Literature on Fascism during the Nazi Party Era - Essay Example

and number] 05 April 2006 Comparison of Literature Respecting Fascism during the Nazi Party Era Duringthe reign of the Nazi Party, many historians and theorists concluded that albeit this was an extremely horrific period in time where genocide was covered up by ideological misguidance, the three different literature works that provide viewpoints from three aspects: personal, literal and historical. The theme that ties these works all together is the fact that fascism did exist, but, can the alignment that has been cast with the Nazi party and their embracement of the fascist ideology should really be exonerate or embraced. As there can be no single defining justification for the term attached to just about any evidence in history, Paxton wrote that "no single definition can do the problem justice, but Paxton does come up with something very useful. Fascism is: ''A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victim hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.''1 Fascism is generally associated with mysterium inguitatis, or sin. There are similarities with fascism and terrorism, which unfortunately citizens of the United States are concerned about more than ever since the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, which was an example of inspiring intimidation through force. While there are unfortunately many fascist leaders in the world today, many may recall most of all a fascist leader named Adolph Hitler, who was a leader of Germany before and during World War II. Over the past few years, two books have been published addressing fascism that focused in large part on Hitler and World War II. One book, "Austerlitz", which is a fictional book whose main character's last name is the title of the book, was written by W. G. Sebald, who is a knowledge expert of the Holocaust in particular2. Basically, the book focuses on one man's journey through this part of European history and its fascist leaders. The other book, "The Anatomy of Fascism", by Robert O. Paxton, is a non-fiction book that dissects the components of fascism quite thoroughly, such as the history and cause of fascism, past fascist leaders and how they operated, and predicts the future of fascism in the world3. So, what exactly is fascism and how was it overtly demonstrated by Adolph Hitler Fascism is also correlated with evil. One accepted definition of fascism is a political paradigm that involves the implementation of a militaristic and autocratic government. Fascists are also creators of right wing authoritarian regimes. Why is it correlated with evil Because historically the citizens of fascist leaders, such as Hitler, experience the same consequences and human emotions of evil, such as calamity, suffering, sorrow, and distress. This evil delivered by fascist leaders typically and initially develops the perception of total innocence and assurance of prosperity of these citizens when they follow their objectives. Yet on every occasion of fascist leaderships, mercilessness occurs if not coerced by the fascist leaders eventually, such as Hitler, whose Holocaust deaths are believed to be by many as a true definition of evil. These leaders typically use the same tactics as those who desire to brainwash others, such as: 1. Keeping their citizens unaware and ignorant of certain events and knowledge. 2. Fascist leaders attempt to control their citizen's time and environment as much as they can. 3. These leaders create dependency and fear among their citizens. 4. The leaders suppress if not outlaw the ways things were done in the past. 5. Fascist leaders instill new beliefs that they claim are necessary for the citizens' relief from past economical or political hardships with the promise of prosperity for them. 6. Fascist leaders under no circumstances will tolerate criticism from their citizens. Finally, fascist leaders, typically and ironically, are catalysts for wars that they desire and assure their citizens, particularly their soldiers, that they are about to engage in an assault against evil and are the true patriots of the nation that they represent. According to lecture notes, War destroys generations and damages virtually all aspects of a civilization (3). In addition, war breeds amoral behavior, which encourages amoral behavior from their opponents who are at war with them. Also, there is a heightened state of apathy with those involved in wars and conflicts when it involves in particular the deaths of others. One of the better examples of the devastation associated with war is World War II and Hitler's role in this war. To understand how Germany transformed to taking up the Fascism, it is important to look at the historical background of Germany. In 1871, the formation of a unified Germany occurred, which is known as the Second German Reich. Before that occurred, Germany, which was known as the Kingdom of Prussia, had a history of unpleasant encounters, such as war with Napoleon and as a result to some degree, a mass exodus of its inhabitants to the United states due to, among other things, lack of suitable land for agriculture and occupation and high taxes in their homeland primarily between the years of 1815 to 1860. Most people, when viewing historical data, associate fascism with very specific historical examples of the type, similar to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, as they are unde the assumption that if it could happen there, it could happen here. Even though the era of swastikas and Nazism will not be a large dominating force here for the Fascist deployment, the fascism that would be encountered in America would "appear in the guise of traditional American symbols, ideas and slogans. American fascism would raw upon the raw emotional ingredients already at works in American politics, feeding off of native hatred, prejudices and fears." 4 As Fascism was very apparent back even in 1815 it was responsible for a series of revolutionary events between 1820-1848,5 as a means to overthrow what leaders of these revolutions felt were corrupt leaders and not looking out for the best interests of the people, it was no small leap for such groups as the Nazis coming to power under charismatic leadership of Hitler. Hitler spoke to the people's dissatisfaction with the lack of social embodiment of the nationalism that was needed. As a result of his involvement with this desire he had and attempt to secure this leadership, he was sentenced to the Landberg Lech Fortress prison in 1924 and given a 5 year sentence, although he only served 9 months of this sentence. Yet while in this prison, Hitler wrote an autobiography entitled, Mein Kampf, which means, My Struggle" and was dictated to others at this prison. There is a claim of a German girl being raped by Jews, encouraging those who would read the book and found it to be the next wave of nationalism. By making statements like those in the book, this led to the public backing of the Nazism ideology. Ironically, Hitler was known for burning books in the years to come. Paxton argues within his book argues it's therefore more productive to try to understand fascism as a process, rather than as a set of ideas -though he is careful to describe the intellectual and cultural climate of the late 19th and early 20th century, the anti-liberal aspects of which 'made it possible to imagine fascism'. He divides the fascist process into five stages. Stage one is the growth of fascist movements in the fertile soil of crisis-ridden democracies, as occurred across Europe in the wake of the First World War and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Most movements remain trapped on the political margins, but given the right conditions - a deadlocked parliament, for example, combined with a leader who can harness both selective violence and electoral politics - such movements can transform themselves into parties rooted in national politics. This is stage two. Third-stage fascism occurs with the acquisition of power. Contrary to his own propaganda, Mussolini never actually 'seized' power in Italy; neither was Hitler 'voted in'. Both of these men, however, were able to create and exploit political opportunities which resulted in power being handed to them by constitutional authorities. As the head of Germany's largest party in 1932, Hitler seemed 'a godsend for conservatives' who feared the revolutionary Left more than they did the fascists. Yet even then he was only made chancellor by President Hindenburg as a result of a backstairs plot generated by conservative rivalry for the post, saving Hitler just as his party funds were running out and his lieutenants had begun turning on him. Paxton stresses that there was nothing inevitable about Hitler's arrival in office: 'The conservative leaders rejected other possibilities They chose the fascist option.' In the exercising of power, stage four, fascists did not attempt to replace the state wholesale with the party apparatus as the Bolsheviks did. Instead, fascist leaders allowed their parties to build parallel structures, which then operated in permanent tension with the pre-existing state structures in a 'bizarre mixture of legalism and arbitrary violence'. The German and Italian regimes may have seemed to outsiders like well-oiled machines, but they were driven with discord, uncertain lines of authority, and competing chieftains. Which is precisely the situation that allowed fascism's fifth stage - extreme radicalisation - to become what it did. Fascism was a dynamic force, promising the world to its followers and then never stopping for breath. 'Fascist regimes had to produce an impression of driving momentum They could not survive without that headlong, inebriating rush forward.' This was hard to pull off: Mussolini invaded Ethiopia as a way of re-energising his frustrated cadres after a decade of rule, but his regime, afflicted by military defeats in the Second World War, ultimately ran out of steam. It is more than probability that in order to deter the next major war, there is a need to cooperate between all nations of the earth and not just those who sympathise with one nation or another. This is the propaganda of any fascist regime. Lure other nations into war with incomplete information thus encouraging further conflict. One of the points that Bartov (2000: 166-175) makes in his works is that one of the most prolific examples of Nazi indoctrinisation of turning German soldiers into genocidal killing machines. Through one of the best and continual propaganda campaigns by the Nazi dictator and his own glorification of the fascist ideology, the entire scene was setup to slowly mould the minds of the German citizens. Through the continual running of the propaganda machine and misguidance by the leaders, the annihilation of those who were not within the acceptable parameters of the conceptual race catagorisation. Conclusion The two books from both Paxton and Sebald outline bring to light two entirely unbiased opinions of the entire Nazi and Fascism experience. One from the literary angle and one from the historical angle, for which they both concur that the entire World War II experience was in fact not an abhorrent chapter in world history, but, rather a learning experience to gauge future possibilities with respect to possible fascist uprisings. It is important to emphasise that those individual experience of each of the authors is unique to themselves, but, it has the overall message of the need to keep this time in history quite fresh in the minds of the readers as fascism can be disguised in many forms and as such can rear its head at any time. WORKS CITED Bartov, Omer. Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich. Oxford University Press, 1992. Sebald, W.G. Austerlitz, Modern Library, New York, 2001 Paxon, Robert O. The Anatomy of Fascism. Compiled by About.com. New York: Random House, 2004. Online, http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/ AnatomyFascism.htm. (accessed 06 April, 2006). Paxton, Robert O. The Anatomy of Fascism, Vintage Books, Random House, New York, 2001 Lecture Notes Read More