The 1930s were turbulent times in Germany's history. World War I had left the
country in shambles and, as if that weren't enough, the people of Germany had
been humiliated and stripped of their pride and dignity by the Allies. Germany's
dream of becoming one of the strongest nations in the world no longer seemed to
be a possibility and this caused resentment among the German people. It was
clear that Germany needed some type of motivation to get itself back on its feet
and this came in the form of a charismatic man, Adolf Hitler. Hitler, a man who
knew what he wanted and would do anything to get it, single-handedly transformed
a weary Germany into a deadly fascist state. In order to understand why exactly
Hitler was able to make Germany a fascist state, we must study the effects that
the end of World War I had on the country. Germany was left devastated and
vulnerable at the end of the war. The Treaty of Versailles had left the country
without a military and with a large debt that it just couldn't pay. Aside from
that, it was forced to withdraw from its western territory where most of its
coal and steel were located. This was a major implication for Germany because
without these resources, it had no industrial growth (steel and coal are the
forces behind industry), which meant that there was no money going into its
economy. Without any economic development there was no way that Germany would be
able to get out of debt. The Allies did not make any effort to help Germany
during this time and left Germany to fend for itself (they seemed to be aware
that this had been a mistake by the end World War II when they helped Japan out
of its economic crisis; this is an example of history influencing future
actions). The "humiliation imposed by the victors in the World War I,
coupled with the hardship of the stagnant economy," created bitterness and
anger in Germany (Berlet 1). This is the reason that, when the Allies tried to
establish a new government in Germany, the German people were less than eager to
embrace it. The French Revolution was a prime example that without a participant
culture, there is no stability. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Weimar
Republic failed so miserably in Germany. When it was introduced in 1918, it had
the potential of molding Germany's government into a modern institution. It
consisted of regular elections (this would later be referred to as the
Reichstag), a proportional representative electoral system, and checks and
balances. It was almost flawless as a formula for creating a modern institution
but it did not make Germany stable by any means. Herein lies another lesson that
many countries have learned the hard way: a modern institution does not, in
itself, guarantee that a country will become stable. In Germany's case, there
was no participant culture and, as a result, no trust in the government and no
efficacy. Germans believed that people within their country were conspiring
against them. They did not trust the government in the least and because of this
suspicious attitude sought a scapegoat to blame for their suffering (the
scapegoat, as we now know, would turn out to be the Jew). Germany was slowly
falling apart and could not handle another crisis. Unfortunately, the Depression
of 1929 was inevitable. It was also unfortunate that Keynsionism had not yet
been conceived for, if it had, Germany might not have dug itself into a bigger
hole. Because of its impoverished state and its inability to pay its reparatory
debts, Germany began to produce more and more money until inflation was so high
that its money became almost worthless (had Keynsionism been developed Germany
may not have gone into such a devastating depression). By 1933 the economy
"stood on the brink of collapse, with an economy which should,
realistically, have long since declared itself bankrupt" (Frei 163). Now
Germans felt that the so called "democratic" system had brought them
nothing but trouble and this paved the way for Hitler and his Nationalist
Socialist Party (which would later be referred to as Hitler's Nazi party, a
party that was centered around ideological fascism) (Berlet 1). There is no
denying that Hitler took advantage of Germany's instability. He appeared at a
time when Germany needed someone to give it a solution to its problems. The
first action he took was to assure the German people that they were not at fault
for any of their dilemmas. According to Hitler, there was an internal enemy
amongst them that had caused all of Germany's powers and was to blame. Hitler
identified Germans as good and superior while he marked the enemy as evil and
inferior. This served to once again inflame the Germans so that their
nationalism was now at a maximum and also made them more susceptible to Hitler's
charismatic personality and his ideas. Events were now changing; Germans could
now focus their attention on an enemy they could actually attack (they didn't
trust the government but aside from not participating, there wasn't much else
they felt they could do). Once Hitler had captivated the attention of the German
people by giving them a common enemy, it was time for him to put his plan into
action. With propaganda and promises of a brighter future, Hitler was appointed
Reich Chancellor in 1933. It must be noted that Hitler won not so much because
of his propaganda, he was just beginning that phase of his plan, but because the
Germans were not interested in voting for any other political party that
represented the government they mistrusted. That's why they opted to vote for
the National Socialist German Workers Party, which would later be known as the
Nazi party (Frei 2). As soon as he was appointed, Hitler focused his attention
on reinforcing the beliefs that Germans already had. A common misconception is
that Hitler's propaganda "implies nothing less that the art a persuasion,
which serves only to change attitudes and ideas" (Welch 5). This is not so.
He didn't persuade the Germans that nationalism was a solution or that democracy
was a sham. The Germans, as a result of the lack of efficacy and trust, had
already formed these ideas. Hitler was only smart enough to see that there was a
way to use these ideas to his advantage. So what was behind Hitler's fascist
ideology? Hitler saw that the democratic Weimar, which ceased to exist after the
Reichstat was burned down, had left the Germans in a state of bitter discontent
and decided to use that to use this information to appeal to the German people.
His political party opposed all that was represented by democracy (this is,
essentially, everything that the French Revolutionaries upheld: liberty,
equality, fraternity) (Berlet 1). Because of the problems the Germans had under
democracy, Hitler's party, fascist or not, was more favorable. Hitler was also
able to establish a fascist state masking the dark side of fascism: he claimed
to do everything in the name of the German nation (Berlet 1). Therefore, when he
decided to suspend basic civil rights he did so claiming that it was for the
good of the nation and when the Reich government was empowered the philosophy
was that it was done so "in order to re-establish safety and order…to the
states" (Frei 37). Even when he established concentration camps he did so
while assuring the German people that it was "legally based on the decree
'For the Protecion of the People and the State" (Frei 43). Had the Germans
not been so wrapped up in the euphoria that resulted from nationalism, they
might have reflected on what was happening and it would not have been so easy
for fascism to seize the state. Most Germans never complained because the theory
seemed nice: everything for the good of the country and anything to make Germany
the great nation it was destined to become. Hitler was also successful in having
the German people trust him. There goes that word again, trust. While the
working class trusted Hitler because of his "ostensible support for the
[industry]," the elite trusted him because of the alliance they held with
the Nazi party (Berlet 1). Hitler created an illusion of a modern institution
(for a time it seemed stable because the economy rose slowly after Hitler came
to power) but he also had the trust of the people, something the government
under the Weimar Republic never had. That is one of the most important reasons
that fascism was so successful. While Weimar was a lesson that a modern
institution is not enough to produce a stable nation, the Third Reich was a
prime example that trust in government goes a long way. Once Hitler had gained
Germany's trust and loyalty he was able to accomplish what others could not.
With this trust Hitler "had successfully disposed of all opposition and,
moreover, had stabilized his rule in a way that…almost no one would have
believed possible" (Frei 27). The rest was just propaganda. Although the
ideologies behind fascism were murder, hatred, misery, and discord,
"[Hitler] spoke of reconciliation, introspection, coming together and
revival" (Frei 52). When Hitler spoke, he did so as if her was selling a
new and improved product which, in a way, he was. As previously stated, Hitler
wasn't introducing ideas that Germans hadn't already thought of. He was just
making them more appealing to Germans. Before, Germans thought of fascist ideas
but believed them to be too extreme to support. When Hitler talked of fascism
(the one he had masked as crucial to empowering Germany), euthanasia no longer
seemed wrong because it was necessary to rid the country of the enemy. Giving up
basic God given rights was not a problem because it was all for the good of the
country (sacrifice the individual's rights for the nation). Many reason that
Germans were a cold-blooded people who were fascist and cruel by nature. This is
not so. Most Germans were seeing fascism through rose colored glasses (indeed
this is the way Hitler wanted it) and justified the actions they were taking
with nationalistic explanations. To the typical pro-Nazi German it was illogical
to believe that what he/she was doing was wrong; after all, it was for the good
of Germany so it had to be good, right? It was, indeed, a pleasant dream but
when Germany was faced with yet another loss after World War II, it had to face
the harsh reality that it had been its own enemy. It is clear that fascism in
Germany was a lesson in the complexity of the modernization theory. Germany was
a reminder that you can have a good modern institution but without trust there's
no efficacy and without these factors the formula just does not work. Germany
was left vulnerable and had to deal with its problems the best way it could. All
that was needed was a charismatic man and good propaganda for Germany to become
a fascist state. Germany as a fascist state taught us that the success of
democracy in one country does not guarantee its success in another country. Not
only were the Germans forced to look upon their past as consequences of their
actions but so were the Allies. The events that led to Germany's becoming a
fascist state were hard lessons for the Allies and were remembered when Germany
and Japan were defeated in World War II.

BibliographyBerlet, Chip. "What is Fascism?" < http://remember.org/hist.root.what.html>.
Frei, Norbert. National Socialist Rule in Germany. Translated by Simon B. Steyne.
Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1993. Welch, David. The Third Reich:
Politics and Propaganda. New York: Routledge, 1993.