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Nazi germany
- 1. The Defining Characteristicsof Fascism By: Brayden Carlson Sam Fath Skyler Sargeant
- 2. Powerful And ContinuingNationalism The “Hitler Salute” is originally from the Roman Salute which was picked up by Mussolini in Italy and later taken by Hitler. It became mandatory in 1926. It was an identifiable system for all German's that showed commitment to their cause and to their leader, Hitler. It is now universally associated with Hitler’s Nazi Party. “Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized.” -Adolf Hitler
- 3. Disdain For TheRecognition Of Human Rights The Nazi’s disdain for human rights is apparent in the concentration camps. Those who didn’t comply with the Nazis had to expect discrimination, persecution, imprisonment and death. Brutal enforcement against dissidents and so called “subhuman beings” was part of daily life of the Nazi/Aryan system, common within the day to day livings of the average German citizen. People did not have the right to express their beliefs about this situation, nor did they have the right to many of their basic rights such as the right of free speech, freedom of movement, and the freedom of media. “Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future.” - Adolf Hitler
- 4. Jewish and EthnicMinorities As Scapegoats To increase support in Nazi Germany pre-WW2 the Nazi political party needed to paint a public enemy for the common people to focus their discontent and problems on. This common enemy was the Jews and other unpopular ethnic minorities, such as gypsies, blacks and homosexuals. Through this they were able to gather a strong patriotism and sense of nationalism against this common enemy. “The heaviest blow which ever struck humanity was Christianity; Bolshevism is Christianity’s illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew.” - Adolf Hitler
- 5. Military Supremacy Hitler sawNazi Germany as being at the centre of Europe and as the great power of Europe, the nation needed a strong military. For two years, the German military expanded in secret, and by March 1935, Hitler felt strong enough to go public on Nazi Germany's military expansion - which broke the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The next step was compulsory military conscription in Nazi Germany and that the army would be increased to 550,000 men. Hitler stated, from even the 1920's, that he wanted "lebensraum" (or living space) for the German people as a whole, wherever they existed. Hitler felt that to be a strong nation they would need a strong army in order to expand and hold ground. “Germany will either be a world power or will not be at all.” - Adolf Hitler
- 6. Rampant Sexism InNazi Germany A woman's role in Nazi Germany was that they should be good mothers, bringing up children at home while their husbands worked. From their earliest years, girls were taught in schools that all good German women married at a young age to a proper German man and that the wife’s task was to keep a decent home for her working husband and to have children. All women - married or single – were told to have 4 children and that the fathers of these children had to be "racially pure“. Women were not expected to wear make-up or trousers and perms and hair dye was also frowned upon. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for child birth and instead were encouraged to have a well built figure. Women were also discouraged from smoking, not because it was linked to problems with pregnancies but because it was considered non-German to do so. There were tax reductions in Nazi Germany for woman that had a large family and married women were excluded from civil services and other professions, even employers were encouraged to employ men opposed to women. Abortion was restricted and birth control for Aryans was condemned. They did it because of traditional values, sexism, children and more jobs for men as women filled their duties Nazi Germany’s Slogan for a Female’s Role: “Kinder, Küche, Kirche” (Children, Kitchen, Church)
- 7. Censorship of theMedia Censorship ensured that Germans could only see what the Nazi hierarchy wanted people to see, hear what they wanted them to hear and read only what the Nazis deemed acceptable. The Gestapo dealt with anyone who went outside of these boundaries harshly and severely. Censorship dominated the lives of the ordinary citizen in Nazi Germany. With the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels creating a way to influence the populous. Newspapers, radio and all forms of media were put under the control of the Nazi political party, censoring what could be heard seen or read. Anything that insulted the Nazi political party’s control of party or tried to usurp their power was dealt with by the Gestapo. “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” - Adolf Hitler
- 8. Obsession with NationalSecurity After the fire that burnt down the Reichstag, Hitler immediately declared that it was the signal for a communist takeover of the nation. Hitler knew that if he was to convince President Hindenburg to give him emergency powers - as stated in the Weimar Constitution - he had to play on the fear of communism, and this fear for national security is the original cause for Hitler coming to power. He employed people to monitor each street, building complex etc. with the sole purpose of keeping an eye on others in their 'area' and reporting them to the authorities if they believed that something was amiss or was a threat to their power. All the Nazis’ major opponents were killed, exiled or put in prison by the Gestapo and sentenced to the Concentration camps. "The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.“ - Adolf Hitler
- 9. Religion and GovernmentAre Intertwined The greatest threat to Hitler was religion - a belief stronger than Nazism. Hitler tried to make a peace with the churches claiming that he was catholic on some occasions. Many Christians refused to accept the Nazi ideas and some died for their beliefs. However, others were prepared to accept Nazi ideas, especially when Hitler set up a Reich Church and the swastika and the cross were put side by side. This shows how they were finally at peace and had come to an agreement. Hitler used Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the almighty and how the Christian beliefs would become pillars of the new state. He handed out deeply religious stories to the press, especially the church papers. It was reported, for example, the he showed his tattered Bible to some deaconesses and declared that he drew from the strength for his great work from the word of God. “It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.” - Adolf Hitler
- 10. Protection of CorporatePower In Nazi Germany the split of power in the economic system is balanced towards the powerful and wealthy. The Nazi party needed the support of the high class in their rise towards power and by creating economic rules that cater towards the wealthy and powerful they were able to acquire this and keep it. The goal of Germany’s economic was to make several poor country’s rely upon Nazi Germany for trade, providing Germany with a constant influx of goods and a stable economy pre-war.
- 11. Labor Power IsSuppressed The Gestapo secret police of Nazi Germany was very effective at not only quelling any possible threat to their power, but inspiring fear so that these kind of problems would not start. This prevented many uprisings of the worker class. In addition to this unions were not allowed due to the power that they had in uniting the working class as a single power towards the government. There were state-run labor groups however they were highly censored and controlled by the government.
- 12. Disdain for IntellectualsAnd The Arts In Nazi Germany any art that was not approved of by the Third Reich was either destroyed or not allowed. According to Hitler true art was “Artists who are able to impress upon the State of the German people the cultural stamp of the Germanic race... in their origin and in the picture which they present they are the expressions of the soul and the ideals of the community." The artist’s were required to create art that portrayed the German’s in either glorified war scenes, or anything that painted the Nazi’s cause as honorable and just. Art was largely used as a form of propaganda. “By the skilful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.” - Adolf Hitler
- 13. Obsession with Crimeand Punishment The Nazi party set up a secret police force called the Schutzstaffel abbreviated SS. The SS was made for personal protection of Adolf Hitler. As such, the SS had a lead role in the “Final Solution”, the extermination of the Jewish and other inferior races, killing approximately 12 million people. The SS had almost unlimited power in Nazi Germany to accomplish whatever it is they felt that they needed to do, killing and kidnapping countless people. The average citizen looked over this offense in the name of patriotism which was mainly a result of the strong propaganda of the time. “The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it.” - Adolf Hitler
- 14. Rampant Cronyism andCorruption In Nazi Germany, Cronyism was used to great effect to satisfy the politically powerful and wealthy. By electing people to high-ranking positions in his army/political structure Hitler was able to get the support of many, ensuring that there was little opposition to his power. With most Fascist and Totalitarian nations there was also a unfair distribution of wealth to the select few, giving funds for extravagant projects and etc. “Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless.” - Adolf Hitler
- 15. Fraudulent Elections In NaziGermany due to the enabling act there was almost no fairness in the political system. The enabling act allowed the Nazi party and Hitler to be the single totalitarian power, and allowed him to move away from the Weimar Constitution. Hitler then systematically destroyed all opposition to his political party by abolishing the communist party and other key opponents from the political system. The other political party’s were firmly encouraged to disband. With these events Nazi Germany became a single party state, with complete control over the voting process and who led the country. Communists 4.8 million votes Social Democrats 7.2 million votes Centre party 5.5 million votes Nationalists 3.1 million votes Other parties 1.4 million votes Nazis 17.3 million votes “The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.” - Adolf Hitler
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