What lead the German people to fully accept Hitler's views on how society should be run - Essay Example

What lead the German people to fully accept Hitler’s views on how society should be run? Leaving a country weak will create a vulnerable society where a leader can easily manipulate countrymen.  This is evident when examining Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Our conception of Hitler is different from how the Germans perceived him. History shows that Hitler is a diabolical person who championed the holocaust. However, there was a substantial number of Germans who believed and supported Hitler’s ideas. At that time most Germans idealized Hitler as the fighting leader of German. Hitler believed that Germans were the superior race; this made him take his nationalistic activities too seriously. Hitler’s views made Germans feel important at a vulnerable stage of their lives. Germany was going through a difficult situation as a result of the World War 1. Hitler presented himself as the hero to the ailing state and manipulated the emotions of the people for his selfish interests. It took Hitler 10 years to be the Chancellor of Germany. During that time, Germans were feeling disillusioned about their leadership, economy, and the social life (Klaus 213) He exerted his extremist and nationalistic ideas, which were welcomed by the vulnerable Germans. Just like any popular leader, Hitler used almost all brainwashing techniques on the vulnerable Germans. This study aims to look at how Hitler’s policies blinded the Germans and at the same time the vulnerability of German as a country. Hitler had an amazing personality, such that he could get along with people well. His oratory skills gave him an advantage when it came to convincing the public. When he initially rose to power, Hitler was a member of the German Workers Party; this gave him a big following. By 1920, Hitler was a renowned leader known for his good speaking skills because he talked about the matters that affected the common citizens. He changed the German Workers Party to National Socialist Workers Party (NAZI) the party came up with a manifesto that touched on the issues that people were sensitive to at that time. The Nazi manifesto contain issues such as abolishing the Versailles treaty, unifying Germans, bettering the lives of the middle class Germans and abolishing Jews from the German society. The party amassed a huge following among the middle class and the workers because of the enigmatic and radical leadership of Hitler. The meetings of the Nazi party were violent because the party members wanted to impose their opinions on others; however this did not alarm the Germans because at that time there was a lot of violence in the German streets particularly from the Frei Corp and the Communists. Hitler’s radical views were against the Weimar Republic. He strongly condemned the leadership for the misfortunes that had befallen Germany. He spoke about it in his rallies, which motivated the people who already thought that Weimar republic was dull and had no capability of restoring the German nationalism. Nazi, on the other hand was considered radical, action oriented and capable of restoring German’s nationalism under the leadership of Hitler. Therefore, Hitler’s action and words played a big part in convincing the Germans that Hitler cared about them. Hitler dwelled on nationalist ideas. Germany at that time was a bruised nation. After the First World War, Germany had lost a lot, particularly its power. In those days, there was rivalry between nations in Europe on who was superior more than the other. When Germany and their allies lost the world war, their superiority was at stake. People were no longer feeling nationalistic after the war as they used. Hitler maximized on the topic of nationalism. Nationalism was the nerve centre of his Nazist activities. In his book, meim kampf, he wrote that Germans are a portrayal of racial purity and they are destined to be the master race. Hitler made Germans feel superior and important at the time the nation was at its rock bottom. He made Germans believe that they were a part of superior race called the Aryans, which described people pure Germans who were Nordic, tall and blonde. He developed a hatred for the Jews, claiming that they were denying Germans job and educational opportunities. He convinced the Germans that the Jews in the society were greedy, selfish and rich and they were only after their resources. His radical nationalistic views included unification of the German races and the expansion of the German territories. Hitler constantly driller his nationalistic views to the Germans. Germans were considered nationalistic and proud people, particularly during Hitler’s time. Hitler controlled what people heard and learned. When he became the leader he controlled the media and what was being taught in schools. This help in brainwashing the Germans with his Nazist views, hence amassing support. This also resulted in the rise of young and radical Nazist (Aryan race) children at a young age of 10 were enrolled in schools that taught about the practices and ideals of Nazism. Germany was vulnerable economically. The collapse of the stock market on Wall Street in 1929 had much more devastating effects in Germany. Germany was affected negatively because it had invested a lot in the war. Germany had huge amounts of loans from the United States and it relied heavily on foreign trade of the foreign markets brought her trading activities to a halt. To add salt to the injury, after the war, Germany’s trade was in jeopardy because it could only trade with its allies. The devastating effects of the failed economy were people being laid off, closure of banks, inflation and people’s savings being wiped out. The middle class that comprised of many Germans wallowed in poverty and misery, yet the cause of these events was out of their control. Germans were starving to death because they could not even afford food. Hitler stroke at the right time, before the depression the Nazi party had a small growth, which increased drastically after the depression. Nazi as a party appealed to the workers and the unemployed, this explains why in 1932, the Nazi seats in parliament rose to 230 making Nazi the party with the biggest number of members of parliament. Nazi offered good job opportunities to the young and unemployed. The party in the leadership of Hitler also convinced the people that the only way Germans could get their jobs back and regain their economic strength was by eliminating non- Germans who were snatching opportunities from them. Hitler also blamed the leadership that led to the signing of Versailles treaty saying that it contributed to Germany’s economic woes. He also blamed the Jews and the communist for their problems. Such views resonated with the Germans because they were suffering economically (Sally & Tubach, 201) These were desperate times and the people were tired of the Hindenburg leadership that offered no solutions to the economic crisis, people were willing to listen to anyone else that had better ideas, even Hitler. Hitler came up with programs and policies that offered hope to the dismally performing economy. When Hitler succeeded Paul Von Hindenburg, there was a slight growth in the economy. This gave people the false hopes that the economy was recovering because of Hitler, hence gaining more support. At some occasions, Hitler has been compared to Roosevelt. He appealed to the masses well during the times of economic depression. There are similarities between the economic policies adopted by Hitler and those of Roosevelt in order to aid the failing economy. Under the economic reasons, Germany was afraid of communism just like any other nation during those times. The threat matured at the end of the World War 2, when Eastern Germany became a communist republic. The Germans might have shown support for Hitler because he was a strong leader that could help Germany overcome the threats posed by communism. The 3 threats that Germany faced once Hitler was in power were the economic depression, threat of communism and the threat of terrorism. Hitler’s government handled all these crises well within a short span. The situations that had made people vulnerable were being dealt with well and in a short span. People who had not been supportive of the Hitler regime changed their minds and supported him. Effects of the Versailles treaty had rendered Germany vulnerable. Versailles treaty was signed in order to bring peace after the world war. Versailles treaty had strict stipulations that affected Germany negatively. The treaty stated that Germany must accept full responsibility for the war. In order to show that Germany was taking responsibility, they were strict measures imposed on them. First of all, some parts of its territory were given out to other nations and the League of Nations. Germany paid billions as war reparations, French military occupied the Rhineland and some parts of Germany’s territories were annexed. The treaty had extreme effects on Germany, yet it was suffering the effects of the loss of the war. The treaty affected all the aspects of the Germany society negatively; it affected them politically, socially and economically. Economically Germany was weakened by the fact that it had to pay huge war reparations and the loss of key states that boosted the economy. Another stipulation of the Versailles treaty was the fact that Germany had to reduce its military size. The military was reduced to just 10 000 men; Germany was also not allowed to have the air force and the navy. The military strength had symbolic meaning to the German political life. It was a symbol of strength and pride. It was the pride of Kaiser Wilhelm II and it made him a great leader. On the social front, since the treaty affected the economic situation negatively it resulted in mass poverty and misery of the Germans. Hitler used this as one of his strategies. He constantly reminded the bitter Germans that the Versailles treaty had been imposed on them unfairly. He reminded the people about the hurtful effects of the Versailles treaty and how it had contributed to the national humiliation of Germany. When Hitler rose to power, he broke the Versailles treaty and increased his military. This move was accepted by the Germans. Hitler’s book, mein kampf, contributed to why Germans, particularly the radical Germans supported him. In his book he does not believe in equality of races. He talks about the superior race which is the Aryan race. He talks negatively about the other races particularly the Jewish race. The book stereotypes different people within the society. Though this book does not inspire much support; it was one of Hitler’s radical ideas that any vulnerable and radical supporter would hold on to during those days when nationalistic animosity was at its peak. Hitler propagated his ideas of superiority of Germans in his book. He talked about the Aryan race and its superiority claiming that it should be the only race worth reproducing. Some of Hitler’s beliefs expressed in his book supported the suppression of homosexuality, persecution of gypsies and purification of the Germans to get rid of other impure races (Klaus, 13) Nazi propaganda also propagated Hitler’s ideals and lies. NAZI as a party had its own newspapers and way of reaching out to its supporters. Behind the NAZI propaganda was Dr. Goebbels who had a PHD in literature; he worked on powerful oratory messages that were transmitted in the newspaper, radio and other media. His strong messages and convincing power helped in gaining more support for Hitler. In the 1932 election, Hitler amassed total votes of 30.1 % but in the run off the numbers reached 36%. He was appointed the chancellor in 1933 by Hindenburg because of his failing health. When Hitler was in power there was a slight progress in the German society because of his radical behaviors. The economy improved and the Germans began feeling good about themselves again. Hitler banned all the political parties, hence making himself an absolute dictator. The Germans did not mind Hitler’s dictatorship at first because he had Germany’s interest at heart. At some point Hitler has been described as ‘feel good dictator’ because the motivation of his dictatorship was to make Germany a better nation. As a leader, he controlled everything from the state, the media to the education system. He used violence, deception and some of his clever tactics to gain the support of the German people. Hitler came up with the ritualistic parade during his regime. The parade comprised of candle lit marches in the cities and towns marked with patriotic music. This tradition introduced by Hitler made Germans feel like more patriotic and proud even if they were wallowing in poverty. This tactic worked in Hitler’s favor as people became more supportive (Gellately, 123) Hitler’s progress after the revolution is hardly recognized because it is surpassed by the atrocities he committed. When he came into power, he restructured Germany’s industries, and improved the working conditions for the German workers. Workers had better, spacious, and better lit working conditions and health facilities were constructed. The government constructed better housing for the middle class. He restored work and improved the living conditions of many Germans during his regime. The first superhighway in the world was created in Germany during Hitler’s era. Hitler came up with social projects, within a short period of time Germany’s financial position had improved. His major projects were major high way network and re ammunition. When Hitler took power, he increased the budgetary allocation ammunition from 5% to 58%. People were impressed with the fast rate of progress during Hitler’s era. Some of the atrocities Hitler committed would not have happened if he did not have the support of the people. Hitler had a faithful military that he had brainwashed and used them to carry out his orders. The public also supported the troops. Hitler had made the people believe the notion that they were superior and they cared about winning a war even when they had no reason as to why they were fighting. Lastly, people were vulnerable because of the failures of the Weimar republic. The leadership had led the country into war and many other problems. Under the Weimar leadership, over 6 million people were left unemployed, throughout the 1920s the Weimar leadership had borrowed huge foreign loans yet the living standards of the citizens were deteriorating. The country was in huge debts, there was massive unemployment and increased fears of communism. The public had lost confidence in the government. Hitler maximized on the vulnerable public, coupled with his great speaking skills and great promises he was able to convince the public to support Nazi (Leon, 301) Hitler’s influence in German was influenced by the situations that Germany was going through. If Germany had been in a better place economically and politically, Hitler’s views would not have gained much support. The Germany’s case is a perfect display of how leaders can manipulate the vulnerable population for their own interest. Though Hitler’s case was for the interest of Germany, he was championing his selfish and unrealistic views. People cannot blindly follow a leader with bad policies, unless those policies deal with the interests of the people at that time. Works cited Gellately, Robert. Backing Hitler: consent and coercion in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press. 2001. Print Klaus, Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History. New York: Continuum.1995. Print Leon, Degrelle. How Hitler Consolidated Power in Germany and Launched a Social Revolution. The Journal of Historical Review, Fall 1992 (Vol. 12, No. 3), pp. 299-370 Sally, Patterson & Tubach, Frederic. German Voices: Memories of Life during Hitler's Third Reich. University of California Press; 1 edition. 2011. Print Unemployment and health in context and comparison: a study of Canada, Germany, and the United States of America. University of British Columbia, 2009. Print Read More