Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe - Essay Example

 Nazi Germany and the Jews Book Review: Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe Abstract This book by Gellately Robert on Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, gives a socio-historical account of the development of the Nazi regime in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, and communism/Leninism, led by Lenin and later by Stalin. The book, also, compares and contrasts the developments, the ideologies, and the oppressive natures of these two regimes. This paper reviews the main ideas in this book focusing, specifically, on the Nazi regime and the impact that the regime had on the Jews living in Germany. The paper concludes by reviewing the Jews massacre by the Nazi regime in Germany. Nazi Germany and the Jews Book Review: Robert Gellately: Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler This book gives the social-historical account of the development of the oppressive and brutal regimes of Nazi, under Hitler, and Soviet (Leninism/ communism), under Lenin and Stalin. The book compares and contrasts the two regimes, especially in their developments, ideologies, and their oppressive natures. Both the Nazi regime in Germany and the Soviet in Russia came into power after the World war 1, and both Stalin and Hitler were opportunists who took advantage of the weak and the venerable regimes in their respective countries, immediately after the World War I. Stalin and Hitler severely criticised the regimes in their respective countries and blamed the leaders for the failures in the First World War. This fact, coupled with the fact that, Hitler and Stalin powerfully persuaded and won the proletariat heart’s enabled them to ascend into power. Also, both Nazi and Leninism regimes were overly brutal and repressive to a section of their subjects. But while Hitler was against the Jews living in Germany, Stalin was against his own compatriots who were opposed to Leninism. This paper reviews the main ideas in this book focusing specifically, on the Nazi regime and the impact that the regime had on the Jews living in Germany. Historical Background: Nazi’s Rise to Power Nazi party originally started as a small social movement known as the, Germany Workers party (DAP) in 1919. The party, however, was a right wing party formed by the disgruntled and disillusioned soldiers who had lost in the World War I. The soldiers and many other members of the public felt completely let down when German lost the World War I against France and their allies. The disillusioned people complained that conspiracy by the soldiers in the battleground had contributed to the defeat. The conspiracy was attributed to the Jews, and as a result, a negative feeling towards the Jews started spreading all over Germany. The Jews now were seen as the main cause of the failure in the in the World War I. Many Germans had superiority complex and they could not figure out how they could legitimately lose the war, they considered themselves superior to all other races of the world. In denial of the defeat, and in reinforcing their superiority complex, the Germany workers party advocated for, nationalism, anti-Semitism, and militarism. Adolf Hitler joined the party in 1919, and became a part of the leadership shortly because of his charismatic nature. Nazi’s Ideologies Nationalism: Hitler and his adherents attributed the failure of Germany in World War I, to the Jews, whom they accused for lack of commitment in war and conspiring for the defeat of Germany. Hitler and his adherents, therefore, envisioned the lack of nationalism by the Jews as a big challenge to the well-being of the German Republic. For this reason, they set out to advocate for nationalism. In this advocacy, they rejected communism (anti- Bolshevism) and argued that communism and disloyalty by the Jews was the reason for all of the Germany woes. Anti-Semitism: Anti-Semitism was another ideology for the Nazi party. The Nazi party set out to vilify and demonise the Jews. This was because the Nazi supporters felt that, the Jews were an inferior race, and as such, they ought to be expunged from the superior German race. Hitler, through his oratory, inspired anti-Semitic attitude among his supporters. Militarism: One of the terms of the Versailles treaty signed in 1918, between the Weimer government and their rivals, France and their allies, was that for the war to end, Germany must agree to reduce the number of its soldiers considerably. Also, Germany was not supposed to have Air force. Hitler and his supporters were mad at this agreement. Hitler saw the future of Germany as lying in a strong military; he was very much opposed to the idea of having a weak military. This is understandable because Hitler’s main intention in forming the Nazi party was to take over the leadership of Germany, and eventually to conquer the whole world. This was possible only through a formidable military. Volk (Commitment to the German race): The forth ideology of Hitler was to call upon all the Germans to have a great love for their own race. This call, of course, was a call for the Germans to view themselves as the superior race of the world. Hitler was convinced that due to the increasing number of Jews in Germany, many Germans were losing sense of respect and love for their superior race. Nazi party, therefore, meant to awaken this respect and commitment to the German race among all the Germans. Abortive coup d’état As an ideologically based party, Nazi set out to execute its ideologies and to take over the mantle of leadership of the German Republic. As a means to gain power, Hitler first employed violent means in an attempt to topple the Weimar government. The timing of the abortive coup d’état was critical since it took place in 1923 when the economy of Weimar republic was in dire crisis. During this period the general public was unhappy with the government due to the economic crisis. In November 1923, Hitler and General Ludendorff tried to organise a march from Munich to Berlin, to overthrow the Weimer government. The march however was dismantled by the Bavarian police in Munich, and Hitler was arrested, and subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment, but he was released from prison after serving for one year in December 1924. Change of strategy Having failed in violently toppling the Weimar regime, Hitler now realized it is only through constitution that he will be able to gain victory and to assume the leadership of his beloved country. Hitler therefore, resorted to democracy, as a legitimate mean to win the power of Germany. And to do this, he mobilised supporters with his oratory skills. Hitler first launched a systematic scathing attack against the establishment of the Weimar party. This campaign was aimed at making as many Germans as possible opposed to the Government. The Nazi party criticised the Weimar government for the oppressive Versailles treaty, and for surrendering in the war, even though the soldiers still wanted to continue fighting. The criticisms, of course, were riddled with propaganda, which Hitler saw as an efficacious too to mobilise the people and to win fanatical following. The criticisms and the propaganda aimed at the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. Hitler’s campaign strategy and the subsequent seizure of power During the height of the crisis in 1991-1932, Hitler campaigned vigorously, showing his remarkable talents in oratory. Hitler indeed was a demagogue, and whenever he gave a public speech, he always had his audience in ecstasy. In his campaigns, Hitler made appeals to his people at two levels, i.e. he appealed to the whole nation on the issues of national concern, and he also appealed to the sectors of the population on the issues that affected them exclusively. Nazi party, also, was all-inclusive, and targeted all classes of people, but it targeted mostly at the lower and middle class. Hitler’s strategy coupled with the great economic depression that Germany was going through made many people to turn against the government. In the long run Hitler’s campaign turned out to be a great success. Hitler appealed to the people on areas in which they had interest and on matters that concerned them. Hitler in the campaigns revived the talk about how Germany was betrayed in the First World War, and the subsequent signing of the Versailles Treaty. He also talked about how he could overcome the economic crisis that had caused so much pain among the Germans. He blamed the Jews for all the problems of Germany, and through his criticism of Germany, people from all walks of life started viewing the Jews as the main cause of the problems of Germany, and in this way the Germans were hated so much by the Germans, leading to the Holocaust massacre. Through his campaigns, Hitler won the hearts of many Germany and in 1932, elections, Hitler’s party, the Nazi party, won the majority seats and thus became the majority party in Germany. And in the following year, 1933, Hitler was appointed the new chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg, and he formed the Nazi government. The Nazi regime ruled from 1933 to 1939. Oppression of the Jews by the Nazi regime The aim of Hitler was to completely obliterate all the Jews living in Germany. Hitler was deeply convinced that the Jews could never be patriotic to the German republic. He claimed that Jews interests lay elsewhere, but not in Germany. He criticised the Jews for not viewing work as a social responsibility. Also, Hitler criticised the Jews for diluting, as it were, the German culture. Hitler, therefore, set out to accomplish his mission of guarding his motherland by killing millions of the Jews. Under the leadership of Hitler, the Nazi regime, from around 1941, built concentration camps for the sole purpose of mass execution of the Jews. About two million Jews were gassed with Carbon monoxide in Chelmo, Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. At Auschwitz, more than two million Jews were gassed with Zyklon B gas. Tens of thousands other Jews were gassed at Majdanek, with the same Zyklon B gas. Many other Jews were shot outside the concentration camps and many more were executed in the ghettos. In total, by 1945, the number of the Jews who were executed during the Nazi regime is about 5.5 million Jews. The concentration camps for the execution of the Jews spread in many other European countries and many millions of Jews living in Europe were killed during this time. The Nazi regime marked the most brutal and oppressive regime, ever, in the history of Europe. Reference Gellately, R. 2007. Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe. USA: Vintage books. Web. Read More