Hitler's Plans for the Third Reich
The National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) party was made up mostly of manual laborers, but soon disillusioned and angry former soldiers from World War I joined their ranks. "The Nazis were violently nationalistic, anti-Semitic, and totally opposed to the democratic republican government, which they considered guilty of treason. The party also organized a paramilitary force, the Sturm Abteilung (SA) or storm troops in 1921" (Mintz). While on its face, the Nazi party preached about strengthening Germany both inside its borders and its image outside as well, the core of the party's goals were much darker. Adolf Hitler was a charismatic leader, and in combination with a perfect storm of global and national events, he quickly rose to political power. What many, at the time, considered a great pride in their nation, a determination to restore Germany to its former glory (and then surpass it) eventually turned to a horror that very well likely even terrified and shocked members of the guilty party. Slowly, as the Nazi party rose to power, and Hitler took the helm, with near total dictarian control, the face and history of Germany changed forever.
With the German educational system massively compromised by the complete overhaul to reflect Nazi ideals-- chief among them a warlike mentality even in children-- Hitler had poised Germany to fully accept his future plans. The Third Reich was Hitler's vision of the Third German Empire, which he predicted would last a thousand years. Thankfully, for the intervention of the allies, this would not bear fruit. Hitler and the Nazi party impelemented not only questionable, but downright terrifying tactics in order to receive submission from their detractors. Communists and Social Democrats were silenced, sometimes by use of death and othertimes through imprisonment, in order to keep the German people from becoming too independent. They even went so far as to create the Gestapo, a secret organization of police that were the silencers of those who dared speak out against Hitler. Absolute submission was required or the punishment would be severe. Under Hitler's reign, the Aryan race was considered superior to all else, especially Jews. "The most notable new department, the Propaganda Ministry, staffed by Nazis and headed by Goebbels, performed its functions of spreading lies and promoting hatred with chilling efficiency" (Lyons). Thus the beginning of the ethnic cleansing of Germany via concentration camps that were employed as a tool of genocide against the Jewish in Germany. To this day, decades later, the pain and torment that Nazi Germany inflicted on the Jews and the world is still raw and staggering. Men and women who somehow managed to survive the concentration camps wear their history on their skin in the form of tattoos given to them by the Nazis. While the allies defeated the axis on September 2, 1945, Hitler's legacy of his plans for the Third Reich live on in underground Neo Nazi communities world wide. "In 2005, a report for the International Bureau of Human Rights estimated that there were more than 120,000 neo-Nazi skinheads worldwide" (Jewish Virtual Library). Meanwhile, despite great efforts to eradicate Hitler's way of thinking, "the number of [neo Nazis] was estimated to be in the 10,000–25,000 range" (Jewish Virtual Library). Even in today's rough political climate, we must be aware of the atroscities of our past to ensure we do not repeat them in our future.
References
- Lyons, M. (2010). World War II: A short history (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
- Mintz, S. (n.d.). The Global Effect of World War I. Retrieved November 15, 2016, from https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-i/resources/global-effect-world-war-i
- National Jewish Library. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/neonazism.html
- Third Reich: An Overview. (2016, July 02). Retrieved November 15, 2016, from https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005141
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Credit: Christina