Adolf Hitler Influence

Intro:

“Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.” These are the words of Adolf Hitler, perhaps the cruelest yet most charismatic leader to ever walk the face of the Earth. How did he manage to captivate and manipulate the people in one of the most advanced countries in the world? How did he persuade a generation of youth to fight in a war just 21 years after one of the deadliest conflicts in history? The answer lies in the Weimar Republic’s polarizing and strange culture. Hitler needed Weimar and its radical social reforms to frighten the German people. He needed the instability and chaos, because he derived his power from fear. The culture of the Weimar

The Influence of World War I on Germany:

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in the June of 1919, ended World War I, but also sealed Germany’s fate. Through a complete political upheaval orchestrated by the Allied powers, Germany became a Republic. Their new democracy, modeled after the American government, had a President, a congress, and a regular voting schedule; these measures were taken to ensure a sense of adaptability and balance of power. What the Allies couldn’t have foreseen, or perhaps didn’t bother to consider, was that Germany wasn’t a democratic nation. Unlike other European countries, Germany didn’t have the traditions or the experience to smoothly integrate a democracy into its national fabric. Additionally, largely due to the fact that the democracy was put into effect by Germany’s adversaries from the war, the democracy was seen as a punishment for losing. Germans helplessly watched as their beloved Kaiser was forced to abdicate the throne, and as new and unfamiliar leaders, many of whom were members of the Socialist party,

By skillfully promoting rhetoric that prioritized traditional values, German people clung onto an idealized past when women weren’t in the workforce, when art didn’t depict the grotesque and scary aspects of society, and when prostitutes weren’t in the public eye. If Weimar culture hadn’t developed in such an extreme fashion, then it would have been easier for the Weimar Republic to survive. However, as it strayed further and further from the past, people found it harder to grow accustomed to. The more liberal the country became, the more people craved the return to past traditions and ideals. Where the left grew increasingly polarized and indecisive, the right stayed unified and strong. The National Socialist party preached Volksgemeinschaft, “one united nation.” Because the culture of the Weimar Republic had so many foreign influences, the culture itself felt detached and isolated from the German people. Many people latched onto Hitler’s promise of returning a true German nation that put German citizens first. Because the stab-in-the-back myth was so popular, it was easy for the Germans to rationalize the idea that the Weimar Republic, including its culture, wasn’t a product of the morally-correct and racially-superior German people. If they returned to the traditionalist culture that had existed before, then they would be able to get rid of the foreign forces that were trying to tear the