How the Life of Josef Goebbels Illuminate the Crisis in Interwar Europe - Essay Example

How the life of Josef Goebbels illuminate the crisis in interwar Europe Joseph Goebbels was born in 1897 during a time when Germany was one of the most powerful states in Europe and was therefore raised with the belief that his country was in its rightful place. The fact that Germany was defeated during the First World War and that the terms that were imposed on it were extremely severe may have been among the reasons that led to Goebbels’ developing some of his radical views concerning society. The humiliation suffered by Germany, which also included the payment of reparations also ensured that this state not only remained poor but also that it could no longer be able to assert itself in Europe as it had previously. The tough economic conditions that Germans had to live through as well as the lack of ample opportunities for advancement ensured that men like Goebbels ended up being radicalized in such a way that they became members of the Nazi Party with its promises of making the lives of all Germans better. The life of Goebbels changed significantly from the moment when he joined the Nazi Party as it allowed him to give vent to the anger he felt not only concerning the deplorable state of the society, but also the incompetence of the postwar government in handling these social issues. In addition, his virulent anti-Semitism was provided a platform within the Nazi Party which ensured that he not only had a willing audience but also that he was able to give his ideas concerning how to associate with them. By the time the Nazis gained political power in Germany, Goebbels was one of the most fervent supporters of Adolf Hitler as well as one of his closest associates, which earned him an appointment as minister of propaganda, a position that he held until his death. The economic conditions in Germany in the interwar period seem to have been so bad that even those individuals who had a high level of education found it hard to gain employment. Such was the situation in which Goebbels found himself because despite holding a PhD in Nineteenth century literature of the Romantic School, he seems never to have found a stable job, and this explains why he started works as a journalist, then a bank clerk, and later a caller at the stock exchange. It was two years after earning his PhD, in 1923, that he first came into contact with the Nazi Party and he became a member a year later. Because of his extreme loyalty to the party leader, he came to be appointed a regional party leader in charge of Berlin. Goebbels took advantage of his position to ensure that he stole away as many of the working class supporters of the Social Democratic Party as well as those of the Communist Party to ensure that the support base of the Nazis was bolstered1. It was during this phase of his life that he gave full vent to his propaganda skills, emphasizing the need for the Nazi Party to develop an outlook that was more proletarian as well as nationalist and it was through his actions that within a few years, he had become among the most prominent members of the party. It can be said that it was because of the turbulence brought about by the dire economic conditions in Germany that led to the rise of the Nazi Party to power and with it rose Goebbels who as minister of propaganda ensured that there was totalitarian control over the media. His exertion of absolute control over the media was done to ensure that the German people were ideologically prepared for the aggressive warfare that was to follow. The interwar period in Germany was dominated by the thinking, among a section of German society that was the main support base of the Nazi party, that it was the fault of the Jews in the society that Germany had been defeated and humiliated during the First World War. In addition, it was the belief among these individuals that the Jews were to blame for all the economic hardship that was plaguing the German people. Goebbels was one of the biggest proponents of this idea and among his first acts as minister was to take on a confrontational and aggressive approach towards all the Jews in German society. Among these was the boycott by all Germans of all the Jewish businessmen, doctors and lawyers and this culminated in which many Jews were beaten and murdered while their religious places were burnt2. Furthermore, the racial stereotypes of Jews as being cunning, immoral, and untrustworthy were propagated with the aim of ensuring that the German public became wary of them and that they were prevented from conducting any activities with the rest of German society. Goebbels also presided over the implementation of discriminative laws against the Jews so as to ensure that they no longer had a say either socially, economically, or politically and that there was no contact between them and other Germans. His belief that the Jews were a corruptive force within Germany also led him into the commissioning of anti-Semitic films whose aim was to warn German women about having sexual relations with the Jews since such relations would lead to the pollution of the German race. The stance of Goebbels concerning Jews was a phenomenon that was quite common not only in interwar Germany but also in much of continental Europe and the rampant anti-Semitism is perhaps one of the reasons why some people outside Germany were persuaded to support the Jewish holocaust. Goebbels’ life reveals a lot about the personality of this leader not only during the interwar period, but also during the Second World War as it shows what he genuinely thought about the world around him. It also reveals his attitude towards religion as well as the various political leaders and races in the world. When one considers the life of Goebbels, there is a revelation concerning what many Germans in the interwar period actually thought about the future of Germany and its people as how they would come to world dominance. Even at the height of the war, the speeches and actions made by Goebbels clearly show that he did not believe that Germany would lose the war, and that; in fact, he was already making plans on how to implement his brand all over the world. These actions and attitudes of Goebbels are extremely eye-opening because they allow one to consider what would have happened had the German Reich, and it allies won the Second World War. It is possible that the anti-Semitism that was prevalent in one form or the other in interwar Germany was as a result of the economic conditions that were prominent in this period. The Jews were the preferred scapegoats of the Nazis because of their industry even during those difficult times; thus they became easy targets for those individuals in society who were facing unemployment and were in the verge of poverty. The need to fight someone to blame is what led Goebbels to work towards the extermination of the Jews as a symbol of the removal of all the problems that the Germans had faced from the end of the First World War. One will find that, despite the fact that Germany and Russia were on opposite sides during the war, Goebbels was a keen admirer of the latter. He believed that, under Stalin’s rule, Russia had achieved a semblance of order. Goebbels was of the opinion that Stalin was the best thing that had happened to Russia because of the fact that he ruled the country from his office using a bureaucracy which did everything as he commanded it3. Stalin was a ruthless man who was willing to sacrifice anything to ensure that he remained in power and it is based on the system created by Stalin in Russia that Goebbels attempted to steer the German Reich in accordance with the wishes of Hitler. Goebbels was a loyal follower of Hitler and was among the most prominent members of his inner circle which meant that he received firsthand the views of Hitler concerning the other world powers prior to the Second World War. In fact, there is a hint that he was a subscriber to the suggestion made by Hitler that were the Russians to be overwhelmed by the Germans, Stalin would not have hesitate to abandon European Russia and move beyond the Ural mountain range. One will find that like Hitler, his mentor, Goebbels was a devoted admirer of Benito Mussolini of Italy, whose Fascist movement he considers having been the inspiration behind the success of the Nazi movement in Germany. It can be said that had Mussolini not succeeded in Italy then it would have been impossible for the Nazis to Succeed in Germany. Particular note should be taken of the March on Rome, as this was one of the events that changed European history. Most of the Nazis, including Goebbels, considered this march to have been an act of extraordinary courage on the part of Mussolini as this enabled him to come to power in Italy. It can also be concluded that if it was not for the success of the March on Rome, then nobody in Germany would have taken the Nazis seriously, most especially the government4. It was also the common opinion among the Nazis that Mussolini was good for Italy because he managed to bring the country back to the greatness it had during the Roman Empire and it was their attempt to achieve greatness even greater than that of Mussolini. During the interwar period, Hitler and his close allies such as Goebbels were of the opinion that Mussolini resembled some of the busts of the former Caesars and this was used as a justification for their belief that Mussolini was indeed the heir to the Caesars and that he would eventually come to restore the power that once belonged to the Roman Empire. Goebbels was of the belief that Christianity was the worst thing that had ever happened to the Western world. He justifies this by stating that had Christianity not come into existence, then the European civilization would have advanced much faster under the leadership of the Germanic race5. The coming of Christianity placed civilization on a halt for more than one thousand five hundred years, and that it was only during the renaissance that the wheels of civilization started turning once more. Goebbels further stated that Christianity was a corruption of the true teachings of Jesus and that Paul corrupted this religion in the interests of the domination of the Jews over the world and that had it not been for the rise of Christianity, then Islam would not have come into existence. Furthermore, Goebbels believed that Bolshevism was an illegitimate offshoot of Christianity which was created by the Jews to achieve world domination. Moreover, he believed that the Church and the German Reich could not coexist because they were incompatible, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why he abandoned the Catholicism that he had been raised in. The influence of the church is all about having power over the people who adhere to its doctrines and that whenever its interests different from that of the state, then it is possible that the church may lead a rebellion. To remedy this, Goebbels suggested that the state does not interfere in the affairs of the church because it would eventually destroy itself due to internal struggles6. The elimination of the Church hierarchy from Germany would leave the Reich as the dominant power as it was based more on order and advancement than absolute dominance over the minds of the people. Goebbels’ propaganda stated that the Germanic race was the most superior in the world and that because of its superiority; it was the motivator of civilization. He stated that if Christianity had not come to influence this race, then civilization would have developed at an even faster rate than it already had.7 The superiority of the Germanic race was not only based on intelligence, but also on the fact that its members were also extremely hard working, hence ensuring its swift advancement. He contrasted this race with the Slavic race stating that they were a lazy lot who could only be brought to work under the influence of the Orthodox Church. Goebbels believed that other races, especially the Slavs tended to lean more towards anarchy and that only under autocratic leadership could they be brought under a semblance of order. He further believed that it was because of the anarchical nature of the Slavs that they have not advanced as much as the Germanic race had and that if they had not been under autocratic leaders, then their region would be a place of complete chaos. In addition, like other Nazi leaders, Goebbels was a great admirer of the British, whom he contrasted with the Germans stating that what distinguishes them was the fact that the former were immensely proud and this was attributed to their long history of domination and of giving orders to others. In order to be at an equal footing with the British people, Goebbels’ propaganda was of the opinion that the Germans had to be able to defeat them in war as this would earn the Germans the respect of the British. The interwar period can be considered to have been a sad legacy of the First World War because while the latter was considered to be a war to end all wars, the result of this war was a devastated Europe that was weary of war. During the First World War, a majority of the European countries, especially Germany, had wanted to prove they are better than all the other nations8. The treaty of Versailles, which marked the official end of the First World War was one of the factors that led to the economic destruction of Germany and also allowed the development of an environment which encouraged the rise of the Nazis. This treaty was a meeting to discuss the various ways in which Germany could pay for the damages it had done during the First World War. The main terms of this treaty were that Germany was the cause of the First World War and the result of this was that Germany was given extremely harsh conditions to fulfill and these included the loss of several territories which did not sit well with most Germans. With the rise of the Nazis, the Germans saw an opportunity to prove they were still a great power, and this was characterized by the massive propaganda that was initiated by Goebbels as well as the increasingly aggressive actions of Germany against some of its neighbors. The reality of the interwar situation was that no German state would have accepted the treaty in the long term and despite the fact that there were various sanctions that were imposed on Germany by the League of Nations, none of them proved to be effective. Goebbels, like Hitler, wanted Germany to become a dominant world power believing that it was its destiny. The Nazis attempted to achieve this by bringing all the central European countries together. They wanted Germany to grow and implemented this by annexing Poland in addition to sending troops to retake Alsace and Lorraine, which had been awarded to France during the treaty of Versailles, and this action went directly against the treaty. It was the aim of the German government to see how far it could go with the attainment of its objectives through military aggression before other powerful European countries could strike back. The Nazis were successful in doing this and this encouraged the Germans to become more aggressive as the problems that they had encountered in the aftermath of the First World War were receding with the success of the Nazis both in the domestic and international fronts9. With these ambitions, the Germans caused problems for the other European countries making them resort to a war with Nazi Germany which was similar or perhaps more complicated than the First World War. The failure of the United States and Britain to stop the rise of Nazi Germany during the interwar period has for a long time been considered to have been the main reason for the development of the Second World War and the loss of millions of lives that it brought with it. Most European countries became tense when they saw the various actions that Nazi Germany was conducting believing that they might be the next targets of the newly aggressive state. It is for this reason that some of them decided to increase their military expenditure in preparation for a potential war. One would conclude by stating that Goebbels was a man who was shaped by the circumstances of life that were prevalent at his prime. The bad economic conditions in Germany that were a direct consequence of the Treaty of Versailles worked towards shaping a man who would grow in power and ensure that there was the enforcement of laws which discriminated against the Jews. It was the belief among a section of the German population that it was the Jews who were to blame for all the economic hardship that was plaguing the German people. The interwar period was a time when there was widespread admiration, among the Nazis, for the way in which Benito Mussolini had come to power and ruled Italy and this served as a model for their own takeover of power over the German state. The result of this admiration was not only the seizing of the German government by the Nazis but this also resulted in the involvement of the Nazi party in all of the aspects of German life. This takeover led to the greatest massacre of Jews in history as Germans, encouraged by the Goebbels’ propaganda against them, attacked and murdered large numbers of Jews in what they believed, falsely, to be a means of cleansing their society and restoring it to greatness. Works Cited Benn, David Wedgwood. "Nazism and Stalinism: Problems of Comparison--a Review Article." Europe - Asia Studies 51.1 (1999): 151-9. Buch, David J., and Hana Worthen. "Ideology in Movement and a Movement in Ideology: The Deutsche Tanzfestspiele 1934 (9-16 December, Berlin)." Theatre Journal 59.2 (2007): 215,230,233-239. Hall, Phil. "The Science of Demise." Canadian Medical Association.Journal 179.3 (2008): 259-60. Jones, Michael T. "Schiller, Goebbels, and Paul De Man: The Dangers of Comparative Studies." Mosaic : a Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 32.4 (1999): 53-72. Joyce, Jeffrey P., U.S.A.F. "Propaganda Postcards of the Luftwaffe." Air Power History 55.2 (2008): 54. Redles, David. "The Nazi Old Guard: Identity Formation during Apocalyptic Times." Nova Religio 14.1 (2010): 24-44. Regn, Gerhard. "Negotiating Religion and Art: Wagner, Petrarch, Dante." MLN 126.4 (2011): S77,S88,S182. Scully, Richard. "Hindenburg: The Cartoon Titan of the Weimar Republic, 1918-1934." German Studies Review 35.3 (2012): 541,565,723. Thomas, Richard F. "Goebbels Georgics." Classical Bulletin 76.2 (2000): 157-68. Read More