Germany of the 20th Century - Assignment Example

What is the importance of primary sources to the study of German history? Primary sources offer first-hand depiction of the German history in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. The fact that the primary sources are mostly written by people who experienced the evolution of the German history makes the sources rich in credibility. Accuracy is of utmost importance, especially in the study of history. Thus, primary sources are requisite. The primary sources are also important to the study of German history because they provoke the search for additional materials on the same subject. In the end, the reader becomes engaged to follow the topic from its description in the primary sources to its analysis in other sources. Therefore, the primary sources act as providers of basic and real-time information while also encouraging the reader to seek further knowledge. 2. What were some of the environmental concerns in Germany at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in Germany? At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, Germany was undergoing large-scale industrialization. It was massive that it started to have effects on the environment in terms of pollution. The industrialization brought about establishment of many factories that emitted polluted gasses in the environment. The rapid pace of industrialization was increasing the rate of pollution thus affecting the quality of air and water in the country and regions beyond. Additionally, Germany engaged in increased production of military weapons in preparation for war. These military manufacturing plants released harmful waste materials to the land and water channels that affected the ecosystem negatively. In addition, testing of military weapons on land was a concern due to their capacity to destroy arable land. 3. What mechanisms of the Weimar Constitution allowed Hitler to rise to power? Weimer’s constitution had weaknesses that led to its collapse and consequently gave rise to the rise of the Nazi regime. The Weimer constitution was a democratic one that aimed for equal representation. The Constitution encompassed article 48 which led to the disapproval of the current government by the disgruntled population. There was widespread instability in the government. The article provided for the president to give the chancellor emergency powers. Paul von Hindenburg used the provisions of the article within the constitution to grant emergency powers to the chancellor after the economic slump in 1930. The population did not approve the actions of the leader, and the Nazis garnered support. The Nazis, led by Hitler, rose to power by virtue of the mechanisms that led to the fall of Weimer Republic. 4. What are some possible reasons why women supported the Nazi Party in elections in the 1930s in Germany? Some women supported the Nazi party essentially because their husbands or families did so. However, others had other possible reasons for voting for the Nazi party. Among them is because Hitler had a massive effect on the German women thus influencing their vote. Hitler was a good orator, and he presented his manifesto passionately. Women embraced emotional enthusiasm. Due to the emotional nature of most women, it is arguable that Hitler swayed them away with his oratory skills. Some enthusiastic women with no political know-how, especially from rural areas may have voted for Hitler with the hope of change. Some women wanted change and an anti-feminist shift. This could have influenced their votes though the Nazi party adopted conservative policies about women. 5. What was the role of eugenics in the social policies of Nazi Germany? Eugenics in the social policies of Nazi Germany led to widespread notion that the German people were “superior” and that it was okay if any action was taken to prevent the mixing of the “superior” and the “inferior”. The eugenics concepts served to promote the racial agenda of the Nazi party. It shaped most of the following actions taken by the Nazi regime in a bid to maintain the superiority. Hitler believed that selective breeding could improve a race and heavily relied on the Darwinian evolution model. As a result, eugenics in the social policies led to a military stand that showed aggression to people who were regarded as “inferior”. The treatment of Jews that is significant with the Nazi regime can be credited to the influence of the concept of eugenics. 6. What was the Wannsee Protocol and why is it important? The Wannsee Protocol was a culmination of the agreements and procedures reached at the Wannsee conference that took place in January 20, 1942. It was a meeting of Nazi officials to discuss the operations of the mass murder of Jews. Under the leadership of Reinhard Heydrich, the meeting would streamline the procedures of committing the Holocaust as well as solve internal wrangles over mandates in the course of the activity. Reinhard Heydrich was the chief of Reich Security Main Office. Though there was consensus among the participants about the killing of the Jews, disagreements concerning minor and major details were present. The protocol was important in solving the issues of disagreements and defining a common procedure to undertake the killings without conflicts. 7. What is cumulative radicalization and how is it relevant to understanding Nazi Germany? In the context of Nazi Germany, Cumulative radicalization refers to the increasing extremist inclination of the Nazi policy. The power in the Nazi Germany revolved around the Fuhrer-Adolf Hitler. Hitler has strong opinions against the Jews and thus people would try to align their opinion to follow the same perspective as the president. Alternatively, the population would follow the same ideal as the leader and consequently justify harsh actions against perceived enemies. To follow the Fuhrer will, people would tend to becomes more extreme. This manner of influencing the population was what the Nazi regime pursued to gain approval. The concept of the cumulative radicalization is relevant in showing how the German people contributed to the course that was initiated by the Nazi regime. 8. What was the Marshall Plan? The Marshall plan was a proposal presented by George Marshall that was aimed at reviving the economies of Europe that had been ruined by war. It was officially known as the European Recovery Plan. It followed that the key to achieving political stability was through the revival of economies that had been torn by war. Germany was among the 16 nations that were part of the Marshall Plan. The European nations received financial help amounting to close to $13 billion up to 1951 when the funding came to a halt. The United States provided this aid in forms of staples, food, fuel, and machinery to revive their industrial capabilities. 9. What is the relevance of Krautrock to the study of German history after the 2nd World War? Krautrock is essential in explaining the musical dimension of the Germans after the Second World War. In the 1970s, there was emergency of bands that played the Krautrock type of music mostly. They were doing so in reaction to the cultural vacuum that the War had left in Germany while also countering the influence of Anglo-American music culture that was encroaching Germany. The German musicians aimed at music they could identify with as that which came from the German culture. The relevance of the music is found in the relationship between the music and the effects of war. It contributes in explaining a cultural influence and state of the same after the war. 10. What was one of the reasons for the development of a national police force in West Germany in the 1970s? The major reason development of the national police force in West Germany in the 1970s was to tackle any threats to the borders of the country. The role of the police was not only to protect the international border but also the inner border with East Germany. The police force would deal with any threat of peace or handle a full-blown invasion as they were equipped with weapons such as anti-tank guns and armored cars. The continued tension with East Germany necessitated the national police force to protect the borders and ensure that the population of West Germany had peace. The intensity of their mandate made the force very assertive to an extent that people in East Germany highly disliked it. Part 2 1. Discuss anti-Semitism in Germany from the end of the 19th century to the Final Solution Anti –Semitism refers to any belief or behavior that exhibits hostility towards the individuals of a Jewish origin. The anti-Semitic action may take the form of political actions that oppress, harm, or isolate Jews, prejudiced opinions and views about the Jews and religious proclamation that proclaim the subordination of Jews. Anti-Semitism existed in Germany way before the Nazi extreme reaction towards the Jewish population in The Final Solution. In the early 19th century, the Jews had experienced a relief in persecution because of enlightenment campaigns by philosophers and other scholars who encouraged religious tolerance. However, it did not last long in Germany as the hatred for the Jewish community started to divert from the religious aspect to a racial dimension. The perpetrators of the anti-Semitism in Germany adopted the new ideas of “racial science” to advance the agenda of hate towards the Jews. They firmly held that the non-Jewish whites were more superior than the Jews. As such, the Nazi party would proceed with elimination of the “inferior” races to avoid the contamination of the “superior” race of the native Germans. This new dimension of racial hatred ensured that no Jews were safe from death even by virtue of being Christians. The Nazi regime’s agenda on the Jews was promulgated by a document known as The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion. The Russian secret police known as Tsar had fabricated the document to read that the Jews intended to take over the world. In 1919, the document reached the German officials. The strong holders of anti-Semitic sentiments used it to insinuate that Jews were the “dark forces” that made Germany lose the World War 1. The details of the document would remain in the mind of the German officials who initiated the Nazi movement. They use the false evidence as a base for their action while also making other propaganda proclamations later on. In the late 1920s and the whole period of reign by the Nazis, there were stipulated reasons that led to justification of the attitude of the Nazi towards the Jews. Consequently, the Nazi hoped to convince the rest of the German population from the superior “Aryans” background that there was need to handle the problem of the Jew. This is why there was the designing of The Final Solution to tackle the problem of the Jews. In Germany, political and social factors aided the adoption of anti-Semitism as the official Nazi policy. The Nazi propagated anti-Semitism to higher levels after acquiring powers by saying that the Jews destroyed societies and that they were a threat to the development of the Aryan race. Additionally, anti-Semitism among the population spread due to propaganda that the Jews were already controlling the media, the entertainment industry, the most prominent business, and the world finance. They also asserted that the Jews were working as a unit to gain control of the world and spread communism. These proclamations led to increased hatred for the Jews that culminated to physical attacks, expulsion, destruction of their businesses and termination from employment. The German education system during the Nazi era was ridden with anti-Semitic influences. The government strived to show that the children that the Jews were animals who posed a threat to Germany because of their appetite for power. This would ensure that they would grow up knowing that the Jews were the inferior and criminal race that deserved to be handled with strictness The most significant anti-Semitic act before the mass extermination in concentration camps is the Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. It was the day that the German mobs ransacked Jewish homes, destroyed businesses and burnt down synagogues. This night paved way for the sending of Jews to concentration camps where the Nazi planned to gas them as it was ineffective to kill them using firing squads. The Jews were quite a big number to kill using firing squads. The systematic extermination of Jews in the concentration camps was encompassed in the policy known as The Final Solution. It was the culmination of the full blown anti-Jewish hatred designed by Adolph Eichmann and Reinhardt Heidrich among other top brass officials of the Nazi regime. The idea was to get rid of all the Jews in Germany by killing them in concentration camps through gassing them or burning them. More than six million Jews faced death under the Nazi and their fanatic collaborators. In conclusion, it is evident that Jews in Germany had a long-standing suffering under the authorities and the German people. The anti-Semitism in Germany grew from mild forms to extreme forms under religious and racial perspectives. Works Cited Sheehan, James J. German History, 1770-1866. Oxford [England: Clarendon Press, 1989. Print. Read More