The Role of Nationalism in Nazi Germany - Essay Example

The role of Nationalism in Nazi Germany Introduction Nationalism is a major factor that led to the rise of a united Germany priorto the World War II. The change of regime saw the coming of Adolf Hitler into power, and armed with his oratory skills, Hitler would rally the Germans behind the cause of unity not only against the perceived international enemies; the Alliance, but also even against the perceived domestic enemy; the Jews. The coming of the Hitler regime into power was preceded by a rough economic time for Germany, which then blamed its economic woes on the restrictions that were placed on the country by the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty did not only limit the German military capacity, but also placed a heavy economic burden on Germany, through the requirement for Germany to pay fines and reparations for having started the aggression leading to World War I1. Consequently, the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler started to rally the Germans behind its aggression ideologies against the international community. The Nazi party achieved this by using propaganda tactics that required the Germans to build tight patrioticism towards their nation, as opposed to being divided on ideological differences that had established the East and the Wet Germany territories2. Thus, nationalism in Germany sought to perpetuate the feeling of same identity for all the Germans, united under the same cultural and ethnic background. Thus, the Nationalism in Nazi Germany was not only the fundamental basis for the rise of the German holocaust. Discussion The rise of strong nationalism in Germany can be traced in the immediate period after the World War I, running between 1918 and 19333. After the end of World War I, Germany is the nation that came out of the war as the biggest loser, despite having been the most strong force during the start of the war. Germany became a big loser courtesy of the Treaty of Versailles that was signed to end the war, which put hefty fines and war reparation payment requirements on Germany4. Consequently, Germany would suffer a period of economic turmoil, characterized by hyper-inflation, unemployment, high cost of living and great economic insecurity. Thus, a feeling of oppression by the international community began to rise within the Germans, who found their suffering as having been created by the Germany’s political enemies, who had instigated the plan to have Germany suffer the economic burden of the war. In addition, the treaty of Versailles had caused Germany to lose large territories to its enemy in the World War I, and the people who were annexed under those territories also felt discontented by their removal from Germany5. This resulted in a wave of discontentment amongst the German nationals, and there was no better time for the Nazi Party to take advantage of the situation, than at such a time when the people were full of discontentment. Therefore, the Nazi Party, whose political ideology was National socialist program that would eradicate the economic turmoil and enhance the unity of Germans started to take shape. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler used propaganda to show that the German’s suffering was caused by the enemies within and also the international political enemies. The Nazism regime succeeded in creating nationalism in Germany through showing that the Jews were responsible for the economic hardships of the Germans, since the Jews largely remained wealthy and economically stable during the time of great economic depression for Germany6. Therefore, the Nazi Party accused the Jews of taking advantage of the German’s suffering to enrich themselves, which in turn caused the Germans to feel aggrieved by the success of the Jews in Germany. The newly created animosity between the Jews in Germany and the Germans caused an increase in the nationalism of the Germans, who started to increasingly identify with one another, based on their language, culture and blood. The second reason why the Jews were targeted as internal enemies by the Nazi regime was their refusal to fight in the World War I7. Therefore, the Nazi Party would accuse the Jews of being responsible for Germany losing in the World War I, and therefore for having contributed to the economic problems that Germany was facing. Consequently, the Nazi Party rallied all the people of the German descent against the Jews, building a form of nationalism that was targeted towards defeating the success of the Jews in Germany8. It is this form of ideology that was sold by the Nazi Party to the people of the German descent, which in turn caused the Germans to view the Jews as their enemies, and thus require them to leave Germany. In this respect, the Jew problem was created by the propaganda sold by the Nazi party regarding the Jews in Germany, resulting in the Germans supporting the Nazi regime course to eliminate the Jews. This paved way for the German holocaust, which executed and later exterminated the all the Jews in Germany9. The Nazi regime was asking the Germans to unite under one code, and preserve both the racial purity and the sanctity of the German blood and culture, as the basis of creating a new social, political and economic security10. Since the Nazi Party took over power at a time when the Germans were experiencing extreme economic hardships, the promise of economic liberation through newly found socialist program polices under the Nazi regime lured the Germans to support the Nazi regime. In addition, the promise by the Nazi regime to remove the Jews from their economic group and give the same advantage to the Germans caused the Germans to buy the idea of the Nazi regime, and thus become united under its umbrella. It is this form of nationalism that would give Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government the moral authority to enact laws that openly discriminated against the Jews11. With the anti-Semitic laws in place, all that remained was for their implementation in a way that would promote the Germans unity, and oppress the Jews. The discrimination of the Jews was then entrenched in the education system and also in the domestic systems, where the Jews were prohibited from having maids of a German descent, or even having a sexual relationship with a person of a German descent12. Through such racially segregating laws, the unity of the Germans against the Jews was cemented, and the only thing that remained was for the Jews to be oppressed. Therefore, the major cause of the German Holocaust was the Nazi nationalism that was build upon the foundation of establishment of the Germans as the perpetrators and the Jews as the victims of the oppression13. The rise of the German holocaust was motivated by the coming into power of the Nazi nationalism perpetrated through propaganda, which saw an overpowering government dominate against a weak people who had already lost direction, and needed a government to guide them. The people had to follow the Nazi government whole-heatedly, because they had already lost confidence in the previous regimes, which did not seem capable of uniting the Germans under the same course. On the contrary, the Nazi regime had managed to rally the Germans under the same course of hating and oppressing the Jews, which the Germans felt was right, because the regime had painted the Jews as the parties responsible for the suffering of the Germans14. Further, the coming into power of the Nazi regime had proven advantageous for the Germans, since it had started to implement social policies that started to revive the economy and set it on the path of recovery15. Thus, with the promising economic direction that the Nazi regime was charting, coupled with the promise of rebuilding the Germany military and rebel against the international community domination, the Germans had a good cause to rally behind the unity espoused by the Nazi regime. Nevertheless, it is the extreme nationalism that was built by the Nazi regime, which antagonized the Germans both against the Jews and the perceived enemies in the international community, which formed the urge for creating a society that was build on the basis of racial purity16. The need for the creation of racial purity then meant the need for eliminating the Jews from the German territory, and leaving the territory purely for Germans. It is this extreme nationalism that caused the execution and extermination of the Jews, under the German holocaust. Conclusion The rise of strong German nationalism occurred in the period following the World War I. This was mostly prompted by the economic turmoil that Germany was experiencing, following the fines and war reparations that were placed on the country after the World War I. The Nazi regime managed to build on the economic insecurity of the Germans to antagonize the people of German descent against the Jews in Germany, who were accused of causing the suffering of the Germans, through failing to participate in World War I, and also economically exploiting the Germans. Consequently, the Nazi regime rallied the Germans against the Jews in Germany, resulting in the execution and later extermination, as a way of purifying Germany for the German race only. Bibliography 1. Jusdanis, Gregory. The Necessary Nation. (Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 2001) 2. Verheyen, Dirk. The German question: A Cultural, Historical, and Geopolitical Exploration. (Cambridge, England, UK; Malden, Massachusetts, USA: Westview Press, 1999). 3. Childers Thomas. The Formation of the Nazi Constituency 1919-1933: RLE Nazi Germany & Holocaust. (Routeledge, 2014). 57-85. 4. Ericksen, Robert. Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012). 5. Bendersky, Joseph W. A History of Nazi Germany (Chicago: Burnham, 2001) 38-59. 6. Hall, John. Nationalism and War. (Cambridge University Press, 2013) 193-213. Read More