Facist Germany

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

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 h!

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.

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 trus

Some topics in this essay:
Weimar Republic, Party Nazi, War II, Germans Germans, According Hitler, People Frei, Third Reich, French Revolutionaries, Unfortunately Depression, Treaty Versailles, german people, modern institution, world war, berlet 1, trust government, world war ii, germany fascist, nazi party, germany left, war ii, prime example,