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Trinity Milian
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History - P, Period 4
18 March 2016
Examine the reasons for the broad appeal to the German people of Nazi philosophy and
government. How did Hitler reawaken feelings of nationalism after the humiliation suffered after
the First World War?
There are many reasons for why there was such a broad appeal of Nazism to the German
people. One reason has nothing to do with Nazism, but actually focuses on the state of Germany
at the time; "people in smaller countries who feel threatened by neighbors and are less wellequipped to handle attacks are more prone to nationalism." (Website #1). Before Hitler had
even gained power, Germany was in an awful state. Because they shouldered the entirety of the
blame for World War I, they had to pay major war reparations. Germany then printed more
money to better their economy, which actually made things much worse and caused Germany to
go into an even greater depression. The government was purposefully weak and could do little to
help the people. All of this led to a country with extreme pride in order to survive the great
hindrances set before them. This created the perfect stage for Hitler, whose main goal was to
rekindle German pride through the domination of others. This also connects to another reason as
to why Nazi policies were so popular; "since people draw self-esteem and status from their
country, a common reaction is to lash out against feelings of inferiority by displaying a
sense of superiority." (Website #1). The Germans looked to someone to blame for their current
state and found a easy targets: Jewish, Gypsy, black, mentally ill, disabled, homosexual, and nonconforming people. Through false scientific information, the idea that these people were "less
evolved" eventually led to the many believing that these groups were to be considered inferior

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and deserved less respect. And so all these negative emotions towards these minorities allowed
numerous Germans to feel secure and redeem themselves in their own eyes. In turn this created
an awful cycle of thinking: blame certain groups for the destruction of Germany, feel better about
oneself; alienate these groups as an excuse for these actions, feel no remorse about it; objectify
these people and claim that their existence must be ended, put oneself at the top of a racial
hierarchy to maintain ego. Hitler's Nazi policies supplied the last step as a solution to a
"problem" many Germans felt existed; this made Hitler seem brilliant and his Nazi ideas perfect
and appealing to the German people. However, the nationalistic ideas of Nazism weren't the only
thing that attracted the general German populace; Hitler's plan for the economy hypnotized them
as well. Since nationalism gives people "a sense of security, a feeling of belonging, and
prestige.", a strong economy is all but necessary in order to let it thrive. There is little room for
pride when families cannot manage to feed themselves (Website #1). And so, once again, the
Germans looked for scapegoats and found that the many rich Jews were a perfect fit to blame for
the state of the economy. And once again, enter Hitler with his perfect socialist-hybrid economic
plan. This plan kept private business from owning too much while giving back to those with
little, a captivating plan for a country with so many living in poverty while just a few lived in
wealth. This allowed most of the German population to rekindle their spirit and excuse the abuse
of the Jews. In the end, there are countless reasons as to why Nazi philosophy and policy was so
enticing; however, they all connect in some way or another back to the dignity of the German
populace.
There were many methods Hitler used to reawaken feelings of nationalism for Germany
and many fall into the broad category of scientific research. Before Hitler had stepped in as
supreme chancellor, there were many philosophers and scientists who attempted to use scientific
reason to justify the extermination of certain people. For example, Lamarckians used the findings

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of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to "put races on a hierarchy of evolution", stating that "lower" races
had "been exposed to debilitating conditions for too long for any significant 'improvement'
of their condition in the near future." (Website #2). Hitler used Lamarckian theory to prove
that his Aryan race was more pure than any other, which allowed for the intense nationalism.
Because the populace believed that Aryans belonged at the top of the hierarchy, the gained a new
sense of pride and supremacy which cancelled out the shame from World War I. They believed
they were the most important and best people compared to the rest of the entire world. With
science on their side, "Aryan" Germans felt as though they deserved to be in control and that
others should be ashamed of themselves for not being Aryan. This is precisely the basis of
Mendelism, which was widely accepted by the Nazis. Mendelian theory suggested that genetics
were passed through inheritance; Hitler took this a step further and used this theory to say that
things like "mental disability", "social traits", "inventiveness", and "criminal behavior"
were all things that would be passed down through generations (Website #2). Hitler obviously
spread the idea that Aryans had the best qualities to pass down unto their children and should
therefore be the only ones to reproduce since all the others would pass on bad traits. He used
things he knew the German people wished would be gone (disease, homosexuality, black and
Jewish people, etc.) as reasoning towards why they needed to be exterminated and sterilized
while the Aryans did not. That feeling of being "special", that is, handpicked to carry on for
generations because one is pure, created a strong sense of loyalty and pride among those that fell
under the "Aryan" category and thusly strengthened the feelings of nationalism. No longer did
they carry the weight of causing WWI; they were specifically chosen to carry out Hitler's perfect
world. Hitler used other theories to prove that his Aryan race was the purest, taking note that
"Germanic peoples held close racial connections with the ancient Indians and ancient

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Persians, who he claims were advanced peoples possessing a great capacity for wisdom,
nobility, restraint, and science." from Johann Gottfried Herder and that the fall of the ancient
regime in France was caused by "racial degeneracy caused by racial intermixing" from
Arthur de Gobineau (Website #2). Not only did these theories stroke the egos of those who
claimed to be "Aryan", but they also degraded anyone else. Aryans could be proud of the fact
that they had caused so much production and human advancement while also priding themselves
on the simple fact that they weren't the other guys. By using these theories, Aryans could claim
that they were the only ones adding to society and thus the only ones that needed to survive.
Everyone else should be exterminated or in rare cases used as slaves. This strong sense of power
and domination lured people into Hitler's trap, as they were given security in exchange for the
loss of some lives they didn't care about. And so, in the end, Hitler managed to twist scientific
discoveries to fit his need and create a deep sense of unity and nationalism within the people of
Germany.
Hitler didn't just use his own twisted logic to explain why Aryans were "perfect" human
beings. Occasionally he didn't attempt to directly tell the German people why certain groups
were acceptably persecuted; he just made it so that it seemed a natural part of life that everyone
needed to go along with. He used many methods to alienating these people; one such method
was that he simply had as much negative propaganda "spread among the German public...
and among Nazi officials throughout the ranks." (Website #3). By having the leader of a
country constantly placing an idea into the minds of his people, it's bound to stick eventually.
Repeated exposure is incredibly difficult to avoid; when one is submerged in a certain mindset,
it's almost impossible to follow along as well, especially when they've been exposed to it since
childhood. In fact, many Germans already had these ideas within them and were likely passing
them down onto their children already; Hitler only intensified and concentrated these emotions

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into his concentration camps and things like the Nuremburg Laws, which was another way Hitler
indirectly ostracized the Jewish people and many more. These Nuremburg Laws "prevented
sexual relations and marriage between Germans and Jews, but later the law was extended"
and breaking them was "punishable by law" (Website #3). At this point, anyone who wasn't
seduced by Hitler's propaganda didn't even have a choice on the matter. To many, the risk of
being seen with Jewish people might not be worth the risk. These laws put humongous targets on
many people's backs and acted as a deterrent for people to stay away from. This massive
separation only made it easier for sides to be drawn; the side that Hitler favored, of course, was
treated with luxuries while there were attempts to exterminate the other. In addition to the fact
that Jews and eventually others were unable to romantically interact with anyone outside of their
own grouping was the fact that Jews could not hold any positions of power. They could not act as
teachers, lawyers, government workers, and more. Now Hitler could prove his idea that Jews did
not contribute to society by literally keeping them from contributing to society. On top of all this,
he kept power away from the Jewish people to stop them from interfering with his plans and kept
them away from many jobs so as to prevent them from combating the image he had set forth in
his propaganda. Hitler's final tactic was to simply objectify all those he believed to be inferior. In
the case of many black Germans in Nazi Germany, their treatment ranged from "isolation to
persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder."
(Website #3). His actions towards the black people caused many Germans to view the injustices
indifferently as they forgot their sympathies. The isolation, sterilization, and medical
experimentation especially objectified them as they became more of an idea than a neighbor or
best friend to the Aryan Germans. They were simply a number that was too large and needed to
be slowly dwindled in the eyes of Hitler and his followers, evidenced by the sterilization process.

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The medical experimentation created a lack of empathy with them as their existence became
nothing more than an experimentation. By treating these groups separately, he justified his
actions and created an almost normal state wherein his corruption was ignored.

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