Fascism in Germany :: essays research papers

During the 1920's and early 1930's, Germany was unstable socially economically and politically. The government was very often in a state of confusion. The population was disappointed and scared, as the Great Wall Street stock market crash of 1923 pushed the economy to a collapse before the people’s eyes. These unfavorable events made a nation in a state of insecurity, while fed up, the people looked for a rescuer. This came in the form of fascism, an ideology in which the individual is controlled by a supreme state under the control of one extreme dictator. The leader to direct the people of Germany out of all the problems and misfortunes was Adolf Hitler, a ruthless fascist dominator. With him, the Nazy party set a dominant force to utilize their propaganda on this puzzled nation and to win the hearts of the people by manipulating their minds. Adolf Hitler was the undisputed leader of the Nazi Party. Much of Hitler's success during his reach to higher power in Germany was due to his powerful and dominating personality. A master spokesman, Hitler was a charismatic speaker, that delivered his speeches passionately and dynamic that the crowds would be driven wild with enthusiasm of the ideas he preached. Hitler's plans made hazy promises while avoiding the real facts. Very often he was doing sp by using simple catch phrases, repeated over and over. Hitler's dominance and strict nature was a much-needed change for Germany after the ditches it has been through. All of the Nazi government’s actions were for the purpose of destroying the believed sickness of the old Germany and creating a new society. The government abolished democratic freedoms and institutions. In their place the government created an authoritarian state. The Nazis encouraged German culture and tried to ensure that all Germans were physically and mentally fit to an Aryan ideal. In order to achieve these goals, the Nazi regime despised books and paintings that were not ideal to Germany, cleaned physically and mentally disabled people, and enslaved and murdered millions of people who were considered enemies of the state. The emblem of Nazism, the swastika, symbolized this type of rebirth and destruction. German propaganda identified the swastika with the rising sun and with rebirth because the bars of the symbol suggest perpetual rotation. To its innumerable victims, however, the swastika came to signify cruelty, death, and terror. Fascism had two appearances that made it so destructive and barbaric once in power.