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In order to thoroughly understand German enthusiasm to the Nazi regime, we must first understand the 2 great events that preceded the Nazi power in Germany: World War I and the Great Depression. Out of World War I came the Treaty of Versailles in which Germany lost 13 % of its territory, 10 % of its population. Economically, Germany was required to pay installments towards the reparations debt, 28 billion dollars total, to be paid over a period of 42 years. Militarily, Germany was not allowed an army larger than 100, 000 men and was not allowed to produce most any of its own military devices. The treaty put Germany in great debt. In the years to follow the Treaty, Germany's economy underwent several unpredictable waves, which ultimately resulted in a social loss of status, and a rise in crime, suicide and prostitution.
The middle class, once known for its patriotism, now rose in revolt against a government who failed to protect their property and security. However, Germany bounced back, and by mid 1920 s, Germany, functioning under a constitution and an elected president, had begun to reenter the world market in automobile production. Nevertheless, by 1930, due to the Depression, Germans found themselves once again unemployed and run by an incapable government which offered neither hope nor policy to its citizens. When Germany was at its weakest, and in dire need of a strong government capable of digging the country out of its misery, the NSDAP, also known as the Nazi party, began to rise in popularity.
Perhaps the core reason for the growth and ultimate popularity of the Nazis was the seducing tongue and manipulating mind of Adolf Hitler. To gain status, Hitler promised the German nation a strengthened country, through the setting aside of the Peace Treaty and unification of all Germans. He stated the treaty was made in order to bring 20 million Germans to their deaths, and to ruin the German Nation. Hitler knew exactly how to win over the German nation. In his speeches and publications, he reduced everything to simple terms, (yes / no , black / white , German/Jewish) making the solutions for a better German seem easy and within reach. Among his talents was manipulation.
He manipulated the German people into thinking that the world was conspiring against them. He played on their fears and idiosyncrasies, promising them revenge for the humiliations of the Versailles Treaty and the lost war. He also manipulated, and eventually gained monopoly of the media. In it, an image had been created of a powerful party with strong leadership, a party that would not allow trivialities to prevent progress.
Hitler and his National Socialist movement offered something for everyone, and this at a time when German politicians were failing to control the economy. Hitler realized that if he could control what people read, looked at and listened to, he could control peoples ideas. Although, in the 1932 elections Hindenburg won another term, the Nazi party received 37 % of the votes, almost a 20 % rise since the elections of 1930. In 1933, Hitler was named Chancellor, and in 1934, after Hindenburg's death, Hitler named himself leader of the Reich. Hitler used his power to create a political monopoly, thus gaining absolute popularity. Eventually, Germany had only one political party, the Nazis.
He sent leaders of Communist and Socialist parties to concentration camps that he had started building soon after being named Chancellor. Such swift actions left the Nazi Party with little political opposition. The Nazi party also corrupted the minds of the young. All school lessons were based on Nazi ideas. Textbooks were rewritten and included Nazi versions of German history. Math problems involved calculations about bombing Poland.
Children were taught Nazi beliefs in subjects such as Ideology and Eugenics. Another reason the German nation conformed to Hitler and his party was due to the creation of work. In 1933, there were 6 million unemployed Germans. Nevertheless, after introducing compulsory military training, there were many job openings in the military and labor services. By 1939, unemployment had virtually disappeared. Part of the reason the Nazi regime maintained the admiration of its nation was due to the gradual changes made.
They were so subtle that it would take years for the German people to realize the negative effects of these revolutions, especially without any alternative media to argue the Nazi ways. What was very evident to the German people by 1939 were the rise is wages, the improvement in transport, the increase in security and the overall drop in crime. In my opinion, the German people were in dire need of a strong political figure. I believe Nazi rise into power was the responsibility of one man, Adolf Hitler. When Hitler began feeding the nation his ideas of a pure country, the German people bought them with the hopes of finally having a politically, socially and economically stable country. Without Hitler, perhaps the Nazi regime might not have prospered to the extent that it did.
Hitler was smart, educated and knew all the weaknesses he needed to fix in the current government. He knew how to seduce the people; he knew exactly what to say to gain support. Without Hitler, the 20 th century would have known an entirely different destiny. This situation is much like the rise of Napoleon, who deviously arranged a face of democracy.
Although Hitler was voted into power, he monopolized every industry in order to assure political power throughout Germany. Napoleon, living in an era far less advanced than Hitlers, conned his people into thinking they were living in a democracy by holding plebiscites only after the decisions were made. Another similarity was their quick rise in power and territorial objectives. Both men rose relatively quickly to power, and both men envisioned expanding their country across Europe.
Hitler and Napoleon both used their powerful armies to conquer territory and neither man seemed to care about mass killings of innocent civilians. By 1939, the German people had witnessed sufficient changes in transportation, crime rates and unemployment to maintain their support for Hitler and his party. Although anti-Semitism was on a rise due to Hitlers use of the Jewish people as a scapegoat for all of Germany's problems, the horrors were not yet grave enough to compel the Germans to revolt against their leader. Germany had finally come to know a leader capable of maintaining a stable country, and perhaps even competent of creating an industrious country. The Nazis brought hope for German people. Blinded by the propaganda and seduction the party used, the German people were unable to foresee that the hopes they held for the future would soon come tumbling down, along with the Third Reich.
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Research essay sample on Adolf Hitler Nazi Regime
