GRMN 2301 INSIDE NAZI GERMANY FINAL EXAM WITH VERIFIED SOLUTIONS

NSDAP National Socialist Deutsch (German) Workers' Party () Hitler becomes Chancellor in January 30, 1933. But, National Socialist ideas were around earlier: - WWI () - The Treaty of Versailles Brainpower Read More Tenets of Nazism Anti-Semitism, Lebensraum, Nationalism, Leadership Principle, Social Darwinism, Pan-Germanism, Anti-Communism Anti-Semitism The hatred of Jews based on the notion of race or religion. According to Hitler, the survival of the racial German identity was dependent on the exclusion or extermination of the Jews. (Hitler further claimed that the Jews are conspiring to keep this master race from rightfully ruling the world, by diluting its racial and cultural purity and by convincing the Aryan to believe in equality rather than superiority and inferiority) "Lebensraum" (Living Space) The territory a nation believes is needed for its natural development and survival. Nazi Germany believed themselves, the Aryans, the superior class and in need of taking over Eastern Europe for living space. Regeneration of the Nation The creation of a new "People's Community" after the humiliation of WWI and the economic depression. - The idea was that the institutions of state, society and culture would be remodeled to make a racially homogenous nation involved in making Germany great again. Necessity for Violence Violence was needed in the struggle to achieve all of these goals Pan-Germanism The unification of the German people in one nation under the leadership of one man (Fuhrer). Social Darwinism A modern name given to various theories of society which claim to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology and politics. This was Hitler's way of justifying his entire ideology, because it was "Natural Law" Alienation Because of the industrial revolution and urbanization of the time, the German people were alienated from the struggle for existence/the true meaning of life. Führerprinzip The unification of the people under the leadership of one man Volksgemeinschaft Eliminating the social classes and being just one people. The Nümberg Laws (1935) -Offer criteria for identifying Jews - According to this chart, Hitler categorized people into groups and eliminated certain groups - This is used as a basis for the exclusion, deportation and mass murder of millions of people Summarize the basic ideology of Nazism The main ideology of Nazism focused on the idea of regenerating the nation into a new "people's community" under the leadership of the Fuhrer (the leader). This could only be brought about through the creation of a racially homogenous nation that was the Aryan race. Nazism's Anti-Semitic view saw the Jews as a racial impurity that had to be exterminated in order to make Germany great again. Mein Kampf: Hitler and the "Power of the Idea" - Program of Mein Kampf: Overcoming differences and creating a reconciled German state and community based on race - Overcoming Marxism (Communism) a. The Jewish question and Marxism blends into one b. Hitler doesn't like Marxism because it has an international plane: wants the workers of all countries to unite. Hitler wanted to focus solely on the German workers. The international view weakens the national integrity of every individual country (and the Jews supported this international vision). Hitler saw the Jews as the pure driving force of these aims to weaken individual nationality Main Concepts of Mein Kampf 1) The Jewish Peril 2) Anti-Semitism 3) Lebensraum 4) Leader-figure (Fuhrer) 5) The artist as a creative genius (Political) 6) Personality and the folkish state 7) Nation and Race 8) The power of the spoken word The Jewish Peril An alleged Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. Hitler described the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural, and political battle between Aryans and Jews. Anti-Semitism in Mein Kampf Hitler further claimed that the Jews are conspiring to keep this master race from rightfully ruling the world, by diluting its racial and cultural purity and by convincing the Aryan to believe in equality rather than superiority and inferiority Fuhrer Hitler believed that only the genius had the answers to guide Germany. He could have advisors, but only one man must make the decisions. He did not like the parliamentary government and wanted to bring it down. This also ties in with the idea of the artist/creative genius The Artist as a Creative Genius (Artist & Dictator) - "The Sculptor of Germany:" Hitler (artist, genius) first smashes Jewish artwork (dichotomy) and then creates a unified Germany (sculpture) a. Molding the masses (substance) to shape it into one whole, united b. Artist-dictator c. Smashing = necessary means of violence to create ideology d. Destructing v. Constructing: violence is needed in the artist-dictator's shaping of the masses (you cannot create or shape a vision without taking away clay/being violent) Mein Kampf: Artist & Dictator - Nazi view: the destruction of the old Reich and the chaos after 1918 made the Spirit of the German art fragile and Hitler needed to rescue the spirit by revolutionizing the perception of the world - "Genius": an artist is born with great visions and implements them - The modern artist is creative, violent, revolutionary, and conservative - How the notion of artist relates to Nazi politics: a. Politics is racial, the struggle of one race against others b. German race is the culture-creating race c. Nazi politics aims to make race real, render it visible d. Nazi politics has to eliminate the resistance to this artistic project e. Race = SOUL f. Race is not physical. For Hitler, race is that there's a spirit inside and out and that they are both one. Mein Kampf: Nation and Race 3 Types of Races: 1) The Founders/Culture Creators: The Aryans - These are the creators of culture, they are the ones that everyone follows. - Aryan: the oldest tribes of Europeans identified. Then adopted as a term by racial science in 19th century. For Hitler, many Europeans are Aryans, but Germans are the best Aryans because their blood is the most pure of all 2) Culture-Bearers: somebody who carries culture, but it's not theirs. Hitler uses the Japanese as an example in his book, saying they are advancing because they are imitating Aryan culture. Their culture will probably decline soon because it's not their own. 3) Culture-Destroyers: The Jews - They don't have a geographic location, they are everywhere, trying to take over and destroy culture The correlation between these 3 races is that the Aryan creates a functioning culture and is the greater mankind who has to step on other people (the culture-bearers) in order to rise. The Jews are a parasite which undermine the healthy culture of the Aryans - Aryan is the greatest culture and in order to stay this way, there should not be racial crossing "The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the following: lowering of the level of the higher race, physical and intellectual regression and hence the beginning of a slowly but surely progressing sickness," p. 286 - According to Hitler, the Jews poison the pure blood: "he poisons the blood of others, but preserves his own. The Jew almost never marries a Christian woman; it is the Christian who marries a Jewess," p. 316 - The consequence of Aryan purity threat is remedied by: a. Separation b. Principle of Nature's rule: segregation notion in nature (circle of life). The intertwining of races goes against this, so there needs to be racial separation. The purity/health of Aryans needs to be kept a Personality and the conception of the Folkish State - There is hierarchy within a race: The leader vs. the people - The entire notion of humanity for Hitler is based on Hierarchy and Inequality (the Aristocratic principle) - The struggle brings out the leaders - The genius emerges on top --> the inventor a. p.445: "at all events, we know that the material inventions we see are the result of ability of the individual personality" b. Helps with self-preservation of a race (because of imitation) c. There is no difference between creation and instincts, instincts are CREATED by the fittest person(ality)/animal and imitated by everyone else d. These characteristics are what makes a nation survive: THE PERSONALITY --> CREATIVE, INVENTIVE, LEADER-LIKE FIGURE What is the role that creativity plays in this personality? - Helps geniuses stray away from the masses to pave the path for the greater human culture and therefore, the salvation of humankind - Culture-creating is only kept through genius individuals - Creative people have to be in charge - Therefore, for politics, there must be no majority decisions, but the decisions will be made by one man (p.449). - Competition weeds out weak in order to bring out Victor Genius (struggle) Mein Kampf: The power of the Spoken Word - The power of a spoken argument lies in the fact that it moves the masses and influences them toward an ideology - Hitler as a leader-figure captured the essence of the spoken word and its influence on the masses (including the believers and non believers) - The written word only reaches the believers - The style of his writing is how he would talk - Also, written word is inferior to spoken --> Mein Kampf was just a documented version of the movement and ideology Storm of Steel - Ernst Jünger - Junger enlisted in German army for WWI. He kept a diary that was an artistic publication of events. - Storm of steel is about WAR AS OVERCOMING ALIENATION - Alienation: because of the industrial revolution and urbanization of the time, the German people were alienated from the struggle for existence/ the true meaning of life - War as AESTHETIC, PROFOUND, AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE (beautiful, meaningful, real) - There was a new German type: "Steel Helmet Type" --> human machines, no personal thinking, following orders and rules, powerful.