In the Reichstag Elections of 1932 the NSDAP became Germanys largest political party with 13,745,800 votes, some 37.4 of the total electoral vote.
In the Reichstag Elections of 1932 the NSDAP became Germanys largest political party with 13,745,800 votes, some 37.4 of the total electoral vote. This was a phenomenal rise given that in 1928 they were a mere splinter group that had gained as little as 2.6% of the vote1. Contrary to popular belief, Hitler and the NSDAP did not seize power, at least not in the military sense and it has mistakenly been labelled as Hitler's machtergreifung. Instead, somewhat astonishingly given Hitler's reign of terror, the Nazis were voted into power by millions of ordinary German citizens from a range of sociological, economic and ideological backgrounds. They were not merely a middle class party and were not supported primarily by only one type of voter. Instead they were a volkspartei who were able to call on support from all quarters of Germany2. It was only once they had gained power that aided by the weakness of the Weimar Republic, they implemented policies that allowed them to turn democracy into dictatorship. It is why these ordinary people flocked in their millions to vote for a party with such cretinous ideologies that this essay intends to explore. The most important factor in discovering who these people were and why they decided to opt for Hitler and the Nazis is surely hidden in the years that the party emerged from the political doldrums to the most voted for regime in the
Evaluate the impact of propaganda in the Nazi regime.
Evaluate the impact of propaganda in the Nazi regime Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in January 1933 and held power until the end of the Second World War in 1945. (Fulbrook 1990 p176-202) During this time of the Nazi regime, Hitler, along with his minister of propaganda, Dr Joseph Goebbels, took control of all media output, giving them 'one voice' towards the population of Germany. (Fulbrook 1990 p182) Having control of all the media output, such as literature, art, music, radio, films, and newspapers, gave the Nazis one of their greatest weapons during their time in power... an unopposed propaganda machine. (Snyder 1995 p273) Propaganda is seen as the art of persuasion, it is the ability to persuade others that 'your side' of the story is correct. It might take the form of persuading others that your military might is too great to be challenged or that your political might within a nation is too great or popular to challenge. (Rutherford 1985 p8) The Nazis however, were more concerned with using propaganda to build the 'myth' of Hitler, the image of him being the saviour of Germany and the myth of the 'Aryan' German. This myth being that the pure German was the superior race through nobility of blood. (Snyder 1995 p277) To evaluate the impact of propaganda within the Nazi regime, this essay will focus on the importance, or the worth of the impact to which the
Account for the failure of Japan's attempt to challenge the West from 1931-45.
Account for the failure of Japan's attempt to challenge the West from 1931-45 From the early 20th century Japan had become an ever-industrialising nation and had succeeded greatly in "challenging" the West, particularly economically, achieving rapid modernisation in a short period of time. However from 1931 onwards Japan turned to challenging the West aggressively, embarking on an expansionist policy which brought opposition from a host of other powers, against which it could not finally stand. Its attempt to challenge the West by creating its own informal empire known as the "East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere" was brought to a final end by the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which resulted in the Japan's unconditional surrender a few days later. The reasons for this failed challenge, apart from defeats in the war and the refusal of the Chinese to give in, also stem back from the inter war years as Japan grew more nationalistic and radical in its ideas and saw the growth of the military which came to dominate affairs and took Japan into a conflict which in the end became unwinnable. The growth of nationalism is one reason why Japan embarked on her military challenge of the West and also one reason why it failed. Nationalism combined with "insecurity and inflated pride" was what pushed Japan, before the war, to start to believe that it was above other
The Closer one Examines the Dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin, the closer their Similarities Outweigh their Differences. Discuss.
The Closer one Examines the Dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin, the closer their Similarities Outweigh their Differences. Discuss: Fiona Simpson. Hitler saw himself as the saviour called upon by Providence to rescue the German people from the humiliation of defeat and the decadence of Weimar; to restore them to their rightful historic position as a master race, and to guarantee it for the future by creating a new Germanic empire in Eastern Europe. Stalin saw his mission as ending the centuries-old backwardness of Russia, turning a peasant society into a modern industrialised country and at the same time creating the first socialist state in the world. What the two men had in common was the fact that both began from the bottom, with no natural or inherited advantages. Upon first examination all dictatorships appear similar, most appear militaristic and rely heavily on the use of violence, propaganda, the creation of Youth movements and the restrictions of freedom. By definition a dictatorship, until established, enforces emergency powers; both Hitler and Stalin continued these powers throughout their rule, including terror an internal exile. This essay will endeavour to show a chronological analysis of their journey towards their rise and fall of leadership, and how the closer one examines the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin, the closer their similarities outweigh their
Since the end of Adolf Hitler's reign with his death in 1945, there has been much debate amongst historians as the type of leader he was when it came to the ideas of foreign affairs and policy.
Since the end of Adolf Hitler's reign with his death in 1945, there has been much debate amongst historians as the type of leader he was when it came to the ideas of foreign affairs and policy. The first suggestion being that he was an ideological visionary and had well established his policies outlined in a 'programme' before his appointment as Chancellor. The other is that Hitler was simply an opportunist; he made no concrete plans and took his chances when the opportunities arose. In fact, Hitler can be seen in both these opinions, planning Germany's policy in foreign affairs and exploiting opportunities that were presented to him.1 In the end, Hitler received total responsibility for the outbreak of the war and the satisfaction of the world rested with the belief that Germany was "in the grip of a madman".2 The early ideas of foreign policy were outlined in his autobiography Mein Kampf, written in 1925. At this early stage, Hitler dreamt of the destruction of the French supremacy and in order to achieve this he knew it was essential to form alliances with Britain and Italy. His aim was for the Allies and victors of the First World War to acknowledge that Germany had been triumphant in the aforementioned conflict.3 McDonough disregards these ideas about foreign policy in saying, "the great difficulty...is to decide whether Hitler's aims, as outlined in Mein Kampf,
How far did both Hitler and Stalin have consistent foreign policies?Discuss with reference to the period 1933-1941.
Question:- How far did both Hitler and Stalin have consistent foreign policies? Discuss with reference to the period 1933-1941. In the study of 20th-century history there can be no foreign policy's more influential to the geo-political map than those of Hitler and Stalin. As the autocratic leaders of Germany and Russia, both of which were potential superpowers, the power wielded by them, in their own country and on the world stage, shaped the development of Europe in the last century The period specified in the question has obviously not been selected at random, as January 30th 1933 saw Hitler become Chancellor of Germany, heralding the dawn of the Third Reich and by the end of 1941Germany was at war with Russia and had just declared war on the United States of America. Stalin had seen his former ally invade Russia and had consequently transferred his country's allegiance to reconvene the allies of the First World War. In discussion of the question posed, this essay will first explore the positions of Hitler and Stalin in 1933 and the circumstances that had formed these positions. It will then move onto the aims and ideologies of the two leaders within the timeframe of 1933 to 1939. The years of 1939 to 1941 will be discussed as a period, as the two leaders foreign policies became entwined before violently diverging. According to the Pocket Oxford Dictionary the
Explain and critically examine Britain(TM)s policy of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War
06375332 Explain and critically examine Britain's policy of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. In July 1936 a military coup began against the Spanish Republic sparking a civil war, the effects of which it was feared could reverberated throughout Europe given the political instability and fragile balance of powers. For Britain Spain was significant in isolation as a trading partner: internationally as a state which could upset the balance of powers in Europe and ideologically insofar as the left-leaning Popular Front government was proving difficult to work with and in many ways ideologically inferior to the fascist rebels in terms of British interest. Most sympathisers with the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War also concern themselves with the policy of non-intervention agreed and observed by the Western democracies at the time. The area is so significant given that the observation of the policy was pivotal in the outcome of the war; Britain's role is regarded as particularly significant as some believe that the British policy of non-intervention heavily influenced the policy of other European powers. The motivation of non-intervention is its most crucial aspect and theories pertaining to it are numerous and will be discussed during the course of this essay. The first to officially propose a European policy of non-intervention were the French Popular
Explain the failure to be returned to government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 1950's.
Explain the failure to be returned to government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 1950's. The Social Democratic Party and its leader Kurt Schumacher failed to return to government in the 1950's for many reasons. Schumacher and his party made some very serious miscalculations, which left the party in opposition for 17 years. In 1933 the SPD took a stance against Nazism and voted against special powers for Hitler. At the fall of the Third Reich in 1945 the SPD had high hopes for itself and believed that the German population would crave a democratic government. This was a gross miscalculation as "Weimar had done nothing to encourage faith in parliamentary institutions" (Pulzer 2003 p52). Hitler was seen as the product of a democracy and socialism as a continuation of regiment and ration queues. In addition the SPD's Marxist stance served "as a constant reminder of the failed Weimar regime" (Padgett and Burkett 1986 p48). Schumacher' s idea at this time was to create a new, revitalised SPD but his ideas proved to be unsuccessful. He had really duplicated the model that had been present in the Weimar period and claimed to make revolutionary changes that they had never made before and didn't know how to make. During this time the SPD did very little to change German society for the better. The denazification process was also reducing people's interest in politics. The
How did Hitler rise to power?
How did Hitler rise to power? Hitler's rise to power was not due to just one factor there were a number of events and circumstances that enabled him to gain power in Germany. The people of Germany were still very bitter about the treaty of Versailles and with his own views being very much similar his ideas and speeches appealed to a lot of people. Due to this he began to gain public support. Hitler was also able to take advantage of the incredibly weak constitution that was crippling the Government, with most of the German population wanting a dictatorship; there weren't many people who were ready to oppose Hitler. Again, Hitler was able to exploit weaknesses of the Weimar republic and use to his own benefit. For examples when the stock market crashed in 1929 many German people were desperate for a way out, although extreme, the Nazis offered this. Between 1928 and 1932 the Nazi party saw a significant rise in support and their seat in the Reichstag rose from a mere 12 to 230 during this time. It now looked promising for the Nazis. Hitler was also supported by a number of wealthy businessmen who were prepared to make donations to help fund the Nazi cause, this helped Hitler with his election campaigns and also fund his propaganda. Hitler also made use of his storm troopers who attacked any Nazi opposition; many of his opponents were simply to afraid of being murdered and
The Vision of Franklin Roosevelt
The Vision of Frankilin Roosevelt Throughout the history of the United States, there have many events that have challenged Americans to rise above the stronghold of catastrophe. None had been more challenging than the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Never had such a vast spread of unemployment and poverty taken place on such a national scale. Although during the Great Depression, relief seemed insurmountable, President Franklin Dellano Roosevelt helped America find a way out of economic turmoil. The steps that Franklin Roosevelt took in order to enhance the failing economy, and the inspirational opportunities that he granted to Americans single handedly ascended the United States out of the Great Depression. The principle cause of the Great Depression was the national banking crisis. This was the first task that Roosevelt and his cabinet tackled. Because of the failure of many banks across the country, investors became weary and they soon lost confidence in private banks. President Roosevelt, with the help of government aid, bailed out the majority of American banks using government funds. He also placed new policies for banks in the way which they could be operated. Many banks adopted the policy of FDIC, which insured bank investments up to a certain amount of money. Because of this, investors became more confident in putting their savings in the hands of federally