Category: Hitler

Introduction

Hitler is widely regarded as the most disreputable world leader of all time and the crimes committed by his regime are still viewed as the most atrocious in modern history. His rule was marked by the killing of millions of Jews and a dictatorial rule that saw Germany turned into a police state.

However, Hitler was also a charismatic ruler who was able to inspire the people with his ideas and restore Germans prosperity after the Second World War. His influence was so great that the Nazi party was popularly known as the Hitler movement. This Nazi ruler made use of the constitution to take power and hence demonstrated that he could make use of popular public consent.

Considering this contradictory phases of Hitlers regime, it would be useful to research on the nature of Hitlers rule in order to gain a deeper understanding of the form of leadership that Hitler employed. This paper will analyse the extent to which Hitler ruled Germany with popular consent in order to demonstrate that while Hitler was primarily an authoritarian ruler, he led the country with a lot of popular consent from the masses.

Hitlers Rise to Power

The Nazi Party was formed in 1919 as a Right Wing group that promised to restore the countrys prestige following the humiliating defeat in World War I and the subsequent imposition of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany. Hitler joined the party in its first years and rose to the rank of chief propagandist for the party. His brilliant oratory skills and leadership abilities led to his being made Chairman of the party.

Hitler and his Nazi party gained formal power following the 1928 election where the party won 12 seats. This modest achievement indicated that the party had a significant following in the country and people were willing to follow Hitlers leadership (Orlow 1982). The Reichstag elections of July 1932 were very favourable for the Nazi Party, which acquired 37% of the votes making it the majority party in the German parliament.

Hitler was made the Chancellor of the Weimar Republic in January 1933. Hitlers absolute hold on power was achieved in 1934 when he consolidated the office of the president and that of the chancellor in the person of the Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

Rule by Popular Public Consent

Once Hitler and the Nazi party had seized all power, they implemented policies that turned the country into a dictatorship. Even so, Hitler still engaged in some form of rule through popular consent. Once Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, some positive changes became evident in Germany. Many people acquired steady jobs and security was restored.

These factors made people hope for a better future under Hitler. Gellately (2002) observes that in the early years, Hitler was keen not to make any illegal moves that might turn the people against him. Instead, all illegal moves were presented as necessary measures to protect the German population from a communist revolution.

Orlow (1982) documents that the middle and upper middle class Germans were the main supporters of Hitlers actions since they believed that he could prevent a feared communist takeover of Germany and restore Germanys glory.

The masses were willing to live under the Nazi dictatorship in exchange prosperity, security, and good governance. Gellately (2002) suggests that Hitler did not have to use terror to force the majority into line since most Germans had already become emotionally invested in the Nazi dictatorship, which promised to bring them prosperity and protect them from crime and a communist takeover of the country.

As early as 1935, Hitler was already formulating policies that were popular with the masses. Corner (2009) documents that Hitlers announcement that general military service was being reintroduced in contravention of the prohibitions of the Versailles Treaty was met with euphoria by the masses.

The masses were in support of Hitlers major rearmament activity that saw the army expanding to a larger size that the Treaty of Versailles allowed. This demonstrates that Hitler was able to garner large portions of popular approval for his policies and the ideas behind them.

Unlike other European dictators such as Stalin and Mussolini who set out to break large segments of the population to their will, Hitler hoped to achieve an authoritarian rule that had popular backing. The Nazi regime was therefore deeply concerned about popular opinion and how the masses reacted to government action.

Hitler did not just want the people to adjust themselves to the new system of government but rather to be enthusiastic supporters of it. This notion is best articulated by Gellately (2002) who reveals that the Nazis wanted the public to believe that what Hitler did was in the best interest of the Germans.

The Fuhrer myth, which presented Hitler as a heroic figure defending popular justice and restoring order in Germany, was integral to his hold on power. Viereck (2004) declares that believe in the Fuhrer myth by the German masses was so important that without it even the combination of army, concentration camps, and a lying press could not have succeeded in keeping Hitler in power.

This myth effectively dissociated Hitler from the party and the government and he was seen as a symbol of the ideal Germany. This myth resulted in an enthusiastic popular consent that was critical in Hitlers maintenance of power in Germany.

The Fuhrer myth enabled the masses to excuse Hitler if things went wrong because the public could place the blame on the officials under Hitlers command since they were the individuals who actually executed the orders.

Majority of the German population supported the crackdown on people who were labelled political criminals by the Nazi. The concentration camps where such elements were sent were widely publicized and many Germans were generally in favour of them. The general population believed that such camps were necessary to maintain the security of the country and ensure that social unrest did not occur.

Gellately (2002) elaborates that the citizens were pleased that the police put away people commonly regarded as criminals and the dregs of society (p.212). Hitlers crackdown on criminals and political opponents was therefore done with public consent. Noakes (1980) reveals that there was massive participation by many professionals in Nazi policies such as doctors, nurses, and lawyers.

These individuals were not fanatics and they participated in Nazi policies on their own volition. This demonstrates that Hitlers policies were embraced by many Germans who contributed to the implementations of these policies.

The coercive practices and repression carried out by Hitlers regime happened with the support of the masses. Hitlers rule was marked by widespread persecution and confinement of people who were marked out as enemies of the state. These enemies were mostly individuals on the margins of the society and the public perceived them as a threat.

Gellately (2002) illustrates that these targets of discrimination were not chosen out of the mere prejudices and dislikes of Hitler. On the contrary, the definition of enemy was a reflection of the wish of the people. Their persecution and discrimination by the Nazi regime therefore won many supporters for Hitler.

Even when citizens expressed disagreement with certain policies of the Nazi regime, they often demonstrated greater consent in other areas and therefore led to an overall support for Hitlers policies. Bankie (1992) states that while many Germans were disgruntled by the increased surveillance, they celebrated the security that intense police action brought to their streets.

Ordinary citizens aided the Gestapo in its work by spying on their friends. Noakes (1980) documents that the Gestapo did not have sufficient manpower to spy on all Germans and 80% of denunciations were made by fellow citizens.

This increased the surveillance ability of the Gestapo and over 50% of Germans Communist party members were incarcerated by the Gestapo. Gestapo files reveal that the enforcement of Hitlers racial policies was only possible by the help of ordinary citizens who voluntarily denounced their fellow citizens.

Hitler took up policies that increased the popularity of his regime with many groups. In the mid-1930s, he embarked on a privatization effort that saw the transfer of public ownership of companies to the private sector.

Noakes (1980) states that this move was popular with the masses and it enhanced government support therefore strengthening Nazi rule. The business community was impressed by the privatization efforts and they supported Hitler. Privatization had a positive impact on the nations economy and this endeared Hitler to the masses.

Use of Propaganda

Hitlers mass appeal was by the large a creation of the Nazi propaganda machine. The Nazi was able to make popular comments and tell the masses what they wanted to hear. Associating with the German press and film tycoon, Alfred Hugenberg gave Hitler and his party unrestricted access to the media. Hitler was therefore able to spread his propaganda with great success and manipulate the media to achieve his ends.

The Nazi propaganda system was run by Joseph Goebbels who created the Fuhrer myth and spread Nazi ideology to Germans. Control of the press helped the Nazi to exert influence over public opinion and this was very important since Hitler endeavoured to rule under popular support.

The Nazi propaganda machine exaggerated on the successes of Germanys foreign policy and the economic achievements gained under Hitlers rule. People were therefore able to convince themselves of Hitlers advantages and saw the positive sides of the new dictatorship that he created (Gellately 2002).

Propaganda was used to elicit the support of the public for the expanding missions of the Gestapo, using concentration camps, and discriminating against the Jewish population. The concentration camps were presented in the media as boot camps where political criminals and other anti-social elements would be rehabilitated through work therapy.

The media fabricated stories of how effective and radical preventive approaches were being used to ensure that criminals would not reoffend. Hitler used propaganda to demonise the Jews and this led to the development of the popular opinion that removing the Jews from Germany was the appropriate action (Bankie 1992).

Such misleading information led to the support and approval of policies that the public might have been opposed to if they had not been misled by propaganda.

Rule through Coercion

Hitlers rule resulted in the loss of individual rights and freedoms by the German population. Individuals lost their freedom of speech and expression and criticism of Hitler and the Nazi state was forbidden. It is rumoured that the Gestapo kept files on every adult and regular reports on the person were made through information obtained from ordinary citizens who acted as informants.

Those who were found guilty of criticizing the regime were interrogated and sometimes tortured. If found guilty, the individual was sent to a concentration camp or even executed (Orlow 1982). Such an environment ensured that Hitler could rule without the consent of the people and no one could speak up for fear of repercussions.

The vocal detractors of Hitler were confronted with violence and this decreased opposition to Hitler. Specifically, the Nazi SS paramilitary wiped out all non-Nazi organizations and political parties in small waves of terror. The Nazi was left as the only active party in Germany many people followed its policies since there was no alternative.

Hitlers regime politicized all aspects of public life and this helped it to gain greater control of the public. Most behaviour of individuals in public was scrutinized and the citizens could get into trouble for insignificant things such as listing to jazz music (Bankie 1992).

Such tight control of society by Hitler was not done with the consent of the masses and people only obliged since they feared punishment. People were always reminded of the penalties for opposition to Hitler and this led to coerced conformity. Using the Gestapo, Hitler had effectively turned Germany into a surveillance state and people were aware that they were under close observation by the government.

The Schutzstaffel (SS), which began as a subunit of the storm troopers (SA), grew to be the most influential military apparatus of the Nazis.

This paramilitary organization was unofficially referred to as Hitlers black-shirted personal bodyguards and it was made up of individuals who were fanatically loyal to Hitler (Orlow 1982). The unquestioning allegiance to Hitler meant that the SS would do anything to ensure that Hitlers rule was unopposed. This group therefore dealt severely with all parties that were opposed to Hitlers rule.

Conclusion

This paper set out to argue that while Hitlers rule was dictatorial in nature and made use of violence and intimidation, this Nazi leader mostly engaged in rule through popular public consent. The many atrocities attributed to the Nazi regime were done with the support of many Germans. It has articulated that Hitler made use of terror and popular consent to rule the Germans.

Hitler was able to gain the backing of most people even as he turned the country from a democracy into a dictatorship. Hitlers popularity with the masses was unquestionable and many people supported his foreign policy and action against political criminals and anti-socials. The people continued to support him even as he established the Gestapo and made concentration camps.

The terror tactics employed by Hitlers regime targeted specific groups and most Germans were left unharmed. The paper has shown that while Hitler employed repressive measures and propaganda, his rule was mostly by popular consent. All blame must therefore not be laid on Hitler and his top officials for the atrocities committed under the Nazi regime.

References

Bankie, D 1992, The Germans and the Final Solution: Public Opinion under Nazism, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Corner, P 2009, Popular Opinion in Totalitarian Regimes: Fascism, Nazism, Communism, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Gellately, R 2002, Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Noakes, Jeremy. Government, party, and people in Nazi Germany. University of Exeter Press, 1980.

Orlow, D 1982, The Historiography of the Decline of Bruning and the Rise of the Nazis: Comment and Review Article, Hamburger Beitrage zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, vol. 16 no.1, pp. 748-792.

Viereck, P 2004, Metapolitics: From Wagner and the German Romantics to Hitler, Transaction Publishers, London.

Adolf Hitler was a Nazi dictator who was based in Berlin, German. He was a German ruler for over a decade despite being one of the cruelest dictators of the century. The fall of Hitler was imminent since the Western Allied forces had started to engage and push the German soldiers towards Berlin. These pushing forces on the soldiers prompted some military commanders to plot how to assassinate Hitler. The assassination failed and he ordered the execution of those who tried to execute him. The siege of Berlin by the Soviet soldiers marked the end of his rule. His purported reports of death were met with skepticism across the globe. Hitler took his life on April 30, 1945, while in an underground bunk at the Reich Chancellery after the Soviet army closed in on where he was holed (Sommerlad). In the process, conspiracy theories have come to play with others stating the likelihood of the Nazi leader failing to take his life. Despite different versions of the stories behind his demise, most sources suggest the German Nazi ruler, Hitler, committed suicide by shooting himself while in the bunker.

It is believed the Nazi ruler took his life by shooting himself through the right temple. The suicide is believed to occur on April 30, 1945, while he was holed beneath the Reich Chancellerys underground bunker (Sommerlad). To dispense the likelihood of arising questions about his survival, Hitler took a capsule of cyanide before shooting himself. His death would force him to abandon his dreams of building an empire likely to last thousands of years. Hitler and his wife took their lives to avoid being captured and made answerable for the performed unprecedented atrocities by the Third Reich, who were following the rulers directions (Sommerlad). Therefore, Hitler took his life by shooting himself to avoid being made answerable for the atrocities he initiated under his watch.

Bodies of Hitler and his wife Eva Braun were found in the Reich Chancellery underground bunker. Their bodies were found at 3.30 pm on the same day by the individuals close to him (Sommerlad). The people included Joseph Goebbels, Otto Gunshe; Hitlers adjutant, Heinz Linge; the leaders valet, and Bormann. They found the Nazi rulers body to have disorganized and fell a vase containing daffodils and tulips as it stumbled from the gunshot. Hitlers wife Eva followed the rulers action and took her life too. The two feared being captured and later prosecuted for the crimes committed against humanity (Sommerlad). The individuals mentioned herein, therefore, provide proof of the leaders act of committing suicide.

The research was conducted on the fragments of the Nazi rulers skull to establish how he died. The study was performed by pathologists from France who not only examined the skull but also the teeth. These remains were kept in Moscow after their recovery from Berlin in the earlier periods of May 1945. The teeth corresponded to one of the features of Hitlers dental characteristics since they failed to reveal any traces of meat consumption. This was consistent with the dictators traits of being a vegetarian. The skull analysis established an existing probable bullet hole on the left side (Frost). The study concluded Hitler had committed suicide in the underground bunker of the Nazi ruined capital (Frost). The French-based pathologists research dispensed the myths alleging the survival of the dictator and provided proof of his death through suicide.

Various authors have published numerous materials over the years explaining and proving the demise of Adolf Hitler. Most sources have revealed the German ruler was never captured as some people purport. The research documented as proof of his death mainly includes the studies done on his remains. The research on the teeth revealed the presence of deposits on the false teeth, a probability of a chemical reaction between dentures metals and the cyanide. It was claimed Hitler took cyanide before taking his life (Frost). Hitler had four remaining teeth, with the rest being miss-shaped, flecked with white residue deposits, and brown on the base levels. These results from the analysis of the teeth availed proof of the death of the Nazi leader through committing suicide.

Similarly, according to Chase, the killing of Hitlers associate Benito Mussolini by the Italians prompted Hitler to offer instructions on how to dispose of Brauns and his bodies. He wanted their corpses to be burnt outside the bunker. Chase further alludes to the nature of the leaders dental formula made it easier in identifying his corpse for forensic analysis. Comparing the corpse teeth was done by the Soviets after descriptions were provided by dental assistant Kathe with Hitlers dentist, confirming the information to the allies (Chase). The confirmation of the teeth to be of the ruler proves he died in the bunker.

However, in one of the conspiracies formulated theories, the Nazi leader escaped to South America. The theory believes the dictator did not take his own life, but he fled to South America in Argentina in 1945, together with his wife (Robinson). He evaded being captured by the Soviets and spent the rest of his life in exile. This is the best act of disappearing despite the escape story seeming to depend on its mainstream inoffensive penetration ability. This theory seems to have an unanswered question that dispenses the idea purporting Hitler escaped to Argentina in South America. Therefore, pathologists have moved to analyze the skull of the Nazi ruler to facilitate the dispensation of such arising conspiracies theories. However, some of the research has also been flawed because despite failing to tell us in which form, he died.

In conclusion, Adolf Hitler, who was a Nazi ruler, committed suicide. The German ruler had ordered and presided over committing a lot of atrocities by the Third Reich. Similarly, it is believed he considered the option of fleeing that is a dishonorable act and, therefore, stayed in Berlin as a sign of remaining loyal to his ideologies until the end. The fall of his regime destroyed his vision of creating an empire for himself. The Western Allied Forces, together with the soviets army exposed him to assassination attempts by his troops. The siege of Berlin City by the Soviet soldiers played a vital role in ending his rule. When the signs and fears exhibited by him losing the battle and being captured became evident, he decided to take his own life. As proven by the analysis conducted by the French pathologists on his skull and teeth, it is proven Hitler took his own life. These results from the research assist in dispensing the conspiracy theories which argued for the possibility of the Nazi leader failing to take his life.

Works Cited

Chase, Jefferson.UStoday.Com, 2018.

Frost, Natasha. Hitlers Teeth Reveal Nazi Dictators Cause of Death. HISTORY, 2018.

Robinson, Matt. Did Hitler Escape to Argentina in 1945?  Mythbusting Berlin. Berlin Experiences, 2020.

Sommerlad, Joe. How Hitler Met His Death 75 Years Ago and Brought the Second World War to A Close. The Independent, 2020.

Introduction

Franklin Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler, although represented opposed political parties, had more things in common than it seems. They came to power simultaneously in 1933 and faced challenges of governing the countries weakened by World War 1 and its consequences. Both Germany and the United States needed new effective leadership to solve many post-war problems related to unemployment, banking, finance, agriculture, and foreign policy. This paper aims to reveal the cause of the problems faced by the United States and Germany as identified by their leaders in inaugural speeches and the ways Roosevelt and Hitler were planning to solve these problems to return prosperity to their countries.

The Cause of the Problems in the United States and Germany According to Roosevelt and Hitler

Both Roosevelt and Hitler acknowledged the post-war problems of their nations. Roosevelt spoke about the shrunken values, increased taxes, the decrease of paying ability of the country, reduction of income, ruined industries, and the lack of markets for farmers. Roosevelt claimed that the major cause of these problems was in the fact that the rulers of the exchange of mankinds goods have failed, through their stubbornness and their incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933, para. 4).

Thus, he considered thoughtless economic policies to be the reason for the problems, which the United States faced after World War 1. He also stated that practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men meaning that these policies were not supported by the population (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933, para. 4). Thus, his new policies were expected to be appealing to Americans.

At the same time, Hitler focused on other issues. He appealed to German people claiming that there was no fault of the country at the start of the war and that their only desire was to defend the Fatherland (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 2). He spoke about the impoverished and starving industrial proletariat and problems of the middle class. Moreover, peasants were also under threat.

Hitler claimed that Communism was to be blamed for the current problems of the country. He stated that communism with its method of madness is making a powerful and insidious attack upon our dismayed and shattered nation. It seeks to poison and disrupt to hurl us into an epoch of chaos& (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 4). He also mentioned that 14 years of Marxism devastated Germany, and one year of bolshevism would destroy her (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 4). Consequently, he introduced changes in the countrys policies.

Ways to Deal with Problems

Despite the huge volume of the existing problems, both new leaders suggested the ways to deal with them to provide restoration and development of their countries. For example, Roosevelt considered unemployment to be a serious problem for the United States and claimed that putting people to work was the greatest primary task. One of the ways to resolve the problem was by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933, para. 10). This approach was expected to make the use of natural resources more effectively.

Also, the new American President spoke about the lack of population balance in industrial centers and rural areas. Thus, people could be stimulated to work on the land, which was expected to contribute to the solution of the unemployment problem.

Hitler also defined unemployment as one of the leading problems in Germany of that period. He stated that a concerted and all-embracing attack must be made on unemployment so that the German working class may be saved from ruin (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 12). He expected to overcome the problem of unemployment within the following four years.

He introduced compulsory labor-service and the back-to-the-land policy as the major principles of the suggested program (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 20). Moreover, he claimed that the National Government would reorganize the business sector, as well as fiscal and administrative systems. Finally, Hitler promised the promotion of employment, the preservation of the farmer, as well as in the exploitation of individual initiative as the necessary steps of the Government to return the country to prosperity (Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation, 1933, para. 22).

Conclusion

On the whole, both countries had similar economic problems. Moreover, Roosevelt and Hitler suggested similar ways of solving these problems. For example, both acknowledged that unemployment was a serious threat to economic development and was going to find a solution to this issue. Thus, both of them saw the leading role of the government in dealing with unemployment. Moreover, both Hitler and Roosevelt suggested that attention to the development of farming could contribute to counties prosperity and increase employment rates. I suppose that their vision is to attract supporters among the population because people were tired of war, economic problems, and ineffective leaders.

References

Berlin: Proclamation to the German nation. (1933). Web.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: First inaugural address. (1933). Web.

There is so much in this world that people would like to change and if it was possible, it, perhaps, would have led to the total chaos. Changing history is especially alluring, but everyone knows that if even the least important event was changed, the present would be absolutely different because sometimes something bad has to happen for the future to become better. Nevertheless, when it comes to historical events, there are a number of events which people wish to change. Taking into consideration the fact that the World War II and its appalling events are still remembered and feared of, I would really want to interfere with nature and erase from the history the day when Adolf Hitler was born; this would have entailed a number of other changes which the whole world would have been grateful for.

One of the consequences which my change would have caused would be the absence of the World War II. I can appease with the war when it is caused by territorial disputes or political ones and I would never blame America for interfering with the Vietnam War only because it wanted to prevent communism from spreading over Asia (Dornbush 439). This at least can be understood. However, I still cannot appease with the idea that somebody could start slaughtering people with the purpose of making his own nation superior. Of course, the history of the United States is also stained with the country’s not always successful fight with racial discrimination, but that was a little different from Hitler’s situation.

Moreover, if Hitler was never born, the world would have never known about the Holocaust. It is hard for me to decide which is more appalling, Hitler’s desire to conquer the world and his belief that German people were the only pure race or his slaughtering six million of Jewish people for their mere being Jewish (Evans 128). It is striking how the hatred which came from one person spread over the world so quickly. Surprising, but after Hitler some people started realizing that they did not like the Jewish as well. How come that these people have never known about their dislikes before? The answer is quite simple. It was Hitler who bred this dislike and hatred and his nationalistic ideas are to blame for hundreds of thousands of deaths which the World War II and the Holocaust brought.

Finally, if there was no Hitler, there would perhaps be fewer instances of racial and other kinds of discrimination these days. Namely his ideas turned the world into what it is now and resulted in the decades of fight with racial, gender, age, and the like discrimination. It is namely the remains of the past which form people’s prejudices towards non-white people, women, homosexuals, etc. Hitler’s ideas made people realize differences between them. It was Hitler who made people differentiate between the Jewish and the Non-Jewish, it was Hitler who considered that women were only for pleasure and for giving birth to children, and it was Hitler who convinced the others that 90-60-90 (in cm) were the right proportions for a woman’s body. Thus, he is to blame not only for discrimination but for the deaths of those girls who wished their bodies corresponded to these standards.

In conclusion, I think that erasing the day when Hitler was born from the world history would hardly do any wrong to the society. Of course, there would emerge other people with similar nationalist ideas, but they would hardly be so powerful to make so much evil to the world as Hitler did.

Works Cited

Dornbush, Krista. Kaplan AP U.S. History 2009. New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2009.

Evans, Richard. Telling Lies about Hitler: the Holocaust, History and the David Irving Trial. London and New York: Verso, 2002.

Among the many significant events of the 20th century, one is the most substantial and interesting. It marks the end of the era of the terrible events of the Holocaust, the seizure of Poland, the extermination of millions of people. I want to consider how different newspapers covered the death of Adolf Hitler – his suicide at lunch on April 30. There are many rumors surrounding Hitler’s death, including one where he did not die. Nevertheless, newspapers trumpeted his death: American, British, and Soviet newspapers spoke out. Different periods of death and conditions were cited, but the event resonated. The New York Times, The Boston Daily Records, Strikes and Stripes, and Daily Express were chosen as examples of newspapers.

The New York Times

The newspaper has several columns devoted to the event: the title page has only two small paragraphs in the center of the page. But on page 10, there are three whole columns full of facts and opinions from different politicians. In addition, the newspaper column is written in professional language, with no embellishments or different subjective opinions. Truman’s statement is provided through his speech at the conference and the supposed cremation report (Goebbels and Fuehrer Died by Own Hands, Aide Says, 10). It is worth noting that the column offers a foreign perspective on the event – it only briefly describes the facts preceding the event without additional information. It should be concluded that the purpose of The New York Times was to convey truth and highlight the issue, but it did not act as a significant news story on the main spread. Furthermore, it was not written until May 3, when the main event was the surrender of Berlin to the Russians.

The Boston Daily Records

Unlike the previous paper, The Boston Daily Records covered information about Hitler’s death from a different angle. A huge two-page spread is devoted to it, and the front of the issue has “Hitler Killed” on 3/5 of the page. Although the paper is regional (Boston chapter) and was published on May 2, it is much more informative and exciting to read. The report uses many images of Hitler and his henchmen: in addition, several issues are also covered about them (Hitler is Killed at His Post of Command 3). The edition contains detailed information about the location and the background of the event. The case highlighted both the generally known facts of Hitler’s crimes and found it necessary to add personal life details. Thus, the paper aimed to fully disclose the event and look at it as a logical conclusion to the dictator’s career.

Stars and Strikes

It is a national army newspaper with the same high-profile headline as the Boston edition. The issue covers Hitler’s death extensively and gives detailed facts about how his death was made public. There is a front page and a large spread devoted to the event, with historical facts about Hitler’s life and a description of his death. In addition, unlike other newspapers, it mentions German radio, which reported on the Führer’s death (Hitler’s Death Ends Career Built on Hate 4). The publication reports general facts but expands and fully covers them because this paper issue was given to U.S. soldiers at the front in Europe. It makes it informative and helpful in conveying to the people of America the hope that the war would soon be over.

British Daily Express

The headline of the British Daily Express read of Hitler’s death, and the general tone of the paper was cheerful and hopeful. The newspaper reported the event with full credit, guaranteeing accuracy through references to German sources. Although the paper’s fronts contain other landmark headlines about the victory against Nazi Germany, the Daile Express covers the event several times: for example, a mention in an obituary (Hitler is Dead 1). It joyfully reports Hitler’s death and mentions a reasonably accurate date. The primary purpose of the publication was not to say the end, but a fair amount of material is devoted to it.

Comparison of Newspapers

The local newspapers covered Hitler’s death differently: New York was wordy and reported only recycled facts from London and Truman’s statements. On the contrary, Boston tried to diversify the issue and give more details with additional material about Hitler’s death and its connection to crime and personal life. Both newspapers had a similar point of view: suicide in his bunker with Eva Braun. The national newspaper covered the events in sufficient detail and completeness and provided a few additional facts. The American publications are generally quite similar in a narrative tone, unlike the foreign ones. The British edition is cheerful and written upbeat, expressing hope.

Historical Newspapers of Today

Newspapers themselves have always been informative and, in my opinion, do not accurately reflect reality. It is due to differences in the narrative, in the amount of information, and how it is told. One of the disadvantages of newspapers, in this regard, is their bias because the editor can shape the tone. On the plus side is the public benefit and impact on society. In the 21^st century, the most valuable sources are unlikely to be paper newspapers; most likely, the next generations will turn to electronic newspapers and issues.

Works Cited

“Goebbels and Fuehrer Died By Own Hands, Aide Says.” The New York Times, 1945, p. 10.

“Hitler is Killed at His Post of Command.” The Boston Daily Records, 1945, p.3.

“Hitler’s Death Ends Career Built on Hate.” Stars and Strikes, 1945, p. 4.

“Hitler is Dead.” British Daily Express, 1945, p. 1.

World War 2

To comprehend the events that took place in Germany during Hitler’s era, it is prudent to analyze the geo-political climate of Europe. The changes in the international system in Europe caused the two world wars. European leaders took advantage of the situation since the international system changed from its previous status to the modern form that emphasized on the formation of alliances.

Before the World Wars, European politics was characterized by the balance of power. The major powers respected each other since they were all assured of mutual destruction. In this case, it can be observed that the international system was multi-polar since France, Britain, Germany and Russia were all powerful.

The states cooperated on mutual basis since there was no need of solving conflicts through war. Hitler took advantage of the European politics to consolidate support and create a totalitarian government that would later lead Germany to fight a deadly war. During the First World War, the central powers were led by Germany while the allied powers included Britain, Russia and France. Italy joined the war on Germany’s side mainly because they had similar ideologies (Mueller 1973, p. 64).

The multi-polar international system continued to support the actions of leaders such as Hitler, even after the First World War Western powers allowed Germany to ream itself due to the fears posed by the international system. Britain was weary of Russia and France. In other words, the international system allowed real politicking where states were simply concerned about the national interests.

Britain feared that France would embark on its mission of domination just the way it did during the Napoleonic era. In this case, Britain embraced Germany and appreciated it as a development partner in the international system. This gave Germany an advantage and encouraged Hitler to consolidate power around him. The unfolding events in Russia gave Hitler a chance to form a totalitarian regime in Germany.

France and Britain were forced to tolerate Hitler’s governance style due to the Lenin’s Bolsheviks acquisition of power in 1918 (Browning 1998, p. 11). The communist ideology and the strength of the Russian military posed a threat to other actors in Europe. Britain and France were therefore forced to allow Germany to revitalize its army. In this case, armed Germany would serve as s rampart against the Red Menace.

Furthermore, the grotesqueness of the First World War presented Hitler with an opportunity to revamp the military. Britain and France had encountered many casualties since the young generation was affected greatly. When Hitler took power in 1933, Britain and France did not take action for fear of retrogressive effects. In 1938, the major world powers allowed Hitler to annex some parts of Czechoslovakia. This was a sign of fear on the part of Britain and France.

Having considered the Aryan race as being too strong, Hitler employed some techniques that would assist the race ascend to power. Initially, Hitler used the ideas of the communist party to capture governmental power and authority.

He observed that communism was against the wishes of many Germans. German investors trusted him and went ahead to fund his campaigns hoping that communism would be resisted by the state. Even though they differed in ideology, Hitler employed the tactics of Stalin and Mussolini to suppress any opposition to his rule.

For instance, he unleashed terror to those who opposed his style of leadership. In this case, the police was deployed to arrest and intimidate any opponent of the state. Hitler and the Nazi party encouraged people to be hardworking, sacrificing and loyal to the administration. Through this, Hitler knew that Germans would be self-sufficient and submissive to his ideas. Stalin also employed the same tactic (Orlow 2007, p. 42).

Moreover, Hitler understood the power of the press as regards to propaganda. The Nazi party under the directorship of Hitler scared other races by sending out information that would amount to hate speech. In this case, the schools churches and the press were effectively used to venerate the Nazi goals. To minimize the influence of the economically superior race, Hitler opened up concentration camps for the Jews.

This was aimed at giving the Nazi party a chance to invest in the economy that was previously dominated by Jews. Hitler underscored the fact that people would be loyal to his administration only if their economic status was improved. This led him to come up with restructuring programs that would improve the working conditions hence raise the standards of living. Due to this, Hitler banned protests and introduced a system that would rectify the wages and salaries of workers.

Hitler viewed himself as a transitory leader who had absolute powers over the matters pertaining to governmental decision-making. He was therefore a leader with power to determine the activities in society. In other words, Hitler was considered a prince whose duty was to reform society, bring unity and ensure that people had the same visions and missions.

What Hitler did could only be measured according to how it preserves the status of the state. In this case, it was believed that a leader is born but no made. Hitler’s leadership was not to be questioned as long as the greatness of the state was achieved. Those questioning his authority had to face stern consequences. Therefore, political assassination was another technique employed by Hitler in the management of state affairs (Schneider 1998, p. 12).

To Hitler’s sympathizers, the leader had to employ all forms of tactics to manage the state. Leadership could only be measured through the stability of the state. Hitler viewed the modern state being civilized but not barbaric. For this reason, the leader had to employ modern tactics to succeed in whatever he or she pursues. Hitler understood that being strength alone could not bring greatness to Germany.

Therefore, he decided to be as cunning as a fox in order to be successful. Through tricks, he made people to believe that Germany could conquer other races only if it became self-reliant economically. For this case, people had to work very hard to produce enough goods that would sustain the state.

Furthermore, Hitler understood that it reaches a time when the only language that a man understands is violence. Therefore, both violence and murder become valid tools in achieving state stability. Hitler utilized this tool to suppress any form of political opposition. In terms of supremacy, it was the responsibility of the state to wage war against other states, annex some sections of foreign land and conquer other nations.

All these involve waging war. Although Hitler was kind at some instances, he knew that the subjects would easily misinterpret his kindness to mean ineffectiveness. He therefore employed the tactic of unpredictability where he could change his character from time to time. This was important as far as his goals and aims were concerned.

It can be concluded that Hitler’s rise and fall was propagated by the changes in the international system. Britain and France allowed Germany under Hitler to rearm itself for fear of the Bolsheviks in Russia. Hitler employed a number of techniques in order to trounce his enemies but the major one was the use of propaganda.

List of References

Browning, C 1998, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, Harper Perennial, New York.

Mueller, J 1973, War, Presidents, and Public Opinion, John Wiley, New York.

Orlow, D 2007, History of Modern Germany: 1870-present, Prentice Hall, New York.

Schneider, P 1998, The Wall Jumper, Chicago, University of Chicago press.

The analysis of World War II and Hitler’s S.S reveals that the leaders of this organization were the framers of Hitler’s final resolution. This can be depicted from Hitler’s life his involvement in the army and his political intervention. Long time ago, in fact during the age of civilization, was born a man who would become a great leader and institute Nazi war.

In a small town of Braunau-am-Inn near Austro-Germany perimeter worked his father as an officer in customs department. On April 20, 1889, Adolf Hitler was born to Alois and Klara Hitler. The childhood life of the young Hitler Adolf was not so much pleasing. He had a dream of becoming a professional and career artist.

However, due to his poor performance in school, Hitler failed to secure an admission into Vienna Academy, which majored on Fine Arts and other artistry works. In addition to Hitler’s reigning problems, at 19 years of age, his father died of cancer, leaving him helpless with nobody to sponsor his education.

Therefore, Hitler had to search for survival tactics in order to save his mother and sister from hunger. As a mean to survive, Hitler decided to involve to in business and some commercial selling. For example, since he had an ambition of being an artist, he decided to do some paintings for sale and sometimes engage in day-to-day chores to get money for up keep. (Shirer pp.119-125).

The First World War broke out in Europe instigated by differences between Germany and France and their respective allies. Hitler decided to volunteer to offer services to the military troops at war. Onto his dismay, the army accepted to incorporate Hitler in the war as a soldier.

Indeed, this became Hitler’s best profession as he fought bravely making him to earn several promotions in the army ranks. To this far, Hitler grew his personality and started gaining fame and respect from hiss fellow colleague troops. For example, in the army, Hitler became a corporal and later, an administrator in the detention camp at Traunstein.

Due to Hitler’s increasing personality and influence, the authority appointed Hitler among other army officials to oversee and urge soldiers who were returning from war not to engage in dubious acts like pacifism or communism lest it destroy the nation and divide military. The exposure to persuasion theatrics on the contrary, increased his power to speak fluently and woe many to his side.

In addition to persuading his fellow troops not to welcome pacifism or communism, Hitler was responsible for spying those who went against the wishes of Germany authorities. Hitler could spy even political organizations to the government and provide counteracting political strategies. These and many other roles shaped Hitler to participate fully and even be a key figure in the Second World War. (Shirer pp.271-275).

As time went by, Hitler entered into Germany politics by forming a political party called Nazi under his leadership. This political party had several organizations falling under it. Moreover, this political party had its own strategies and policies like any other political party.

For example, one of the organizations under Nazi Party was that of Schutzstaffel- a military force for political and security reasons. The role of this organization was to influence people to support Nazi party using any means whether detention, massacre or use of excessive force. (Lumsdem pp.52-54).

On the other hand, Schutzstaffel ensured that other political parties did not outwit the fame and influence of Nazi Party. The SS continually forced Nazi ideologies and created new strategies for their political dispensation. In fact, history reveals that, SS was responsible for all atrocities and holocausts committed to civilians during Hitler’s administration. The Germany army together with Schutzstaffel participated in the Second World War though defeated.

Creation of Schutzstaffel

The Nazi Party created Schutzstaffel in 1925. The formulators of this organization- Nazi Party saw the need to protect their magnificent leader because of deterrent enemies and rivalry from within and outside Germany. In 1925, the chore of SS was to provide protection to Adolf Hitler from any attack.

The group composed of small members called paramilitary cluster. In order to execute the roles of this group, any chosen member had to be of Germany origin and show loyalty to the party. Besides, physical fitness mattered most during recruitment. Therefore, from recruitment stage, the vice of racism thrived evidently. Because the group was to fight Jewish majorities, members who were from Jewish ancestry never joined the group. This is because; the Nazi organization hated Jews. (Southgate Para. 1-9).

The SS cluster of men had special uniforms, which were black in color, and in addition, they wore hats with their motto inscribed on the forehead. Anybody who became part to this group had to swear allegiance to their leader, Hitler.

Hitler commanded these henchmen to carry out any activity best to his ability. Largely, these men were masterminds of evil forms from massacre to torture to rape. Some historians are quick to depict and call this group as physically and mentally challenged. However, these cluster of men had no psychological problems. The success of Hitler and his policies depended on the SS group.

For example, the ascension of Adolf Hitler to power was through a just and democratic manner. However, as Bulow indicates, in the middle of power reign, stood inclinations and accusations from other opposing groups (Para.1-7). History of SS dates back to 1925 when Hitler formed eight able men to guarantee him safety.

These men acted as formal bodyguards. However, as an expansion of the group, Hitler ordered all Nazi party offices to have at least ten men to offer security. By the end of 1926, Nazi party had two SS groups namely SS-Gaus and SS-Oblerleitung. Each of these groups had its own roles to perform. For example, Oblerleitung constituted a group that was responsible for offering security to leaders while the other cluster offered security to the offices of Nazi party. (Cook and Bender pp.18-20).

Adolf Hitler created the SS group as a strategy of attaining power. Many atrocities committed under Nazi regime resulted from a directive of their leader. The SS group for example, is responsible for the massacre, torture and ostracizing of the Jews during the Second World War. Over 9 million Jews underwent different forms of torture from this well trained gang under the direction of their leaders.

Duties of Hitler’s SS

The formation of SS group ensured security to Nazi leaders. However, Nazi seemed to create another independent state that offered security to a group of individuals. The presence of the Germany police was not part of the strategy of the Nazi group. This was a regime inside another regime but executing its policies. Unlike the Germany police, the SS group was an elitist group of people with uncompromised loyalty to their leader.

It comprised of men who were of Germany origin and no immigrant served in the SS militia. The motto of this group was to see their leader leading Germany especially to the Second World War now that Germany failed to show off in the First World War. Therefore, Nazi police officers or SS ensured security to all Nazi members and Nazi party offices. Hitler wanted to usurp powers and rule Germany. He therefore had strategies to come by.

Among his strategies included divide and rule. Therefore, the distribution of people all over Germany was a matter of great concern and a move towards attaining power. Hitler therefore demanded the arrangement of people according to their ethnicity, race and origin. The SS paramilitary identified people in terms of their ethnicity and ensured their settlement based on the enacted population policy. (Yerger pp.5-47).

Interestingly, other chore tasks of the SS included, the management of the Germany police in the manner they did their job. All police security and investigatory chores had to pass through SS offices before any further step. Moreover, the SS controlled detention camps where torture and murder took place.

Other duties done by SS include the implementation of modules and concise plans which meant to change the population of Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union also adversely affected as the plan included a structure meant to exhume the recentralization of the region.

SS recruitment continued up even up to 1929 when Hitler sought to appoint Heinrich Himmler to lead the group comprising of 280 members politically inclined to Hitler and identified as Germany nationals by birth and race. Himmler picked members to join the group with regard to attaining the vision of Hitler.

The vision and dreams of Hitler ware to attain a Third Reich. Since Hitler had smelt power, he spelt out two fundamental chores, which the SS was to perform. The first one was to offer an internal security to Nazi leaders and officials and the second, ensuring racial limpidness all over Germany. Furthermore, Himmler determined how marriages conducted especially those involving inter races.

For example, if a Germany and Portuguese nationals had sexual relationship, the SS will execute them immediately as a measure of guarding racial diversity. By the end of 1933, the SS group had grown into large numbers totaling around 50 000 members. Therefore, the need to have able leaders arose to control SS and ensure they execute the mandate of Nazi in full swing. (US Holocaust Museum Para. 5-10).

Just years before the start of the Second World War, the dispute between the government and the Jews diversified. The SS quickly assumed diplomatic responsibility but unluckily failed to join the two parties. Consequently, the SS drafted a policy on the Jewish Question. The draft demanded the execution of all European Jews who went contrary to Germany authorities by demanding ‘the unnecessary’.

On hearing this, the furious Jews entered war with SS. This led to the Germany Holocaust where the SS killed millions and millions of European Jews totaling to about 10 million. (US Holocaust Museum Para. 1-5). Other SS duties included offering tight security in political rallies and taxation of members who subscribed to their newspaper published by Nazi party. However, by this time Nazi Party was not yet in power.

Leaders

Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler to be the leader of SS. Himmler was a loyalist to Nazi Party and fought to ensure protection of its Nazi officials and ensure implementation of its strategies. Any official whether from the party or government who went contrary to the party, received discipline from the group. SS comprised of two factions.

There was the belligerent unit called Waffen-SS and the second one was Allegemeine-SS. Under these two SS branches, there were further subdivisions responsible for racial matters, those charged with genocide and prison warders. Himmler introduced military training to the group including psychological torture aimed at killing without mercy on their part. (Browder, pp. 8-35).

During the Second World War, this group was the most feared all over Europe. They committed unspeakable atrocities maneuvering and gunning enemies ruthlessly. As time elapsed, the two groups increased to make three groups. Each group had its own function to perform, notably, each group had its own leader but under the leadership of Hitler as the Chief of General Staff.

As soon as Hitler assumed power, all SS members became part of the police and the state paid their wages. Himmler had the authority to appoint senior officials to lead various SS and police wings. For example, he named Heydrich to head the third wing of SS called Gestapo.

During the Second World War, Hitler had of course made his empire the most affluent economically and politically across Europe and abroad. Therefore, to defeat a nation like this, collaboration was to work well. Under the SS hierarchy, three branches led the movement. These branches under supreme, regular and higher leaders were responsible for any answer that Himmler demanded.

The End of SS

Both the security and the military sections were responsible for torture cases that occurred in Germany especially in the Second World War. When Hitler became the head of Germany Empire, he created powerful army commandos that provided security and destroyed the enemies of Nazi Party.

For example, the SS masterminded the war and invasion of Poland. The SS security wing created detention camps under the leadership of Theodor Eicke. Here, the SS tortured any detainee who refused to claim loyalty to Nazi party policies. However, the SS group could not last forever.

It had its own weaknesses no matter how loyal and racial enough they were to their leader and party. As the Second World War continued, Hitler became suspicious of the defeat, which Germany faced. The consequences befalling Hitler and his army commanders together with SS members faced dire consequences. Therefore, the first step Hitler and SS took included the burning and obliteration of the evidences in the camps.

Furthermore, since the surviving detainees acted as evidences against this murderous group, the SS killed all detainees. By the end of the Second World War, the SS men had committed numerous murder cases through execution, torture, rape and massacre-holocaust. As the new regime took control in 1945, the SS members faced justice for causing a Holocaust in Germany and the entire Europe.

Many SS members committed suicide because of guilty. Additionally, those who did not commit suicide had to face the full force within trial chambers in Nuremberg. The tribunal caught many SS soldiers guilty and sentenced these Nazi loyalists to death. On the other hand, those who escaped death sentence and suicide, decided to immigrate therefore, escaping to countries in southern America. (Goebbels pp. 175-235).

Conclusion

It is quite evident to note that Hitler and his SS faction group committed many atrocities in Germany. Hitler gained popularity through conceptual and inclusive political theatrics. No sooner had the authority made Hitler superior in the army rank than he was gaining popularity.

Hitler’s SS faction group masterminded the Second World War. These members purely represented Nazi party policies like racial segregation and loyalty to the Party. The leaders of SS made sure that any conspiracy from within the political divides did not arise. Though SS later disembarked, it had done many atrocities not to be mentionable to ordinary and sound psychological mind.

Works Cited

Browder, George. Hitler’s Enforcers: The Gestapo and the SS security in the Nazi Revolution Summary. Boston: University Press, 1996. Print.

Bulow, Louis. Masters of Death. The SS Men. 2008. Web.

Cook, Stan, Bender, James. Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. (Volume One). San Jose: R. James Bender Publishing, 1994. Print.

Goebbels, Paul. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. (Volume II).Washington: USGPO, 1946. Print.

Lumsden, Robin. A Collector’s Guide To: The Allgemeine – SS. London: Ian Publishing Company, 2001. Print.

Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Simon and Schuster. 1960. Print.

Southgate, Troy. Hitler the Demagogue. 2009. Web.

US Holocaust Museum. The SS. Web.

Yerger, Mark. Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units, and Leaders of the General SS. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 1997. Print.

Hitler’s passionate hostility towards Christianity as depicted in his table talk does not quite reflect his position as often asserted by many historical analysts.

While it is true that in more than one occasion Hitler criticized certain Christian dogmas, the church and priests, it would be inadequate to overlook the fact that even God-fearing Christians do criticize each other. However, it stands out that most of what he said cannot be disputed. This talk should be viewed within the perspective of understanding Hitler’s authority, psychology and leadership philosophy.

The understanding of Hitler’s table talk

After the Third Reich, the religious views which Hitler held previously underwent tremendous changes. Hitler’s support for Christianity was witnessed as he effortlessly worked towards making sure that unity was attained between the state and protestant church.

This pursuit went on until he failed in his third attempt when he began giving his famous anti-Christian remarks. My understanding from one of the remarks he made in October 1937 is that he felt liberated from living a life full of childish imaginations and intense inner struggles with religion.

In addition, judging from the tone of his speech, it is easy to conclude that he was talking about his long-held Catholic faith. From that time, it is possible to argue that although Hitler was deeply religious, whatever he was claiming depicted him as entirely anti-Christian. One of the instances that supported this argument can be seen when he mentioned that Christianity was a rebellion against nature and natural law, and also a show of human failure as well as sign of decay.

There is need to answer the following questions in order to counter the above unambiguous argument. Could Hitler have been in another religion apart from Christianity when he was making these statements? Was he not a Christian? My understanding is that Hitler was a Christian despite his strong and subjective statements against Christians. Actually, he was more religious than one would imagine and could be impossible to replace this faith. He may have meant Catholicism in his table talk against Christianity.

The concerns by priests to address the issues of state regarding economic orientation were indeed very critical and timely in the sense that the society required key changes for purpose of growth. While these concerns have gained widespread support among many historians, their execution has face myriads of obstacles that hinder positive results. Hitler’s wish that the protestant church would have policies that support Nazism failed.

This factor made him declare Christianity to be guilty and eventually condemned Bolshevism. In my perspective, the principle of active corporate participation is crucial in bringing the much needed justice to all people. This principle entails involvement of all the parties in establishing the necessary corporate culture at all levels. If the church had cooperated with the demands of Hitler, his troubled views and hostility could not have been witnessed.

Hitler’s thoughts and words are a reflection of what he intended to carry out. These could be easily understood in terms of totalitarian leadership which he greatly valued. Critics of his talks sadly regret that his utterances marked the definite end of liberalism and emergence of political totalitarianism.

Besides, leaders of the classic era manipulated their followers since they expected their subjects to exhibit emotions in a given manner and change them regularly when demanded. On the same note, Hitler’s perspective on Christianity may not have been driven by totalitarianism. Even though totalitarianism was the model of leadership held by Hitler, the table talk did not bring out his stand since much of what he said were not accomplished.

Another factor that could have caused Hitler’s passionate hostility towards Catholicism was the Roman Catholic’s extremely dictatorial structure of leadership. Its leadership generated a sense of oppression while claiming to give hope to the communities that existed during that time.

My understanding is that the Roman Catholic monarchies and authorities during Hitler’s time took captive of the social, economic, and political outlook of the state with the aim of extending the long term expansion. For instance, they demanded absolute obedience at all levels; took over power to organize agriculture, and further empowered other authorities in their management. Through these actions, the Catholic Church was negating the same teachings that were being advanced to the community.

The above practices by Catholics caused Hitler’s anticlericalism to be expressed in both his private and public speeches. One such speech took place in January 1939 when he called for a clear separation between the state and the church. He wanted his territory to be like America and France.

He also reassured German priests of protection but promised destruction to priests who posed as political threats to Germany. My comprehension of his threat to the clergy as well as the church is specific and does not extend to the whole religion. In fact, priests who avoided outright enthusiasm on matters regarding the state and instead preached political quietism were reciprocated and received Hitler’s affections.

The involvement of priests in the affairs of the state provided important insights on some of the reasons that made Hitler to be ruthless in his table talk against Christians. It further created the understanding that an illustrious reason forms the basis that defines a move whereby a leader comes out strongly and declares war or conflict with an aim of destroying his or her enemies completely.

As proven from his table talk, leaders who fail to establish institutional capacities and unity, but rely on personal ambitions risk destabilizing their leadership. Scholars who disagree with Hitler regard his table talk as an evidence of distraction which depicts a leader who has deviated strongly from the voice of reason to the verge of destroying his subjects.

Even with the authenticity found in the table talk, there is proven evidence of self-contradiction by Hitler as it has been clearly documented in the book. However, Hitler was seen on most instances to be consistent as he did not demote Jesus and was extremely negative in his assessment of paganism.

His consistency was witnessed when he was chatting with his audience at Obersalzberg, in Berlin Headquarters and in public places. Nevertheless, one would not overlook Nazi’s hostility towards Christians as posited in some secondary literature. Hitler’s table talk revealed some of the occasions when he was talking from a bitter point of view. One of his reflections was that Christianity was at the brink of taking over the position of Germans in the country.

This compelled him to set up laws which he used to incite and poison the minds of Germans against Christians. In spite of his negative attitude and indifference towards Christianity, his regard for Jesus as a strong leader who fought against Jewish capitalism is reflected in his talk. This could probably explain his actions against the Jews.

Hitler considered the presence of the Jews in Germany as a major problem. As manifested in his table talk, he wanted to see the complete extinction of Christians and the Jews from Germany. He longed to see them suffer as their land and belonging were taken away. In addition, his hope was to see Christians subjected to policies set by Nazis even as they became entirely dependent on his authority. In my view, Hitler made his created scenario appear real.

The notion created by Hitler on how Christians were being manipulated to defy him and other existing authorities could only be understood as part of his efforts to show the world that Germany was back and could not be dictated upon like it happened on previous occasions. He also talked about creating laws which were supported by his people, a move which in my opinion reflected the thin difference between him and the people.

To sum up, it is evident that Hitler’s table talk with its contradictions cannot be disputed. However, his position against Christianity and specifically Catholicism was consistent as his anticlericalism was evident both in his private and public speeches. This was a problem that was caused by several factors such as rejection by the Protestant Church to have its policies support Nazism. His war-time feelings against Christianity did not actually mirror Hitler as an individual who hated religion since he was also a Christian.

Introduction

“The Great War was without precedent … never had so many nations taken up arms at a single time. Never had the battlefield been so vast… never had the fighting been so gruesome…”^[1]

Historical records impute World War I to the first global catastrophe of the 20^th century, which lasted from 1914 to 1918 and caused the approximate number of 9 million casualties. “It would turn out to be a long war in which soldiers died by the millions. An entire generation of young men would be wiped out. The war would also bring the downfall of the old European culture of kings and noblemen and their codes of honor.”^[2]

However, neither the number of casualties at the battlefields could reflect the actual devastation reigning in the world hereafter, nor could the massive downfall of the imperial regimes. The economic dislocation and total disruption of values spread depression and fear among the countries that appeared to be the first in the victims’ rate.

The Germany’s irresistible enthusiasm of the Spirit of 1914 was buried under ashes, damages, and the first genocide of the 20^th century. Nevertheless, it remained throughout the war and destruction as the leitmotif in the Adolf Hitler’s activity. The perspective young leader, having bravely withstood the battles of the Great War, even more bravely started to defend the rights of German workers, slowly, but convincingly acquiring the audience of support.

Hitler was persistent and industrious in approaching the wheel of Germany’s government. Finally, on becoming the chief of the state, Hitler has almost completely changed the vector of his policy and became the dictator of the German nation. However, the fact of being severely criticized and regarded as a hypocrite, racist, and insane did not hinder the existence of the belief that Hitler appeared to be the one to lead Germany to renaissance, both economic and spiritual.

Hitler fostered the idea of nationalism through forcing the population of Germany to work above norm for the sake of the country. This inducement was reasonably spiced with the talks about Aryan nation, uniqueness, and leadership, which altogether brought to the common belief in collective force, and, despite the resistance, impelled the Germans to work qualitatively and quantitatively.

The chief of the state encouraged collective consciousness, for, in comparison with individualism, this was the simplest way to control and direct the national mood. He infused German people with hope and dignity, with desire to enormous work for the common good and prosperity of own country. Indeed, what would be called ‘nationalism’, if not this?

Hitler’s Beginnings

Born in the 1800’s, Adolf Hitler spent most of his childhood dreaming of becoming a great artist. However, the pointless efforts had brought him to the depression, which added up to his hysteric nature greatly. “The utter misery of his poverty also deeply influenced Hitler. He adopted a harsh, survivalist mentality, which left little room for consideration of kindness and compassion – an attitude that would stay with him until the end.”^[3]

Indeed, later, when Adolf Hitler joined the Bavarian Regiment for participate in the Great War, his colleagues admitted the traits of devoted and thorough person. “For me, as for every German, there now began the greatest and most unforgettable time of my earthly existence.

Compared to the events of this gigantic struggle, everything past receded to shallow nothingness,” Hitler said in Mein Kampf.^[4] Hitler was completely absorbed in the ideology of war and potential victory, which was the cause for further deep disillusion and depression. Hitler was prone to hysteric accusations of the alternative betrayers, most likely the objects of Hitler’s anti-Semitic character, Jews.

“He had a curious but academically untrained mind and examined the complex philosophical works of Nietzsche, Hegel, Fichte, Treitschke and the Englishman, Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Hitler picked up bits and pieces of philosophy and ideas from them and wound up with a hodgepodge of racist, nationalistic, anti-Semitic attitudes that over time became a die-hard philosophy, later to be described in his book, Mein Kampf.”^[5]

After the war ended, Hitler returned home and joined the workers association known as the National Social German. As an active member, he was incredibly instrumental in fighting for the rights of workers and spearheading for change.

Meanwhile, the consequences of the Great War manifested themselves in Versailles Treaty, which constituted the Armistice signed in November 1918. The Treaty was extremely disadvantageous for Germany, which could be outlined in terms of territory, financial coverage, and military forces.

The conclusions of the document cultivated anger and disillusion among the population of Germany, for, in addition to the economic downfall due to loss of profitable regions, Germany has admitted its responsibility for the war damages. Hence, according to this acknowledgment, Germany was obliged to provide financing of all the war-caused damages of European countries.

In 1920, Hitler came up with a controversial 25-point program, a detailed demands list given to the government for immediate action. However, the government never took any action on this matter, and, overwhelmed by anger and frustration, Hitler staged a coup to overthrow the government. This resulted in his imprisonment, whereby he served nine months of his five-year term. However, while in prison, he took advantage of his free time to design his manifesto.

Free time contemplations gave birth to ‘Mein Kampf’, which is partly autobiographical and partly political work by Adolf Hitler. The book encloses the formation of the writer’s outlook through the lenses of events happening to him starting up from early childhood. The author relates the premises to Jew despise and smoothly switches to the discussion of the forms of government, analyzing advantages and disadvantages of different ones. The book acquired popularity short after Hitler got the position at the governing structures.

Hitler and World War II

After the sudden death of Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler became president and Chancellor of Germany.^[6] This marked the beginning of his dictatorial term in office. He began implementing his policies, which included the elimination of trade unions, racism against the Jews, and curtailing freedom of speech.

By Hitler, the collective consciousness could foster nationalism through “homogenous ethnicity, cultural similarity, and common purpose is the glue to the German society. Thus when a state is composed of a singular ethnic population, the natural inertia of such a population will hold the institution together and maintain its existence through thick and thin in a longer period. Even if the government had been badly managed and continuous maladministration, as long as the same population built it upon it will continue to work.”^[7]

On observing the destruction of the country in the post-war period, which spread depression and disillusion among the society, Hitler’s preconceptions on nationalism became even more radical. He aspired to raise the social force, suppressed by the Versailles Treaty, in order to withstand the shock of the period together, feel the sense of community and belonging.

Hitler’s concept of nationalism considered either the idea of anti-Semitism, due to Hiller’s belief in complete fault of Jews concerning the collapse of German Empire. Consequently, Hitler proclaimed the supremacy of Aryans, dismantling the existence of the representatives of other nations, especially Jews. Hitler believed in breeding of people and more specifically the Aryan race; he highly discouraged interracial marriages, because he termed them as degrading the Aryan race.

He believed that there was no other human race, superior to the Aryans. He even discouraged any form of sexual relationships between the Aryans and any other race, especially the Jews. The belief in Aryan’s superiority was the main motive guiding Hitler to invade the territories of other countries to expand own territories, which has, actually, been one of the main reasons to the outburst of the World War II.

On stating that nation’s restoration and revival cannot occur without total devotion of its representatives, Hitler developed the ideology of Nazism, the radical embodiment of nationalism. “Our Nation is not just an idea in which you have no part; you yourself support the nation; to it you belong; you cannot separate yourself from it.”

Indeed, with his own example Hitler has shown his inextricable link with his country and devotion to ideology. His speeches were based on the constant reminding that sense of life of the Germans is their country. “Nazism was based on the belief that one should be deeply devoted, loyal and faithful to one’s nation”.^[8] Hitler has proved the words of the national anthem and practically applied the idea implied there.

Indeed, the Germans felt strength and incredible endurance to restore the country at first and to dedicate everything for the nation’s sake and to feel this mythical ‘oneness’ in identification of oneself with the country. The thoroughly fostered idea of superiority and justice in treatment lead the German nation to committing the crime of infringing upon other territories and inducing the Word War II. Hence, Hitler is considered to be among the prime causes of the Second World War, when he decided to invade Poland, in 1939.^[9]

Nevertheless, Hitler has developed a powerful ‘identity campaign’ and has become a symbol not only in the Germany’s history of his reign, but in the history of all times. He remained a scar on the world’s face, which has the form of wide-known swastika. Adolf Hitler has become the symbol of totalitarianism and dictatorship. He has performed radical forms of government and brought German nation to obedience through rough qualities.

“Brutality is respected. Brutality and physical strength. The people need wholesome fear. Why babble about brutality and be indignant about tortures? The masses want that. They need something that will give them a thrill of horror. Terror is the most effective political instrument.” – Adolf Hitler.^[10]

The reference managed by Adolf’s friend August Kubizek proves that personal characteristics corresponded to the potential ideological fulfillment:

“The most outstanding trait in my friend’s character was…the unparalleled consistency in everything that he had said and did. There was in his nature something firm, inflexible, immovable, obstinately rigid, which manifested itself in his profound seriousness and was at the bottom of all his other characteristics.”^[11]

The traits listed above were the perfect environment for the points of ideology to be realized with certainty and dedication. Hence, Hitler is known as the ever known severest leader, for the name of his is blemished with the blood of millions of people either killed in was or repressed for the reason of some personal Hitler’s preferences and concepts.

The posture of Adolf Hitler, nevertheless associates with the perfect leaderships skills and the outstanding oratory capacity, which is still being studied and followed at the modern times. The knowledge of how to govern the society so that it becomes obedient involves the requirement of a range of characteristics, such as being a psychologist and strategist.

However, one may not state that Adolf Hitler was manipulating the German society. Generally, he was manipulated by the ideology, which caused the chain effect of willingness to lead the whole country under the banner of Nazism.

It was vital for Hitler to focus on the people because he believed that, by ruling the people, he would also gain control over the industries and financial institutions. This way he would lead the country better than when he imposed rules and regulations on industries and financial institutions.

He knew that, in the end, he was the final person, when it came to making essential decisions. Hitler had an excellent manifesto, where he regarded all citizens equal regardless of their background. He further believed that the interests of an individual should never be in contradiction with the interests of the people. Individuals worked for the good of the whole community by putting their differences aside.

Before Adolf Hitler came into power, the German government stood for international reliance.^[12] However, Hitler sharply opposed this idea; he wanted economic independence for Germany. Hitler aimed at bringing equality in consumption and production of commodities. He also managed to shun corruption, which was so eminent throughout the government.

Thus, being the symbol of a centralized power, Adolf Hitler has performed the excellent leadership skills, which include enthusiasm, professionalism, and, despite the firm emotionless nature, the passionate belief in the ideology of the Nazi party.

Hitler’s Demise

Exactly the Hitler’s passionate belief has served the impetus for the German nation to revive throughout the enormous damages of the Great War, the dreadful obligations according to the Versailles Treaty, the moods of anger and depression reigning in the consciousness of society. This was Adolf Hitler to raise the latter from its knees and, through outstanding diligence, withstand the period of destruction with dignity.

As a result, before the World War II Germany became one of the most developed countries of the world, where all of spheres of human activity advanced in investigations and even outperformed the countries, which were the least to suffer from the consequences of the Great War. Hence, one may consider that, together with the constant assertion of the supremacy of Aryans, Hitler has steeled the German nation so that it was able to face any conditions for the sake of country’s development.

Many individuals, however, viewed Hitler as a hypocrite, since he frequently did not keep his word. After he got into power, he disregarded some of the 25-point program policies and decided to act on his own way of thinking. Hitler could be either viewed a nationalist at some point, since some of the principles he stood for. For instance, he hated rich capitalist who accumulated a lot of wealth from the people.

The Nazi party of Adolf Hitler did not support exploitation of the common person.^[13] Instead, it shunned capitalism and blamed the government for all the oppression of the people. Adolf Hitler fought for the rights of the workers before he became president. He gained accreditation in his efforts of being against capitalism and oppression of the workers, and kept this position throughout his life.

However, the last events of the World War II cut the assuredness in the ideology of the Nazi party. The final battle in Berlin would appear the one to end military operations. This was the first time Adolf Hitler admitted defeat, analyzing realistically the situation of the state. However, Hitler has blamed this defeat majorly on the generals. Being aware of potential capture, Hitler decided on committing suicide through gun shooting and purchasing poison.

Conclusion

Adolf Hitler is a controversial personality and his ‘legacy’ is quite ambiguous. His posture is known all over the world and he is frequently accepted through the prism of national stereotypes the society establishes. The historical records show only the figures and factual information and the critical thinker is the one to analyze the activity of the German Fuehrer.

There is a wide variety of aspects, according to which it is possible to conduct an investigation into the premises and consequences of Hitler’s actions. This paper considers the interconnection between the ideology of nationalism and the activities of Adolf Hitler. This work is dedicated to analyzing the responsibility of the German leader in spreading nationalistic conceptions on the post-war and during the World War II stages.

Generally, Adolf Hitler succeeded in renovation of the devastated German society in the period after the Great War. Through diligence and dedication he performed an excellent example of a leader, who rescued the country from the extremely complicated position, and bred dignity and unity in the masses of German society.

References

1. Winter, J. & Baggett, B, (1997) The Great War, And the Shaping of the 20th Century
2. The history Place. Hitler in World War 1: The Rise of Adolf Hitler. Web.
3. The history Place. Hitler is Homeless in Vienna: The Rise of Adolf Hitler. Web.
4. Hitler, A Mein Kampf. Web.
5. The history Place. Hitler is Homeless in Vienna: The Rise of Adolf Hitler. Web.
6. Rice, E. (2005). Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. North Carolina, NC: Morgan Reynolds.
7. Hitler, A Mein Kampf. Web.
8. Koenigsberg, R, Nationalism, Nazism, and Genocide, Online Publication Date: 26-Oct-2005.
9. Haugen, B. (2006). Adolf Hitler: Dictator of Nazi Germany. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books.
10. Hitler, A Mein Kampf. Web.
11. The history Place. Hitler is Homeless in Vienna: The Rise of Adolf Hitler. Web.
12. Nicholls, D. (2000). Adolf Hitler: a biographical companion. California, CA: ABC-CLIO.
13. Pane, L. (2011). Education in Nazi Germany. New York, NY: Berg.

Introduction

On September 1, 1939, aggressive Nazi forces, under the command of Adolf Hitler, marched into Poland in an attack named Operation White. By the end of the month, Nazi forces had outdone Polish military resistance and the whole of Poland fell under Nazi command.

This act of aggression marked the onset of the Second World War and signaled Hitler’s intention to occupy the rest of Europe. Following Poland’s invasion, Britain and France joined the war in an attempt to stop Nazi’s move across Europe. By 1940, the war had led to the invasion of Denmark and Norway in an attempt to secure iron ore shipments from Sweden (William, 1990).

The Germans further advanced to France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg with Netherlands and Belgium offering little resistance while France initially put up a stronger resistance before finally succumbing following Italy’s reinforcement of German forces. Following France’s defeat, Hitler’s forces traded their guns on Britain with a series of air bombardments but Britain, under Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, prevented the attacks and German occupation.

Later in 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan formed a tripartite pact (known as the axis) that was later expanded by the inclusion of Hungary, Slovakia and Romania (Roberts, 2006).

The aim of the pact was to protect each other against any military attack and at the same time attack other countries such as Greece by the Italians, Libya by the Germans, Indo-china by the Japanese and the Soviet Union by the combined axis forces in an attack code named Barbarossa in 1941.

The United State was left in the war following Japan’s attack on American fleets at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The United States and her allies responded by declaring war on the affiliation members who in turn, declared war on the United States.

The war had gone global and was not to end till 1945. Throughout the war, several countries resisted the Nazi’s advance across Europe. Some resistance came from German nationals who wanted to see an end to the war. Resistance was in the form of civil disobedience, formation of resistance movements, sabotage, coup attempts against the Nazi advances and assassination attempts on Hitler. This paper explores German and European resistance to Hitler.

German resistance

German resistance to Hitler’s ideology and military advance across Europe consisted of small militant groups that had their roots in German opposition political parties. The groups were made up of movements such as the Social Democrats, the Communist Party, the Anarcho – Syndicalist Union, The Freie Arbeite Union and the Red Orchestra Group (Ian, 2000).

All these groups had organized resistance and concerted their efforts by distributing anti-Hitler propaganda and assisting Jews to flee Germany. Their efforts were supported by the German Catholic Church which challenged the Nazi ideology through church sermons although it did not take part in any physical confrontations against the regime.

The Anarcho-Syndicalist Union was made up of wage workers united by a goal of opposing and abolishing the industrial system in Germany. The industrial system favored the industrialists at the expense of the wage earners.

The social democratic party (SDP) which was Germany’s oldest political party, adopted social equality leading to their opposition to Hitler’s anti Semitism. The Communist Party’s resistance was motivated by elimination of its leaders following Hitler’s ascent to power. Consequently, most of its leaders fled to the Soviet Union from where they continued to formulate resistance against the Nazi regime.

The Freie Arbeite Union was a Trade Union that had been banned by the Nazi regime prior to the war. However, it continued to engage in political warfare against the Nazi. The Red Orchestra group was a communist-based group that specialized in acts of sabotage against the regime.

These groups operated through underground networks and recruited their members from industrial wage-earners. The wage-earners were opposed to the stringent industrial conditions set by the Nazi regime (Ian, 2000).

They organized industrial strikes in an attempt to stultify Germany’s industrial sector which was significant to the success of Hitler’s advance across Europe. However, Hitler’s informants infiltrated most of these groups leading to the subsequent arrests and sometimes executions of its leaders and members. This resulted to weakening of the groups’ activities.

The fact that Hitler had considerable public support among Germans, made it risky for the concealed groups to execute their activities in public and subvert Hitler’s authority. These groups found support in the unlikely form of dissenting intelligence service officers notably, Colonel Hans Oster.

He was the Chief Intelligence Officer in Hitler’s regime who offered intelligence to the resistance groups and secured escape from the Nazi regime for other dissenting military and intelligence officers. Other dissenting officers were in the foreign office and together they offered considerable support to the resistance groups.

Besides the organized groups, there were other smaller groups and individuals who also played a significant role in offering resistance to Hitler’s forces. This was done by hiding Jews in their houses and exercising other acts of defiance against the regime in an attempt to sabotage the ruling advances. At some point, German youths refused to be engaged in the Nazi Youth League which was a transitory progress towards serving in the Nazi army.

The 1939 coup attempt

In August 1938, General Ludwig Beck who was Hitler’s well-regarded Chief of Staff, resigned from his position. His replacement was General Franz Halder who, together General Beck and Colonel Hans Oster, staged a military coup against Hitler.

The conspirators settled on General Halder to take charge of the coup plot and recruit other conspirators. They found support in Hitler’s army commander, General Walther von Brauchitsch, who failed to inform Hitler of the plan despite the fact that he was a cognizant of the coup plot.

The conspirators’ plot was thrown in disarray in September 1939, when the then British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced plans to hold talks with Hitler and defuse the imminent Czechoslovakia attack.

Chamberlain’s talks with Hitler failed and the coup plans were revived. However, support for the coup had waned significantly and General Halder became ambivalent as to whether they would succeed.

This was coupled by Britain’s and France’s inflexibility in offering support to the dissenters whole heartedly, but instead preferring a military confrontation with Hitler over Czechoslovakia. Hitler’s subsequent attack on Czechoslovakia and the breakout of the war made the coup plans unsustainable. However, the coup attempt acted as a precursor for another daring attempt that was named as Operation Valkyrie.

Operation Valkyrie

In June 1944, Hitler appointed Claus von Stauffenberg as the chief staff of the reserve army. Stauffenberg was not supportive of Hitler’s ambitions and was among a group of dissenters in Hitler’s inner circle. Stauffenberg, together with other dissenters including the commander of the reserve army General Fromm, staged a plan to assassinate Hitler and take control of Germany.

Stauffenberg had the task of placing a bomb inside a room during one of Hitler’s briefings which Stauffenberg used to attend while General Fromm was chosen to take charge of Germany following Hitler’s planned assassination.

On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg attended a military briefing that was held at Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia carrying a briefcase that contained a bomb.

The plan was to detonate the bomb during the briefing and fly back to Berlin to join the rest of the dissenters, during which General Fromm was to mobilize the reserve army and take command of key installments in Berlin and the rest of Germany.

The timed bomb went off as planned after Stauffenberg had left the briefing room killing several officers. Convinced that Hitler had not survived the blast, Stauffenberg flew back to Berlin, as planned, and informed the plotters that Hitler was dead.

Despite conflicting from East Prussia, this indicated that he had survived the blast apparently because one of the officers had moved the briefcase containing the bomb away from him (Ian, 2000). Despite the confusion, the coup was carried out by officers who believed that Hitler was dead. They subsequently arrested several Nazi officers and Hitler’s loyalists.

The confusion regarding Hitler’s survival was finally put to an end when he made a national radio address stating that he was alive. This divided the coup plotters with some, including Stauffenberg, calling on the coup to continue and others like General Fromm called on his co-conspirators to surrender. Hitler’s loyalists eventually rounded up the coup plotters who were court marshaled and sentenced to death by firing squad. That marked the end of Operation Valkyrie.

Other assassination attempts

Besides Operation Valkyrie, other attempts had been made on Hitler’s life. One of the key attempts was the one by George Elser in 1939 that planned to assassinate Hitler by detonating a bomb during an event Hitler was attending.

The powerful bomb went off as planned killing eight people excluding Hitler who had left earlier. Another assassination attempt was staged in 1942 by Colonel Henning von Tresckow and General Friedrich Olbricht who were opponents of the Nazi ideology.

The plot was to conceal a bomb in Hitler’s plane and detonate it mid air. The bomb was to be concealed inside two wine bottles. The bomb detonator went off but the bomb failed to explode apparently because the mechanism of the bomb’s chemical detonator became faulty mid air (Hamerow, 1997). The explosives were retrieved by one of the conspirators and the plot was not immediately unearthed.

Resistance across Europe

In his quest to spread his ideology across Europe, Hitler invaded several countries notably Albania, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Yugoslavia, Russia, Finland, Holland and most of the Balkan states. Most of these countries offered armed resistance to the invasion while some offered covert assistance to the allies by destroying Nazi communication links and aiding Nazi Prisoners of War to escape. Two cases of resistance and collaboration with the allies are mentioned below.

The Warsaw Uprising

Under the support of General Tadeusz ‘Bor’ Komorowski, Poland mobilized the polish Underground Home Army (UHA) in an attempt to repulse the Germans out of Poland. They co-opted Russian forces who attacked the Germans from the East with the Polish army advancing from the West in the cities of Vilnyus, Lublin and Lvov.

The joint Polish-Russian assault successfully repulsed German forces from these cities and they subsequently trained their sights on the capital Warsaw. However, things did not go well in Warsaw as it had been in the three cities. The Polish Home Army consisted of 40,000 troops but were lacking in weapons with only 2,500 weapons at their disposal and ammunition to last only seven days.

The German troops, on the other hand, consisted of 15,000 troops in Warsaw and 30,000 troops in nearby cities and adequately backed by an armory of weapons (Stephen, 2004). The Germans had marked Warsaw as a strategic city (due to the presence of River Vistula that was a crucial communication channel) that had to be defended at all costs hence the heavy military presence (Stephen, 2004).

The confrontation ensued with Russian forces battling German forces to the east of River Vistula with Polish fighters advancing from the East with the intention of consolidating forces with Polish nationals in Warsaw. The Polish assault was initially successful due to the nature of the attack and they consequently captured several German weapons. However, they were handicapped by lack of adequate weapons and ammunition as well as the superiority of German weapons. Moreover, the head of the German forces in Warsaw was Commander Bach Zalewski who was an expert in suppressing uprisings (Stephen, 2004).

German air raids on Warsaw led to death of civilians whom the home army was counting on to help with the resistance. The Russian Red Army had made considerable progress by driving away German troops on the banks of River Vistula. However, the Germans reinforced their positions by sending in extra troops who ruthlessly contained the Home Army and the Polish nationals in Warsaw. A ceasefire was negotiated by the Polish Red Cross leading to the surrender of the home troops.

The Norwegian Heavy Water Sabotage

In 1934, the Norwegians built a plant capable of producing Heavy Water (Deuterium Oxide) that was used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. During the war and prior to Norway’s invasion by Germany, the allies moved what was left of the heavy water to France where it was to be destroyed. Germany subsequently invaded Norway and the allies became concerned that the Germans would use the facility to make Heavy Water and manufacture nuclear weapons. The plant had to be destroyed to prevent this from happening.

In a series of attacks, allied bombings destroyed the plant to prevent production. In one such attack named Operation Grouse, an advance team of four Norwegians were sent to the area surrounding the plant on a reconnaissance mission to guide subsequent attacks. In 1942, the allies launched an air raid on the plant that ended unsuccessfully with the crashing of the bombers.

In 1943, another team of Norwegian troops successfully infiltrated the plant and strategically placed bombs all over the plant, effectively destroying it, an act hailed as the most successive sabotage during the war (Thomas, 2002). The Germans tried to transport the remaining heavy water that was salvaged from the plant out of Norway but the ferry transporting the cargo was sank by Norwegian saboteurs on its way to Germany.

Jewish resistance

Hitler’s oppressive holocaust campaign targeted Jews who, even though could not match Hitler’s military might, offered some resistance in the form of armed confrontations, acts of defiance and civil disobedience. In May 1943, Jewish youth in Warsaw engaged in a physical confrontation with the German forces protesting the imminent supplanting from their homes to a Concentration Camp. The confrontation was quelled by the German forces that eventually moved the Jews to the Concentration Camp (Gilbert, 1986).

In “ The Holocaust: A Jewish Tragedy”, Gilbert (1986) gives an account on how Jews at the Treblinka Concentration Camp obtained weapons and revolted against the Nazi oppressors in August 1943.

Several German guards were killed, warehouses burned and weapons stolen. The Germans responded by shooting 1,500 Polish inmates. Gilbert gives another account on how in October 1943 at the Sobibor Concentration Camp, polish prisoners revolted and killed several guards, an attack that forced the Nazis to close the camp.

Another revolt occurred in Auschwitz in October 1944. Jews in Germany took part in the resistance through various acts of sabotage and by supporting allied forces. However, their resistance was not limited to covert practices. For instance, the Baum Group that was made up of mostly Jewish youth took part in various demonstrations and other acts of aggression (Gilbert, 1986).

End of the war

In February 1945, allied troops crossed the Rhine River and landed in Germany and by April, Red Army troops had taken over Berlin from German control. In other parts of Europe, German forces were overrun by allied troops and subsequently surrendered. Japanese forces, still oblivious to the change in tide, continued their war against the allies. The United States responded by dropping two atomic bombs on two Japanese cities with devastating effects. The Japanese finally surrendered in August 1945. The war had effectively ended.

Conclusion

The allies’ success in defeating German forces in the Second World War was aided by resistance movements, not only in Germany, but in other countries that had been invaded by German troops. Resistance was in the form of armed confrontation like the Warsaw uprising, sabotages, civil disobedience, coup attempts on Hitler and perhaps more significantly, through resistance by Hitler’s own commanders such as Stauffenberg. The allies’ victory was also aided by individuals such as Raoul Wallenberg who offered Jews an escape route out of Germany. All these actors collectively contributed to victory by offering resistance to Hitler’s ruthless and oppressive regime.

Reference List

Gilbert, Martin. 1986. “The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy”. Journal of History and Political Economy 55: 67-79. https://academic.oup.com/jhmas.

Hamerow, Theodore. 1997. “On the Road to the Wolf’s Lair: German Resistance to Hitler.” Political Psychology 22: 213-233.

Ian, Kershaw. 2000. “The Nazi Dictatorship Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation.” Historical Journal 19:188–189.

Roberts, Geoffrey. 2006. “Stalin’s Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953.” Political Quarterly 47: 787-818.

Stephen, Budiansky. 2004. “Air Power : The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, fro Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II”. Web.

Thomas, Gallagher. 2002. “Assault in Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program.” The Journal of Politics 37: 889-991.

William, Jackson. 1990. “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany.” American Historical Review 23: 668–712.