History of Germany and Germans - Assignment Example

History of Germany and Germans Unit Question Lewis (1996, Pg 74-77) highlights that, when Nazi Germany came into power, they were the main reason for the World War 11 outbreak, which shattered peace tenuously. Its regime was advocated by Adolf Hitler, who was the party leader. Hitler was born in Austria in a small town, and his dreams were that of becoming an artist, but were unable to perfect his skills in order to join an Art school and therefore, decided to concentrate on politics. He joined the army and earned himself a title of a brave warrior where he was largely disturbed by World War 1 defeat by the Germans. He put the blame on the loss of Jews and socialists, whom he claimed had surrendered to the nation. This course changed my views about Germans and Germany, where I learnt about many individuals who made history like Shakespeare, Hitler and the Nazi party. For example, I learnt the economic policies of Hitler, which won him remarkable support from the Germans, but the policies were a byproduct of his original aims, of space and race. Additionally, he wanted to get a lebensraum from the Germans whom he claimed were superior in terms of race than their neighbors. This is what stimulated the war because the aggression of the Nazi could only be stopped by a collaboration of Soviet Union, United States and Britain. This is what Churchill Winston referred to as Grand Alliance. Additionally, his foreign policies strangely resembled his policies on domestic issues. He transformed his weak areas by advocating that he wanted to overturn the system that he claimed was unjust by imposing treaties of Locarno and Versailles. However, he only intended to do this legally, and when he become strong, he increased his demand and attacked his allies (Lewis, 1996, Pg 74-77). This course changed my views on Germans and Germany. Initially, I thought that all Germans were dictators because of the stories I heard about Hitler. I regarded them as killers, but this course expounded my way of thinking, by learning about World War 1and 2, reasons and consequences of the war. To add to this, I learnt about life history of significant people, who stimulated the war and their allies. Some of the themes I might pursue in the future based on history of the Germans and Germany is the political agenda of Hitler whose history has large significance in the history. I learnt that he had no compassion and fed on hate, and his motive was meant to exterminate the Jews. However, if we look back to the society of German, we see a society that is civilized and not like other countries. Germany, had taken its pride on its science, culture and Arts. The citizens continued with their business as usual, followed up Television news, and took life as normal. The issue of Genocide was not like a development, but rather sprouted seeds, though few thought that it was a kind of vines that had already twisted and would grow eventually. Some of the reasons why Hitler came into power in Germany were his first of all, his evil focus on himself as well as he was demagoguery and practiced his skills in front of everyone in the limelight. As a skilled orator he played with the government, media, and the masses at the same time perfectly. He also formed a party that was on his side in each aspect of his German way of life. German citizens were also in a situation that did not tolerate totalitarianism, because they were ashamed they had lost the World War One, and therefore, they were distressed by this war and Versailles treaty (Lewis, 1996, Pg 74-77). Question 2 America declared war on Germany in 1917, when Wilson the president came from a joint meeting with the congress and declared war against the Germans, because he claimed that he wanted to make the world a better place for democracy. The congress then granted his wish on April 4th. America then joined the war which had been ravaging since 1914 in Europe. However, the Germans renewed the submarine unrestricted warfare and German proposal revelation plot to combine with Mexico to fight against Wilson’s prompt actions. In 1917, January, the Germans decided to renew their policy of submarine unrestricted warfare, which had been abandoned after the Lusitania sunk in 1915. According to, Lewis (1996, Pg 74-77), all ships that Britain traded with, in addition to, those countries which were neutral, like the United States, became targets of the submarines, in which they sunk them without any warning. However, in February the American London ambassador was given a copy by the British of German intercepted telegram. This telegram is said to have come from the foreign secretary of German, Zimmerman Arthur, to the ambassador of German to Mexico. He proposed that Mexico and German would join in the war, if US joined the war. He claimed that German was willing to give funds to Mexico in order to support its conflict with the Americans, and if they won the war, then Mexico would gain back its territories like New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The telegram release made the public furious and further stimulated the loss of 15 Americans and US lost four of its merchant ships to Germans. The Zimmerman telegram was not just a pretext but a valid reason for joining the war because it stimulated war from both the Americans and the U.S and as a result, the Germans killed 15 Americans and took away US ships (Lewis, 1996, Pg 74-77). Benjamin Freedman talked about America being neutral in the sense that it seems that it did not want to get involved in World War 1. The Allied and Britain powers were seen to lose the war to other powers. The Declaration of Balfour had promised a Palestine a state in Jewish. Lusitana was also ordered and armed in order to attack the U-boats of Germans, and therefore, there was a propaganda that was created to convince the population of Americans that German had to be conquered. However, Benjamin Freedman claimed that neutrality is no longer desirable or feasible when world peace is at stake and when it concerns the freedom of its people. The freedom and the menace lay in the government which was autocratic and backed by a force that is controlled by its will and not that of the people (Lewis, 1996, Pg 74-77). Lewis (1996, Pg 74-77), asserts that the history of Americans would have changed in a number of ways, if it had stayed out of the war. The Germans were both in two fronts during the war, where they fought against the British and the French, against the Russians in the East. However, they did not get victory from the West. The Germans and their allies then bogged down several trench-warfare but were not successful also on the warfront from the east. However, in the event the US joined the war and American troops enabled the British and French to defeat the Germans. The Kaiser was deposed and at the same time formed a new government, which became Republic of Weimar. This government formed peace with other allies, and as a result, peace terms that were harsh were imposed in 1918 at Versailles. Wilson tried to fight for peace term that was gentle but in vain, and because of this humiliation, in 1933 Nazi party and Hitler got their power. This explains why history would have changed for good if America had stayed out of war, because in general there was no compelling reason why it had joined in the World War 1. On the contrary, there were allegations and incidents of attacks from the German on how to ship neutral, as well as Germans had not declared war against the Americans (Lewis, 1996, Pg 74-77). Work Cited Lewis.R. The Neo-Nazis and German Unification. Westport, Conn: Praeger 1996. Print, Pg 74-77 Read More