At a time where Germany, a very prideful nation, was embarrassed by their defeat at the hands of the Allies, many politicians were playing the blame game against other political parties across the board. What Germany needed at this time was a leader to help them deal with the defeat and encourage the German people to learn and move on from what should have been a humbling loss. Instead, what Germany received was Adolf Hitler. As Ian Kershaw says:
Another time, another place, and the message would’ve been ineffective, absurd even……. Nevertheless, at this time and this place, Hitler’s message did capture exactly the uncontainable sense of anger, fear, frustration, resentment, and pent up aggression of the raucous gatherings in the Munich beerhalls (132).
Hitler played off the emotions of the German people and provoked their anger by explaining to them it was, in fact, not their fault that they lost. Instead Hitler blamed it on the age-old scapegoat, the Jews. With anti-Semitic sentiments already prevalent in Germany at this time, it was not hard to get others entranced by the eloquent speeches Hitler made about the greatness of the German people and the vileness of the Jews. By doing this, the Germans confidence and pride was rejuvenated with the belief that they were not inferior to the other nations but in fact they were sabotaged the whole time by a race they let live amongst them. Now that the German people had an objective imprinted in their mind and a charismatic leader to use as the figurehead of a goal to exterminate the reason for their loss, the people of Germany were ready to follow Hitler’s ideals and win back their pride and their honor. Even though Hitler was Austrian by birth, he always felt patriotism for the Germany and believed with all his heart that they were a superior people, which can be seen in the manner in which he talked during his many speeches.
Hitler’s obsession and experience in this matter can be seen in his own life. Once a homeless man living on the streets of Vienna, Hitler became a respected army official and an idol for many demoralized Germans. Hitler knew these emotions all too well and was gifted with luck and the ability to speak to the masses with confidence that was unmatched by any other German leader seeking the public eye.
I definitely agree with this post, and especially with the title. Before this class, I overestimated Hitler's power talent as a leader. I used to think, 'even though he controlled people in the wrong direction, he must have been an extraordinary leader since he persuaded people into committing a horrific genocide'.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think differently now. Even Kershaw says, "it would be misleading to imply...that nothing in Germany's development had prepared the ground for the catastrophe of Nazism; and dangerous to presume that a single individual had so hypnotized the nation that he had driven its otherwise progress off the rails" (75). Like he said, I think the procedure of Nazism makes a lot more sense if we look at social and political atmosphere before and after WWI. Hitler did not magically turn the public into murderers. There was a prevalent notion of racism and extreme nationalism in Germany, and Jews were the unfortunate victim of Germans' expression of fear and anger.
After the war, German nationalism included a sense that "pluralism was somehow unnatural or unhealthy in a society, that it was a sign of weakness, and that internal division and disharmony could be suppressed and eliminated, to be replaced by the unity of national community" (75.76). This fear and hatred against anything non-German made antisemitism only stronger. Since even before the war, Jews, who were "overwhelmingly seeking assimilation" (78) were considered inferior and unworthy. However, after the war, with more extreme nationalism and with the expansion of eugenics movement, hatred against the Jews grew nationally.
Hitler was particular in a sense that he decided to take actions to express his hatred. He said, "There is no making pacts with Jews; there can only be the hard: either-or'" (103) and for his part, "decided to go into politics" (103). He offered a clear option for the general public to express and enjoy their hatred freely. He was indeed a wrong man at the right time at a right place.
I think this genocide against the Jews could have happened even if Hitler was to be an artist. Another eloquent speaker and driven political figure could still have established the notorious Nazi party.