GRMN 2301 INSIDE NAZI GERMANY EXAM 1 WITH VERIFIED SOLUTIONS

*What are the major tenets of Nazi thought? (also need to define them) 1. Anti-Semitism 2. Lebensraum 3. Social Darwinism 4. Leadership Principle 5. Racial Hygiene 6. Individualism Anti-Semitism 1. Religious/Old Christian Anti-Semitism: blamed Jews for the death of Jesus so wanted to hate them but also wanted to keep them around in case a Jesus situation happened again; based on FAITH (Jews were able to convert to Christianity and then they were ok) 2. Modern Anti-Semitism: now based on race; it seemed as though Jews were gaining = rights under the law, but it was actually a ploy to get them associated with the Enlightenment: laws did not allow them in typical professions, they now had to work in more modern professions, and this is part of what got them associated with modernism; Jews started to get blamed for the struggles of modernity and rationalization 3. Redemptive Anti-Semitism: ... Brainpower Read More Lebensruam Germans thought they were justified in invading and colonizing Eastern Europe because they were superior to Eastern Europeans (to them, this was a scientific justification) the belief that Germany and the Germans needed "living space" in Eastern Europe; wanted to conquer Eastern Europe Social Darwinism the strongest and most ruthless survive; "kill or be killed" mindset; life is the struggle for survival Nazism aimed for the creation of a new racial German community under the leadership of one man (must be pure; cleansed; racial hygiene) Leadership Principle under one man; believed that democracy was part of the reason for all the problems and people wanted one single person to be making all the decisions Racial Hygiene allowing only the fittest and strongest to reproduce; killing physically/mentally disabled/ill or leaving them untreated so only the fittest would survive essentially weeding out the weak to create the strongest race possible Individualism the best should rise above the rest through struggle and should then use their geniusness to benefit the rest of society *Explain the Rise of the Nazi Movement -Europe 1803: "Germany" was just an idea; it did not exist until the late 19th century -1871: forms Germany and Austria-Hungary Empires Loss of WWI -loss of territory (1919) due to Treaty of Versailles -End of WWI: changed what people thought of war; what it meant to be human (End of WWI led to: post war loss of German Territory, mechanized warfare, Nationalism, Revolutionary moments in art and literature) 1917: -Soviet Union rise to power (communist party taking over biggest country in the world) -"if they could do this, we could do something similar in Germany" 1920s: -Election Summaries: Nazi party never a majority party; had popular support but not overwhelmingly so; formed alliances with more traditional conservative parties *What is the importance of culture and art in Nazi thought? -Creativity was important because it is what (along with Culture) distinguishes Germans from and above other races Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler MAIN IDEAS: 1. The Significance of the Spoken Word -you can change what you're saying based on the reactions of the audience -people are easier to control at night -theatrical 2. Nation and Race -Racial Typology: his theories/definitions of the different races (Culture Creating/Founding, Bearing, Destroying) -Discussions of relations/connections between race and culture -Struggle is natural among races, maintenance of purity, avoidance of mingling, praise of nature and struggle, the "Aryan" -Aryans are Self-Sacrificing (willing to give up their lives for the Aryan race as a whole): dedicated to the preservation of the species (not just the individual, but the whole race) -Associates Marxism with the Jews (dividing society; the Jews are using marxism to destroy society from within) -CONCLUSION: Germans must recognize the enemy that threatens them from within (Jews="the inner enemy"), all of this war was focused on the "outer enemy" when they should have been focusing on the Jews Storm of Steel Ernst Junger MAIN IDEAS/THEMES: 1. Why did these young men join the war? -group mentality was very enthusiastic and appealing: "enraptured by war" -they wanted to get up and do stuff; their factory jobs were boring -they were feeling ALIENATED because they were bored and wanted to be excited about something: the war is supplying them with excitement 2. Aestheticization -glorifying the war 3. "New Man" emerging here: -the runner is the "New Man" -the worker is going to meet a "New Human" that is going to emerge -Characteristics: lacking moral issue with fighting in wars, focus (just thinking about the target/just on job); robotic, desensitized, calm (able to repress emotion in the moment) Language of the Third Reich ("I Believe in Him") Klemperer MAIN IDEAS: 1. Germans are SELF-SACRIFICING and Jews are SELF-PRESERVING 2. Jews act like they are Culture-Bearers when they are actually Culture-Destroyers 3. People see Hitler as a religious leader; almost like God (and Hitler talks about himself as God here too) -Religion tied into the agenda; leads to a mythical fanaticism tied into the agenda and the vocab used by the Nazis -> deeply religious mindset (Christian vocabulary/mentality/structure was applied to the Nazi mindset 4. Connects to Redemptive Anti-Semitism -notions of REDEMPTION (a religious motif) -a religious prophesy -Hitler is the savior: he's leading the redemption -"there is an overall plan/purpose" : Christian Sentiment/religious belief process Pan-Germanism Pan-German League: believed that a worldwide Jewish conspiracy was behind many of the perils they thought were threatening Germany and the Germans; promised to remove the civil rights of Jews when they came to power; as well as expelling them from professions such as the law, education, and the civil service involved a lot of violence wanted the political unification of racial Germans Hitler's theory of three kinds of races 1. Culture Creating (Aryans/Nazis) 2. Culture Bearing (all other cultures) 3. Culture Destroying (Jews) Nazis were CULTURE CREATORS (Aryans); all other people and cultures copied them and got culture from them Enabling Act March 24, 1933: (except for Social Democrats and the banned Communists) all political parties voted to provide Hitler with emergency powers which suspended the constitution and many mechanisms of political accountability and redress for a period of four years -law to remove the distress of the people and the state -passed by the Reichstag -enabled Hitler (as Chancellor) to pass laws and to sign treaties with other countries without the approval of the Reichstag -other parties now forced to vote for Nazi Party/NSDAP (gaining votes now) -essentially voted for dictatorship Reichstag Fire Decree February 28, 1933; a fire at the Reichstag building caused the: Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State (multiple articles of the German Constitution are suspended) -allows government to suspend civil rights in the case of a state of emergency -government could go into any house they wanted to; no group meetings, etc.