Appeasement and Wars - Essay Example

? Appeasement and Wars Appeasement and Wars Even after decades of his death, Hitler is well remembered for his stern ruling. Hitler was Germany, and Germany was Hitler. He ruled the country with an iron rod. Hitler was born on 20th April, 1889, in a small town of Austria (Bracher 1972, p. 3). He was from a humble family. A lot of his dreams remained as dreams because of his poverty. Hitler was the Chancellor of Germany and Fuhrer, meaning leader, from 1933 and 1934 to his death respectively. He was also the leader of the Nazi regime (National Socialist German Workers Party). It is through this party that Hitler controlled Germany with no mercy (Evans 2006, p. 14). This paper will discuss the universally popular consent of Hitler’s rule. In other words, this is the main view of Hitler’s dictatorship rule. Hitler attained full control of Germany the after the First World War crisis (Evans 2006, p. 23). He used charismatic oratory, as well as propaganda, appealing to financial needs, anti-Semitism and nationalism to set up an authoritarian regime in the country. With a rearmed military, as well as a restructured economy, he pursued an aggressive international policy with the aim of expanding or increasing Germans boarders (Bracher 1972, p. 15). This eventually led to the explosion of the Second World War. The fighting broke out after Germany invaded the territories of Poland and Poland chose to resist German’s attempt. Hitler’s name is never forgotten in Germany. During the First World War, Hitler joined the German armed forces. He even got rewards for his stern bravery. However, when he got news of German’s defeat in the First World War, Hitler was extremely depressed. He felt that it was extremely dishonorable for the whole Germany to lose in such a war (Bracher 1972, p. 15). Hitler used documentaries and movies as propaganda devices. He was concerned and appeared in a series of films via Universum Film AG (UFA) by the revolutionary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Such films were Victory of Faith (1933), Triumph of the Will (1934) and Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces (1935) (Bracher 1972, p. 23). Victory of Faith (1933) or Der Sieg des Glaubens was the first documentary to be directed by Leni Riefenstahl. She was hired regardless of the being opposed by Nazi officials, who disliked employing a female or a non-member of the Nazi Regime. Riefenstahl’s film talks about the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Regime, which took place in Nuremberg from August 30th to September 3rd, 1933. Triumph of the Will (1934) was made also by Leni Riefenstahl. It recounts the 1934 Nazi Party Congress that took place in Nuremberg. The event was attended by over 700,000 Nazi followers. The film contains excerpts from talks given by different Nazi leaders at the Congress, incorporating portions of speeches by Adolf Hitler, combined with recordings of massed party members (Joll 1990, p. 4). This film portrayed to the Germans of how Hitler was an able leader that could bring success to their nation. It is through this film that a majority of Germans started to admire Hitler. Hitler also used his right hand man, Fritz Darges, to spread propaganda and rule the Germans effectively. Fritz Darges headed the SS movement after being appointed by Hitler. Germans liked how the SS carried out its duties, and how it made their country safe (Bracher 1972, p. 34). The SS, the selected guard of the Nazi regime, wielded increasing control through its power over the police force. Political antagonists, mainly those in the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Communist Movement of Germany, along with Jews, were subject to persecution, intimidation, as well as discriminatory legislation. In the opening two years of Hitler’s chancellorship, he, through the help of the SS, followed a rigorous strategy of Gleichschaltung (coordination), by which state governments, political parties along with professional and cultural organizations were brought in proportion to Nazi goals. The economy, culture, law and education all came under Nazi control (Joll 1990, p. 13). Hitler’s right hand, Fritz Darges, made sure that every German accepted the rule of Hitler and that they saw him as an able leader (Evans 2006, p. 13). Of the nine million Jewish people who had lived in Germany prior to the Holocaust, almost two-thirds were brutally murdered (Bracher 1972, p. 30). Over one million Jewish children, in particular, were murdered in the Holocaust, as were roughly three million Jewish men and two million Jewish women. The Nazis, in 1933, had already started to send citizens to concentration camps. Initially, these camps were located in Germany and were used for unwanted people (Joll 1990, p. 16). These unwanted people, to the Nazis, included Jews Democrats, Communists, Socialists, homosexuals and political prisoners. Executions were a usual thing, and most inmates of the camps were plainly worked to death. At some instance, these cams were occupied only by the Jews. The death camps, alternatively, were planned only for the Jewish people from the start. Their main aim was to exterminate Jews (Bracher 1972, p. 30). Ever since, Adolf Hitler came to power, in 1933, the Jews were persecuted. Jewish people were subjected to restrictions. They were, at times, beaten up and bullied into leaving Germany. Their fellow Germans are the people who gave them up to Hitler’s administration as Hitler had also enticed them concerning the Germans wrongly. German Army men were being assassinated, in France, but Hitler’s followers put the blame on Jews saying that they disliked Hitler’s administration and that is why they assassinated German soldiers. Jews, in Germany, were trying to escape to France and other European nations, but some of them were caught up with the Nazi administration. Approximately nine million Jews were detained in concentration camps. Hitler’s rules also forced women to give birth to more children in order to have power over the world (Bracher 1972, p. 34). Hitler’s dream, one day, was to rule the entire world. He chose to start with Europe where he begun seizing small countries such as Austria to expand his rule. Women from these nations were required to give birth to a lot of children in order for Hitler to form an army that would rule the world in the future (Kershaw 2001, p. 23). To make matters worse, Hitler rewarded women who conceived a lot of children as he required, but he killed those who were considered barren. Interestingly, a lot of women supported the Nazi regime because it advocated for a return to the family ethics of the past where women had to stay at home and worry themselves with looking after of their children (Bracher 1972, p. 34). There were a lot of women, in Germany, who felt troubled by their new political roles, and had the desire to go back to this simpler lifestyle. As a result, in this period, women who had enrolled in the universities declined radically as they stayed, at home, to marry and bear children. For their part, citizens of Germany rapidly accepted the new order of things, keeping in mind that non-Jewish people were not accepted in the nation (Evans 2006, p. 27). Provided that a German citizen worked hard, kept his head down, took care of his family members, sent his children to the Hitler Youth organisation and public schools and, most vital, did not involve himself in political disputes against the Nazi regime, a visit by the SS would be planned. As Germany went on increasing in strength, Hitler finally broke the informal alliance, which existed between China and Germany since the 20s. Thus, Hitler paved the way for Germany's new ally Japan (Bracher 1972, p. 31). Hitler selected friends and dropped them whenever he wanted. In a response to this, Chang Kai-Shek, the Chinese Premier terminated all of the Sino-German financial agreements, thus depriving the Hitler of raw materials like tungsten, which used to come from China. Hitler forced Austria, in early 1938, to merge with Germany and made a triumphant entry, on 14th March, into Vienna (Joll 1990, p. 47). Strong in his endeavors and enduring all his challenges, Hitler commanded his allies to start preparing tactics for the raid of Czechoslovakia, which increased the tension in Europe (Evans 2006, p. 23). The well-known May Emergency of 19-22 May, 1938, was a terror caused by stories that Czechoslovakia would be invaded during the municipal elections. This led to a statement of caution from London that a German progress against Czechoslovakia could be treacherous. Though tactics had already been created, in April 1938, for an invasion of Czechoslovakia, the May Emergency backfired resulting in Hitler’s political trounces. This made him the victim of his own ambush (Bracher 1972, p. 36). This, however, was not enough to make him appreciate that expansion without offending Britain was not possible, and attacking Britain was a hazardous game that could hit back and cause disaster. After the plunge of Poland to Germany along with the collapse of the Phoney War, Hitler ordered the Gauleiters to Germanize the region. He considered the whole of Europe his and wanted, one day, to rule the world. After conquering Poland, another brutal clash surfaced between diverse factions (Joll 1990, p. 49). Expelling the whole Jewish populace of Europe into Africa, as well as reducing the remnants of the Polish people to a leaderless working class, Hitler went on causing Europe to be a danger zone. As time progressed, Hitler went ahead and ordered bombing raids on England. This is notably recognised in history as the Battle of Britain and Hitler’s designed assault (Kershaw 2001, p. 56). Hitler began by bringing down the Royal Air Force radar stations and bases protecting South-East England. He then ordered the attack of British cities, such as London, Coventry and Plymouth, mostly at night. This, in due course, led to the Second World War that led to Hitler’s fall (Bracher 1972, p. 37). In conclusion, Hitler used propaganda to rule his people. He created his own films, with the help of his producer, which portrayed that he was a capable leader. Hitler’s right hand man also assisted him as he was able to control the SS group, which the Germans thought that the movement protected them. Germans, themselves, went against each other as they endeavored to follow the leader’s rule. They mostly did this through the betrayal of the Jews and false accusation. When a German soldier was killed, Germans, themselves, blamed the Jews for the incident even before Hitler intervened. This was just a way of making matters much easier for Hitler to execute the Jews from his nation. Finally, Hitler persuaded women to have children a lot of children, and, in return, they would be granted permission to stay at home look after their children as they desired. Such cases are what made Hitler establish himself Germany that made people like his leadership. References Bracher, KD 1972, The German dictatorship: the origins, structure and effects of National Socialism, Holt Rinehart & Winston, Toronto. Evans, RJ 2006, The third Reich in power, 1933 - 1939: how the Nazis won over the hearts and minds of a nation, Penguin Books, City of Westminster, London. Joll, J 1990, Europe since 1870: an international history, Penguin Books, City of Westminster, London. Kershaw, I 2001, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris, Penguin Books, City of Westminster, London. Read More