Awesome+essays+for+90470+using+The+Weimar+Republic+and+the+Nazi+State


 * Describe and explain the characteristics of an individual's or group's identity, and the factors that helped form it. Describe the actions that were taken by the individual or group to express their identity.Explain why these actions were taken and what the results were. (Nicola) and some more **

The Nazi Party (Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party) was formed in 1918 with its leader Adolf Hitler. Factors that helped form it were the Weimar Republic's poor handling of the Treaty of Versailles and the failure to control Germany through the revolts, depression and crises such as the Ruhr Crisis in 1923. These factors enabled the formation and rise to power of the Nazi Party following World War One. Actions taken by the Nazi Party once in power included implementing "Geischaltung" by placing Nazi policies into everyday life and carrying out Anti-Semitic measures through an increasing persecution of the Jews. These actions enabled Hitler to rule from 1933 to right through until the end of World War Two in 1945.

One factor that enabled the characteristics and identity of the Nazi Party to be formed was the Weimar Republics failure to control the revolts within Germany after WW1, the economic, political and social unrest and the extreme political solutions from the right and left. The Weimar Republic was formed on November 9, 1918 after Kaiswer Wilhelm Iost army support through Germany losing WW1 and had to step down from the throne. The elected Social Democrats - Ebert as President and Scheidermann as Chancellor had many problems to face in bringing about this new government. The upper class preferred the old Constitutional Monarchy that had ruled over Germany for so long and not everyone welcomed the new republic. The Social Democrats were unable to implement many Democratic Policies because the government sill depended on the judicial system, the old imperial bureaucracy and the armed forces. This caused the new Republic's first challenge: The Spartacist Revolt. The Sparticist Revolt was a revolt of the German workers, navy and Communists forcing social changes. It was led by Karl Leibknecht and Rosa Luxembourg. The President Ebert ended up having to make a deal with the army to help put the revolt to rest. The army send the Freicorps, who were ex soldiers, into the streets. The soldiers went on a rampage known as "Bloody Week" and ended up terrorising and shooting 100 Sparticists. The new Republic did not look good to the German population as the "government was now in the shadow of the army" - beholden to the army and reliant on the strength of the army to keep the peace.

The Weimar Republic's poor handling of the Treaty of Versailles was another way in which the Nazi Party's characteristics and identity was formed. The Treaty of Versailles was a harsh peace settlement that the French had pushed for, but it was no harsher that what the Germans had put on the Russians earlier on March 3, 1918. The politicians started off by trying to meet the terms of the Treaty, but as the Germans could not pay their reparations in gold, Germany tried to pay them in coal although this only put some allies out of work. By 1923 Germany had stopped paying their reparations which caused the French to send 60,000 troops to Ruhr - the industrial area of Germany. This caused the workers to begin strikes and sabotages which caused workers to be killed. Tax income in Germany began declining so the government started printing money. The value of the currency decreased dramatically as there was plenty of paper money but not enough production. The government took advantage of this by paying off all the internal war debts. However in doing so the government had eliminated all the middle class and workers' government savings bonds which caused the Germans to mistrust their new government further.

The army did not follow the Treaty of Versailles. It grew to nearly twice the size it was until it was the same size as the French army. This was not allowed under the terms of the Treaty and the French did not want another war. The army then signed an alliance with the Russian government to allow German soldiers to train on Russian territory. Further, a secret airforce base was also set up by the Germans. The German people did not know that finances were being channelled into rearmament and when they found out it didn't reflect well on the new democratic government which was wanting to establish a middle path between the extremists and a open and transparent government that would represent the people in this post war era.

The Nazi Party was formed in 1918 by Adolf Hitler. After the war in which Hitler had worked as a messenger, Hitler went to work in Bavaria where he became an army press officer. He joined a nationalist group called the Drexleir group of which he soon became the leader. Hitler reorganised and increased the group's numbers and then changed the name to the NAZI party (Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party). He then wrote down the party's Nationalistic and anti-Semitic views and claimed he designed the Swastika which the the Nazi symbol. The SA was formed to terrorise opposition which helped to shape what the Nazi Party became as it was a huge expression of its identity.

To create an identity for all of Germany to see, Hitler wanted to revolt against the government. Hitler and the Nazi Party captured Bavarian leaders and held them in a Beerhall. This became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. One of the leaders escaped and Bavarian police officials arrested Hitler and the members of the Nazi Party involved. Hitler got a lot of sympathy at his trial as he pointed out the government's weaknesses. He was imprisoned for five years but only had to serve six months of his sentence. During his time in jail, Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf" - my struggle and refined his philosophy and ideas for the character and identity of the Nazi Party and for the direction of post WW1 Germany.

One way in which actions were taken by the party to express Nazi ideas and character while Hitler and the Nazi Party were in control, was through the implementation of "Geischaltung". This meant that Nazi ideology was put into practise in everyday German lives through education, German Youth organisations, motherhood, doctors, the labour movement and media. Boys were encouraged to join adventurous youth organisations while girls were instructed in home-making and caring for infants. Married women were encouraged to have children. The Hitler Youth along with other organisations spread and implemented Nazi ideas about a German Master Race and its right to more Livingspace in Europe. It spread and implemented ideas of eliminating undesirable groups of people and weaklings from this master race by sending political opponents, gypseys, communists and homosexuals to concentration camps and Aktion T4 which allowed for the identification and gassing of intellectually or very physically disabled people in Germany. Children were taught about the need to reinstate Germany's perfect Aryan Race of blond haired blued strong physical specimens. German festivals,celebrations and massive rallies were carried out to praise Hitler and the Nazi government. This expression of their identity served to build a huge sense of community and belonging within the German people as they felt strength through being part of mass, unified activities. Those who had been unemployed had work in public works like Autobahn building, those who had been let down by German's loss of pride at losing the war and those who had felt angry at the Allies for the tough peace Treaty felt a new strength and hope with all this action.

Hitler and the Nazi Party's identity was also actioned by their increase in the persecution of the Jews. Nazi policies were very anti-Semitic and Hitler was able to build on any existing prejudices within the German community by blaming the Jews for the loss of the war, for plotting against the German people as traitors and filth degenerates. Hitler wanted pure bred Germans and so set of concentration camps in which millions of Jews were sent for hard labour. These camps were crowded and the Jews were given little food. Finally Hitler implemented the final solution to the "Jewish Problem" by turning the camps into extermination camps in 1935. By 1939 4.5 million Jews had been exterminated.

In conclusion, the Nazi Party's characteristics and identity were shaped through the Weimar Republic's failure to deal with the revolts and its poor handling of the Treaty of Versailles. The Nazi Party's Nationalistic, anti-Semitic ideas were formed through this allowing Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to carry out their actions such as the extermation of the Jews and the implementation of the Gleischaltung policy. Hitler and the Nazis were then able to carry out their ideas and enforce their values and beliefs until the end of WWII in 1945.

During the period of the Weimar Republic and Nazi State,many factors helped form the identity of Hitler and the Nazi Party. Such factors include the shared experience of losing World War One including the Treaty of Versailles, and the failing of democracy in the Weimar Republic, and the strong influence of Fascism as a political and social ideology and solution for economic and social ills. Hilter and the Nazi Party, with their anti-Jewish, pro-German dictatorship, expressed their identity through actions such as the Nuremburg Race Laws, enforcing Article 48 and infiltrating all aspects of German life. This essay will describe and explain the characteristics of Hitler and the Nazi Party, how factors helped them to form this identity and how their actions expressed their identity.
 * Describe and explain the characteristics of an individual's or group's identity, and the factors that helped form it. **
 * Describe actions that were taken by the individual or group to express their identity. Explain why these actions were taken. **

One factor that helped to shape the identity of Hitler and the Nazi Party was the loss of WW1. Germany, after having to surrender and admit their defeat in the First World War, was forced to accept embarrassing conditions outlined in the Treaty of Versailles. This included paying huge amounts of money for reparations for war damage in Europe and severely decreasing the size of the military. The Germans were not hurt - they were merely humiliated. In an attempt to shift the guild of losing the war onto the shoulders of someone other than Germany or the German military, the stab-in-the-back theory was born, claiming that the Jews, the Socialists and Communists had intentionally sabotaged the German war effort. This helped to shape the indentity of Hitler and the Nazi Party as it removed the idea that Germany was weak or guilty of losing the war.

Jews proved themselves to be useful scapegoats. This was not only shown by Germany's willingness to blame them for the loss of the war, but there was also a long history of Jewish hatred within the country. Thus, the loss of WW1 helped the Nazi Party develop their race-hatred identity, as they realised that, if they blamed the Jews for all the bad in the world, they would never need to take responsibility for their actions.

Another factor that influenced the development of the identity of Hitler and the Nazi Party was the failure of democracy in the Weimar Republic. As a democratic government, the Weimar Republic could not make decisions or enforce laws without a majority vote in the Reichstag. The weakness of democracy was proven through the Weimar Government's failure to deal with putches, such as the Kapp Putsch. Democracy meant that no action could be taken until several parties had been notified and accepted such actions, thus compromising the authority of the Weimar Government. To Hitler, this showed that democracy was a weak form of government, and that the only way for a government to be successful was with a single dictator. Thus, the failure of democracy in the Weimar Government significantly helped to shape the dictatorship identity created by the Nazi Party.

On way that the Nazi Party expressed their anti-Jewish identity was through the Nuremburg Race Laws. These laws came only a few years after all Jewish shops, doctors and lawyers had been boycotted. The laws, directed at Jews, forbade them from being doctors, lawyers or miniters of the government. It also stripped them of their citizenship rights, and deemed it illegal for Jews to marry Germans, claiming that the Jews were trying to destroy the stronger and more superior Aryan blood. These laws are a prime example of Hitler and the Nazi Party expressing their race-hatred through their actions.

Hitler and the Nazi Party also expressed their identity through enabling Article 48. This clause allowed the government, when in a state of emergency, to have a single ruler. Hence, enabling the clause allowed Hitler to act like a dictator and rule by decree. By invoking Article 48, Hilter and the Nazi Party expressed their long-held goal for a dictatorship, and their hate and disdain of democracy. Another way that the Nazi Party expressed their dictatorship was by infiltrating all aspects of Germany life, such as the church, school and the media. For example, the church was a force that could potentially be stronger than the Nazi Party, and this was not tolerated by the dicatorship. Thus, all church ministers were forced to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler, promising to teach Nazi policies. Soon enough, Hitler and the Nazi Party had created their own "Germanised" church, teaching the beliefs of Hitler and the Nazi Party. This not only reinforced Hitler as the dictator and ruler of Germany, but also turned him intol an almost religious figure. Thus, Hitler and the Nazi Party strongly expressed their belief in and desire for dictatorship through enabling Article 48 and infiltrating all aspects of Germany life.

In conclusion, the loss of WW1 and the failure of democracy in the Weimar Republic contributed to shaping Hitler and the Nazi Party as an anti-Jewish, pro-German dictatorship. This indentity was expressed through actions such as the Nuremburg Race Laws, invoking Article 48, and infiltrating German life, as this essay has described and explained.


 * What factors contributed to the formation of a distinctive sense of identity that was expressed by a significant individual or group in one of the topics you have studied this year? **
 * What were the characteristics of this identity, and what actions did this significant individual or group take to express their identity? **

There were many factors that contributed to the formation of Hitler and the Nazi Party, who expressed their distinctive identity of Fascism. The characteristics of fascism were seen put into action in events such as the Munich Putsch, the three steps to power and was seen in their use propaganda.

Fascism was a force in many European countries including Nazi Germany. It can appear with many different characteristics, not all of which have to be present at one time. Fascist powers have dictatorial leaders and an autocratic government, which is what Hitler wanted to be and achieve with the Nazi Party. Like the Party's aggressive ideas, fascism contains a very aggressive form of nationalism, and in the cse of Hitler, is strongly anti-democratic and anti-communist.

The formation of the Nazi Party's fascist ideas was a result of many factors in Germany. One of these was the attitude of German people. After the loss of WW1, many German people had lost their faith in the democratic Weimar government which seemed to be facing an on-going struggle in leading Germany. Many people were looking to support a new a nd effective government unlike Weimar had been. This attitude Germany had, saw the formation of the Nazi's fascist ideas, because its strongly anti-democratic beliefs appealed to Germans. Its aggressive form of nationalism gave an image of a strong group, passionate about the welfare of Germany.

Shared experiences was another factor which encouraged fascism as the basis of the Nazi Party. The Treaty of Versailles which had been forced upon Germany after the loss of WW1 had left Germany deeply scarred. With its huge reparations, drastic cuts to the military, immense loss of land to foreign countries and the war guilt, Germany was weak. The people felt betrayed and back-stabbed, and wanted justice from the harsh punishments forced upon them. This saw the formation of fascism because of its strong nationalistic desire for justice. Fascism, being an aggressive form of Nationalism lay at the base of the Nazi Party as they too felt betrayed by the T.O.W and wanted justice for Germany's harsh and unfair treatment. They felt they could relate to the German people's experience with the T.O.W and loss of the world war. The factor of shared experiences saw the formation of fascism in the Nazi Party because German people could relate to the strong nationalistic ideas it contained.

The Nazi Party took many actions to express their fascist identity to Germany. One way they did this was through the use of propaganda. The Nuremburg Rallies were a significant use of propaganda, which expressed the fascist identity. These rallies were decorated with huge flags, held at enormous locations, contained powerful speeches by leading figures and Hitler himself, and appealed to many German people because of this. This type of propaganda expressed their fascist indentity because it promoted the party to the German people. The rallies were seen as very impressive, with strong and extremely nationalistic speeches by Hitler. All of this appealed to the GErman people, and hence support for the Nazi Party grew.

Another use of propaganda was the adoption of certain signs, symbols and salutes. After the reformation of the Nazi Party in 1925, with Hitler now in total control, the party adapted things such as Swastikas and salutes. These expressed the fascist identity because they were symbolic of their nationalistic, anti-democratic ideas, which many Germans supported. They were physical or used primary colours and so entered the subconscious of those using or viewing them.

Another way the Nazi Party expressed their fascist identity was through the promotion of the Hitler youth and the idea of the Aryan race. Hitler believed strongly in a superior Aryan race which would lead Germany to become a strong, united, superior country. he set up numerous clubs and activities which promoted the Aryan race. One of these was the Hitler Youth. This organisation, aimed at young children and teenagers, promoted the fascist ideas of the Nazi Party and the belief that it was the way of the future. This expressed their desire for a dictatorial and autocratic government as well as their fascist ideas of a superior race. They implemented the teaching of anti-semetism and promoted discrimination against non-Aryans. These people, to Hitler, were seen as a waste of German resources and land and euthanasia and sterilisation soon became implemented in an attempt to "purify" Germany from the non-Aryan, non-Germanic peoples.

The Munich Putsch in 1923 clearly expressed the Nazi Party's fascist identity. As Otto Von Lossow and Bustaw von Kahr addressed 2000 right wing supporters in a beer hall in Much, Hitler and his Storm Troopers invaded. With the use of guns, Hitler forced the right wing groups ermany was expressed through the attempted march. Germans saw that unlike the failing Weimar Republic, the Nazi Party was willing to make a stand and take action for Germany.

Finally, the three steps to power in 1933 were actions taken by the Nazis to express their indentiy. On the 27th of February, a week before the general elections, the Reichstag building burnt to the ground. The Nazi Party used this to their advantage. Hitler, following their non-communist ideas, used the fear of a communist uprising to gain control. By doing this, he saw the implementation of the decree which saw an end to all civil liberties. Police were able to tap phones, search homes and beat or even kill Nazi opposition. This action was used to express their indentity as they promoted anti-communism throughout Germany, allowing to killing of many through the decree.

The elections held to gain support in the Weimar Republic was the second step taken. This was an attempt to gain political control, but instead failed, as the Nazis only received 44%, not enough to take over the government.

Finally, the Enabling Act came into play. Hitler arrested all communist leaders and made deals with other parties to guarantee their needed 2/3rds majority vote. With the aid of Article 48, Hitler was now able to take total control of Germany. Even though this control was only meant to be temporary, it was simply renewed and Hitler had become the unquestioned leader.

These three steps to power clearly expressed the Nazi Party's fascist identity because they showed their determination to see an end to democratic rule in Germany, and promoted to the German people their aggressive form of Nationalism which appealed to many people sick of the failing Weimar Government.

Many factors in Germany contributed to the formation of the Nazi Party and its strong fascist identity. The characteristics of the Party were seen many actions the Party took, which ultimately led to their success in gaining political control in Germany.