order to gain followers. In the same year, Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party and changed the name of the party the same year in order to have the party sound more impressive than it sounded. In effect, the party became the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), which people just shortened to the Nazi Party with the party starting its way to prominence in German politics (Giblin 29). Through moving and passionate speeches, Hitler managed to grow the membership of the Nazi Party to more than 3,000 members by the January 1921 (Giblin 30). In line with this, Hitler was able to make the people realize the importance of ensuring that Germany’s leadership was strong and did not waver against the enemy. In this case, Germans remained distraught that the nation had lost the war and the leaders that people trusted to guide the nation had abdicated their roles. In effect, people wanted to identify with a leader who showed a strong will and character to steer the nation towards achieving strength. As the membership of the party grew, Hitler became the Fuhrer or the absolute leader in order to keep the members in line with the philosophy and the objectives of the party (Giblin 30). In effect, this position thrust Hitler to the limelight of the party and he continued to assert his authority in Germany. Through speeches on the need to have a strong leader, the Nazi Party’s support base grew in leaps and bounds. In one rally in Munich, the party addressed more than 50,000 enthusiastic supporters who came from varying backgrounds (Giblin 32). In this regard, the Nazi Party was able to use propaganda and capture the interest of the war veterans who were resentful that Germany had lost the war. On the other hand, the propaganda churned through the chief architect, Adolf Hitler, resonated well with the middle-class who had witnessed their savings and hard-earned investments vanish following the inflation that had affected the nation after the war. Overall, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party were able to use the mistrust that the Germans had on the Weimar Republic and the need of having a strong leader who would solve the problems that afflicted the country (Giblin 33). In effect, the people identified with the Nazi Party and they saw such a leader in the strong character posited by Adolf Hitler. In this case, Hitler appeared as the leader who would solve all the afflictions that the country faced and he was the leader who would take the country to the prosperous heights that the citizens yearned to attain. Many financiers who identified with its ideals helped the party. In order to propagate its propaganda, the Nazi Party, through the assistance of financiers, established a newspaper for the ‘reeducation’ of the country although this was only a way to perpetuate propaganda. In this case, the leading newspaper for the Third Reich was the ‘Vőlkischer Beobachter’ that went through the keen eyes of Alfred Rosenberg, considered as the leading intellectual in the Nazi Party. The paper, and many other Nazi-affiliated newspapers such as the one led by Goebbels who was one of the leading propagandists, focused on three themes to advance the course of the Nazi Party. In line with this, the first theme relied on the humiliation of the Germans in war and the unfair treatment following the country’s defeat and the Versailles Treaty. Secondly, the newspapers relied on the theme of the weaknesses of Weimar parliamentary republic. Finally, these newspapers perpetuated the evil world of Capitalism, Bolshevism, and most importantly the Jewish way of life was evil and in contrast to the Nazi German patriotism (Welch 22). In effect, the newspapers advanced the need for Germans to follow Hitler as a messianic figure, which ensured that the propaganda focused on deification of Hitler. Secondly, the newspapers defined the Jews and Bolsheviks as the enemy in order to justify the treatment vested on these enemies. Finally, these Nazi Party propaganda tools focused on rallying the masses for war and the importance of improving genetic qualities through selective breeding (Welch 22). In effect, the propaganda worked towards rallying the Germans together and the party rose to power in 1932 with Hitler becoming Fuhrer in 1935 following the death of Hindenburg (Giblin 89). Consequently, the Nazi Party started its path towards establishing itself as the strongest nation on earth and yearned to conquer other nations in order to control the world. Nonetheless, the need to conquer more nations became the party’s foundation to its downfall. The falling of the Nazi Party started with the invasion of the Rhine by Allied armies and the besiegement of Berlin by the Soviet Army in March and April in 1945. However, the same year was marked by the dwindling fortunes of the Third Reich in Germany with the economy of the country taking a toll due to the Nazi Party’s stance in World War II. In line with this, coal production in Germany was down by a fifth of what the country produced before the war, which was due to the ruins evidenced in Ruhr and the loss of Upper Silesia. In addition, the British and the Americans had destroyed the rail transport through bombing and ensured that the Nazi-led Germany could not use water transport. In effect, the dominant thing in Nazi Party’ conferences were talks of coal shortage, lack of fuel for ships, and shortage of gasoline, which incapacitated the Nazi Party’s engagement in war (Shirer 990). Hence, the party grounded its planes while the Allied forces destroyed other planes with these effects of war taking a toll on the leadership of the party. Facing attacks from different angles, Hitler and the Nazi Party engaged in a path to destroy Germany, as the party did not see the reason why the nation should exist if it failed to win the war (Shirer 991). Nonetheless, this did not happen since the Allied army and Russians advanced and besieged Berlin with Hitler taking his own life in May 1945, which lead to the collapsing of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich (Orlow 89). Briefly, it is evident that the Nazi Party thrived on propaganda to consolidate its support and rise to national prominence. Focusing on three aspects that helped shape the party’s policy, the Nazi Party was able to convince disgruntled Germans to support it and ensure that Germany became a respected nation. In addition, the party wanted to establish leadership based on the strong personality of Adolf Hitler and ensure that the country became one under one leader and one party. However, the party’s desire to establish itself as the strongest nation on earth led the party to budget for the war and start what became the Second World War and the Holocaust, which changed the history of the world. In effect, this became the downfall of the party since engaging in war made the party and the country by extension, lose economically and the trust that the Germans had on the Third Reich and the Nazi Party. Works Cited Giblin, James. Life Death of Adolf Hitler Cl. Clarion Books: New York, 2002. Print. Shirer, William L. The rise and fall of the Third Reich: a history of Nazi Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990. Print. Orlow, Dietrich. Nazi Party 1919 -1945: A Complete History. New York: Enigma Books, 2010. Print. Welch, David. The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda. Routledge: London, 1993. Print. Read More